Free Dining Sept 19-26 Dining Review with Pics!!

[labdogs42]

I should have done this sooner, but I'm finally getting around to doing my dining review from my trip back in September. I decided I needed to do this today, because I leave for my next Disney trip on Nov 1!!

Let's see, these places were new to us on our trip:

Yak & Yeti -- we ate lunch here. it was OK. The Wonton soup was fabulous,

but the rest of our food was mediocre and the service was very slow. I had the Chicken LoMein,

my mom had the Shaoxing Steak and Shrimp,

and my husband (Scott) had the Sweet and Sour Chicken.

My Lomein wasn't anything to write home about. It was pretty bland and I wouldn't order it again. My mom's entree looked really great, but she didn't like the cut of the skirt steak, she said it made the meat tough. Dh's Sweet & Sour chicken was nicely presented and very tasty. Our son had the kid's lo mein and he liked it.

For dessert, we had a mango pie which was surprising and delicious. We had no clue what to expect and it turned out that it was like key lime pie, only mango flavored! Very tasty. We also had the fried wonton dessert and it was fantastic! Too bad my three year old was totally burnt out on sitting in the restaurant by then because he and Scott missed out on dessert! Like I said, the service was really slow. I was so anxious to get out of there, I forgot to take pictures of our desserts. Sorry!

 

[HonnyDipp]

Everything looks good! Thanks for sharing!

 

[labdogs42]

Tusker House Breakfast -- Food was great, restaurant was OK (a little noisy), characters were fantastic,the buffet with the "stations" just doesn't work (IMO). Is it me or does the average American not understand the "station buffet" concept? Every time I encounter one of these buffets, be it at Disney World or someone's wedding, I cringe. I know what will happen. People will LINE UP at each station, they will not flit around to grab something here and taste something there. They just don't get it and it never works (at least I have never seen it work). I wish Disney would stop trying this concept and just go back to the old line up and get your food in turn program. Most of the stations had no line, but there was a huge line at the egg and waffle station when we got there. I could have zipped in and grabbed a waffle when the person at the front of the line was getting eggs, but I'm pretty sure the line behind them wouldn't have liked that (even thought that's how this type of "buffet" is supposed to work, right?). I had this problem at Boma before, too. They need to increase the number of stations that carry the preferred foods, or come up with a better way to explain the station concept to everyone, or just go back to a regular old buffet set up like Chef Mickey's or the old Donald's Breakfast. Sorry for the rant!

Great interaction with Goofy:

A rare shot of the buffet with no crazy lines (of course, this was AFTER I got all of my food!)

Kona Cafe -- Ate dinner here. Our appetizer and entrees were fantastic, dessert was good, but another sloooow server dampened the evening. We shared the sticky wings as our appetizer and they were as tasty as I had dreamed they would be. Loved them! I can't remember what my mom and aunt had here, but DH and I had the teriyaki NY Strip (per Mike Scopa's <of WDW Today> recommendation) and we were not disappointed.

It was delicious! I was really looking forward to my Kilauea Torte for dessert, but it was kind of disappointing. There wasn't much "lava" in mine and it was kind of dry (bummer).

My aunt LOVED her banana creme brulee.

and my DH got some crazy Kona cone with cotton candy on top (he knew I really wanted a picture of this thing, so he was kind enough to "take one for the team" and ordered this!

I would eat here again, but I won't rush back. Again, the service was painfully slow. Lucky for me, AJ fell asleep in his stroller on the way to dinner, so we had a nice, quiet adults-only dinner with him parked next to our table in the stroller! So, the slow service didn't affect him anyway! We did spot a family with two younger kids that toted their DVD players with them to dinner. Normally I would think this wouldn't be necessary, but I thought they were geniuses that might! The service was THAT slow.

 

[labdogs42]

Places we have eaten at before:
Liberty Tree Tavern -- we had dinner here on Sept 23 right before the Halloween party. The food was the same as always, plain but tasty (although I think Stouffer's has changed the mac & cheese recipe because none of us liked it this trip).

The characters were awesome and it was so cool that they were in their Halloween getups!

I'm so bummed that this was my last time eating there with the characters. I may not go back because I never went there for the food, if you KWIM!

 

[FirstMagic]

Enjoying the reviews! That picture of your son tackling his lo mein noodles is precious!

 

[onelilspark]

Places we have eaten at before:
Liberty Tree Tavern -- we had dinner here on Sept 23 right before the Halloween party. The food was the same as always, plain but tasty (although I think Stouffer's has changed the mac & cheese recipe because none of us liked it this trip).

I know what you mean!!! I swear Stouffer's has changed their recipe. Still one of my favorites, but the texture is different. Everyone else thinks I'm nuts!

 

[Jenquim]

I agree with you completely in regards to Liberty Tree, I will miss Minnie in her sweet Revolutionary costume!

 

[TigerKat]

I'm on board.....

 

[CanadianPaco]

Wonderful!

 

[Pumbaa_]

Love your Halloween shirts! Very cool