shortypots
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2003
- Messages
- 1,117
So folks, wanted to give reviews not only of the food and wine festival items we got to try, but also the restaurants that we went to. Our party consisted of us and our newlywed friends, but I am lucky I can remember what my DH got as well as myself that I will stick to just rating the two of our meals. I will rate on a scale of 1-10, 10 being so awesome I died and gone to heaven! So I will start with the restaurants:
Day 1 - Flame Tree BBQ- What can I say about this place. Reasonably priced half BBQ chickens- YUM! So large that if you add a side of fries two women can easily share this meal. 8 out of 10
Boma! We absolutely love this restaurant. The food is always wonderful and I particularly love the carrot soup and the sliced to order beef. Let's not forget the zebra domes which I think might be my favorite dessert in Disney. I even tried some sort of peanut rice that my dh says I need to chill out about. I was mentioning it quite frequently. The tastes and smells from this restaurant always make me was to visit again and again! 9 out of 10
Day 2- Hollywood brown derby- I had the pork chop and it was incredible!!! So large in fact I couldn't finish it. Saved the second half for another meal which my dh enjoyed after our grazing day at Epcot. It was topped with an incredible brown sauce and smoked gouda and apricot preserves. What incredible flavors. DH had the Cobb salad which is his favorite item there. We also had dessert, Grapefruit cake and Chocolate 3 ways. My chocolate was awesome as was his grapefruit cake! 9 out of 10.
After Fantasmic we decided to run down to the Polynesian to catch Hallowishes so we grabbed a crab cake roll and a shrimp tempura roll from Kona Cafe's sushi bar. We got it to go so we could sit on the pier and watch the fireworks, and although both rolls were excellent, the shrimp tempura roll has quickly become our favorite there. 8 out of 10
Day 3- Cosmic Ray's -- On this particular trip I enjoyed a chicken nugget meal, while DH enjoyed the half chicken. The chicken nuggets were good and the choices of sauces nice, but lets face it, it is fried food. DH really enjoyed his half chicken however, so my rating is reflecting that. 7 out of 10
Cinderella's Royal Table- We went for dinner and oddly, they will not let you check in but 10 mins before your reservation. I find this odd since all the reps will tell you to arrive at least 15 mins ahead of your reservation. But we didn't get seated for 20 mins past our reservation time. So not only did we show up early, but we were seated late. This was 35 mins we could have been spending in line for a ride, but alas, was spent waiting for dinner. Other than the seating issues, dinner was excellent. I had the cheese plate for app, seafood pasta for entree, and the dessert trio. DH had the Beef soup for app, Filet for entree, and I cannot remember for dessert. I know my cheese plate was a lovely combos of cheeses, although my only complaint, is I have no idea what cheeses they were! I know one was a goat cheese, but that is about it! They were all tasty though. My entree was a lovely combo of cream sauce with crab and crawfish with papardelle pasta which are the wide long noodles. Really enjoyed this dish and was very afraid when ordering that I wouldn't like it, but was very pleasantly surprised. Dessert was wonderful, although it was a trio. I cannot remember exactly what was on it, but they all tasted very good. The meal itself was really good, and I enjoyed the experience of meeting all the lovely princesses, but at $50.99 pp for dinner with no chance of an adult beverage, just seems a little extreme. However, it is nice for a once in a lifetime meal or if you have children that really like the princesses (we got to see Snow White, Ariel, Aurora and Belle) Due to the high price and lack of alchohol, this one only rates 7 out of 10
Day 4- EPCOT Tasting day! Since this one is many food items from the food and wine festival, I will save that for the end of the review!
