I don’t *like* food; I Love it – A Solo August 2015 Dining Report - 10/20 COMPLETE

[keahgirl8]

That's actually a really good description- gas station ice cream! I'm going to steal that and use it from now on

Right? I mean, I'm sure it's good...most ice cream is not gross or anything. I just feel like I could use the money and stomach room on something else! lol

 

[vettegirl]

Love PT 50s and their chicken is amazing!! I agree the PBJ shake is very thick. I tried one back in May and it was tasty. I have never tried a Mickey Bar, there are too many other treats out there for me other than that thing

 

[kastoney]

Your meal at 50s prime time looks great. Still kicking myself for missing it last trip as I was dying for some of that fried chicken.

And don't feel like your unAmerican ; ) or something for not liking the mickey bar. I'm with ya. Dole whip for me any day of the week.

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Love PT 50s and their chicken is amazing!! I agree the PBJ shake is very thick. I tried one back in May and it was tasty. I have never tried a Mickey Bar, there are too many other treats out there for me other than that thing

I'm not disappointed to have tried the Mickey Bar but it's definitely a one and done thing. The chicken on the other hand I could definitely go back for!

Your meal at 50s prime time looks great. Still kicking myself for missing it last trip as I was dying for some of that fried chicken.

And don't feel like your unAmerican ; ) or something for not liking the mickey bar. I'm with ya. Dole whip for me any day of the week.

Bummer that you missed out on the fried chicken last trip but from reading your DR you definitely made up for it with some of your other meals

I think people are either one side or the other when it comes to the Mickey Bar v Dole Whip - no liking both. Both sides will tell you theirs is the only good one but we all know that the Dole Whip side are the winners

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Golden Oak Outpost
Order: Brown Gravy and Cheese Waffle Fries

My last meal at Magic Kingdom ended up being my favourite quick service meal of the trip. I’d just visited my friends in the Tiki Room so I decided to look for lunch on that side of the park. I’d remembered reading about the Golden Oak Outpost in my preparations and decided to head on over to see if was open (apparently it’s only seasonally). Luckily for me it was open so I jumped in line and waited to place my order.

There was no need to even read the menu here as I knew what I’d be ordering – the Brown Gravy and Cheese Waffle Fries ($7.99+tax) and a giant cup of ice water (the joys of being in WDW in mid-August!). I hadn’t realised that they also came with a side of carrot sticks or apple slices so I went with the apple slices. I took a little while for the meal to be prepared (like 5 minutes)– which actually didn’t bother me too much this time as I knew it meant I would be getting fresh fries! Eventually they were ready so I took them over the seating area next to the counter and grabbed a seat right in the back corner which was thankfully shady and cool.



These were delicious – the fries were hot and crispy with a super fluffy interior. They had been properly salted as well which is always a plus. The gravy was delicious – mind you I love all gravy and could eat it by the tub full. The cheese curds were a nice way to cut through the richness of the gravy and added a nice textural contrast to the dish (crispy/fluffy fries and squeaky cheese is a great combo!). You have to eat these quickly though as the fries lose their crispiness quickly under the weight of all that gravy!





It was a great meal to wrap up my time in the parks and my time in Florida. I’d definitely go back for these and I’d love to try the other two flavours as well (BLT and Barbecue Pork).

Scorecard:
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Rating:
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[PixieDustandEeyore]

This is a Canadian dish called Poutine! Gravy fries and cheesecurds though usually with straight fries. I use gravy as a condiment on fries, meat, bread to sop it up. Very Canadian. Glad to see some of my commonwealth neighbours are also in love with gravy!! IVe been reading along and enjoying your reviews. Im a former castmember and Ive been missing the food and parks and enjoying your reviews!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

This is a Canadian dish called Poutine! Gravy fries and cheesecurds though usually with straight fries. I use gravy as a condiment on fries, meat, bread to sop it up. Very Canadian. Glad to see some of my commonwealth neighbours are also in love with gravy!! IVe been reading along and enjoying your reviews. Im a former castmember and Ive been missing the food and parks and enjoying your reviews!

I knew this was similar to Poutine but I haven't been lucky enough to try the real thing so I didn't want to make a comparison in case I was way off . And gravy must definitely be a Commonwealth thing - we had gravy flavoured crisps here last year and I thought they were amazing!

Thanks for reading along - I've only got one more Disney food left and then it will be over (that's me by the way - I'm not assuming that any readers will be crying when I'm done!). And how awesome that you're a former cast member - if I had known about the DCP when I was back at university I definitely would have been applying every year!

 

[PixieDustandEeyore]

I knew this was similar to Poutine but I haven't been lucky enough to try the real thing so I didn't want to make a comparison in case I was way off . And gravy must definitely be a Commonwealth thing - we had gravy flavoured crisps here last year and I thought they were amazing!

