Lights! Camera! Appetite! 7 Days, Starring A Reviewer & A Vegetarian!

[princessallegra]

Great review of Akershus! I am going to have to take my DH there at some point, because Belle is his FAVORITE! The food looks pretty tasty though. Sorry your entrees were not up to par. I think we may try breakfast here.

 

[KatMark]

Your reviews have been great so far; I can't wait to try Kona in September.

 

[Mona503]

Enjoying your food reviews.

 

[acwsmom]

I'm joining in!! Great job on your review so far!

And you've totally sold me on the Columbia Harbor House. I LOVE fried shrimp and can't wait to give that a try. Since we're trying the Counter Service dining plan on our trip in Nov., I'm looking for new CS places to try and will be sure to add this to our list!

 

[kimgof]

Great Review! I can't wait to try Le Cellier...maybe next trip. I agree that one cannot choose a restaurant based totally on the reviews here...someone's worst retaurant is always someone else's favorite!
Can't wait to read more!

 

[DsnyMama]

Awesome reviews so far!! Joining for more

 

[somethingblue]

Eek, where did the month go?!

I am SO, so sorry loyal dining review readers. Between work, my summer class, babysitting, and a lot of stress I have let this little guy get put on the back burner. But fear not, dear readers! I am going to finish this thing, I promise.

So get ready for a much needed update coming your way in a matter of minutes!

 

[somethingblue]

Awesome reviews so far!! Joining for more

Thank you so much!

More great reviews

Thanks for taking the time to post

Thank you for reading! Sorry this latest update is so overdue.

Lol I was making a joke about the server who referred to him as your husband. I guess my jokes stink!!!

Haha, no your jokes are fine, it's my brain that's not catching on!

Great review of Akershus! I am going to have to take my DH there at some point, because Belle is his FAVORITE! The food looks pretty tasty though. Sorry your entrees were not up to par. I think we may try breakfast here.

Haha, I have to say, it's very hit or miss with the face characters. The Belle we had was okay but incredibly bland and had a fake smile in our pictures. But...they were free so I shouldn't complain!

Your reviews have been great so far; I can't wait to try Kona in September.

Thanks! Go for the Tonga Toast!

Enjoying your food reviews.

Thank you!

I'm joining in!! Great job on your review so far!

And you've totally sold me on the Columbia Harbor House. I LOVE fried shrimp and can't wait to give that a try. Since we're trying the Counter Service dining plan on our trip in Nov., I'm looking for new CS places to try and will be sure to add this to our list!

Yes, it was delicious. I totally recommend it, especially because it's two stories. More room for people to spread out, less noise, and it's a bit hidden compared to a place like Cosmic Ray's. Nice to have interesting options, too, not just burgers and chicken strips. Also, I didn't eat there, but Lotus Blossom Cafe in China smelled and looked heavenly!

Great Review! I can't wait to try Le Cellier...maybe next trip. I agree that one cannot choose a restaurant based totally on the reviews here...someone's worst retaurant is always someone else's favorite!
Can't wait to read more!

Thank you!

 

[somethingblue]

Our next day at Disney was spent in the Magic Kingdom with dinner at Crystal Palace! This was the only buffet meal I chose because Matt really dislikes buffets; he's grossed out by them, and I don't blame him. I'm usually not too keen on them either, but Crystal Palace is one of my favourites and this trip didn't change it's status.

Crystal Palace

This was the busiest day of our trip (a Saturday) and the longest we had to wait to check in. There was a long line of people waiting to check in that wasn't budging a bit. I finally figured out what was going on; a family at the front of the line was relentlessly trying to get into a restaurant that was clearly booked full. The CP staff finally got wise and announced they were only taking people with reservations, yadda yadda yadda, and we got checked in and waited for our table on the patio teeming with people.

At last, we got checked in! We were seated by a fabulous host who told Matt she was a vegan and then our server came to get our drink order. He insisted on having the chef come out and tell us what was vegetarian on the buffet, even though we were pretty sure we could figure it out. Still, the chef came out and pointed out obvious things with a smile. Now it was time to fill our plates!

Matt came to the table with this plate and a look of embarrassment, saying, "DON'T JUDGE ME!". This buffet had tons of vegetarian options but he chose to eat the kids cheese pizza and the vegetable pasta primavera. Hey, it's what he was in the mood for. What do I care? This was good, but really, what can you say about cheese pizza and pasta? It was as to be expected, and it satisfied Matt's craving.

I decided I was going to have Thanksgiving Dinner that night and got turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, macaroni and cheese, a cranberry chutney, and a bit of salmon in dill sauce.

