It's Time To Eat Again?!? 10 days of free dining with pics! **COMPLETE!**

[KAC2005]

Great reviews! The photos are great!

 

[dsnygirl2006]

subscribing, this is great

 

[mom2my3kids]

Love your reviews..

 

[sherry8253]

Great reviews. Thanks for taking the time to post.

 

[always on vacation]

love your reviews

 

[familyS]

Thanks for taking the time to write the reviews .

I am so glad I have an ADR at Raglan Road next trip- that sounds and looks great!

 

[mickey2minnie1]

I am really enjoying your reviews. They are so helpful and enjoyable as well.

It looks like you had such a wonderful time! That in itself is awesome. I think I need a snack...

 

[wilma-bride]

Just finished reading the whole thing. Excellent reviews Keep them coming

 

[kelleigh1]

OMG!!! I don’t have enough superlatives to adequately describe this dish. The combination of all the flavors was incredible! The crispness of the greens, the subtle tang of the vinaigrette dressing, the creamy bite of the horseradish drizzle, the crunch of the fried onions along with the perfectly cooked, extremely tender beef all combined to create a dish that has to be tasted to be believed. I wish they served this as an entrée. Even though there are many wonderful choices on the menu, I would get this in a heartbeat, it’s that good!
Rating: 10/10

This looks fantastic!! We're not heading to Raglan Road on our upcoming trip, but now I almost wish we were. We did eat there last year but we weren't on the dining plan and didn't have appetizers.

 

[MrsB1228]

Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory & Pecos Bill's

This was supposed to be our Animal Kingdom morning, but the kids were both exhausted (being typical teenagers, consistently getting up early in the morning is not on the top of their list things to do while on holiday ) so they wanted another sleep-in morning. Frank and I were up and raring to go, so we decided to take a tour of some of the deluxe resorts and then visit the Magic Kingdom. While we were there, we decided to stop at Pecos Bill’s for lunch.

DH and I both ordered the Bacon Double Cheeseburger with Fries and the Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie Mousse for dessert.

This was good for what it was, a quick lunch so you can get back out into the park. I seem to remember the burgers being better other years though. It didn’t seem to be as juicy or as high quality as before, or maybe we were just there on an off day. Nothing was bad, it just wasn’t as enjoyable as before. The brownie was good, but very sweet and rich. I ended up scraping all the mousse off the top and even then could only eat about half. Frank enjoyed the brownie and polished it off.
Rating: 6 ½ /10
Would we return? It’s hard to say … if we were in the area and wanted a burger, probably, but I wouldn’t make a special trip.

When DD & DS finally decided to drag themselves out of bed they had lunch at the POFQ Food Court. Cheryl remembered her camera and took pictures of what they had. (sniff … I taught her well … I’m so proud! )

DD ordered a Hot Dog with Fries, a carton of Skim Milk and an Orange for dessert.

She loved this! She says the hot dogs from POFQ are always delicious and this was no exception. She was happy to discover that she could trade a baked item for fresh fruit for her dessert and thoroughly enjoyed her orange.
Rating: 9/10

DS ordered the Double Cheeseburger with Fries, Chocolate Milk and subbed his dessert for a bag of chips.

Neil really enjoyed this burger. He said it was juicy and very flavorful.
Rating: 9/10

Rose & Crown

When Frank and I returned to the resort, we rallied the troops and headed for Epcot. We had a 5:50 ADR at Rose and Crown. This was our first visit to this restaurant and we were looking forward to trying it.

We checked in at 5:30 and were given a beeper. It went off about 20 minutes later and they took us to our table … outside. It was still oppressively hot and muggy, and we were looking forward to some A/C so I asked if we could be moved to a table inside. They said it was fine but we’d have to wait until one opened up. About 10 minutes later, the beeper went off again and we were escorted into the lovely, cool interior. Ahhhh … bliss! This restaurant is very nice inside, I’ve never been in an English pub, but this fits what I imagine one would look like. It’s all warm colours and dark woods. There was a large group celebrating a birthday that night and they were really noisy! Our server was Vicky, who hailed from a suburb of London, and she was wonderful! She fully explained the DDP and what we could get with it. Basically everything on the menu was included, and we could order smoothies as our drink selection if we chose. DS and I decided to do that and ordered strawberry smoothies, which were delicious!

Along with our drinks, Vicky also brought a basket of warm rolls and butter.

For our appetizers, we ordered:

DD & DS: Potato and Leek Soup - roasted potatoes, cream and leeks

They both loved this soup. I tasted it and it was delcious. Very smooth and creamy. They both liked this soup a little better than the one at Raglan Road, though it was delicious as well.
They each give it 9 ½ /10

DH & I had: Fruit and Cheese Plate - Irish Cheddar, Mushroom Brie, and Stilton Pastry with individual accompaniments.

The accompaniements were candied walnuts, grapes, crusty bread, green apple slices and chutney (in the small sealer jar.) I enjoyed this, particularly the cheddar and the brie, but Frank was only so-so about it. He’s very picky about cheese and didn’t really enjoy any of these. The Stilton has a very strong, sharp flavor which he didn’t care for at all. He gave this appetizer a 5/10 and I give it a 7/10.