Day 5- Raglan Road- We decided to take a day off from the park and enjoy some DTD time and shopping, so we took a trip over to Raglan road for some food. Boy did we stuff ourselves here. For apps we got the scallop forest and the mussels, and I can say that both are fantastic! Although the mussels were not nearly as good as the ones in Belgium for the F&W festival, but they were very good. Then I had the Shepards pie and DH had the meatball sub. I thought his choice odd for an Irish Pub, but he said it was surprisingly very good. Although, since we had overdone it with bread and apps, we didn't finish our meals, mainly because we had to save room for Ice cream sundaes at Ghiradelli! 8 out of 10
Ghiradelli- Not sure I really need to explain this one, but sundaes here are a must on every trip for us. My DH loves the fact he can get Dark hot fudge! So he always gets the midnight reverie... although I made a mistake and got it with chocolate ice cream instead of his desired mint chocolate chip- oops. I got the peanut butter sundae, and we always finish off with a giant rootbeer. We love this place and the ice cream is always fantastic! 9 out of 10
Whispering Canyon Cafe- Wow what a fun place! Kids flying all over the place with stick ponies and lets not forget to ask for ketchup! haha The food was excellent as always, although the brisket was a little dryer than I remember. However, the chicken made up for it. Both DH and I got the skillet and thoroughly enjoyed it. We are going back on our trip in december, mainly because it is an easy one with being in the resort we are staying in, but we also really enjoy the food! 8 out of 10
Day 6-Pinocchio Village Haus- I got the cheese pizza and fries, and dh got the meatball sub. He said he liked the fact he could grab any dressing he wanted because they were all off on the side, so he added Blue cheese to his sub and really enjoyed it. Sounded very odd to me, but so be it. My cheese pizza was just ok. Side note here, we had friends join us and both of them ordered the chicken parmesan. I do not know if it was particularly this day or if this is common, but it took them 15 mins to prepare chicken parm. Now, when I am at home it takes me that long to prepare it, but in what is essentially a glorified McDonalds, it should not take 15 mins! There had to be 10 people waiting for Chicken parm just from our line! I am a slow eater and I was 3/4 done by the time they arrived, we thought they got lost in the interior of the restaurant! Due to the poor service and long waits for food, and so so food, I have to rate it 5 out of 10.
Cape May cafe- WOW All you can eat snow crab for $43 pp- works for me! The clams were also incredible. But another side note, eat the mussels before you go to the clams because you will be sadly disappointed if you eat them after the clams. Their beef left a lot to be desired, but the crab and clams were incredible! Their desserts if you can somehow stomach them are really good too. Very few options, but they are done very well. The oreo bon bons have become a new favorite of mine! 10 out of 10 mainly because it is all you can eat snow crab!
Day 7 - Back to epcot and more food and wine festival- however, we did try Rose and Crown Pub- Since our friends were enjoying their honeymoon we had them check us in for our reservation in the hopes of getting an awesome patio table and boy were we right in doing so, I think it is the best table for Illuminations we have ever had. Since we were still kind of full from eating around the world, we ordered one app to share which was the assorted pasties. They were tasty I must say, but they do not give you enough of the two I really enjoyed, the beef and especially the mushroom. I am not a sausage fan, so really didn't eat that one. DH said it was awesome with the mustard they provided. I then had the Sirloin and DH had the fish and chips, we also ordered a side of the cauliflower gratin. The sirloin was cooked perfectly at MR, but had to ask for more sauce. The steak was one of the better ones I have ever had. DH loved his fish and chips as that is his staple every time we go to Rose and Crown. We finished off with illuminations and sticky toffee pudding, and boy were they both phenomenal. Now I will warn you that service is particularly slow especially around the time of the fireworks because they figure you will want to wait around for them. Took another table 30 mins to complain about not getting their food and they up and left. Took us a while to get our food too, but we wanted to see the fireworks from our table! Just forewarning though for those that aren't prepared for it! I still give this one an 8 out of 10.
Day 8- We did Flame tree again this day, so I will not rate it again.
Jiko- Our friends and us decided to split up and have our own separate meals this night, so we chose Jiko. This is one of our favorites as well, and it did not disappoint this time. WE started off with one of the flatbreads, but it wasn't to my taste, and by this time my cold was in full gear so decided to not waste my stomach space on it. I also got the cheese plate, which I enjoyed to no end! I am really loving this option at the various signature restaurants because I am a cheese fanatic. DH got the Jiko salad, which I must admit, was lovely as well. He then got the Corvina which was dusted in maize and pan seared. What a lovely fish and preparation. It was really enjoyable. I got the filet with the corn risotto and cabernet reduction. This was fantastic! I wasn't able to finish it, so I saved half and brought it home with me. Was almost as good the second time as the first. 9 out of 10
So that was it for restaurants, now I get to rate all the wonderful food and drinks we tried at the food booths! Stay tuned!
