Food Porn & Other Stories: A Dining Review ~ 1/19-1/28/08

[honeybee30]

Better late than never – the mantra of procrastinators everywhere. I think we should have a flag to fly on our as-of-yet-undeclared-but-greatly-undeserved national holiday, Procrastination Day. Now we just need a date. Leap year would be good. That would give us a whole 4 years to procrastinate making our celebration plans for next Procrastination Day. Oh silly me. I almost forgot….. Procrastination Day is everyday!

That’s right. I procrastinated writing my dining review until over 3 months after our return home from our January ’08 trip to WDW. But I’ve been reassured (TigerKat – This one’s for you, babe!) that my fellow DISers and fans of the food porn would look kindly upon a dining review even a good 100 days after the fact. So, if perusing the DIS is your preferred form of procrastination and you’re not too adverse to a little alliteration, then hold on to your hats and glasses, folks, cause this here’s my long belabored January dining review!

Playas

Me: 32 & terminally cool.

Foshizz, my nizz.

DGF: 32 & almost as cool as me, but a great deal sassier.

Don't hate the playa, hate the game.

Table of Contents
Prologue: A Cautionary Tale
Chapter 1, Part 1: Greater or lesser Orlando
Chapter 1, Part 2: The Plaza
Chapter 2: Petrifries, Flame Tree Barbecue, Yak & Yeti, & Everything Pop!
Chapter 3, Part 1: Crystal Palace, Pecos Bill Café, & Enchanted Grove
Chapter 3, Part 2: California Grill
Chapter 4: Cantina de San Angel, Kringla Bakeri, Spoodles, & Lots o' Booze
Chapter 5: Everything Pop, Jiko, & the Unthinkable!
Chapter 6: Kona Café, Chefs de France, California Grill, & a Semi-Celebrity Sighting
A Short Aside: I’ve been doing my homework….
Chapter 7: Starring Rolls, bluezoo, Sleepy Hollow, & a Dream!
Chapter 8: Earl of Sandwich & Say Goodnight, Gracie!
Epilogue: A Shameless Act of Self-Promotion

But first, A little peep show to get the peeps in the mood. Holla!

Champagne

Lobster

Tie-dye Cheesecake

All this and more await you in the chapters ahead….

 

[honeybee30]

This is not so much a tale of woe and hardship as it is a tale of annoyance and inconvenience. I mean who am I to complain at all really. We’ve been fortunate enough to visit WDW quite a bit over the past few years, and we’ve had a great time doing it! Last year alone, we made it down to the happiest place on earth 3 times, and what with our Annual Passes and a $49 a night rate at Pop Century, we were able to swing yet another 8 day trip in January!

I admit that precious little planning went into our January trip. I booked it about a month out. We chose some places to eat (the most important part! ). I made the ADRs and then we went for it. January is slow season, right. That magic time of year when you can walk right on Dumbo at noon and fly around and around on your magic elephant until you barf.

Let me tell you a secret, the cautionary part of this tale if you will. I love the DIS, but the proverbial wool was pulled over my naïve little lamby eyes on this one. January is not, I repeat not, a slow time of year! Do not listen to the lying liars and the lies that they tell you on the DIS boards about January. It was swamped! I mean Everest FPs gone by 1pm and 70 minute waits for Soarin’ swamped. Europeans and South Americans out the ying-yang! And it was a tad bit nippley to boot. But there’s always a bright side, right?! We didn’t sweat nearly as much as we do during the warmer months at WDW, and we were awarded 2, count ‘em 2, dreams. They must have a surplus at the beginning of the year or something.

Once again, the cold and crowds were annoying and inconvenient, but not the end of the world. Nope, the end of the world occurred a few days into our vacation when we both came down with the flu. Not just the sniffles, but the full on funk! Fevers, aches, cough, the whole nine yards. A bright side, you ask? Well, we didn’t have to drink as much because we were already kind of dizzy, and hefty doses of cold medicine made the liquor work that much quicker.

But enough of that nonsense. You’re here for the grubs:

Er, I mean, grub….

 

[honeybee30]

We had originally planned to arrive in Orland on Monday, January 21st, but with the threat of a massive blizzard in the weather forecast (that dropped a whopping ¼ inch of snow on central North Carolina, BTW. ), we decided to drive down to Florida a few days early. Hey, I wasn’t getting stuck in NC when I had WDW waiting for me! Better to extend than to shorten, that’s my motto, when it comes to vacation, anyway. Root canals are another matter entirely.

