Jiko Advice

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

Hello everyone,

We are looking to eat at some new places on our next trip and we are thinking of trying Jiko.

Any and all comments are welcome.

Thanks in advance

 

[Uncleromulus]

Great restaurant. I recommend the Lamb shank for dinner and the Kenya coffee/bbq chicken flatbrad as an appetizer.
Be sure to stop out in the observation area before or after dinner to have a look at some of the animals.

 

[webray]

Jiko is wonderful.

We have tested many of the appetizers, always great. Soups are wonderful.

Hubby likes the lamb shank as well. I love the filet with mac and cheese.
We have also enjoyed the fish and friends have enjoyed the tandori chicken.

The desserts have all been quite good.

They also do a great job with wine pairings if you like.

Definately allow extra time to see the animals before dinner..and then go out again after dinner when it is dark and look through the night vision goggles.

 

[madalex]

Jiko is wonderful. My favorite restaurant on property. It's a beautiful space with great service, food and wine list.

Definitely show up early for you reservation so you can explore the AKL.

 

[Harambe]

Jiko is wonderful. My favorite restaurant on property. It's a beautiful space with great service, food and wine list.

Definitely show up early for you reservation so you can explore the AKL.

I agree! I also love the lamb shank, but I've promised myself that I'll try something different this trip. We have ADR for August, and I will be trying the pan-roasted fish. DD ordered it last time and loved it!

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Jiko is wonderful! It's usually our only ADR and "must-do" restaurant in Orlando.

We've only had the filet and mac & cheese as our entrees. We've been between 15 and 20 times, and we just can't bring ourselves to order anything else. One of those, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" things

For appetizers, we've had most of the flatbreads (the one with kalamata olives, goat cheese and micro greens is our favorite). They'll also do a custom appetizer sampler for your group, no matter how small or large your group is, so you can try several things. Keep in mind, we're not on the DDP. Don't know if they do this for DDP folks.

Desserts, in our experience, are huge, especially the pistachio creme brulee. I'm not generally a sharer when it comes to meals out -- unless we're only talking about a bite -- but the creme brulee is totally sharable.

The wine list ... ahh The best in WDW, IMO. We almost always try something new and listen to our servers about what's new and fantabulous. We've never had a bad pairing at Jiko, and we always order a bottle of red and white to compliment our meal. I'd never thought a white would pair well with a steak, but leave it to a place like Jiko to change my mind on that one. A buttery chardonnay actually tastes phenomenal with the rich filet and brings out the butter flavors in the mac & cheese.

Like others have said, go early and check out the hotel. The gift shop is pretty resort-specific and offers a lot I can't find elsewhere in the parks or at DTD.

 

[shellybaxter]

Jiko is our only "must do" as well. We like the taste of Africa for an appetizer, the beef ribs, lamb shank, and filet for an entree (sometimes we order the pork tenderloin but its not quite as good as the others). We haven't quite found a fav dessert yet. We've tried quite a few and they've all been good but not great.

The wine list is extensive and the servers are great about helping you select something you will like.

 

[solotraveler]

I agree with everything that's been said before...

I recommend trying to get a sampler for both appetizers and dessert-- honestly I don't think we've had anything bad.

It's the home of the best filet I've ever had and the best creme brulee as well (and I've had plenty of both).

One thing that deserves a special mention is the service... it's been picture perfect every single time we've been. They are so used to walking people through the wine list they have great recommendations. They know what's good and if you tell them what you like and what you don't, they will be able to find something great for you.

Hope that helps!

 

[ugadog99]

We were fortunate enough to snag a last minute spot at Jiko on Christmas Eve. Let me say that it was probably our best meal during the entire trip. Really, it was just delicious. My girls are 12 and 15 and both enjoyed it very, very much. In fact, the younger one has asked to put Jiko on the summer dining list!
We had the olive flatbread, the tomato and red onion salad, the lamb, and the filet. We were so full that we decided to just pick up zebra domes at Mara for later. The only part of the meal that we didn't like was the bread. It was just weird.

So, I highly recommend Jiko.

 

[saveFerris]

What is an "ADR"?

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

What is an "ADR"?

Advanced Dining Reservation

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Jiko is hands down one of my favorite restaurants. I was *VERY* skeptical about the filet and mac & cheese dish, but was savoring every second of it. You MUST try it!

 

[JESW]

Jiko's is our absolute favorite place on site! I had loved the halibut but they have replaced it with sturgeon so I will be trying that on the 19th!

The only sad thing is that we only have two more times to try this resteraunt alone as ds will be 13 in november and will not be able to go to the kids clubs so we will have the kids with us..oh well, maybe we can sit them outside the window and we can keep an eye on them while we eat.

Jill

 

[Cinderelli]

We just returned a few weeks ago from our Spring Break trip and the best meal of our 4 day trip was our dinner at Jiko. We had our 3 DC with us (13, 11 & 10) and they had no problem ordering off the children's menu.

Our waiter was attentive, until it started to get busy. We got the impression that had we been ordering wine, we would have had better service. As it was, we were ordering from the bar - but it seemed to take longer than it should have. I would say service was good, but the food was incredible.

I had the filet with the mac N cheese - out of this world wonderful - cut it with a knife. My DH had the chicken and was VERY pleased. Our children had a Mac N Cheese, Filet of Beef, and my 10 yo DD tried the Broiled Fish - something she never tries at home. All were wonderful. As a family we enjoyed the Kalamata Olive Flatbread. I don't like olives (or thought I didn't). Actually, they split the flatbreat for us and did 1/2 with the chicken. It was wonderful and I actually liked the Olive portion better.

We truly enjoyed our night and can't wait to try it again. We'd love to go for our anniversary and stay at the AKV. At this point, we'll probably try the wine pairing. Our server did give us a sample of a wine, but since we're not big on wine - we decided to take a pass. It was delicious, but we just weren't that adventurous this trip. If we don't have to drive afterwards (or ride a bus to a park, tee hee!), we'll probably be a bit more adventuresome.

I would recommend this place to anyone and EVERYONE!

Lissa

 

[two-foxes]

Mmmmmm. Jiko!

Olive flat bread, Field Greens salad (HUGE!), Filet, Scallops and the pistachio creme brulee (heavenly and rich)....these are a few of my favorite things!

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Jiko is wonderful! It is our first night dinner tradition.

Everyone else has raved about it and I heartily agree with all that!

My favorites are the filet mignon with mac and cheese, the Taste of Africa appetizer, the pistachio creme brulee, and the halibut (replaced with sturgeon, I believe.) The wine list is incredible, too.

The service is another selling point for me. We have had wonderful, attentive, knowledgeable, gracious waitstaff every single visit. The decor is quite lovely as well; there is some nice art and the lighting also changes throughout the evening.

Jiko is definitely worth trying! I would recommend it to anybody.

 

[4 DZNY NUTZ]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I am so excited to go now!!!

I cant wait to try everything!!


Thanks again