So we just got back from a trip with 8 people, and we had some of the best Disney dining experiences ever! We ate everything from hot dogs to kobe beef, and everything in between, and it was all great! Just FYI, we are a late 20s married couple from NJ who enjoy nice dinners and are Disney lovers. We get engaged in Disney, honeymooned there, and have been there a total of 5 times in 9 years. We were there for a family and friends trip, which is why some meals have many items, and some only have two.
Day 1: Sushi at Sunshine Seasons - Good as far as premade sushi goes, we had all the varieties as well as some sweet and sour chicken. Good for a cheap and quick meal.
Day 2: Universal - Pat O'Brien's had some pretty good food, but even better drinks!
Day 3: Here's where all of the eating gets good. We had breakfast in our room, and got a cup of coffee at the stand by Universe of Energy. Pretty good joe. Lunch was at Le Cellier, and it was tremendous. We had the cheese and beer soup, delicious, and then we had the filet over risotto, the strip steak with yukon gold potatoes, and the sliced prime rib sandwich. All were amazing, and we had the maple syrup crème brulee for dessert. A little sweet, but a great meal. We then proceeded to do beers around the world, which was a whole lot of fun. We had Labatt Light in Canada, Harp in England, a Grey Goose Citrus and Grand Marnier Orange Slush in France, a daiquiri slush in Morocco, sake in Japan (a really good sweet sake, $10 a glass), Rose Regale in Italy (a really good sparkling red wine), Sam Adams in the USA, Riesling in Germany, a beer at the Outpost, plum wine in China (which was really good and sweet), Carlsberg in Norway, and finally, a three-layered frozen margarita in Mexico. We also ate counter service dinner in Mexico, which was pretty good. The nachos were decent, and the combo platter was good as well.
Day 4: MGM - We only ate 2 meals here. Lunch was at the Brown Derby, part of the lunch with an imagineer, and the meal was terribly disappointing. The mushroom bisque was the highlight of the meal. The steak was horrible, fatty and overcooked. My wife had the halibut and said that it was pretty good. We ate at the commissary for dinner, and the cuban sandwich was actually decent for counter service.
Day 5: Animal Kingdom - We ate lunch at Yak & Yeti take out, and the food was good, but the wait was 25 minutes at the counter. The Kung Pao Beef was pretty spicy, but the egg rolls were really good, and the rice was good as well.
Jiko - Amazing as always! We had ostrich schnitzel, lamb, kenyan chicken flatbreads, and the seared tuna as appetizers. For entrees, we had the filet, short ribs, pork tenderloin, a salad, and something else. Dessert was the lemon curd, year of a million dreams special, pistachio crème brulee, no sugar added allspice cake, and lots of coffee drinks. This is our favorite restaurant in the world!
Day 6: Magic Kingdom - Nothing fancy here, just Casey's Corner for some hot dogs and fries (their chili is surprisingly good on the fries), and some turkey legs for dinner.
Day 7: Mixed Day - Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch, which is a great deal, maybe the best deal in WDW. BBQ Beef focchia wrap, tortilla soup, chicken quesadilla, creme brulee, chicken pesto wrap, margherita pizza, bbq chicken salad. All were fabulous! We went back the next night for dinner, because lunch was so good!
Victoria and Albert's - what to say! It probably cost us as much as all of our other meals combined, but was the classiest meal we've ever had, and we have been to some of the big name restaurants in Manhattan. Out first course was a lobster medallion topped with crab foam and lobster bisque, both exceptional. For the second course, I had the peeky-toe and jumbo lump crab salad with asparagus salad, and my wife had the duck with beet salad. My wife does not like duck or beets, and loved this dish. We both had the Minnesota Elk with braised red cabbage and mustard spaetzle for our next course, and what a dish that was! Both of us absolutely loved this one! I had the sumac-crusted seared tuna with baby bok choy next, and my wife had the salmon with saffron foam. The salmon was better than the tuna. I paid the extra $30 and had the Australian Kobe tenderloin, which was the most incredible piece of meat that I have ever had. It was served with kobe short rib mashed potatoes and some vegetables. My wife had the lamb tenderloin wrapped in rainbow swiss chard and phyllo dough, and really enjoyed this dish. I had the cheese dish next, which had some stilton, a fruit and nut slice, some triple-cream brie, a Spanish goats milk cheese, a burgundy-poached pear, and Belgian endive with toasted and spiced walnuts. All were absolutely delicious, especially the brie! My wife had the white chocolate gelato, which she loved. I then had the Grand Marnier soufflé, while my wife had the triple-chocolate dessert. Both were delicious. There was then a trio of candies brought to our table – a lemon shortbread cookie, an apricot and passion fruit jelly, and a caramel filled dark chocolate topped with some kind of Brazilian salt. The dinner was absolutely fabulous. Pictures and wine pairings will be up tonight.
Day 8: Breakfast was the character breakfast at O'Hana, and I must say, we were disappointed. It took out server almost 15 minutes to even ask if we wanted coffee, and then only gave it to half of us. The food was okay, nothing special. The characters wrer out for about 5 minutes. We felt rushed and will not be going back there again. Lunch was at Typhoon Lagoon, pulled pork sandwich and chicken caesar wrap, both okay. We went back to WP Express that night for dinner, due to the fact that our first choice, Raglan Road, had a 1.5 hour wait. Good as usual, the rotisserie chicken was very moist, and the pizza was again good.
