imbe@aol.com
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 22, 2001
- Messages
- 371
Teppanyaki (Epcot, Japan) Lunch
For some strange reason, I have never had lunch here, only dinners which have always been really good ... well, so is lunch! And it's a really nice leisurely way to get cool and very full too! LOL
We all had the Shrimp appetizer first, which was good as usual. I also happen to love that ginger dressing on the salad - so much so in fact, that I don't even mind TOO much that it's served rather blah looking iceberg lettuce! LOL I seem to remember that a soup also used to be served with the meal, but perhaps that's only at dinner time? For the main course, the boys both had a Shrimp, Scallop & Lobster combo. That particular pairing isn't on the menu but they were happy to do it. I had the Tenderloin, and .. I ate every single piece of meat! LOL That's VERY rare for me, so you know it was good! Absolutely perfect, perhaps the best cut of, best tasting meat I had the whole trip. In fact, I think I ate EVERYTHING on my plate! Dave had the Steak & Lobster combo, and of course, finished all his as well. This is another consistently great spot that everyone should try!
Bistro (France, Epcot) Dinner
It's been a while since I last ate here, and when I was able to get a last minute ressie, I jumped at the chance!!
This is one amazing place to find in the middle of a park, let me tell you! I actually felt strange being there in shorts. Everyone else was too .. but still, this is SUCH a pretty place, waiters in tux .. just felt as if I should've been dressed better.
The service was outstanding here - but it always is downstairs too!! And PLEASE, those with children .. DON'T be put off from coming here because of the kids - the waiters were wonderful with them!!!
For appetizers, I had the Double Consomme of Chicken & Beef with Spring Veggies and a puff pastry crust. Nice choice for a hot day, since it was extremely light, yet flavorful. The pastry was baked over the top of the tureen, the way cheese would be over French Onion soup. Dave had a shrimp appetizer that was very good also (well .. I have to taste all this if I'm going to write about it right?
We also received a sampling of a chef's future special, which was a catfish & potato pate - sounds gross .. but even the kids loved it!! The boys had no appetizer, just dinner .. which for them was a fried orange roughy & fries .. basically, fish & chips! Dave had ... can you guess? LOL The filet, which came in a nice Cab sauce, with the dauphonoise potatoes. I had the special that night, a seared Sea Bass in a white wine cream sauce, with julienned veggies and saffron roasted potatoes ... OMG .. HEAVENLY!!! Despite all this food, I still wanted dessert! LOL .. actually, we all got the same thing -- the Thinly sliced apple tart with vanilla bean ice cream and that was a winner too!
Mara (AKL) Lunch
I'm not usually a huge fan of food court type food at the Disney hotels, but Mara is a WHOLE different story - they had some geniunely good offerings here!!! It's a big place, and is efficiently run too. There's a gal who takes your order, and she's standing kind of in the center of the food area, which is arranged in a half circle. They have a large selection of things too: Tandoori Chicken pizza (which I had and LOVED!!); burgers; fries; Caeser salads, plain & with grilled chicken; fish & chips; fried shrimp; hot dogs; soups, 2; Tabbouleh (sp?) wraps; tuna, chicken and egg salad; fresh fruits; garden salads; chef salads; cute little pb&j lunch boxes, packed with the sandwich, chips, candy for kids; Pasta Primavera; and a grilled chicken sandwich. And there are also various sodas, bottled drinks and coffee too.
Jiko (AKL) Dinner
I have to say that this place was probably THE best overall meal of this trip .. yes, EVEN over the Grill this time!! :::gasp::: LOL BUT the Grill will always be my personal favorite .. however, Jiko's gonna give it a STRONG run for it's money!!
First of all, this is one GORGEOUS restaurant!! Fabulous textures, combinations, colors, lighting, furnishings .. all combined to perfection!!
Our server was Ron .. and I am BAD with names, do NOT usually remember them, but that's how outstanding he was!! Absolutely the best server, best service, of any dining experience this trip.
For appetizers, we had: me, the Flatbread with the yogurt-curry cream, smoked bacon & onions topping. I wasn't thinking and should've asked them to hold the onions .. that's one of the VERY FEW things I don't like. But they were easy to get off, so it wasn't a big deal. This was one good, and unique!, pizza!! Ultra thin crust, and the rest of the flavors just blended together so well, so delicately! Dave had the Cinnamon Beef rolls with a fruit dipping sauce, and I loved those too! They were a lot of food though - two of them, about the size of eggrolls .. no way could I finish that appetizer and dinner & dessert too! LOL Evan & Alec just had fruit cups off the kids menu for their starters.