Because it was MLK weekend, there was not a hotel room to be had on WDW property, so we had to *gasp* book a room off-site. I went online and found a neato looking hotel on I-Drive – the Doubletree Castle Hotel.

Who knew you could get all this for the price of a moderate:

A king bed junior suite:

With a pool view:

Instant coffee ala Wolfgang Puck:

And towel animals:

As my BIL (aka Homer Simpson) would say, “Hmmm….” “Your ideas intrigue me. I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.”

Better yet, Vito’s Chop House shared a parking lot with the Doubletree!

We had an awesome meal at Vito’s and quite possibly the best steak I have ever eaten. We shared a bottle of Chianti and a huge shrimp appetizer to start. Literally, those shrimps were huge! Then we each ordered the filet mignon stuffed with gorgonzola and a side of creamed spinach. For dessert we got the most amazing chocolate cake to go, which we later ate while laying in our king bed and watching the L Word. A pricey meal, but well worth it if you ever venture off into Orlando. Sorry, no pictures!

On Sunday, we decided to see how the other half lives and paid a visit to SeaWorld. Unfortunately, not much can be said of the food at the World of Sea.

Polar bears ate ice:

Dolphins ate fish:

A sea monster almost ate DGF:

Needless to say, by Monday morning, we were ready for some Disney magic! So we checked out, said adieu to the Doubletree Castle mascot, and stopped at Denny’s for some breakfast.

Peace out.

No Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity breakfast at Denny’s, but they had a flood!

Yep, that liquid cascading down the silver wall is water. And nope it is not a fountain. I guess a pipe burst and water began pouring out of the ceiling. Mickey would never allow that to happen.

Finally, we passed through those hallowed gates:

And on to our value accommodations:

It’s not the Doubletree Castle, but it sure is colorful!

To be continued…. And I promise the next chapter will include food, lots of Disney food….

 

[honeybee30]

After we checked in to Pop and hauled all of our stuff upstairs to our room, we headed directly to the bus stop and hopped a bus to MK.

Originally, we had planned on taking a quick looky-loo at the castle and then catching a monorail over to Epcot for dinner at Tokyo Dining. But once we saw the signs for the Pirate & Princess Party, we caved and bought tickets for that evening’s event.

Dang Disney marketing.

I’m just a girl who can’t say no to the mouse.

Once in the park, we decided to stop by the Plaza for a late lunch/ early dinner. I really like this place. We’ve always been able to walk-up and get a seat without an ADR or much of a wait. Plus the art nouveau décor is sweet!

Signage:

Menu, front and back:

Place Setting:

Condiments:

We both ordered the Grilled Reuben, which is described as thinly sliced corned beef on grilled marble rye with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing.

I had mine with French fries:

DGF had hers with German potato salad:

We both found the sandwich and sides to be pretty good. Not excellent, but definitely edible. It hit the spot, so to speak.

For dessert, we both ordered a Mickeylodeon. I had cookie dough ice cream, while DGF had strawberry. These came with chocolate ears and sugar cone hats, which were really cute and tasty!

You gotta have ice cream for dessert at the Plaza!

I would recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for an escape from the hustle and bustle of the MK, without losing the old fashioned, Victorian charm of Main Street. We plan to have lunch here on our next trip, too!

 

[arieljasmine]

Excellent start to your report. I really enjoyed your last one, so am looking forward to more. The Plaza looks great, those Mickey ice creams are so cute! And thanks for the lovely pics too, I actually got a pang when I saw the Walt Disney World entrance sign. Plus, of course, the Pop is my favourite resort.

Laur's

 

[oybolshoi]

We had an awesome meal at Vito’s and quite possibly the best steak I have ever eaten. We shared a bottle of Chianti and a huge shrimp appetizer to start.

What? No Fava Beans??? Dr. Lecter would be so disappointed.


It's good to see another set of reviews from you - you're endlessly amusing and you always have good dining variety. I tried to post last night when you first started and was on the receiving end of one of those random and annoying messages about the boards suddenly being down for maintenance ... bah! So I went to bed and dreamed of food.

Looking forward to more, more, more!

 

[SuzieN]

Looking forward to more - loved your last one!!!

 

[phabric]

Looking forward to more reviews. We have the Plaza booked for our August trip.

