"Lemme Get You By Your Fishy Fin!" a May/F&G '18 dining report *COMPLETE 8/29, Maria & Enzo's

[kastoney]

I'm here. Can't wait for more!

 

[Raeven]

I can imagine! We've had ADRs for 1900 PF, so far we always cancel. I want pictures with the stepsisters and Lady Tremaine but I almost dread face character meals.

Yeah, it was really awkward, and I didn't love the food either. I wouldn't bother going if you weren't into the face characters.

Sci-Fi Dine-In is something of a guilty pleasure for me. The food isn't exactly exciting, yet I love it anyway: the theme, setting, B-movie trailers, and atmosphere really speak to me.

I love it too!

 

[earfulofmagic]

I'm here. Can't wait for more!

I love it too!

It's the best

 

[earfulofmagic]

Screened Porch: Chef Art Smith's Homecomin'

This post's title is a partial reference to a Southern restaurant here in Portland that I keep thinking about as I write this update. It's called Screen Door and I don't recommend looking at their Yelp photos while hungry, but here's a link for the brave. We might need to visit for brunch this weekend...

~~~~~

Our last post left off with us heading to Disney Springs for dinner. We'd made a reservation for 8:50pm and drove out of Pop around 7:30. We both love walking around and taking in the atmosphere of Disney Springs, especially at night, but we've never actually purchased anything besides food/drink.

We parked in the Lime Garage, which is hands down the nicest parking garage I've ever used. I parked us on the top level and we were delighted to see the last lingering bits of a beautiful sunset.


​

After a while we checked in early at Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' (CASH?) around 8:30pm and were seated within 5 minutes. It wasn't packed that night, but still lively.

Our table was on the screened-in porch, and I have a lovely iPhone photo of our view:





I liked this table; it was a high 4-top next to the screen. Probably nicer when it's sunny and you can see the water, but it has plenty of charm at night. However, I hated the chairs. The wicker was so scratchy and hard, even through my dress and industrial strength lycra undershorts. Also, it was quite stuffy and warm out there despite the ceiling fans, and the lights didn't help matters. In a way this was a faithful reproduction of the many hot summer nights I've spent on screened-in porches growing up in Florida, so it lived up to the homecoming name!




Although the jumbo squeeze bottles of moonshine cocktails were very tempting, we somehow, regretfully, resisted. In the spirit of ~Southern eating~ I had a sweet tea, which was as real and true as they get; T has never had sweet tea before this and was shocked/disgusted with the first sip. And then the addiction took over and he couldn't stop stealing sips



We ordered the thigh high chicken biscuits (three biscuits topped with Chef Art's famous fried chicken thighs and bread and butter pickles. Drizzled with hot honey) to share:



Enhance.



Enhance!



Do you hear that? It's a choir of angels harmonizing as they bestow the most heavenly chicken and biscuits known to humankind. If you've had these, you know it's only slight hyperbole.

If you haven't chomped on these yet, a plate will run you $15, a fair trade for an appetizer large enough to be an entree itself. The cheddar biscuits are fresh, moist, basically perfect. The chicken's plentiful, hot, also moist, flavorful, delicious — again, pretty perfect. The pickles and honey tie everything together. Next time, I'm getting these as my entree.

Speaking of, let's move onto our main dishes! Basically unnecessary because those chicken biscuits were quite filling, but I ordered...





Art's Famous Fried Chicken: Buttermilk-brined for 24 hours then perfectly fried and served with creamy mashed potatoes, a cheddar drop biscuit and love, $28. Our server said they could substitute any sides on the kitchen plates, so I subbed the mashed potatoes for mac and cheese instead. He also asked if I preferred white or dark meat, I went with white meat.

First, the mac and cheese. Holy heart-stopping richness, Batman! So good but so very, very fattening. This tasted mainly of heavy cream once you get past the top crunchy baked cheesy layer, so hot sauce was in order.

The fried chicken was pretty good. It was fried well, had definitely been brined, and was juicy and moist even the next day. This was a huge portion. I think I had maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of one piece along with half the mac and cheese before boxing it all up for leftovers. I didn't eat this biscuit (since I'd just had a bunch) but boxed that up, too.

