Let's Get Ready to Crumble!- COMPLETED!

[dizneeat]

Okay, how can you tell, that I neglected the Food Board for quite a while?

I missed the start of this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But I am here now - I was only able to read Bubba Gump and Prime Time by now, but I will go back and read it all tomorrow (and maybe the day after! Two long days at school).

By the way ..........

Here's a photo of the Cajun shrimp - they do have quite a kick, but we love that kind of food!

 

[mamaboogie]

Okay, how can you tell, that I neglected the Food Board for quite a while?

I missed the start of this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But I am here now - I was only able to read Bubba Gump and Prime Time by now, but I will go back and read it all tomorrow (and maybe the day after! Two long days at school).

By the way ..........

Here's a photo of the Cajun shrimp - they do have quite a kick, but we love that kind of food!

Thanks Karin! Oh, I want to eat that right now!

I thought about you so much at Bubba Gumps - I was going to get the dumb luck shrimp, but then Sarah wanted to order it so I went for Mama's fried shrimp - there was so much choice on the menu.

If we ever get back to WDW we would definitely go back to Bubba Gumps - we all loved it!

 

[dizneeat]

Thanks Karin! Oh, I want to eat that right now!

I thought about you so much at Bubba Gumps - I was going to get the dumb luck shrimp, but then Sarah wanted to order it so I went for Mama's fried shrimp - there was so much choice on the menu.

If we ever get back to WDW we would definitely go back to Bubba Gumps - we all loved it!

Glad I could help out!

You WILL get back to WDW and you WILL eat at Bubba's again ........ I am pretty sure of that!

Everything is so good at Bubba's! We only got one chance to eat there this summer and guess what I had? ........ The Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp!

 

[Minnie J]

Very great looking food at Bubba Gumps and very funny name Great reviews ladies

 

[mamaboogie]

Glad I could help out!

You WILL get back to WDW and you WILL eat at Bubba's again ........ I am pretty sure of that!

Everything is so good at Bubba's! We only got one chance to eat there this summer and guess what I had? ........ The Dumb Luck Coconut Shrimp!

Thanks for the positivity Karin! We really need it right now as we are very sad that our holiday is over.

Very great looking food at Bubba Gumps and very funny name Great reviews ladies

Thank you for reading!

 

[hill6]

Bubbas looked great. Haven't eaten there in years.

 

[mamaboogie]

Bubbas looked great. Haven't eaten there in years.

It was great Debbie - a new experience for us. In the past we've gone to the Hard Rock Cafe, so it was nice to do something different.

Thanks for reading - I'll hopefully get California Grill posted up later today, I think I'm stalling because I'm getting near the end!

 

[mamaboogie]

Tuesday 24th August

After celebrating Sarah's GCSE results, we headed out to EPCOT. We bribed Sarah with a cloudberry horn if she would go on Maelstrom. The lure of the horn was powerful and she decided to give it a go. We celebrated with Cloudberry horns all round:

This was Simon's first ever cloudberry horn and I think he was impressed by it. He realised now what all the fuss was about.

We had wanted to eat lunch at Yakitori house but the rain meant that this small restaurant was heaving. No room at the inn for us.

Bizarrely, we ended up returning to our ancestral home and getting some Yorkshire fish and chips. The rain was pouring and the eating area was packed so we ended up munching on them under an archway near the England shops. Sorry - no pics. I was too busy trying to balance my chips.

This meal did the trick, but it wasn't special. And nowhere nice as the fish and chips we get here in Yorkshire. But I surely welcomed a cup of hot tea!

After drying off back at OKW we got ready for another special meal - California Grill.

Those of you who have read my previous food review, will know how much we love this place and what outstanding experiences we have had there. Due partly (or mostly) to the fact that we had the same brilliant waiter both times - Kevin

We were under no illusion that we would be lucky enough to get Kevin for a third time, but we were still very excited at the prospect of dining there.

The trouble with high expectations.......

We got to the Contempory early and decided to explore the shops:

Then it was time to catch the 'magic elevator' up to the restaurant.

We were given a pager and asked to sit in the bar. We were pounced on by a waiter and we all ordered drinks - I had a cocktail but I can't remember what it was - how awful!

The waiter then proceeded to tell us all about the menu and his recommendations. At this point, we just wanted to be left alone to peruse the menu.

Eventually we were taken to our seats.