On to the entrées!

DD & DS both ordered: Bangers and Mash - traditional English sausages, with braised cabbage and bacon, mashed potatoes and shallot gravy. (They both substituted English Peas for the cabbage.)

Neil and Cheryl both enjoyed this very much. The sausage was very juicy and flavorful as well as being filling. Neil found the gravy to be quite rich and ended up scraping as much of it off as he could. He said it wasn’t that he didn’t like the taste, it was just too heavy.
Both give it 8/10.

DH ordered Harry Ramsden's Fish & Chips - Battered fresh Cod served with English Chips.

Frank wasn’t impressed with this. Once again, the batter on the fish was very soggy and he said his meal was only warm, not hot. The chips are under the fish and as a result ended up being rather greasy and soggy as well.
Rating: 4/10

I ordered Steak and Fish - Grilled Steak with black and tan demi-glace, Harry Ramsden's Battered fresh cod, green beans and mashed potatoes.

You can't really tell from the picture, but that steak was huge! I barely made a dent in it before I was stuffed. It was a little tough, but seasoned and cooked well. I ordered it medium and it arrived perfectly pink in the center. I was also underwhelmed by the fish for exactly the same reasons as Frank. The mashed potatoes weren’t bad, but they didn’t come close to the ones I had at WPE. The green beans were good, still a little on the crisp side.
Rating: 7/10

DH & DS both passed on dessert. Cheryl and I decided to try the Sticky Toffee Pudding: steamed pudding cake with warm vanilla custard and hot butter rum sauce.

Sorry, I forgot to take a picture before we started eating it!

This was delicious! Not as good as Ger’s Bread & Butter Pudding from Raglan Road, but close! Cheryl and I both loved it, but could only eat half of it.
Rating: 9/10

After dessert, Vicky brought Cheryl a birthday card signed by all the CMs at Rose & Crown. Very nice!

Overall Rating: 7/10
Service receives a solid A. Vicky was friendly and personable, explained things well and our drinks were never empty.

Would we return? Not likely, there are other places we want to try in Epcot.

Up next: Lunch at POFQ, dinner at Kona Café, drinks at Scat Cat Lounge … stay tuned!

 

[PrincessTiff]

Wonderful reviews and excellent photo quality, can't wait for more!

 

[pta-mom]

MrsB...thanks soooo much!! I am loving your reviews & am getting really excited about our trip coming up next week as many of the places you've reviewed are the places we are eating at too!! Keep them coming!

 

[saratogagirl]

wonderful reviews and piccies

 

[alabamagirl]

Hi! I am enjoying your dining report very much! I can't wait to see how you liked Kona. We're eating there for the first time in December.

 

[MrsB1228]

Thanks for all the postive feedback everyone! I'm just about to post the next installment but wanted to take a minute to acknowledge all the wonderful messages that have been left, they really mean a lot to me. If anyone has any specific questions about any of the restaurants or meals, please don't hesitate to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

Now ... on with the show!

 

[MrsB1228]

This was a no-park day so we spent the morning enjoying the resort … lounging by the pool, reading, poking around the gift shop, etc. We had lunch in the food court. We found the food at POFQ to be consistently good; we’ve always enjoyed our meals here. Today we ordered:

DD, DH & I: Chicken Parmesan served with a side of fettuccini and a garlic breadstick, topped with a chunky marinara sauce. Cheryl chose an apple for her dessert while Frank and I had the fruit cup. To drink, Cheryl had a carton of Skim Milk, I had Chocolate Milk and Frank chose Grapefruit Juice.

Everything was very good! We all give it a rating of 8/10.

DS: Pasta and Meatballs, served with a garlic breadstick. Neil also chose Chocolate Milk for his drink and an apple for dessert.

Neil enjoyed this and gave it a rating of 8/10.

We had a 5:30 ADR at Kona Café so we left our resort at 4:15 and headed for the Magic Kingdom where we hopped on the Resort Monorail. We spent some time exploring the beautiful Polynesian Resort.

This is a busy place, but we didn’t have long to wait. After we checked in at 5:15 we were seated within 10 minutes. Our server was very knowledgeable about the DDP and explained that we could order anything on the menu, including smoothies. We ordered:

DH: Non-alcoholic Pina Colada

DS: Orange-Passionfruit Smoothie

Me: Strawberry-Banana Smoothie

DD ordered her usual Diet Coke.

All the smoothies were delicious and we were all pleased with our selections.

With our drinks came Kona’s signature Sweet Bread and Macadamia Nut Butter.

(Yes, we’d all had some before I remembered to take a picture. It was delicious!!)

Our server suggested mixing up the appetizers so we could all try a bit of everything. She said many people make the mistake of choosing 3 or 4 orders of Sticky Wings (their most popular appetizer) without realizing that each order consists of 8 pieces of chicken. Regardless, DH and DS each decided to order the Wings: Sticky Wings - crispy wings in a garlic glaze with a tangy mustard drizzle and toasted sesame seeds.