One last glance, this time from T's side of the table:



We have just one photo of T's selection, the Fried Catfish: accompanied by hushpuppies, grits, and a side of remoulade, $22.



He switched out grits for the KC Greens: Braised Kale and Collards. They were weirdly sweet and sour in an off-putting way, as if they'd put in too much vinegar then tried to fix that with sugar, but ended up over-correcting by several tablespoons. Just weird, maybe a one-time kitchen fluke.

Other than that, he liked the catfish (look at that crispy frying, mmm) and hush puppies. I thought what I tasted of it was good, but not as good as the fried chicken. Either way, he was happy with it and if he has other thoughts, I'll add them. He boxed up a portion of this as well, though I can't remember how much.

We skipped dessert, not wanting to dig ourselves further into a food coma. The total after Tables in Wonderland discount, tax, and tip came to $76.12 (found the hotel folio receipt, but not the physical copies yet).



Overall verdict is that the food was good: perhaps simple, but done very well. High-priced entrees are big enough to share, and everything we ordered was dense and filling. We both liked it here but aren't exactly raring to go back, partially because I think one needs to really be in the mood for this kind of food. I'd say the food quality is very high, better than a bunch of in-park restaurants, which seems typical of Disney Springs eateries.

After settling the bill we attempted to walk off all the food, and I took some pictures of the new(-ish, they were open a few months at that point) additions to Disney Springs.




The original plan was to make an evening of these places after dinner: get a sundae at Enzo's Hideaway, then drinks and nighttime entertainment at The Edison. T was firmly against this after the filling dinner, so we traipsed back to the car and were back at Pop in no time at all. We canceled reservations for the next day (Beaches & Cream for lunch, Flying Fish for dinner) due to all the leftovers waiting for us.

I'll guess we watched House Hunters in bed before drifting off to sleep. By the way, did you know that when couples are filmed on House Hunters, they already know what house they're going to buy? The show producers don't contact couples until they're like 95% of the way through the purchase process, so when they're touring the other two places, they're not really potential buyers. I was shocked, I tell you, SHOCKED to learn this! I've loved House Hunters since I was like 7 or 8 years old!! We don't have cable, so we only watch if we have some downtime on a vacation... but still, what a realization. I always thought people were either very awkward or terrible actors on that show, so their reactions makes sense now. Also, the seemingly weird final decisions ("no, house #3 is obviously perfect for them, why'd they choose house #1?!") make sense, too.

Stay tuned for the next update, in which we sample lots of the Flower & Garden Festival offerings!

​

 

[kastoney]

This post's title is a partial reference to a Southern restaurant here in Portland that I keep thinking about as I write this update. It's called Screen Door and I don't recommend looking at their Yelp photos while hungry, but here's a link for the brave. We might need to visit for brunch this weekend...

You eat there? That looks downright horrible

Gorgeous picture!

Love that they have screen porch seating. We've only ever eaten inside but I'm a total sucker for eating outside or at least outside adjacent from a porch. Disney needs more of this.

I had a sweet tea, which was as real and true as they get; T has never had sweet tea before this and was shocked/disgusted with the first sip. And then the addiction took over and he couldn't stop stealing sips

I can definitely see how that was a shock. I don't care for sweet tea and I can't tell you how many times growing up I mistook my mothers sweet tea for my unsweetened kind and that is just a jolt to the senses.

Do you hear that? It's a choir of angels harmonizing as they bestow the most heavenly chicken and biscuits known to humankind. If you've had these, you know it's only slight hyperbole.

Love the biscuits photoshoot. And you said it perfect, humankind has never met a chicken and biscuit like this!

He switched out grits for the KC Greens: Braised Kale and Collards. They were weirdly sweet and sour in an off-putting way, as if they'd put in too much vinegar then tried to fix that with sugar, but ended up over-correcting by several tablespoons. Just weird, maybe a one-time kitchen fluke.