Now, here's where the evening started to be less than immaculate. The first time we ate at CG we were in the main body of the restaurant. The second time, we were in the wine room which was a lovely, intimate place to eat. This time we were taken to the extreme right hand side of the restaurant, on the other side of the bar area. There were about 6 or 7 tables and they felt very disjointed from the rest of the restaurant.

Our table was right in the middle of this area and was in quite a busy thoroughfare. My seat overlooked the server's station and there was a lot of coming and going all night. I think Simon and the girls at least overlooked the window so they had a better view than me.

There was a free table near the window and I wish, oh, how I wish, that I had had the guts to ask if we could sit there. But I didn't. Pretty soon, someone else was seated there. Oh well. We decided to make the best of the evening.

Our Server was Abdou and he was good. Helpful and efficient and full of advice when we needed recommendations.

I decided to be adventurous and try the spicy kazan roll for starters:

This was mighty tasty! Lots of different flavours in every mouthful. I enjoyed this dish a lot, but it was more of a main course than an appetiser!

Sarah and Kate shared the cheese flatbread and Simon had the steak flatbread. These both looked delicious. This was the steak one:

For entrees, I stuck to my usual pork tenderloin:

This was a mistake. When I had this dish in 2006 I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I thought I had never been served a dish as delicious in my whole life. This time, it was just ok. I found myself wishing I chosen another entree from the menu.

Simon had his usual steak:

Kate had the chicken dish:

Sarah had the cheese ravioli:

Everyone seemed to enjoy their dishes. For dessert, Simon and Kate had the chocolate cake:

Sarah had the banana dish:

And I chose a vanilla custard dessert with berries and chocolate pate:

I was disappointed with this dish. It looked beautiful but it was very cold and hard - almost like a hard ice cream. I thought a custard should be soft, like a creme brulee. I was pretty full anyway.

WE had got the timing wrong for Wishes but we went out for a quick look at the view:

Our overall thoughts: we still enjoyed the food at the CG very much. But the atmosphere was not right tonight. Possibly due to the less than great table. So while it was still a good experience, it wasn't an amazing experience. And that made me feel a bit sad. But we probably would go back.

The total cost would have been : $335.78
We paid: $ 131.96 for my cocktail, Simon's wine, the two flatbreads, the spicy kazan roll and the tip.

Crumble Rating: 7 out of 10

Coming up: Pinnocchio Village Haus and Flying Fish!

 

[ilovepete]

Sorry about your disappointing meal!

 

[zhazhazsu]

Monday 16th August - shopping day!

Today was our shopping trip to Florida Mall. To fortify us for the task ahead we had booked an ADR at Olivia's for breakfast.

It was quiet in there and we were seated once more in a booth (ooh, I love booths!)

We all tried different things - Sarah had the pancakes with bacon and maple syrup - this came with three huge pancakes that filled her plate! Kate had a cheese and ham omelette breakfast and Simon had the full Olivia's breakfast. I only took one picture and that was of my breakfast - the poached eggs with hollandaise over sweet potato hash with a buttermilk biscuits:

The eggs and the hollandaise were delicious and I'm seriously addicted to buttermilk biscuits (we don't get them over here) but I wasn't too keen on the sweet potato hash. There wasn't anything wrong with it but it just wasn't to my taste for breakfast.

But we really enjoyed this breakfast and it set us up for the day! We decided to pay OOP for it as we realised that breakfasts aren't always a good use of a DDP table credit.

It cost $63.06 including tip.

Crumble rating: 6 out of 10

Then it was on with the shopping adventures!

In previous years, we'd stopped for lunch in the Florida Mall food court. Sarah had always enjoyed going to Chick-Fil-A for a milkshake and some waffle fries. Remember this?:

Quelle horreur! We got to the food court only to find that Chick-Fil-A was no more! And in it's place was the decidedly less appealing 'Chicken Now'

Simon and I had something to eat from there (it really wasn't worth writing about - you know when cheap food actually tastes cheap? Yuk.) but Sarah wouldn't be unfaithful and went for a sandwich somewhere else.

To cheer myself up, I later bought myself a Bailey's haagan daz milk shake which was all creamy and delicious!

I also stocked up on lots of hersheys chocolates to enjoy later - yummy!

After exhausting ourselves shopping, we went back to OKW to prepare for evening ADR at Sanaa.