 

[devonsmommy]

I thoroughly enjoyed your last report, so I'm hopping on board for this one too!

 

[MickeyNicki]

YAY! I loved your Oct report and cannot wait to get all up in this one!

 

[plutosgirl]

Can't wait for more!! Hopping on!

 

[princesstinkerbelle]

i just spent the last half hour reading your dining review from last trip...you are tres cool and have become one of my fave reviewers! i got really sad at the end of this page because i thought there was more to read! anyway...subbing!

ps...edward cullen is my boyfriend...

 

[TigerKat]

I'm sooooooo excited about this review!!!!!!! Bring it on girlfriend.....

 

[TigerKat]

Oh no, sorry to hear you both were sick. You're off to a great start!! We've never been to the Plaza but have it planned for our "all new" trip.

 

[MagiKitty]

Your report so far is so amusing....I can't wait for more!

PS--whoever said it, I thought Edward Cullen was MY boyfriend....hmmm

 

[honeybee30]

Tuesday morning was sunny and warm. We were feeling good, and we were ready to ride Everest, so we headed over to AK.

It must be WDW because DGF is never this chipper at 8am!

For breakfast, we grabbed a couple of cappuccinos at the kiosk in front of AK, which we drank as we speed walked to EE. But lo and behold, EE was experiencing technical difficulties. Drats and double drats! So we got a couple of FPs and decided to hunt down some “real” food.

From the McDon of time, I can think of no better breakfast than French fries and Coke.

Here we are on our favorite bench. It’s kind of a tradition.

Don’t believe me? Here’s a picture from October:

These really are the best McDonalds French fries evah (as oybolshoi would say, hehe). Always hot and super salty. I’m not sure what the friendly folks at Petrifries do differently than the peeps at my local drive-thru. Maybe it’s the lush surroundings of AK or maybe they still fry in transfat!?

For lunch, we went to that counter service where all those poopy white birds hang out.

That’s right, Flame Tree Barbecue!

After waiting in line until the McEnd of time, we finally ordered a 1/2 Slab of St. Louis Ribs (served with baked beans and corn muffin), an order of onion rings or 2 (although I swear we only ordered 1…. ), and a Safari Amber.

The ribs were really good. Very flavorful and tender and not too fatty. I also liked their special sauce. The beans and corn muffin were really not good. The onion rings, on the other hand, were great. I’m an onion ring fiend and these made the long wait to order worthwhile. Perfect washed down with a cold beer.

If you walk far enough back, past the fountain where all the poopy white birds hang out, you can find some covered seating by the river. We had a nice view of Everest from where we ate.

Full from lunch we wandered around a while and eventually made our way over to Harambi. One of our favorite things to do at AK is to get a couple of drinks at the outdoor bar by Tusker House and watch the live entertainment.

Rum Runners, maybe…. I forget, but they were definitely fruity and rum-laden.

As we unassumingly sipped our cocktails and waited for the African drumming to start, we were approached by a CM. She wanted us to participate in the dance portion of the show. I said no way. Absolutely not. Uh-huh. But the CM wouldn’t give up, so I sold out DGF.

Isn't she a good sport!

This photo op was made possible by a generous contribution of Rum.

Parades also improved by the holistic properties of Rum.

Dinner time already! Where does the time go. Oh yeah, Rum... I really wanted to try Yak & Yeti, and since we were scheduled to be in the AK and we love Asian cuisine, I decided to make an ADR there for 5pm.

Some exterior shots:

The menu:

We checked-in with the hostess and were promptly seated in the first dining room. It seemed like we were the only people there, and I think they were ready to close. It was the last ADR of the evening, but at 5pm, I hardly think we should have felt rushed. The service wasn’t terrible or anything, but I was half expecting them to turn the lights out on us during dessert.

To start, we ordered some sake.

This sparkling sake is served cold. It is light, sweet, and refreshing. Yum.

And for an appetizer, we got the Dim Sum Basket, which includes pork pot stickers, shrimp siu mai, cha su bao, and pork sie mai, all steamed on a banana leaf, and served with soy lime dipping sauce.

This was pretty good. I particularly liked the shrimp and pork siu mai, which are the little dumplings at the top and bottom of the basket. The pot stickers weren’t bad either, but I’ve had better. I wasn’t a big fan of the cha su bao. This is the big white round thing on the left side of the basket. It is actually a type of roll stuffed with a barbecued pork filling. Sounds good, but too doughy.