I was very impressed with the wines at Jiko, we had a cab and a sweet bukketraube (sp?) and both were excellent, complementing the dishes very well. That’s it for this review, now planning our next trip with more firsts, hopefully Flying Fish and others!!!
Day 1: Sushi at Sunshine Seasons - Good as far as premade sushi goes, we had all the varieties as well as some sweet and sour chicken. Good for a cheap and quick meal.
Day 2: Universal - Pat O'Brien's had some pretty good food, but even better drinks!
Day 3: Here's where all of the eating gets good. We had breakfast in our room, and got a cup of coffee at the stand by Universe of Energy. Pretty good joe. Lunch was at Le Cellier, and it was tremendous. We had the cheese and beer soup, delicious, and then we had the filet over risotto, the strip steak with yukon gold potatoes, and the sliced prime rib sandwich. All were amazing, and we had the maple syrup crème brulee for dessert. A little sweet, but a great meal. We then proceeded to do beers around the world, which was a whole lot of fun. We had Labatt Light in Canada, Harp in England, a Grey Goose Citrus and Grand Marnier Orange Slush in France, a daiquiri slush in Morocco, sake in Japan (a really good sweet sake, $10 a glass), Rose Regale in Italy (a really good sparkling red wine), Sam Adams in the USA, Riesling in Germany, a beer at the Outpost, plum wine in China (which was really good and sweet), Carlsberg in Norway, and finally, a three-layered frozen margarita in Mexico. We also ate counter service dinner in Mexico, which was pretty good. The nachos were decent, and the combo platter was good as well.
Day 4: MGM - We only ate 2 meals here. Lunch was at the Brown Derby, part of the lunch with an imagineer, and the meal was terribly disappointing. The mushroom bisque was the highlight of the meal. The steak was horrible, fatty and overcooked. My wife had the halibut and said that it was pretty good. We ate at the commissary for dinner, and the cuban sandwich was actually decent for counter service.
Day 5: Animal Kingdom - We ate lunch at Yak & Yeti take out, and the food was good, but the wait was 25 minutes at the counter. The Kung Pao Beef was pretty spicy, but the egg rolls were really good, and the rice was good as well.
Jiko - Amazing as always! We had ostrich schnitzel, lamb, kenyan chicken flatbreads, and the seared tuna as appetizers. For entrees, we had the filet, short ribs, pork tenderloin, a salad, and something else. Dessert was the lemon curd, year of a million dreams special, pistachio crème brulee, no sugar added allspice cake, and lots of coffee drinks. This is our favorite restaurant in the world!
Day 6: Magic Kingdom - Nothing fancy here, just Casey's Corner for some hot dogs and fries (their chili is surprisingly good on the fries), and some turkey legs for dinner.
Day 7: Mixed Day - Wolfgang Puck Express for lunch, which is a great deal, maybe the best deal in WDW. BBQ Beef focchia wrap, tortilla soup, chicken quesadilla, creme brulee, chicken pesto wrap, margherita pizza, bbq chicken salad. All were fabulous! We went back the next night for dinner, because lunch was so good!
Victoria and Albert's - what to say! It probably cost us as much as all of our other meals combined, but was the classiest meal we've ever had, and we have been to some of the big name restaurants in Manhattan. Out first course was a lobster medallion topped with crab foam and lobster bisque, both exceptional. For the second course, I had the peeky-toe and jumbo lump crab salad with asparagus salad, and my wife had the duck with beet salad. My wife does not like duck or beets, and loved this dish. We both had the Minnesota Elk with braised red cabbage and mustard spaetzle for our next course, and what a dish that was! Both of us absolutely loved this one! I had the sumac-crusted seared tuna with baby bok choy next, and my wife had the salmon with saffron foam. The salmon was better than the tuna. I paid the extra $30 and had the Australian Kobe tenderloin, which was the most incredible piece of meat that I have ever had. It was served with kobe short rib mashed potatoes and some vegetables. My wife had the lamb tenderloin wrapped in rainbow swiss chard and phyllo dough, and really enjoyed this dish. I had the cheese dish next, which had some stilton, a fruit and nut slice, some triple-cream brie, a Spanish goats milk cheese, a burgundy-poached pear, and Belgian endive with toasted and spiced walnuts. All were absolutely delicious, especially the brie! My wife had the white chocolate gelato, which she loved. I then had the Grand Marnier soufflé, while my wife had the triple-chocolate dessert. Both were delicious. There was then a trio of candies brought to our table – a lemon shortbread cookie, an apricot and passion fruit jelly, and a caramel filled dark chocolate topped with some kind of Brazilian salt. The dinner was absolutely fabulous. Pictures and wine pairings will be up tonight.
Day 8: Breakfast was the character breakfast at O'Hana, and I must say, we were disappointed. It took out server almost 15 minutes to even ask if we wanted coffee, and then only gave it to half of us. The food was okay, nothing special. The characters wrer out for about 5 minutes. We felt rushed and will not be going back there again. Lunch was at Typhoon Lagoon, pulled pork sandwich and chicken caesar wrap, both okay. We went back to WP Express that night for dinner, due to the fact that our first choice, Raglan Road, had a 1.5 hour wait. Good as usual, the rotisserie chicken was very moist, and the pizza was again good.
I was very impressed with the wines at Jiko, we had a cab and a sweet bukketraube (sp?) and both were excellent, complementing the dishes very well. That’s it for this review, now planning our next trip with more firsts, hopefully Flying Fish and others!!!
excellent 