Unfortunately not a fluke, that is how they do them. I was quite taken a back too because I'm used to vinegary greens, but the sweet really threw me off Glad to know the cat fish was good though. I think this is the first review I've seen of it.

I'll guess we watched House Hunters in bed before drifting off to sleep. By the way, did you know that when couples are filmed on House Hunters, they already know what house they're going to buy? The show producers don't contact couples until they're like 95% of the way through the purchase process, so when they're touring the other two places, they're not really potential buyers.

NO WAY!!!!! I love this show too and had no idea. I feel jilted somehow now.

I've loved House Hunters since I was like 7 or 8 years old!!

And now I'm jilted and feel old

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Great photos. The food looked awesome, and what a gorgeous sunset! And I have heard that too, about House Hunters

 

[Raeven]

So pretty!

Art's Famous Fried Chicken: Buttermilk-brined for 24 hours then perfectly fried and served with creamy mashed potatoes, a cheddar drop biscuit and love, $28. Our server said they could substitute any sides on the kitchen plates, so I subbed the mashed potatoes for mac and cheese instead

That's what I got last time I was there too!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

You started another one!! You should add a post with a link to this one in your last report - you gathered a lot of fans there, me included. Be back to read later!

 

[earfulofmagic]

I can definitely see how that was a shock. I don't care for sweet tea and I can't tell you how many times growing up I mistook my mothers sweet tea for my unsweetened kind and that is just a jolt to the senses.

Oh, for sure, that first sip is always a shock. It's not something I normally drink, but when in the south, on a porch, at a fried chicken restaurant...!

Unfortunately not a fluke, that is how they do them. I was quite taken a back too because I'm used to vinegary greens, but the sweet really threw me off Glad to know the cat fish was good though. I think this is the first review I've seen of it.

Same, neither of us were expecting that overwhelming sweetness! (Apparently the sweet tea did nothing to prepare us. )

NO WAY!!!!! I love this show too and had no idea. I feel jilted somehow now.

How did Suzanne Whang keep up this charade all those years?!

Great photos. The food looked awesome, and what a gorgeous sunset! And I have heard that too, about House Hunters

Florida sunsets are incredible The House Hunters revelation was strangely shocking, I guess because it's been on so long and has so many spinoffs.

That's what I got last time I was there too!

Food twins!

You started another one!! You should add a post with a link to this one in your last report - you gathered a lot of fans there, me included. Be back to read later!

Good suggestion, I'll do it! Thanks for reading this one too

 

[Araminta18]

Yay! All caught up--so much delicious looking food. Glad you decided to go through with the trip, despite the initial misgivings.

This was the only time we've rented a car for WDW. We needed one for the wedding, and I was curious about having a car instead of using Disney transportation or Lyft. I got a great deal ($100) for a standard-sized car with Alamo via Costco, plus Costco was running a $20 cash card promo! And when you book with Costco the additional driver fee is waived. Also, this reservation was booked pre-parking fees, so I thought we might as well.

Costco is *amazing* for rental cars. We never rent through anyone else now. Highly recommend

I think we were still hungry or just generally dissatisfied, so we looked at the self-serve bakery selections. T was taking forever to decide and I was getting impatient. I went to the nearest freezer bin and picked up a Mickey bar, thinking he would probably like one. I thought he was behind me, but he wasn't with me at the register. Then I went over to the bakery area and he was gone. When we found each other, he had already gone through the register too with a cupcake for me! It was like a knockoff O. Henry story and it put our sad pizza out of our minds completely (until I started writing this report).

Ok, that's adorable.

I have almost no photos from the wedding, but it was so much fun! I reconnected with a few friends from high school, old family friends, and even made some new pals. It felt like a homecoming of sorts. At one point when chatting in a group, we mentioned we'd gone to Publix earlier in the day for T's first visit, and two of our new friends (also Floridians) asked if he'd gotten a Pub Sub! Such a rite of passage.