Thanks for reading along - I've only got one more Disney food left and then it will be over (that's me by the way - I'm not assuming that any readers will be crying when I'm done!). And how awesome that you're a former cast member - if I had known about the DCP when I was back at university I definitely would have been applying every year!

I didnt do it til after university didnt know it was an option for people not in the USA either~!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Everything Pop
Order: Apple Turnover

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After leaving the Magic Kingdom I made my way back to Pop Century to wait for the Magical Express back to the airport. I had about an hour before my bus was scheduled to depart so I decided to grab one last snack from the Everything Pop food court. ​

I checked out the bakery case and after deciding that I probably shouldn’t have a King Cupcake twice in one trip I decided on the apple turnover instead. I can’t remember the exact price but the apple turnover and a bottle of diet coke was around $8 I believe.



I took my turnover to one of the tables and sat down to enjoy my last few minutes in the Disney bubble. Unfortunately this was probably not the best food note to leave on. The turnover was 95 per cent pastry with just a smidgen of apple filling. The pastry was super crumbly so it went everywhere and it just overwhelmed all the flavour. The whole thing was also super sickly sweet. I ate a few bites but most of this ended up in the bin.



Even though I would never get this again it filled in enough time that when I went out to the bus stop half an hour early a bus was there and the driver told me I didn’t have to wait for the next bus because he had a spare seat. I decided to take him up on his offer rather than just sit around with my carry on being depressed at leaving Disney, so with that I boarded the bus back to MCO and reality.

Scorecard:
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Rating:
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[rlduvall]

I really enjoyed your reviews. I do an annual solo trip every December and love being able to eat and do things that the little family won't do. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

 

[ALEXandFAB]

Thanks so much for all your reviews

 

[samheatherwhite]

Great reviews, I love your grading system! Thanks for posting.

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

I really enjoyed your reviews. I do an annual solo trip every December and love being able to eat and do things that the little family won't do. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Thanks so much for all your reviews

Great reviews, I love your grading system! Thanks for posting.

Thanks all for the feedback - it's great to know people are actually finding this useful.

I still have one more post on my last two non-Disney days and then a wrap up/awards ceremony to close this thing out!

 

[Redwitch]

who actually enjoys maraschino cherries?

Me! I will gladly steal an maraschino cherry from any unprotected drink or dessert!

The chocolate on this is the awful waxy fake chocolate which melts immediately.

Thanks for your reviews, I enjoyed traveling along with you!

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Thanks for your reviews, I enjoyed traveling along with you!

Thank you! I love reading your mother/daughter reviews as well (Mikka's review of V&A has really made me want to go next trip!)

 

[SnowWhiteOz]

Post-WDW

Before I wrap up this dining report I’m going to do something similar to how I started this report and give you a quick overview of the last two days of dining on my trip.

Orlando Airport​

The first meal post Disney was while waiting for my plane to Los Angeles at Orlando Airport. I grabbed an early dinner at McDonalds with the hope that by the time I was done it would be almost time to head on over to the gate. I ordered the Artisan Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Fries and a Diet Coke. It was McDonalds so it wasn’t the world’s best sandwich by any means but it definitely filled a need and you can never go wrong with McDonalds fries.



Venice Beach

Nice Ice-cream
On my last full day in Los Angeles I decided to take a day trip down to the beaches as I’d never done that on any of my previous trips. After exploring Santa Monica Pier I walked down to Venice Beach.​

The day started off cool and overcast but by the time I’d made it to Venice Beach it was definitely heating up so of course that meant I had to stop for ice cream. As I was walking a cute little place called Nice Ice-cream caught my eye. I headed on in and ordered two scoops in a cup – peanut butter (of course, you’re saying, she had to get peanut butter) and a scoop of Pina Colada. The PB flavour was good but the Pina Colada was amazing. They were both very light and smooth and were delicious. I believe it was around $6 for the two scoops.





Venice Ale House
After walking the length of Venice Beach and back it was time for some lunch. After some quick googling on my phone I decided to try out the Venice Ale House as it had some great reviews. There were no outdoor tables and it would be a wait for an indoor table but they had seats available at the bar so I just went with that option. I ordered a local cider and a Turkey Burger. The cider was ok but didn’t have a lot of flavour. The turkey burger was tasty but really overcooked. That’s the problem with turkey burgers – it doesn’t take much for them to become dry. The little roasted potatoes on the side were good and the home made tomato sauce was probably the best part of the meal. Overall I thought this was average and for the price (which was about $30 including tax and tip) it probably should have been better.