I was really looking forward to this meal (yes, I know I say that about most meals!) - we'd heard some exciting things about this new restaurant. It was also a chance to have a nosy around Kidani Village - which was totally beautiful!:

It was a lot quieter than Jambo House and had a lovely atmosphere to it. We went down to the restaurant to check in - early again! We were seated almost immediately. The CMs at this restaurant were all amazing polite and friendly.

Our server was called Mary - Mary rocked. She was informative and friendly - yet never intrusive. She looked after us so well that we wanted to take her home with us (I wanted to take most of the Sanaa staff home with us - they were all brilliant.)

We were seated at a table in the middle of the restaurant, which I don't normally like. But it didn't feel cramped or crowded or in the middle of the thoroughfare. And we could still see out into the savannah.

Apologies in advance about the photo quality as the restaurant was quite dimly lit - but the tables were well lit so you could see your food perfectly.

Mary recommended the bread service - I told her I had heard about it and we were keen to try it. We chose naan, paratha and paneer paratha along with cucumber raita, coriander chutney and mango chutney (sorry - they were gobbled up before I could even reach for the camera!)

The breads were delicious and it was nice to have small tastes of different things. The dips were good too and Mary left them so we could have them with our main courses - fantastic!

I needed to up my cocktail quota so I ordered a Kande coconut cooler - this drink was simply outstanding! I loved it so much it was probably my favourite drink of the holiday:

Kate's mango lassi smoothie is on the left. Simon had a Tusker beer and Sarah stuck to sprite.

For main course, both Simon and Kate got the tandoori chicken:

I had the tandoori shrimp:

These portions look quite small but they weren't. The dishes were beautifully flavoured and all our plates were cleaned.

Sarah, bless her, struggles with food that is at all spicy. She chose from the vegetarian sampler:

I think this was the stir fried green beans and the lentils. I think it was a bit spicy for her but she made an effort with it.

During dessert, Simon and I decided to try some of the pressed pot coffee - now this was amazing, rich coffee. And all the better when we realised that it didn't cost us anything - Mary put it down as our DDP non-alcoholic drink. It was a huge pot of coffee too!

Sarah has recently started drinking tea and she decided to try a pot of the vanilla rooibos tea which she really enjoyed. This was also 'free'.

Kate and I had the dessert sampler:

Left to right - chocolate cake, chai cream and kulfi. Each of these little desserts were gorgeous!

Simon had the chocolate cake by itself:

And Sarah had the mango pudding:

Here are a couple of pictures of us enjoying the evening:

On the DDP this meal cost us $62.74 - this includes the tip, bread service, my cocktail and Simon's two beers.

I'm having to check the bill twice - $62.74 for a simply amazing meal in a wonderful restaurant.

Crumble rating: 9 out of 10

We all loved it here and it is definitely top of our must do list now. Even the bathrooms are amazing.

Some of the signature restaurants need to sit up and take notice of Sanaa. We had a brilliant meal. For the first time ever we plucked up courage to mention how great Mary had been - and they had us fill in a little slip to make note of it.

My final thoughts on this evening - GO. TO. SANAA.

Ok?

I agree 150 percent about Saana, and get this I had Mary as my waitress in January. She was simply amazing. I have had two wonderful meals @ Saana in the past year ( January and May) and have to say it is my favorite restaurant on Disney property to date. Glad you enjoyed it, your trip report is awesome and your family seems lovely.

 

[dizneeat]

Sorry about the crummy table at CG!

You are so right - if they seat you at the wrong area it takes away so much of the experience.
Sorry about the pork tenderloin - I had it again (yip, it is my staple meal at CG) and it was as good as I remembered it.

Hope your next visit there is as magical as can be! (and please, just go for it and ask for a better table next time!)

 

[Linda67]

Shame you didn't get a great table at CG

Your sushi looks wonderful, I really enjoyed the sushi at CG and if I went again I would probably have that instead of an entree as it is more than enough food

 

[Minnie J]

I had the lobster flatbread there and it was good until you just couldnt eat anymore then I was done. We went back in Feb 2010 and the pork tenderloin was delicious. I love Kevin myself as I almost wanted to marry him just for the good service Sorry you had a bad table and we too missed the Wishes when we were there

 

[mamaboogie]

Sorry about your disappointing meal!

Yes, it was still a fabulous meal - it just wasn't as great as last time!