So, true confessions: I'd heard so much about Pub Subs, so when we went for the first time I dragged my husband there to try them, and they were just horrible. Like, probably the worst sandwich I've ever had. So disappointing after I'd built it up in my head so much! Oh well--I guess its kind of like the people who hate dole whips?

 

[nco91590]

Enhance........I say that at work and nobody ever gets it!

Thanks for your reviews! I was pumped to see a real one for Bon Voyage breakfast. Taking the kiddles to that on our first morning. Looking forward to more!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

All caught up and thoroughly enjoying this report! I completely understand the draw of the glow cube. I have several Star Wars ones in my freezer right now! There is also a small room inside they use for non-character breakfasts at Trattoria al Forno if you want to return but don’t want to sit outside. I think the Sci FI atmosphere is just so cute - wish they might switch up the movies a bit. Seems like a lot of places are beginning to recognize repeat guests - a nice touch! Gorgeous sunset and oh my goodness do I love those chicken thigh biscuits. Perfection on a plate!!

 

[SweetSerenity]

Beautiful pictures of the fried chicken. Sunset! I meant sunset!

Seriously, though, excuse me while I wipe the drool off my face.

 

[earfulofmagic]

Costco is *amazing* for rental cars. We never rent through anyone else now. Highly recommend

Us too, love Costco Travel!

So, true confessions: I'd heard so much about Pub Subs, so when we went for the first time I dragged my husband there to try them, and they were just horrible. Like, probably the worst sandwich I've ever had. So disappointing after I'd built it up in my head so much! Oh well--I guess its kind of like the people who hate dole whips?

Nooooo, worst sandwich ever?! I hope that was just a fluke! They're not gourmet or special sandwiches, but they're (usually) fresh and hefty. I can certainly think of many better sandwich spots in my city. But yeah, maybe it is like Dole Whips. I was disappointed with my first Dole Whip

Enhance........I say that at work and nobody ever gets it!

Thanks for your reviews! I was pumped to see a real one for Bon Voyage breakfast. Taking the kiddles to that on our first morning. Looking forward to more!

I'm so happy to find a fellow Enhancer! Hope you all have a great time at the breakfast and on your trip!

All caught up and thoroughly enjoying this report! I completely understand the draw of the glow cube. I have several Star Wars ones in my freezer right now! There is also a small room inside they use for non-character breakfasts at Trattoria al Forno if you want to return but don’t want to sit outside. I think the Sci FI atmosphere is just so cute - wish they might switch up the movies a bit. Seems like a lot of places are beginning to recognize repeat guests - a nice touch! Gorgeous sunset and oh my goodness do I love those chicken thigh biscuits. Perfection on a plate!!

Haha, I'm relieved to hear the glow cube's allure is more widespread than I thought! Totally agreed, Sci-Fi is so cute. I kind of like that the movies are the same because I have a few favorites, but every time I'm there I think how mind-numbing it is for the staff to listen to the same loops all day, every day. They must learn to tune it out early on. And, those chicken biscuits...

Beautiful pictures of the fried chicken. Sunset! I meant sunset!

Seriously, though, excuse me while I wipe the drool off my face.

Wish the dis had a proper drooling emoji. It would feature heavily on the dining reviews board!

 

[earfulofmagic]

An Evening in the Garden: F&G Festival Booths


First, a life update. We are sadly cancelling our September MNSSHP/Food & Wine getaway. After planning a bunch of dining, booking FP+, and booking a surprise stay at AKL for T, we can't go because we're relocating for my new job. (Boo hiss, we literally just moved back to Oregon... heartbreaking

) Very disappointed to cancel, but it seems unwise to take PTO less than a month after starting.

Maybe we can wrangle a weekend trip during F&W and brave the crowds. T would do anything to taste the avocado crema again, provided it's available this year.

On the bright side: we may do a "land and sea" trip in January or February. We're considering an Alaska cruise next summer, but having never cruised before, I want to take a short ~practice cruise~ to ensure we enjoy it before committing to a 7-11 night cruise. The tentative plan is to cruise on the Dream and spend a few days at WDW during Festival of the Arts.

Back to our dining adventures...