Day 1 - Flame Tree BBQ- What can I say about this place. Reasonably priced half BBQ chickens- YUM! So large that if you add a side of fries two women can easily share this meal. 8 out of 10
Boma! We absolutely love this restaurant. The food is always wonderful and I particularly love the carrot soup and the sliced to order beef. Let's not forget the zebra domes which I think might be my favorite dessert in Disney. I even tried some sort of peanut rice that my dh says I need to chill out about. I was mentioning it quite frequently. The tastes and smells from this restaurant always make me was to visit again and again! 9 out of 10
Day 2- Hollywood brown derby- I had the pork chop and it was incredible!!! So large in fact I couldn't finish it. Saved the second half for another meal which my dh enjoyed after our grazing day at Epcot. It was topped with an incredible brown sauce and smoked gouda and apricot preserves. What incredible flavors. DH had the Cobb salad which is his favorite item there. We also had dessert, Grapefruit cake and Chocolate 3 ways. My chocolate was awesome as was his grapefruit cake! 9 out of 10.
After Fantasmic we decided to run down to the Polynesian to catch Hallowishes so we grabbed a crab cake roll and a shrimp tempura roll from Kona Cafe's sushi bar. We got it to go so we could sit on the pier and watch the fireworks, and although both rolls were excellent, the shrimp tempura roll has quickly become our favorite there. 8 out of 10
Day 3- Cosmic Ray's -- On this particular trip I enjoyed a chicken nugget meal, while DH enjoyed the half chicken. The chicken nuggets were good and the choices of sauces nice, but lets face it, it is fried food. DH really enjoyed his half chicken however, so my rating is reflecting that. 7 out of 10
Cinderella's Royal Table- We went for dinner and oddly, they will not let you check in but 10 mins before your reservation. I find this odd since all the reps will tell you to arrive at least 15 mins ahead of your reservation. But we didn't get seated for 20 mins past our reservation time. So not only did we show up early, but we were seated late. This was 35 mins we could have been spending in line for a ride, but alas, was spent waiting for dinner. Other than the seating issues, dinner was excellent. I had the cheese plate for app, seafood pasta for entree, and the dessert trio. DH had the Beef soup for app, Filet for entree, and I cannot remember for dessert. I know my cheese plate was a lovely combos of cheeses, although my only complaint, is I have no idea what cheeses they were! I know one was a goat cheese, but that is about it! They were all tasty though. My entree was a lovely combo of cream sauce with crab and crawfish with papardelle pasta which are the wide long noodles. Really enjoyed this dish and was very afraid when ordering that I wouldn't like it, but was very pleasantly surprised. Dessert was wonderful, although it was a trio. I cannot remember exactly what was on it, but they all tasted very good. The meal itself was really good, and I enjoyed the experience of meeting all the lovely princesses, but at $50.99 pp for dinner with no chance of an adult beverage, just seems a little extreme. However, it is nice for a once in a lifetime meal or if you have children that really like the princesses (we got to see Snow White, Ariel, Aurora and Belle) Due to the high price and lack of alchohol, this one only rates 7 out of 10
Day 4- EPCOT Tasting day! Since this one is many food items from the food and wine festival, I will save that for the end of the review!