The cranberry chutney was horrible. I scraped it off my plate and didn't eat anything that had been touched by it. Awful, spicy, just not my style one bit. The salmon was okay, but nothing to write home about. Everything else? Superb. The best buffet food I've ever experienced without a doubt. Everything was hot, fresh, and flavourful. I wish I could have eaten three platefuls of my Thanksgiving dinner but alas, I simply didn't have the room. I even skipped out on dessert (shocker!) to enjoy more of these savory treats.

Matt saved room for dessert however and chose soft serve with sprinkles (which make everything better for him) and a tiny german cake. Both of these were tasty desserts. I think the only thing Crystal Palace is lacking in is the dessert department; I wish they had a few more options instead of cookies, soft serve, and a couple of tiny cakes.

Crystal Palace is still my favourite buffet food wise. (1900 Park Fare is my favourite for characters.) I wanted to get a breakfast ressie here before the park opened but, alas, it wasn't in the cards. Even if you're not a buffet person though, give it a shot.

PS Personal vent: At the table next to us was a family who requested the Manager of Crystal Palace. When he came over they asked him to change their reservation for Le Cellier the next night to an earlier time. LE CELLIER, the hardest one credit restaurant to get into, in a completely different park than the one you're in. And you know what? The guy called their hotel's concierge and told them to show up at Le Cellier whatever time they wanted and their reservation would be good...but they would have to wait for an available table and it might take a while. This family grated on my nerves tremendously. They obviously knew nothing about the dining plan, reservations, or even how the parks worked. Isn't it weird that not everyone plans these things out?

 

[TinkLovinMomma]

Hello! Im joining in! I am loving your dining reviews! I am very much lik you as far as eating go. I never eat ground beef, limit red meat, only pork I eat is bacon, never touch veal, venison etc. Have you considered going pescitarian? I want to but DH wont allow it because I used to be a vegetarian and wound up with a severe vitamin deficiency (my own fault, I was young and stupid, but I understand his concern) Anyway great reviews I am looking forward to more!!!

 

[disney_princess_85]

Hi!

I'm still on the first page of your report but I just wanted to comment on a couple of things:

The vegetarian lasagne at Pop looks really interesting. I've not heard of tofu being used in lasagne before. I might have to give it a try.

I had the same gnocchi dish at Le Cellier last year. It was great but my portion was nowhere near as big as the one Matt got! Maybe they give girls smaller portions? It was really filling, nonetheless. I took half of mine back to the hotel.

Off to read more now!

 

[Cat0727]

Yum, Crystal Palace is my favorite buffet at WDW. Unfortunately every time I eat there I never have enough room for dessert

 

[somethingblue]

Yum, Crystal Palace is my favorite buffet at WDW. Unfortunately every time I eat there I never have enough room for dessert

I know! You know that the savory food must be incredible when a girl with a crazy sweet tooth skips dessert.

Hi!

I'm still on the first page of your report but I just wanted to comment on a couple of things:

The vegetarian lasagne at Pop looks really interesting. I've not heard of tofu being used in lasagne before. I might have to give it a try.

I had the same gnocchi dish at Le Cellier last year. It was great but my portion was nowhere near as big as the one Matt got! Maybe they give girls smaller portions? It was really filling, nonetheless. I took half of mine back to the hotel.

Off to read more now!

1) The tofu used in the vegetarian lasagna is used in a ground beef sort of way. This is the reason I actually didn't care for this dish; I HATE the texture of ground beef, even if it's tofu!

2) That's ridiculous! Maybe they were feeling generous that night. Matt and I wished we had a fridge because we were kind of wasteful on this trip, but I couldn't justify spending the extra dough for one just for leftovers. =]

Hello! Im joining in! I am loving your dining reviews! I am very much lik you as far as eating go. I never eat ground beef, limit red meat, only pork I eat is bacon, never touch veal, venison etc. Have you considered going pescitarian? I want to but DH wont allow it because I used to be a vegetarian and wound up with a severe vitamin deficiency (my own fault, I was young and stupid, but I understand his concern) Anyway great reviews I am looking forward to more!!!

Thank you so much! I have considered going pescitarian, and even vegetarian, but alas...I'm lazy! I know, how awful, but at least I'm honest. Yeah, if you don't go about it right it's easy to get a Vitamin B12 deficency. I'm sure you're smarter now!

Alright guys, next we have our LAST day at Disney! Hollywood Studios reviews are up next...and I might have a little surprise for you guys too!

 

[somethingblue]

Starring Rolls Cafe

We intended to get to Hollywood Studios earlier than we did, and I was not feeling too great, so Matt was the awesome boyfriend he always is and ran to get FPs for Toy Story Mania (despite never having been to this park before) while I sat down and had some breakfast. We had a couple of extra snack credits so I used those to grab something at Starring Rolls Cafe, an eatery I knew would not disappoint (thanks to the Dis!).