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Los Angeles

Goldie’s
Dinner that night was back at my brother’s restaurant. I can’t tell you how much fun it is to just have the chefs trying to impress with you with all their favourites and to not have to order anything! Dishes we got that night included the roasted Brussels sprouts (yum!), roasted carrots with smoked yoghurt (delicious), fries with truffle aioli (these were Moorish, I kept telling myself I’d had enough but then I’d catch my hand sneaking some more), salt and pepper chicken and the oxtail pasta. We also finished the meal off with their signature dessert which is a giant cookie sandwich with apple caramel and vanilla ice cream. This was incredible and was so big that we easily shared it between four people.



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[SnowWhiteOz]

DLTA Cheese
On my last day in America I headed on in to Downtown LA and made my way to the Grand Central Market for a late breakfast/early lunch. After doing a lap and checking out all the amazing options I decided to grab a cheese toastie from DLTA. Oh my goodness this was incredible. There was so much cheese in this baby and it was all gooey and stringy and plain old delicious!



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McConnell’s Fine Ice-cream
After walking off the cheese toastie (well at least 10 calories of it) I had to grab an ice-cream on the way out. I’d read great things about McConnell’s so I got in line and ordered a small cup with the peach ice cream. This was incredible. It was so creamy and had the taste of a fresh peach – like what you’d get when you bite into one and the juice runs down your chin!





Pink’s
My brother took a late lunch break at around 3pm so we could spend a few more hours together before I had to head home. We drove around exploring LA and then he took me to a place that I’d mentioned in passing – Pink’s Hot Dogs. In case you weren’t aware Pinks is an institution in LA and my brother hadn’t tried it yet so we both got into the long line (apparently there is a line all day up until when they close at like 2am). It took about half an hour until we were able to order. I ordered their staple – the chilli cheese dog and my brother had the Philly cheese steak dog if I’m remembering correctly. I’m not a massive hot dog fan and I can’t say that this changed my mind. It was super rich and fatty and I only managed to eat about a third (well I’d probably had my fill of fat earlier in the morning with all the cheese!). My brother than dropped my off at the Trader Joes near his house so that he could get back to work and so that I could grab a jar of cookie butter to take home with me!



Los Angeles Airport

Umami Burger
After checking into my flight I headed off to grab a late dinner (it was around 9:00). I made my way into the food court at LAX to grab the last planned burger of my trip – Umami burger. I placed my order for the Hatch Burger which is served with roasted hatch chiles, house Cali cheese, roasted garlic aioli. I also ordered a side of the truffle fries. It took about 10 minutes for the food to be made and once it was ready I went off to find a table. The burger was delicious – it was super juicy and had the right amount of spice from the hatch chiles (I wouldn’t call it spicy though). The truffle fries were a poor choice on my part. It wasn’t that they weren’t tasty (they were) but they were just way too rich and I’d had super rich food all day.







Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand
It was finally time to board the plane back home and end this wonderful trip. I was super tired so for the first time ever I actually slept on a plane – I even told the stewards not to wake me for any meals as I was that exhausted. I managed to get almost 7 hours sleep. By the time I woke up we have about 3 hours left of flight time to Auckland. I managed to watch one more film and then they fed us a breakfast (I’m not sure what the other meal was they served earlier in the flight). This was baked beans, roast potatoes and spinach. I’m not a fan of beans so I ate the potatoes and spinach and the side of fruit that came with the meal.



After changing planes I was then on my final flight. As it was still early we were served another breakfast. Again it was baked beans for the vegan option this time served with onion potatoes and mushrooms in tomato sauce. I didn’t really eat any of this as I just wasn’t hungry any more.



Sydney Airport​

After arriving back in Sydney and doing all the usual things (customs/immigration etc) I still had over an hour before my bus back to Canberra. By then it was lunch time so I headed off to grab a quick bite to eat at Nandos – I grabbed my usual chicken wrap with extra hot sauce and then headed out to the bus stop to wait for the second last leg of my journey home. And this is when the weather change hit me (I’d already changed back into my winter clothes) – it was freezing and miserable and definitely reminded me that I was no longer in Florida L.

And with that the food journey is over. Coming up next will be my wrap up and the awarding of the prestigious SnowWhiteOz food awards.​

 

[Redwitch]

I love reading your mother/daughter reviews as well (Mikka's review of V&A has really made me want to go next trip!)

And thank you! V&A is something you should try once! And now, I want to go to your brother's place. But it will probably be years and I'll be in a wheelchair before I get back to LA.

 

[Elevationist]

I'm SOOOOO LATE!!!! But I'm all caught up! I love reading solo reports, and I love food, so solo dining reports are always most interesting to me! I just love the way you did a score card for each place... How efficient! It sounds like a delicious trip. Now I'm off to start trying to catch up on your TR for this trip, as well as your PTR for the next one!

 

[vettegirl]

Thanks again for the wonderful reporting and sharing your experiences in LA.