Is It Wrong That We Get Most Excited About the Food!?! W/ PICS COMPLETED!!!

[Prinny27]

Hey all! Like the title says, DH and I get most excited about the food we're going to eat on our Disney trips. Is that terrible? Back in February we had just gotten back from a quick weekend to the World, and weren't planning on going back until October, but after a few weeks I started to get a little cranky thinking I'd have to wait so long, so DH suggested we go for the 4th of July weekend love: ). At first I laughed, because as any good Diser knows, 4th of July is one of the busiest times of the year! Not to mention how hot and humid it is... but after a day or two (okay, an hour!) my need to get back to Disney ASAP overruled any logic my brain was trying to convey, and we booked our trip!

We were there July 3rd through July 6th, and had a GREAT time. I'm already planning on being there for next July 4th! This trip we tried several 'new to us' restaurants, and were really excited for them. Also, we were NOT on the DDP, but did use the Disney Dining Experience. In addition to DH and myself, we were joined several times by our two friends, Mr. & Mrs. Tom Morrow. "Mrs. Morrow" will be stopping by to give her reviews of our meals, too!

Here are the restaurants I will review:
*O'Hanas dinner Page 1
*Crystal Palace breakfast Page 3
*Plaza Restaurant lunch Page 4
*Narcoossee's dinner Page 5
*Market Street breakfast (CBR food court) Page 6
*Biergarten lunch Page 6
*Wolfgang Puck Express dinner Page 8
*Kona Cafe breakfast Page 9
*Sci-Fi Dine In lunch Page 9
*a couple of snacks tossed in along the way

Yup... that's right. Three nights and we ate all that. Told you we loved food! Coming up... 'Ohana!

 

[Terk-1]

Am looking forward to your reviews & pictures, especially Narcoossee's, as I am trying this for the first time on my upcoming trip.

 

[Dizneydaz]

Sounds good-let's get the party started! ( I love Narcoossee's)

 

[danalee]

a girl after my own heart!

 

[kelleigh1]

Can't wait to see and hear about your whirlwind food tour.

 

[Prinny27]

We arrived at Caribbean Beach Resort around 12:30 on the 3rd and went over to the Banana Cabana Pool Bar, which was open despite the pool construction. After spending an hour or two relaxing there, we headed to the Dolphin Resort to return our rental car. After that we chose to walk to Epcot and have a drink or two (I have to have my Strongbow Cider when I get to WDW!). After a few hours at Epcot we started to get hungry, so even though our ADR's were not until 8:45 (we were planning on not getting to WDW until 6ish when we originally made the ADR in March, and then couldn't change the time when our plans changed) we decided to take the Monorail to the TTC and walk to the Polynesian in hopes of getting in early.

We put our names in and were told that they would try their best to get us in early, but they were really busy and it could take up to our actual ADR time before we were seated. Totally understandable. So we sat in the Tambu Lounge, ordered some drinks and DH ran to Samoa (the store across from 'Ohana) to grab me some cashews so my blood sugar didn't dip too low. We waited a little over an hour before we were seated and then our server Tiffany came over to take our drink order. I have to say right up front that this was the longest dinner EVER. There are a lot of reports on here about people being rushed at 'Ohana, but that was not the case for us. It took us well over two hours from the time we were seated until we paid our bill - which is fine if I'm going for a gourmet dinner, NOT for 'Ohana when all I want to do is get to the Magic Kingdom for the evening. It was bordering on being ignored, which was very frustrating.

First came out the salad and the dipping sauces:

The green is the chimichurri sauce, which to me tasted like grass. Then at the bottom is the peanut sauce, which was DH's favorite. I liked this one, too, and it had a nutty taste only at the finish. The final, reddish sauce is the sweet and sour sauce. This one was good, too, basically the same as you could find at your local Chinese restaurant, but not as thick and very runny. The salad was really great - it comes with a honey-lime dressing, but it was definitely more 'honey' than 'lime' because it tasted very sweet. Definitely a refreshing salad, and different than you'd have out at most places.

After awhile out came the 'Ohana Welcome Bread, which had pineapples in it.

This is served warm, although we were not brought any butter with it. That actually turned out to be just fine, as the bread was not dry at all and had a faintly sweet taste to it. Nice and soft inside, crunchy out!

Next came our appetizers:

The bowl of white rice was a substitue for the stir-fried vegetables you normally get with the meal. I am allergic to broccoli, and since that's all the vegetables are, I had to pass. But the manager came out and offered to run next door to Kona Cafe to grab us some white rice. It was really nice of them, and the rice was good - I only had a few bites, though, because it's white rice. I can eat that anywhere - I was more interested in the other goodies in front of me!

DH said the wings were very good and tangy, very to the point. I don't know. You'll see his other reviews - they're one word answers for the most part and we're lucky if we can decipher what they mean! I didn't try any of the wings, though, because I am a freak and don't like to get 'dirty' while I'm eating - I avoid ribs for that reason, too. But he ate most of that bowl, so they must've been good.

Potstickers - they were really crisp on the outside, and hard to cut. I am used to the soft ones they have at Chinese restaurants, so this was different for me, but they were good although not particularly memorable. It looked like pork and spinach on the inside, but I couldn't be sure.

Noodles - I was most excited about these. Now, I know most people are upset with 'Ohana for getting rid of the potatoes, and I had liked those too, but I love noodles so this was what I was looking forward to most with the dinner. They were definitely good, but not as great as I'd hoped they'd be. Oh well. The reason is that they were in more of a teriyaki-type sauce so they were just too sweet. If they had done them in a soy sauce, they would have been excellent.