Day 5- Raglan Road- We decided to take a day off from the park and enjoy some DTD time and shopping, so we took a trip over to Raglan road for some food. Boy did we stuff ourselves here. For apps we got the scallop forest and the mussels, and I can say that both are fantastic! Although the mussels were not nearly as good as the ones in Belgium for the F&W festival, but they were very good. Then I had the Shepards pie and DH had the meatball sub. I thought his choice odd for an Irish Pub, but he said it was surprisingly very good. Although, since we had overdone it with bread and apps, we didn't finish our meals, mainly because we had to save room for Ice cream sundaes at Ghiradelli! 8 out of 10
Ghiradelli- Not sure I really need to explain this one, but sundaes here are a must on every trip for us. My DH loves the fact he can get Dark hot fudge! So he always gets the midnight reverie... although I made a mistake and got it with chocolate ice cream instead of his desired mint chocolate chip- oops. I got the peanut butter sundae, and we always finish off with a giant rootbeer. We love this place and the ice cream is always fantastic! 9 out of 10
Whispering Canyon Cafe- Wow what a fun place! Kids flying all over the place with stick ponies and lets not forget to ask for ketchup! haha The food was excellent as always, although the brisket was a little dryer than I remember. However, the chicken made up for it. Both DH and I got the skillet and thoroughly enjoyed it. We are going back on our trip in december, mainly because it is an easy one with being in the resort we are staying in, but we also really enjoy the food! 8 out of 10
Day 6-Pinocchio Village Haus- I got the cheese pizza and fries, and dh got the meatball sub. He said he liked the fact he could grab any dressing he wanted because they were all off on the side, so he added Blue cheese to his sub and really enjoyed it. Sounded very odd to me, but so be it. My cheese pizza was just ok. Side note here, we had friends join us and both of them ordered the chicken parmesan. I do not know if it was particularly this day or if this is common, but it took them 15 mins to prepare chicken parm. Now, when I am at home it takes me that long to prepare it, but in what is essentially a glorified McDonalds, it should not take 15 mins! There had to be 10 people waiting for Chicken parm just from our line! I am a slow eater and I was 3/4 done by the time they arrived, we thought they got lost in the interior of the restaurant! Due to the poor service and long waits for food, and so so food, I have to rate it 5 out of 10.
Cape May cafe- WOW All you can eat snow crab for $43 pp- works for me! The clams were also incredible. But another side note, eat the mussels before you go to the clams because you will be sadly disappointed if you eat them after the clams. Their beef left a lot to be desired, but the crab and clams were incredible! Their desserts if you can somehow stomach them are really good too. Very few options, but they are done very well. The oreo bon bons have become a new favorite of mine! 10 out of 10 mainly because it is all you can eat snow crab!
Day 7 - Back to epcot and more food and wine festival- however, we did try Rose and Crown Pub- Since our friends were enjoying their honeymoon we had them check us in for our reservation in the hopes of getting an awesome patio table and boy were we right in doing so, I think it is the best table for Illuminations we have ever had. Since we were still kind of full from eating around the world, we ordered one app to share which was the assorted pasties. They were tasty I must say, but they do not give you enough of the two I really enjoyed, the beef and especially the mushroom. I am not a sausage fan, so really didn't eat that one. DH said it was awesome with the mustard they provided. I then had the Sirloin and DH had the fish and chips, we also ordered a side of the cauliflower gratin. The sirloin was cooked perfectly at MR, but had to ask for more sauce. The steak was one of the better ones I have ever had. DH loved his fish and chips as that is his staple every time we go to Rose and Crown. We finished off with illuminations and sticky toffee pudding, and boy were they both phenomenal. Now I will warn you that service is particularly slow especially around the time of the fireworks because they figure you will want to wait around for them. Took another table 30 mins to complain about not getting their food and they up and left. Took us a while to get our food too, but we wanted to see the fireworks from our table! Just forewarning though for those that aren't prepared for it! I still give this one an 8 out of 10.
Day 8- We did Flame tree again this day, so I will not rate it again.
Jiko- Our friends and us decided to split up and have our own separate meals this night, so we chose Jiko. This is one of our favorites as well, and it did not disappoint this time. WE started off with one of the flatbreads, but it wasn't to my taste, and by this time my cold was in full gear so decided to not waste my stomach space on it. I also got the cheese plate, which I enjoyed to no end! I am really loving this option at the various signature restaurants because I am a cheese fanatic. DH got the Jiko salad, which I must admit, was lovely as well. He then got the Corvina which was dusted in maize and pan seared. What a lovely fish and preparation. It was really enjoyable. I got the filet with the corn risotto and cabernet reduction. This was fantastic! I wasn't able to finish it, so I saved half and brought it home with me. Was almost as good the second time as the first. 9 out of 10
So that was it for restaurants, now I get to rate all the wonderful food and drinks we tried at the food booths! Stay tuned!