I agree 150 percent about Saana, and get this I had Mary as my waitress in January. She was simply amazing. I have had two wonderful meals @ Saana in the past year ( January and May) and have to say it is my favorite restaurant on Disney property to date. Glad you enjoyed it, your trip report is awesome and your family seems lovely.

Awww.....Mary was awesome! Just the perfect mix of efficient and friendly. We loved this restaurant so much. Thanks for reading and your kind comments.

Sorry about the crummy table at CG!

You are so right - if they seat you at the wrong area it takes away so much of the experience.
Sorry about the pork tenderloin - I had it again (yip, it is my staple meal at CG) and it was as good as I remembered it.

Hope your next visit there is as magical as can be! (and please, just go for it and ask for a better table next time!)

I know Karin - I should have said something. I was scared they would say no and I would spend the entire meal fuming about it! When I get around to writing my trip report you'll see that on my first day at OKW I WAS very bold about something - I think I'd used up my boldness quota by the time I got to CG!

The pork was still very nice - I just thought I should have tried something else on the lovely menu!

Shame you didn't get a great table at CG

Your sushi looks wonderful, I really enjoyed the sushi at CG and if I went again I would probably have that instead of an entree as it is more than enough food

You are absolutely right Linda. If we go back, I would probably order a different starter and have the sushi as an entree!

The area we were seated in just felt...weird. Almost like an afterthought, a few tables stuck there as an overflow. I would have much preferred to have been in the wine room. I don't like sitting at tables where people are walking past you all the time!

I had the lobster flatbread there and it was good until you just couldnt eat anymore then I was done. We went back in Feb 2010 and the pork tenderloin was delicious. I love Kevin myself as I almost wanted to marry him just for the good service Sorry you had a bad table and we too missed the Wishes when we were there

Kevin is fabulous! He could really show a lot of the servers how it's done. Simon and I BOTH wanted to marry him when he first served us in 2006! He is that good.

 

[Bookstamper]

Great reviews again I'm sorry to hear your experience at CG didn't quite live up to last time - we had a similar experience at LTT, good but not as great as we remembered Totally agree about the fish and chips, how could they compete with Blighty's finest?! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[mamaboogie]

Great reviews again I'm sorry to hear your experience at CG didn't quite live up to last time - we had a similar experience at LTT, good but not as great as we remembered Totally agree about the fish and chips, how could they compete with Blighty's finest?! Looking forward to reading more!

Let's face it - pretty much every WDW meal experience is tons better than ones we have back home!

But fish and chips.....No, no NO! Those EPCOT ones ain't proper British fish and chips. Believe me, I live at the seaside, I know.

 

[merrymouse1]

Again, loving your review. From Simon boogie-ing to the Beatles to your DD's onion ring bracelet and your 50's Prime time experience! We are trying 50's on our upcoming Nov trip and have never been there and cannot wait. Im not telling my hubby or kids anything about the stuff I've learned here and Im the trip planner so I want them to be surprised by the fun. Im Italian and I love to eat and even better when I don't have to cook and clean up! We are trying many new places this time so I love that you include such lovely pictures along with your reviews! Great job!

 

[thebeesknees]

(Wiping the drool off my computer screen....)

Loving these reviews! I really enjoy your photos of everything and how you tell us what worked and what didn't, and why. Thanks!

 

[CS3SONS]

Wow those 12 pages just flew by, loved all of your reviews and pictures!

 

[mamaboogie]

Again, loving your review. From Simon boogie-ing to the Beatles to your DD's onion ring bracelet and your 50's Prime time experience! We are trying 50's on our upcoming Nov trip and have never been there and cannot wait. Im not telling my hubby or kids anything about the stuff I've learned here and Im the trip planner so I want them to be surprised by the fun. Im Italian and I love to eat and even better when I don't have to cook and clean up! We are trying many new places this time so I love that you include such lovely pictures along with your reviews! Great job!

Thank you Merrymouse! I'm glad you can tell what a fun time we had. It's great to try new places as well as going to the old favourites.

(Wiping the drool off my computer screen....)

Loving these reviews! I really enjoy your photos of everything and how you tell us what worked and what didn't, and why. Thanks!

Glad to be of help! I must admit I am getting rather hungry while I'm writing these reviews!

Wow those 12 pages just flew by, loved all of your reviews and pictures!

Thank you so much!