Day 0, Part 3 A not-so-lonely solo dinner!
So, dinner, and I was pretty excited about this one, since I was eating at Jiko, and everyone seems to love it!
When I checked in I told the hostess that I was ok eating at the Cooking Place, which is elevated kitchen at the center of the room where they make appetizers. This would end up being my view for dinner (also had a cool place setting).
I really appreciated how the hostess walked me around the rest of the restaurant to explain the decorations and how the lighting changes like an African sunset.
And my location was actually a great decision, as I ended up chatting a lot with the chef, so even though I was eating alone, it didn’t feel weird! We ended up chatting about anything and everything-Disney, the hurricane, food, even taxes and college tuition (there was a family at the end of the bar with a 5-yr old son and they also joined in). He also told me all about his favorite work experience when he did catering at the Contemporary during the year of a million dreams, so got to participate in a bunch of fun experiences (like serving dinner in the Haunted Mansion stretching room). I ended up tweeting out a Cast Compliment for him!
Some menu pics (hopefully you can read the writing, but let me know if you want a better photo uploaded):
I ended up starting with the Victoria Falls Mist [Van der Hum Tangerine Liqueur, Midori Melon Liqueur, Banana Liqueur, Citrus and Sprite]. It was very refreshing and not too alcoholic (I drink when I feel like it, but I don’t particularly love the taste of alcohol).
They also brought out the multi-grain rolls with some sort of special butter (but I don’t like butter, so I don’t remember what type)! Of course I was classy and just ate directly off the serving dish because I forgot I had a bread dish to the side!
For my entrée, I went with the Oak-Grilled Filet Mignon with Bobotie Mac N’ Cheese, Kachumbari, South African Red Wine Sauce.
It was very good, with the meat nice and tender and cooked to my liking (maybe it was a bit more red than pink, but I couldn't tell with the low lighting). The red wine sauce was also yum. I wasn’t as big a fan of the mac and cheese (the bobotie gave it a crunch and a spice, which isn’t to my liking), and I skipped the brussel sprouts.
I ended up also getting dessert, the Kilimanjaro [Tanzanian Chocolate Mousse, Pistachio Financier, Pink Peppercorn Meringue, Cacao Nib Crunch, Ras el Hanout Pineapples]
It was also good, though I think a bit too fancy for me! I’m not a pistachio fan, so thought I could just push the crumbles off to the side, but turns out there is a big piece of pistachio cake inside the chocolate mousse!
Overall my impressions on the restaurant - it was very good food, with lots of African flavors and a wonderful ambiance. Though nothing was so earth-shattering that I'm aching to get back there. I wouldn't be opposed to going back, but I think I have so many other places I want to try, it will move to the back burner.
Finished up and I was pretty stuffed. One thing I can say about eating alone, it doesn’t take forever! That whole meal ended up being 1 hr from entering restaurant to leaving which would be a typical length of time for my trip.
I made a quick detour over to the Mara to get some zebra domes for my room (maybe for breakfast, since I was too full from dinner).
Before heading back to my room I decided to check out the pool hours… 10am-8pm! So annoying that you can’t go in without a lifeguard, but the hours are so short!
Anyways, I got back up to my room around 9pm, which my body thought was around 6pm and still energized. My bags hadn't arrived, so couldn't unpack. And it felt like a waste to just watch TV! So...what to do?
Cont... anyone guess what I decided to do?
Love that you realized this!!
However we soon realized that if we took the staircase like RIGHT outside our room down one floor and hung an immediate left- we were AT that covered bus stop, instead of having to walk all the way to the lobby and put those doors. We were also very close to a door leading to a short cut to the pool, so we figured we won lol.