~~~~~~~

The next morning we woke up to kids running and screaming up and down the hallways while banging on the metal railings. This is the only time I've experienced that at Pop. Very amusing, it's the example people always use as a precaution against value resorts! Due to this unwanted wake-up call, T is now almost completely against future stays at Pop. (I still love it, though.)

We got on a bus to Magic Kingdom because I didn't feel like dealing with parking at the TTC. Our first FP was for Space Mountain, which was great fun for our necks, and then we got a pepper jack pretzel at The Lunching Pad because I was absolutely starving. No picture, due to aforementioned hunger.

After narrowly avoiding a hangry incident we rode the People Mover, my favorite attraction in MK:



No clouds! It was a pretty hot day.

Then it was time for our Seven Dwarfs Mine Train FP. T wore his "dig dig dig" shirt this day:



We rode the teacups (first time for T, first time for me since I was very young), browsed the gift shop in Storybook Circus, then it was time to use our FP for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

After the encouraging scene at the end of the ride where Piglet et al. have a party and celebrate with cake, T felt a snack was in order:




No pretty shots of the Mickey ice cream sandwich because it started melting about 2 seconds after being placed into T's eager hands.

After this, T said he wanted to go on that "edge of tomorrow" ride... by which he meant Carousel of Progress, not the movie starring Emily Blunt and Tom Cruise. While I love the CoP, T does not (or so I thought). After spinning around technology's progress over the decades, we took some photopass photos near the "purple wall" in Tomorrowland. We headed for the buses after that; it was very hot at barely noon.