One very nice feature here is that since most people, myself included, aren't TOO familiar with South African wines, they seem pretty willing to let you sample them. I wanted to try a sparkling wine with my appetizer, and he brought out a choice of two. I ended up with the Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel, by Stellenbosch, '96 and liked it a lot. *A note here, that ALL of the types of wine were VERY reasonably priced, very! For dinner, I wanted a Merlot, then a Cab, so he brought out a number of choices of each of these too, and I got a Meerlust, Stellenbosch '95 Merlot (mmm!) and the best of the evening was the Meerlust 'Rubicon' (their version of a reserve) '96.
For dinner, it was tough choosing, because there are just so darned many fabulous things to eat here! LOL I ended up with Ron's recommendation of the Peanut crusted Rack of Lamb, served with veggies and mashed sweet potatoes and it was out of this world!!!!! Ate every bit of it! LOL Dave & Alec had the Oak Grilled Tenderloin over Mac & Cheese, both proclaiming it also the best steak of the trip. (and I tasted the mac & cheese .. omg!!! MMMM!!!!) Evan had .. are you READY for THIS? A GRILLED CHEESE!! LOLOL Ridiculous I know! But I was SO enjoying my food and didn't want a hassle, so I just let him get it. They say you have to pick your battles .. so I elected NOT to battle over this meal! LOL
For dessert, more tough choices!! .. and I was torn between the cardamon candies and the noodles with tea sauce .. Ron said to take the candies, definitely .. so I did. Well .. GOOOOOD choice! LOL hard to explain their taste .. they're a mix of bittersweet chocolate and a slightly lighter chocolate, wrapped in a teensy tiny little piece of phyllo that's baked crispy & made to look like a wrapped candy, then painted with a touch of white & dark chocolate. There were accompanying raspberry & vanilla sauces and all together? One incredible dessert!!!!!! Dave had the Chocolate & Vanilla creme brulee - I tasted this, and though I AM a creme brulee fan, I didn't like this one. Barely any 'crunchy' carmelized top to it .. though the fresh grd blk pepper on top was a neat taste, but I much preferred my own choice. This is a new, DO NOT miss it place!!
Judi
For some strange reason, I have never had lunch here, only dinners which have always been really good ... well, so is lunch! And it's a really nice leisurely way to get cool and very full too! LOL
We all had the Shrimp appetizer first, which was good as usual. I also happen to love that ginger dressing on the salad - so much so in fact, that I don't even mind TOO much that it's served rather blah looking iceberg lettuce! LOL I seem to remember that a soup also used to be served with the meal, but perhaps that's only at dinner time? For the main course, the boys both had a Shrimp, Scallop & Lobster combo. That particular pairing isn't on the menu but they were happy to do it. I had the Tenderloin, and .. I ate every single piece of meat! LOL That's VERY rare for me, so you know it was good! Absolutely perfect, perhaps the best cut of, best tasting meat I had the whole trip. In fact, I think I ate EVERYTHING on my plate! Dave had the Steak & Lobster combo, and of course, finished all his as well. This is another consistently great spot that everyone should try!
Bistro (France, Epcot) Dinner
It's been a while since I last ate here, and when I was able to get a last minute ressie, I jumped at the chance!!
This is one amazing place to find in the middle of a park, let me tell you! I actually felt strange being there in shorts. Everyone else was too .. but still, this is SUCH a pretty place, waiters in tux .. just felt as if I should've been dressed better.
The service was outstanding here - but it always is downstairs too!! And PLEASE, those with children .. DON'T be put off from coming here because of the kids - the waiters were wonderful with them!!!
For appetizers, I had the Double Consomme of Chicken & Beef with Spring Veggies and a puff pastry crust. Nice choice for a hot day, since it was extremely light, yet flavorful. The pastry was baked over the top of the tureen, the way cheese would be over French Onion soup. Dave had a shrimp appetizer that was very good also (well .. I have to taste all this if I'm going to write about it right?