Now, I have no idea why, but I didn't get pictures of ANY of the meats that came off the skewers. I can only guess it's cause by this point our meal had been over an hour and a half and it wasn't showing ANY signs of ending. But I can say that we had eaten here once before and weren't impressed, but had seen a recent picture from someone here on the Dis of an incredibly juicy steak dripping with butter that made it look like 'Ohana had really turned around, so we booked an ADR to see. Well, my steak didn't look ANYTHING like that picture! It had WAY too much garlic and was still as dry as anything, but it was a tiny bit better than the last time we had eaten here three years ago. The only thing I remember about the turkey was that it was so dry I could only eat one bite. DH had the pork and shrimp, neither of which I had. He said the pork was good but doesn't know how to say what it tasted like, and that he didn't like the shrimp at all. I did think they smelled really good, though, like from a hibachi restaurant.

Dessert: Bread Pudding a la Mode w/ Bananas Foster Sauce

At this point, I was *so* annoyed to still be sitting at our table and not on our way, that I wasn't in the mood for dessert. But the last time we had eaten at 'Ohana the dessert was the most amazing thing ANYWHERE, so I knew I had to try it. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as good as it was last time. The sauce wasn't even warm, which is the whole appeal of the dessert, 'cause then it melts the ice cream all over the pudding. Instead, it was just a cold, soggy mess. I only ate two bites and gave the rest to my DH, who rarely dislikes any type of food. He finished off most of it and said it was 'good'.

In summary, really slow service, but the salad and bread and appetizers were good. Main course and dessert - not so good. I don't think we'll be eating here anytime soon, but you never know in a few years or if they change their menu!

The total for two adults came to $73.26 after the DDE discount and our gratuity.

 

[pumba]

Good grief........I GET EXCITED about the food.......When I was doing Tuesday night chats a few years back, I dont know why but every chat ended up talking about FOOD in Disney......gotta love it.....

I can hardly wait for our return trip too....we were there in may and hubby said....OH CHEAP air........and we jumped on another visit in September....I am so anxious now....

thanks for your post

 

[Prinny27]

Good grief........I GET EXCITED about the food.......When I was doing Tuesday night chats a few years back, I dont know why but every chat ended up talking about FOOD in Disney......gotta love it.....

I can hardly wait for our return trip too....we were there in may and hubby said....OH CHEAP air........and we jumped on another visit in September....I am so anxious now....

thanks for your post

I get most excited about the food, too! In fact, my favorite part of planning the trips are looking at the menus and deciding all the fabulous things I'm going to eat.

Am looking forward to your reviews & pictures, especially Narcoossee's, as I am trying this for the first time on my upcoming trip.

You won't be disappointed! This was our first time there, and it was just great.

Sounds good-let's get the party started! ( I love Narcoossee's)

Thanks for reading - and now I love Narcoossee's too!

a girl after my own heart!

Hope you like the reviews!

Can't wait to see and hear about your whirlwind food tour.

Thanks, hope you like it!

 

[Prinny27]

After our epic dinner at 'Ohana we headed to the MK to meet up with the Morrows where they were watching the July 4th fireworks a day early. We were seeing them on the actual 4th so we bypassed the crowds and headed to Frontierland. After we all met up and did some rides (BTMRR at night is SO much better!) we headed to Tomorrowland for some snacks.

I have been raving about the Sweet Cream Cheese pretzels from the Lunching Pad, so Mrs. Morrow wanted to try one.

As good as always! I just love these things - crunchy on the outside, warm and soft and sweet on the inside. Although, Mr. Morrow said it was too much like a pastry and not enough like a pretzel, so he only had a bite. More for us!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Great start. We've only been to 'Ohana once for dinner. I think it was Sept. 2005 (if not it was Jan. 05) We too thought the meats were all dry and overcooked. Our fav. part was the starters. Also we were seated at a table for 8 and with our group only being 3 and no one else being seated with us it wasn't very fun. And our table was way in the back by the entrance so be the time DD (then 6) got up to join the games, they were almost over. We won't be back for dinner.

We did 'Ohana for breakfast for the first time last Sept. and it was good-we're going back again this Sept. for our last meal on our last day-it's become our tradition to do a sit down breakfast on our last day.

That pretzel sounds good-I think I'll have to use a SC on one!

 

[Evan&Kimberly]

Bring It On, Great review's so far!!

 

[quixoticvalue]

An awesome start! I am sorry about the slow service at 'Ohana. My dbf and I are going to try 'Ohana this September... so we'll see how long we are there!

And no, you are not a freak for not wanting to get dirty while eating. Dbf and I are the same way. Well, he is more awry of getting dirty since he will not touch anything with his hands (except fries, potato chips, sandwiches, and pizza). Anything else--if you cannot eat it with knife/spoon/fork, then it is no dice!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Yay Im in!

 

[iluvpluto27]

Great start, looking forward to more. And I'm another one who gets just as excited about the food as the parks. We have 28 ADRS booked for our next trip and I can't wait!

 

[catne]

subbing!

 

[lwilliam]

we also have calendar grids on where we are going to eat, what days.....
for us, it is all about Disney food, table service AND counter service. Your pictures of O'Hana look great - haven't been there in YEARS but have a reservation in two weeks....keep 'em coming!

 

[Ms.Tom-Morrow25]

Yay!! I love the report so far!! That pretzel was soooooooo yummy!! And I can see myself standing in the background!!!

 

[schmass]

Looking forward to more reviews! I'm especially curious about the Crystal Palace breakfast. I haven't been there in YEARS and will be there in 67 days!

 

[TigerKat]

All about the food here too!

 

[sandybobandy]

More please!!!!!!