Jiko for Those Who Prefer Lighter Meals

[tarheelmjfan]

In pictures, it appears most of Jiko's food is on the heavy side, with brown sauces, etc. What are the best options on the lighter side? By light, I mean not heavy, rather than low calorie. TIA

 

[Pakey]

Their fish entrees are decent enough. The chicken dish had no sauce. Honestly, I'm not a big eater so now I usually split an appetizer with my husband and then have a bowl of soup. I think their appetizers and soups are better than the entrees anyway.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks for the info. Which appetizers do you recommend? I may go that route. I was already thinking I'd order appetizers at bluezoo. They sound better than the entrees there too.

 

[2disneyland]

Most restaurants, on and off Disney, will serve sauces on the side or not at all. Of course, for some dishes the sauce is the flavor, lol. But, asking them to put it on the side means that you can handle the portion size and thus not make the meal all about the heavy sauce. I prefer my fish with no sauce and that's harder and harder to find, but I always ask for it on the side, dip my fork in the sauce then in the fish and am able to taste the delicious fish instead of the usually too sweet/too rich sauces.

 

[BriarRosie]

I'm one of those people who like ordering appetizers as my meal. Many times it will be a soup and another appetizer. At Jiko, I really enjoyed the wild boar appetizer. It was relatively small, and having soup with it was just fine.

 

[gonzo138]

All of the vegetarian options are lighter.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I was already considering the wild boar appetizer, because it's different. I love trying new things. I do like cream soups, so I may go that route. There is a grouper dish on the Allears menu that sounds good, but it's not on the WDWinfo or Disney menus. Obviously, it's gone. The accompaniments to the filet sound very good, but I'd want them with duck or maybe pork loin. I don't really care for beef, so the filet would be a waste. Alas, since I don't want to insult the chef, by making substitutions, I'll try something else. My usual entree of choice is fish/seafood, but the fish entrees on the WDWinfo & Disney menus don't sound that good to me. I'll probably end up choosing appetizers as has been suggested. The meal is all about dessert anyway.

 

[purple figment]

There is a grouper dish on the Allears menu that sounds good, but it's not on the WDWinfo or Disney menus. Obviously, it's gone. My usual entree of choice is fish/seafood, but the fish entrees on the WDWinfo & Disney menus don't sound that good to me.

I've found that the fish and seafood appetizers and entrees, as well as the vegetable sides are the most likely to change at the Signature restaurants. The chefs try to keep the menus seasonal so it's very likely that by the time you go it'll be a completely different fish entree.

The boar appetizer was very good, but as a previous poster mentioned it's a small portion.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

You're right in that the signature menus do change often. I usually don't pay much attention to menus ahead of time. We're adventurous eaters for the most part, & don't hesitate to order something we've never tried before. It's the pictures of Jiko's food I've seen on here that has me asking for advice. I know the food will be good, but in the pics most of the entrees look like they're on the heavy side. I prefer lighter foods, with light sauces. My DH is all about heavy food, so he won't have a problem finding something he'll want.

 

[figment_jii]

This was the wild boar appetizer in October:

The meat is sitting on top of the tomato sauce. You can eat the meat without the sauce or with (and you can also spread the sauce on the bread). It's recommended to eat the boar rare to medium rare, otherwise it becomes tough. I'm kind of a medium/medium-well person, so it was a little rare for me (you can see the red center in the picture).

This was another appetizer, the Inguday Tibs (mushrooms, spinach, cheese in crispy Tunisian filo with curry vinaigrette and apple):

It's deep fried, so that might rule out the "light", but they're pretty small and had good flavor.

The meal is all about dessert anyway.

If it's still on the menu, and you like coffee flavored desserts, I highly recommend the "One Last Cup":