This fruit tart was superb, out of this world delicious. Seriously, I wish I had one in my mouth right now. This was small, but totally satisfying. A little pastry shell with a thin chocolate covering filled with custard covered in fresh fruit. If you're in Starring Rolls, please, do yourself a favour and get this! I also got an orange juice. I have to admit, the Minute Maid brand tastes really fake compared to the juice we usually drink (simply orange), but it was still refreshing. Matt ended up having the exact same meal for breakfast that morning once he came with the fastpasses. I highly recommend it!

Studio Catering Co.

I was nervous about our lunch options at Hollywood Studios, but Studio Catering Co had some tasty sounding sandwich and salad options, and in fact more than just one vegetarian offering! Matt chose the vegetarian sandwich with fries while I got the Tuscan Deli sandwich with apple slices. For dessert we chose an individual cheesecake and a cookie.

This is Matt's meal. According to All Ears, this is grilled Zucchini, roasted mushrooms, roasted red pepper, vine ripe tomato, watercress, provolone, smoked tomato pesto on a black olive chiabatta. You can see him about to dig in to dessert a little early in the background. This wasn't much to write home about, but it was certainly a thousand times better than anything I've eaten from ABC Commissary. Matt didn't seem too thrilled with it, but I think he was just kind of tired and needed to rest for a minute.

This is my Tuscan Deli Sandwich with apple slices. It was turkey, ham, and cheese melted together with pesto, tomatoes, and ceasar dressing. SO. DELICIOUS. I don't know if it was just that I was starving and it hit the spot, but I loved this sandwich. Way better than anything I've had at HS before.

Here you can see our desserts, as well as a bottle of water I got for a drink. (I think Matt got coke.) The little cheesecake thing was pretty standard, and unfortunately I left my cookie behind! Boo.

I would definitely suggest trying Studio Catering Co. for lunch next time you're in Hollywood Studios! Next up we have...my last review! Mama Melrose.

 

[SuspenseUpstairs]

Great food review or something, Somethingblue. I really enjoyed the imagery.

 

[somethingblue]

Mama Melrose

Well, this was our last meal in a Disney park. (We did go to Wolfgang Puck Express on departure day but I didn't take pictures; we ate the exact same thing as before.) During this meal we were debating whether or not we were brave enough to take on Tower Of Terror...and the answer was we weren't! But that didn't put a damper on our dinner.

It started off with some rolls brought to the table along with our drinks.

The rolls were fairly typical. Just rolls and oil. I enjoyed them, of course, because I love carbs! Matt had quite a few options here for a vegetarian dish, and the waiter made it clear to us that they would even alter other dishes to make them vegetarian if we wanted, such as a vegetable pasta, or something like that. Matt was just fine with what was already on the menu. For some reason I didn't write down what Matt had, and I can't find it on any online menus, but if I remember correctly it was a goat cheese ravioli.

Although Mama Melrose offered a couple of vegetarian pizza offerings, by this point Matt had eaten his fill of pizza! This pasta was very tasty and he thoroughly enjoyed it. This was another generous portion size as well.

For my entrée I chose the wood grilled tuna served on top of risotto with a spicy tomato topping. I requested the topping on the side, as you'll see in this photo. In the risotto there were also some vegetables, including some delicious asparagus.

This dish was fantastic. It never ceases to amaze me how meaty tuna tastes! I really enjoyed this meal. It was salty, but not too salty, and was incredibly hearty. I would order this again in a heart beat, even though I couldn't finish the whole plate! I preferred my fish without the tomato sauce, but it wasn't as spicy as I'd feared it would be.

For dessert we both chose Mama's Tirimisu, which is in fact a gelato affegato. It's a tall mug with a shot of espresso on bottom, full of tirimisu flavoured gelato, and topped with whipped cream and a lady finger garnish.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4818680721_36942e58e1.jpg[/.img]

As you can see, the mug on the left was completely missing the shot of espresso! I had intended on pointing this out to our waiter but, alas, by the time he came around the entire thing was melted. This wasn't an issue because Matt and I were stuffed just sharing one dessert, but it was very curious that they would completely forget the espresso shot. Our waiter offered to give us another one, or take it off our tab, but we were already full and being on the dining plan, taking it off wouldn't have done anything. This dessert had a very strong rum flavour and melted incredibly fast. It was tasty, but it wasn't tirimisu. You'd think they'd put an authentic tirimisu on the menu but...maybe this version is easier.

Mama Melrose was better than I expected it to be, and I'd definitely make a reservation here again.

And that concludes my dining reviews! Thank you so much for reading; I hope you all enjoyed. Please feel free to ask me any questions, and if you're interested, I've just started a trip report that I've linked in my signature.

Thanks guys![/COLOR][/FONT]