They both loved these! I tried one of DH’s and have to agree, they were delicious! They quickly disappeared.
Rating: 10/10

DD ordered the Chicken Noodle Soup

She really enjoyed her selection. I tasted a small spoonful and I can honestly say it’s one of the best chicken noodle soups I’ve ever tasted. It had big chunks of white meat chicken and vegetables and the broth was well seasoned. Very tasty!
Rating: 8/10

I had: Lump Crab Cakes - pan-seared lump crab cakes with Asian tartar and pineapple relish.

Wow, these were incredible! No filler here, just lots of delicious crab meat. The salad was only so-so, but I didn’t order this dish for the salad.
Rating: 9/10

On to the main event!!

DS & DD both ordered: Pan Asian Noodles - Asian noodles with sliced chicken, seasonal vegetables, and a house made vegetarian stir-fry sauce. They were told the shrimp add-on was included on the DP, so they added it.

They were both so happy they ordered this! Everything was perfectly cooked, and the sauce on this dish is incredible!! The chicken was incredibly tender and flavorful, and shrimp were quite large and very tasty. The veggies were tender but still a little on the crisp side, which we all love, so everything about this entrée was a winner.
Rating: 10/10

DH ordered: Char Crusted Filet Mignon - mashed yukon gold potatoes, asparagus and a 5-spice mushroom sauce.

Frank loved this. This was his second favourite meal of the trip. His steak was cooked perfectly medium and the mushroom sauce was a wonderful compliment to the meat. He said the mashed potatoes were delicious, which is a huge compliment because he’s not a mashed potato fan. He said the asparagus was just asparagus, nothing special.
Rating: 8/10

I ordered: Macadamia Mahi Mahi - served with mushroom rice, sauteed bok choy, lime-butter sauce and crispy fried onions.

I was disappointed with this. The fish was cooked well and had a nice texture, but it was very bland and somewhat tasteless. The mushroom rice was good, but again I felt it needed more flavour. I know many people love this dish, but I found it rather boring.
Rating: 6/10

On to dessert!!

DH & DS both chose the Kona Kone, which is a scoop of chocolate and vanilla ice cream in a chocolate dipped waffle cone, with chocolate syrup, sprinkes, M & M’s, cotton candy and a chocolate Mickey swizzle.

They both loved this and ate every bite. They each give it two thumbs up and a rating of 9/10.

DD ordered: White Chocolate Cheesecake - cheesecake with a perfect hint of white chocolate topped with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and a brandy snap.

Cheryl loves cheesecake and raved about this one. She said the fruit syrups (I believe they were passionfruit, strawberry and kiwi) were also delicious. Her plate was squeaky clean when she was finished.
Rating: 10/10

I ordered: Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart - chocolate tart shell with chunks of macadamia nut and chocolate served with vanilla ice cream and caramel rum sauce.

Our waitress thought Cheryl ordered this dessert and had the plate decorated for her birthday. Cheryl thanked her for her thoughtfulness and we simply traded plates after she left. ;-) This dessert was mouth-watering! Its texture is like a pecan pie, it’s very rich and sooooo good! I’d definitely order it again.
Rating: 10/10

Everyone agrees Kona Café ties with Raglan Road as our second-favourite meal of the trip. Even though my entrée wasn’t what I expected, everything was fresh and the ingredients were top quality. We’d definitely return!

Overall Rating: 9
Service: A

When we returned to POFQ, we decided to go to Scat Cat Lounge and listen to Elliot Dysen, who puts on a terrific one-man show. While we were there, we enjoyed these two drinks:

Pina Colava: Bacardi Razz Rum blended with Pina Colada mix and Raspberry Puree.

Orange Dream: Skyy Orange Vodka and Ice Cream blended with Monin Candied Orange.

Both these drinks were delicious, but I’d have to give the edge to the Pina Colava, it was awesome!!

Coming up in the next installment: Columbia Harbor House and Tony’s Town Square.

 

[Reese]

You did a wonderful job on the pics from Kona. This is the one ressie I didn't even think about getting until it was all booked up . I managed to get a lunch ressie though and I can't wait, everything looked so yummy .
I've really been enjoying your review and can't wait for more .

 

[MrsB1228]

You did a wonderful job on the pics from Kona. This is the one ressie I didn't even think about getting until it was all booked up . I managed to get a lunch ressie though and I can't wait, everything looked so yummy .
I've really been enjoying your review and can't wait for more .

Thank you Reese! You will love Kona, the food is incredible!

BTW, is that your daughter in your avatar? She's adorable, what a doll!

 

[momtoccc]

Great reviews and pics - thanks!

Can I ask a question about POFQ? Did you use the busses? How were they for getting around?

 

[pooch]

love the reviews. I have to agree, though, that the Mahi-Mahi was tasteless and bland. But after a Lapu-Lapu while waiting for our table, I really didn't care!!!! Next time, try the Kona Chowder. It's to die for!!!!