What follows next was an empty bus ride back to Pop, swimming, a lunch of leftover chicken etc. from Homecomin' the night before, beers we'd bought from Publix, and T dealing with some business/work matters.

~~~~~~~

After a relaxing midday break, we set out for Epcot around 5pm. We parked at the very back of the parking lot and it still wasn't far to walk, even with the hot sun.



I'd picked us up a Soarin' FP; we sampled the cokes in Club Cool for a bit, then were off on another flight around the world.

Since we'd canceled lunch at Beaches & Cream *and* dinner at Flying Fish, I felt we had carte blanche to eat at all of the Flower & Garden booths, or as many as we could manage.

First up was Northern Bloom in Canada:



Seared Scallops with French Green Beans, Butter Potatoes, Brown Butter Vinaigrette and Apple wood Smoked Bacon, $6.50

This disappointed me as a scallop lover. If you'd told me these green beans were microwaved from frozen, I'd have no problem believing it. The vinaigrette was overly acidic and the scallops didn't have a nice crust from the sear.


The next booth we stopped at was Cider House:



Freshly Baked Lemon Scone with Crème Fraîche and Mixed Berries, $4.25

Good. Not amazing, but we liked it.


Continuing on to France, we shared two items at Fleur de Lys:





Canard Confit Aux Gnocchi à la Parisienne: Braised Duck Confit with Parisian Gnocchi, $5.75, and
Tarte à la Tomate Provençale: Provencal Tomato Tart with Sautéed Onions, Fresh Thyme and Rosemary on a Flaky Pastry Crust, $5.50

The duck confit was generously portioned and so delicious! We should've gotten two of those and skipped the tomato tart, which was good, but not nearly as good as the duck. Taken together these were quite filling, even though we shared between the two of us.



During this food tour we were also admiring the plants, topiaries, and completing the Spike spotting scavenger hunt. This was just as fun as doing the Figment scavenger hunt during Festival of the Arts, but the prize for this one was pretty lame.


Next up we have a stop at Florida Fresh:



Spicy Blackened Shrimp and Stone-ground Cheddar Cheese Grits with Brown Gravy and Local Sweet Corn Relish, $6.75

Soooooo good. The best grits I've ever had. A week or two after this trip I was trying to remember where we'd had grits; I kept thinking it was at Homecomin', but knew we couldn't have had them there. They stuck out so well in my memory because it was divine. The corn provided nice pops of sweetness against the cheesy grits and brown gravy, and the shrimp had delicious seasoning. We thought about getting a second one of these but didn't because there were more booths to try, and I am here to tell you we regret that error. Always get a second helping if you loved the first.


We spent a while ambling around the garden near Florida Fresh. They had a ton of beautiful crop plants like artichoke, eggplant, cabbage, etc. After that, our next stop was at Hanami in Japan:





Ginger Beef Yaki Udon: Thin-sliced Beef, Onions and Noodles tossed on the grill with Soy and Ginger, $6.50, and
Frushi: Fresh Pineapple, Strawberry and Melon rolled with Raspberry Coconut Rice, sprinkled with Toasted Coconut and Whipped Cream on the side, $5.95

I didn't try the beef yaki udon because I thought some of the meat looked fatty and stringy (and kind of like tripe). T said it was okay, he liked it. The frushi was a really nice dessert; fresh, light, and not overly sweet, even with the raspberry sauce and the whipped cream. Interesting texture compared to normal sushi. I'd get this twice if it were $4, not $6.


After Japan we took a little break in Italy, sitting on the steps of the round plaza. It was already cooling down and it'd become pretty breezy; I remember struggling to keep the frushi and udon paper boats from being knocked off.

While there I spotted a tiramisu gelato pop from a kiosk, and T dutifully went and brought one back:



It was delicious, but for ~$8 I thought it'd be bigger.



For some reason, toward the end I took dozens of rapid-fire pictures of T eating this, enough to make a flipbook or gif. One such outtake, above.



More Spike spotting. I think this is why we'd paused in Italy, to muster up strength to search for this little bee.



Elsa's pose is typical of how she looks in a lot of images and marketing, but what is with Anna's pose?


The next booth stop was at Berry Basket:







Warm Wild Berry Buckle with Pepper Berry Gelato, $4.50, and
Island Grove Blueberry Moscato, Hawthorne, FL, $6

The berry buckle was quite good, and a huge size for its relatively low price. The pepper berry gelato just tasted of berries. The moscato was such a small pour, smaller than the usual mini pour at these booths. Le sigh.


Onto La Isla Fresca, we have another winning item:





Sugar Cane Shrimp Skewer with Steamed Rice and Coconut Lime Sauce, $6.75

That sauce was perfect, the shrimp were huge, grilled nicely, and plentiful!, and even the rice was above average. I chewed on the sugar cane as I went along, which made up for not getting the tropical mousse cake at this booth. (Wanted to get it, but we'd mainly had dessert items.)



Sadly, that's the end of our booth adventures! There were more items I wanted to get, like always, but we called it quits early on. We spent some more time leisurely walking around World Showcase and taking pictures of the flowers and gardens. So pretty, colorful, and fragrant in some spots. Also during this time I had changed a late-night Mission Space FP to Frozen Ever After, much to T's delight. Wish I could explain why we love this ride so, but I really can't.

I protested that we hadn't had a "real dinner" because we had only snacked a lot (even though we were basically full... ), so after sunset we stopped off in Japan to eat at Katsura Grill.


shrimp tempura udon, $12

By no means is this ~gourmet~ Japanese, but I like Katsura Grill's udon. Reliably hot, salty, and fresh. T at first said he didn't want anything, then opted for a curry.



I think this was the chicken cutlet curry, $13. If I recall correctly T liked this but had some reservations about the quality.

We took our food outside and ate in the peaceful garden, a large part of Katsura Grill's appeal. I saw a rat scurrying across the stones while we sat out there and we immediately agreed it was Remy, traveling to Japan to find international inspiration for new cuisine!

After that we were off to ride Frozen Ever After, a nice way to wind down from all of the walking and food sampling of the night. Properly relaxed, we rushed over to Mission Space for one last ride, but it was down. We spent a few minutes looking for the last topiaries we had missed in Future World. Then, we walked to the car and saw a bunch of the fireworks from the parking lot; from that position they were behind and shooting over Spaceship Earth. It was nice to see Illuminations from that perspective. A peaceful, 5-minute drive later and we were back at Pop, packing up our luggage and soon, snoozing away.

Up next is our last day of the trip, starting with breakfast at the Polynesian!

​

 

[goofy78]

People Mover Your dinner at F&G looks like a perfect night! Getting me so excited for my trip in October for F&W!

 

[Araminta18]

All the dishes from the food booths...so yummy! Sounds kind of like a perfect night.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

What a fun night! I love grazing around WS

 

[MickeyReeds]

By the way, did you know that when couples are filmed on House Hunters, they already know what house they're going to buy?

I think I also read that sometimes the "other" houses they are looking at aren't even on the market!

By the way, I read all of your June trip in one night and really enjoyed it! I'm glad to find this one!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Congratulations on your new job! Sorry to hear it means leaving Oregon and canceling your F&W trip. All your F&G eats look yummy. For some reason I spaced on the booths when I was there and missed out on so much. Oh well, there’s always next year! Your description of your leisurely trip around the World sounds like perfection. I can’t wait until it starts to cool down a bit and I can make the same trip around the lagoon without being miserable.