We also had the Pork Egg Rolls with chili plum dipping sauce.

Also pretty good. Your standard Chinese take-out egg roll. We each had one, but with the dim sum, we started to get full, so we didn’t finish them. In the future, I’d probably just order the dim sum for the two of us.

For the main course, we shared an order of Tempura Shrimp, which was served with chili plum sauce, coconut-ginger rice, and stir fried vegetables. (Sorry for the blown-out picture!)

Once again pretty good. The tempura was a little salty, but the rice was very tasty, and it was nice to have some veggies with all the fried. None of the food here was phenomenal, but it was decent. We’re going to give Yak & Yeti another shot in August on the DxDP. Maybe at lunch we will get the full affect and not feel so rushed.

Since they started stacking the chairs up on the tables around us, we opted out of dessert, but we did get fortune cookies.
Mine said: A nice cake is waiting for you.

And you know what, it was!

Freakishly colored cheesecake from the Everything Pop! food court.

DGF thinks it looks and tastes like play-dough. Not that she’s ever eaten play-dough or anything. Not recently at least….

I think it’s pretty and tastes like tie-dye. It turned my tongue blue like all good cheesecake should.

 

[CoolDisneyKitten]

I always love your reviews! They crack me up.

And puh-leese. Hasn't everyone eaten play-doh? Ok, DBF claims he hasn't, but he's Welsh and weird and had never had an Oreo until last week.

My mom and I had the flu at WDW once. Not fun. I'm glad you guys were able to have a good time anyway! Looking forward to more reviews.

 

[John's Mom]

Excellent start to your food porn. I really enjoyed your last dining review. Anxiously waiting for more!

 

[KristinAnne]

I'm joining in on the food fun! Love the fries and Coke! I read that McDonalds is no longer going to be at Disney. Is it all of Disney I wonder? I hope your tradition isn't ruined!

 

[honeybee30]

Excellent start to your report. I really enjoyed your last one, so am looking forward to more. The Plaza looks great, those Mickey ice creams are so cute! And thanks for the lovely pics too, I actually got a pang when I saw the Walt Disney World entrance sign. Plus, of course, the Pop is my favourite resort.

Laur's

Thanks for joining me again! The Plaza and Pop Century are fun, aren’t they? They both just say Disney to me!

What? No Fava Beans??? Dr. Lecter would be so disappointed.

It's good to see another set of reviews from you - you're endlessly amusing and you always have good dining variety. I tried to post last night when you first started and was on the receiving end of one of those random and annoying messages about the boards suddenly being down for maintenance ... bah! So I went to bed and dreamed of food.

Looking forward to more, more, more!

The pleasure is all mine. I’m really enjoying your Vegas reviews on your blog, too!

(I do love a nice Chianti. Could give or take the fava beans, but I’ll definitely pass on the liver. I’m just having a little trouble typing out the sound effects… phft-phft-phft….)

Looking forward to more - loved your last one!!!

Thank you! Thank you!

Looking forward to more reviews. We have the Plaza booked for our August trip.

We’ll be there in August, too. I can’t wait!

I thoroughly enjoyed your last report, so I'm hopping on board for this one too!

Welcome back!

YAY! I loved your Oct report and cannot wait to get all up in this one!

Hi ya, MickeyNicki! I’m a big fan of your dining reviews, too.

Can't wait for more!! Hopping on!

Thanks for reading!

i just spent the last half hour reading your dining review from last trip...you are tres cool and have become one of my fave reviewers! i got really sad at the end of this page because i thought there was more to read! anyway...subbing!

ps...edward cullen is my boyfriend...

Awwww. Thanks! There will be more, I promise.

We will be at WDW on August 2nd and I’m so going to the Virgin Mega-Store in DTD first thing in the morning for my copy of Breaking Dawn! And I just read that the movie comes out on Dec. 12th. Yippee! What do you think of the actor who is playing Edward?

I'm sooooooo excited about this review!!!!!!! Bring it on girlfriend.....

Thanks for encouraging me to do it! The procrastinatory powers are strong in this one.

Your report so far is so amusing....I can't wait for more!

PS--whoever said it, I thought Edward Cullen was MY boyfriend....hmmm

Uh-oh! Cat fight! I hope there’s enough Edward to go around!