We also received a sampling of a chef's future special, which was a catfish & potato pate - sounds gross .. but even the kids loved it!! The boys had no appetizer, just dinner .. which for them was a fried orange roughy & fries .. basically, fish & chips! Dave had ... can you guess? LOL The filet, which came in a nice Cab sauce, with the dauphonoise potatoes. I had the special that night, a seared Sea Bass in a white wine cream sauce, with julienned veggies and saffron roasted potatoes ... OMG .. HEAVENLY!!! Despite all this food, I still wanted dessert! LOL .. actually, we all got the same thing -- the Thinly sliced apple tart with vanilla bean ice cream and that was a winner too! Mara (AKL) Lunch
I'm not usually a huge fan of food court type food at the Disney hotels, but Mara is a WHOLE different story - they had some geniunely good offerings here!!! It's a big place, and is efficiently run too. There's a gal who takes your order, and she's standing kind of in the center of the food area, which is arranged in a half circle. They have a large selection of things too: Tandoori Chicken pizza (which I had and LOVED!!); burgers; fries; Caeser salads, plain & with grilled chicken; fish & chips; fried shrimp; hot dogs; soups, 2; Tabbouleh (sp?) wraps; tuna, chicken and egg salad; fresh fruits; garden salads; chef salads; cute little pb&j lunch boxes, packed with the sandwich, chips, candy for kids; Pasta Primavera; and a grilled chicken sandwich. And there are also various sodas, bottled drinks and coffee too.
Jiko (AKL) Dinner
I have to say that this place was probably THE best overall meal of this trip .. yes, EVEN over the Grill this time!! :::gasp::: LOL BUT the Grill will always be my personal favorite .. however, Jiko's gonna give it a STRONG run for it's money!!
First of all, this is one GORGEOUS restaurant!! Fabulous textures, combinations, colors, lighting, furnishings .. all combined to perfection!!
Our server was Ron .. and I am BAD with names, do NOT usually remember them, but that's how outstanding he was!! Absolutely the best server, best service, of any dining experience this trip.
For appetizers, we had: me, the Flatbread with the yogurt-curry cream, smoked bacon & onions topping. I wasn't thinking and should've asked them to hold the onions .. that's one of the VERY FEW things I don't like. But they were easy to get off, so it wasn't a big deal. This was one good, and unique!, pizza!! Ultra thin crust, and the rest of the flavors just blended together so well, so delicately! Dave had the Cinnamon Beef rolls with a fruit dipping sauce, and I loved those too! They were a lot of food though - two of them, about the size of eggrolls .. no way could I finish that appetizer and dinner & dessert too! LOL Evan & Alec just had fruit cups off the kids menu for their starters.
One very nice feature here is that since most people, myself included, aren't TOO familiar with South African wines, they seem pretty willing to let you sample them. I wanted to try a sparkling wine with my appetizer, and he brought out a choice of two. I ended up with the Simonsig Kaapse Vonkel, by Stellenbosch, '96 and liked it a lot. *A note here, that ALL of the types of wine were VERY reasonably priced, very! For dinner, I wanted a Merlot, then a Cab, so he brought out a number of choices of each of these too, and I got a Meerlust, Stellenbosch '95 Merlot (mmm!) and the best of the evening was the Meerlust 'Rubicon' (their version of a reserve) '96.
For dinner, it was tough choosing, because there are just so darned many fabulous things to eat here! LOL I ended up with Ron's recommendation of the Peanut crusted Rack of Lamb, served with veggies and mashed sweet potatoes and it was out of this world!!!!! Ate every bit of it! LOL Dave & Alec had the Oak Grilled Tenderloin over Mac & Cheese, both proclaiming it also the best steak of the trip. (and I tasted the mac & cheese .. omg!!! MMMM!!!!) Evan had .. are you READY for THIS? A GRILLED CHEESE!! LOLOL Ridiculous I know! But I was SO enjoying my food and didn't want a hassle, so I just let him get it. They say you have to pick your battles .. so I elected NOT to battle over this meal! LOL
For dessert, more tough choices!! .. and I was torn between the cardamon candies and the noodles with tea sauce .. Ron said to take the candies, definitely .. so I did. Well .. GOOOOOD choice! LOL hard to explain their taste .. they're a mix of bittersweet chocolate and a slightly lighter chocolate, wrapped in a teensy tiny little piece of phyllo that's baked crispy & made to look like a wrapped candy, then painted with a touch of white & dark chocolate. There were accompanying raspberry & vanilla sauces and all together? One incredible dessert!!!!!! Dave had the Chocolate & Vanilla creme brulee - I tasted this, and though I AM a creme brulee fan, I didn't like this one. Barely any 'crunchy' carmelized top to it .. though the fresh grd blk pepper on top was a neat taste, but I much preferred my own choice. This is a new, DO NOT miss it place!!
Judi
