Foodies visiting Disney for 1st time

[portmaster1000]

My wife and I are absolute foodies and love to have unique dining experiences. We are headed to WDW at the end of October and want to get the most out of our restaurant choices. We have taken suggestions from friends and combed thru many, many menus to come up with this list. We also want to hit as many Signature restaurants as possible as we're on the DxDDP.

Here's our lunch/breakfast and dinner ADRs

10/22/2011...Le Cellier Steakhouse.....Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater
10/23/2011...Sanna.........................California Grill
10/24/2011...Biergarten Restaurant.....Yachtsman Steakhouse
10/25/2011...Whispering Canyon Café..Narcoossee's
10/26/2011...Boma - Flavors of Africa..Jiko
10/27/2011...Yak and Yeti.................Brown Derby
10/28/2011...Rose & Crown Pub

Le Cellier, Sci-Fi, Sanna, California Grill, Boma, Jiko, Yak and Yeti, and Brown Derby are set in stone. We definitely want to visit them. The others are our best guesses.

I'd love more suggestions on unique restaurants from other foodies!

thanx
Mark

 

[tony67]

Although I have not been in two years I would recommend Kouzzina and Kona Cafe.

At Kouzzina the whole fish is one of the few bright spots in Disney dinning for me.
I also have never had a bad meal at Kona Cafe.

Also there are some really good quick service locations, for example Starring Roles in the studios and Sunshine Seasons in Epcot.

Also keep your snacks credits for the food and wine festival - that is the best place to use them IMO.

Off of the DDP I highly recommend Blue Zoo in the Dolphin just outside of Epoct and the appetizers at la cava Tequila are very good (as well as the margaritas).

I would also avoid any of the buffets other than Biergarten.

As for things that look interesting I really want to try the Grand Floridan Cafe (breakfast and Diner) and the new location outside of Mexico.

 

[portmaster1000]

Thanks for the response. We're definitely looking forward to snacking around the world in Epcot!

 

[Belle5]

Your dining list is comprised of a lot of places my family enjoys. However, be advised, we are NOT foodies. The real "foodies" on this board dine at places like: V&A, Blue Zoo, California Grill, Artist Point, Flying Fish, etc... Many of them would not be caught dead dining in several of the places you've listed. You have chosen nice restaurants for the average WDW guest (I am a member of that club). If you really are a true foodie...you may want to reconsider your list.

 

[portmaster1000]

Your dining list is comprised of a lot of places my family enjoys. However, be advised, we are NOT foodies. The real "foodies" on this board dine at places like: V&A, Blue Zoo, California Grill, Artist Point, Flying Fish, etc... Many of them would not be caught dead dining in several of the places you've listed. You have chosen nice restaurants for the average WDW guest (I am a member of that club). If you really are a true foodie...you may want to reconsider your list.

If we were paying OOP I would probably choose V&A and Blue Zoo or other non-DDP places. However, I also want to maximize the DxDDP investment so we limited ourselves to those restaurants. Artist Point and Flying Fish were both on the list at one point. We'll look back over the menus and reconsider.

Some places, Whispering Canyon, Sci-Fi, Rose & Crown, Cali Grill, and Brown Derby, were recommendations from close friends. I want to try some of the places they enjoyed. We love Indian food so Sanna and Jiko made the list. The other ones came from pics we saw of meals that others have posted that made our mouth water, so to speak.

Thanks for your comments. They were exactly what I was looking for.
Mark

 

[Belle5]

We absolutely love Sanaa and are dining there for the third year in a row on our upcoming trip. WCC is another place we will be dining, though it has been several years. The only reason we are dining there is because our "neglected" youngest son has zero memories of character meals or "fun" dining venues that his older brothers experienced. His many experiences with Disney dining have all been more adult oriented...so we are going to put up with the silly, loud, annoying antics and sub par food at WCC one more time just so he can experience some of the silly things that we have experienced before his time. Sci-Fi Dine In was something we repeated this past year because it fit the fun factor for our youngest sons. As their older brothers before them,they did not care for it. DH REALLY disliked it, once again...but we had really horrid service and marginal food. It is certainly NOT a place for food...It is a place for a burger and a shake (and really bad service) and a unique experience that you would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Oh, NEVER, EVER would I waste dining credits at Sci-Fi...it is strictly an OOP place, IMO!!!!! Jiko is a place we have dined many times...more than any other signature restaurant. It is not Indian food...it is African inspired cuisine. We enjoy it, for the most part and certainly you will experience food there that you will not find anywhere else. It's very unique. I definitely think it should stay on your list! It is just so difficult for me to imagine Brown Derby at signature status. It did not used to be...So hard for me to imagine throwing away two credits there...We've dined there at least a half dozen times for park convenience only. I would personally only dine there when paying OOP. Rose and Crown falls under the slightly unique experience category...certainly not known for "foodie" food. Been there more times than I can count. Cali Grill is great for foodies. We have it booked again for our upcoming trip. Yak and Yeti is not so fondly known by many on these boards as Yuck and Yeti. I concur. However, some actually like it. Anyone would agree it is not "foodie" food. Most of the foodies will not eat at Boma, but we love it...almost never miss it. Been there more than a dozen times. Very unique. Not fine dining...but lots of food you won't find anywhere else. Biergarten is fun. It is not foodie food by a long shot. Sauerkraut, herring salad, meats...just a German buffet. I think whether you're a foodie or not it is fun to experience once (we're not foodies so we've been way more than once). Le Cellier is loved by many--especially for the 1 credit lunch. Many have a problem with plopping down two credits there for dinner. My last meal there (this year) was beyond disappointing, but I've been there enough to know (that for this non-foodie) it can be good so we are booked there for lunch next visit. It is not a foodie's steak house. Using the dining plan only, the foodies would get their steak at Yachtsman or one of the other out-of-park signatures. Not on the DDP, they like Shula's...

 

[Phatoomch]

We are foodies too and have eaten around the world. This was our first trip to Disney and we were a bit worried about the food but were honestly blown away by it.

Keep that Brown Derby set in stone - it was amazing! We had two hours of luxury there If you book the Fantasmic Dining Experience you pick a starter, main and dessert (as opposed to just main & dessert) and every course was wonderful.

Sanaa was excellent too - a real flavor explosion and lovely surroundings.

Remember though, one persons idea of good food is not anothers - some taste buds have crazy ideas LOL. I think the best thing to do is pick your restaurants by their menu and what you enjoy.

For instance the Liberty Tree Tavern in MK has some terrible reviews and yet we liked it - hardly upscale but for good homestyle food the beef was to die for and the gravy & mash was gorgeous

Don't forget the bakery on Main Street for a treat

Enjoy your trip!