Met the pound a day challenge - dining reviews

[dumbotink'smom]

Myself, DH, DD1 (age 13) and DD2 (age 9) just returned from a 4 day visit between 3/30/11 and 4/2/11.

Just some basic reviews, mostly of my food choices (sorry no pics). I love reading others reviews when planning my trips and I find them very helpful. Hope mine are enjoyable and helpful.

Day 1:

Lunch
Sunshine Seasons Food Fair
Epcot: The Land

I love this place! I had a reuben panini. It was awesome! The corned beef was very tender, the cheese melted to perfection and just the right amount of tanginess from the sauerkraut and dressing. It was on a rye panini type bread and it was very crunchy. On the side was a vinegar based potato salad which some may think was a little heavy on the vinegar but it cut the richness of the sandwich perfectly. I got a creme brulee for dessert which was creamy but DD2's chocolate mousse cake was much better!

DH and DD1 had Asian selections but both thought they were nothing special.

DD2 had the children's chicken leg and mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were thick, slightly chunky and very buttery- YUM!

Dinner
Akershus Royal Banquet
Epcot: Norway

The waitress told us that they had just unveiled the new menu the day before.

DD2 loves a buffet and was very happy to dine on the selection of cold fish (she even liked the pickled herring- my favorite), meats, cheeses and salad. She did not eat much of her hot dog and corn.

I tried the Norwegian goat cheese from the buffet. It looks like a slice of peanut butter and had a mild flavor. The pickled herring was yummy but everything else was OK.

For my entree, I had the roasted chicken breast with farro risotto and herb jus. It was the best thing I ate the entire trip. The chicken was tender and the farro which I never had before was a perfect accompaniment as was the jus.

DD2 had the mushroom stuffed pasta which was good but swimming in butter.
DH had the Kjottkake (beef and pork dumplings) which tasted much like swedish meatballs.

Lots of big-wigs were there - service was prompt and the food was piping hot.

One pound down- 3 to go!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Very nice review. Can't wait for the rest.

 

[dumbotink'smom]

Day 2

March 31, 2011. There were heavy downpours, thunder and tornado warnings all day today. DH ventured out to Cafe' Rix at CSR to get breakfast. I had a blueberry muffin and coffee. The blueberries were juicy but the muffin itself nor the coffee was anything special.

Around 3:00 the rain let up so we planned to tour the World Showcase before our 5:10 reservation at Kouzzina on the Boardwalk. As soon as we arrived at Epcot the downpours restarted and ran from place to place making our way to Kouzzina. At one stop I bought some sweatpants as the pants I was wearing were drenched. I changed into them and wrung out my socks in the sink before our seating. Thank goodness they had towels at the door to dry off b/c our ponchos didn't cut it and we were all soaked to the bone.

I wanted to try Cat Cora's private label wine but I was so wet and cold I opted for coffee instead. We started with DD2's favorite, calamari, which was breaded in four types of flour (what they were IDK). They were light and crispy and the calamari itself was tender, not chewy.

The bread was next with two types of olive oil for dipping. I like both the light, fruity oil and the heavier oil.

For an entree I had the pork tenderloin with feta gremolata, wilted greens and zucchini corn bread. I had the pork cooked med rare and it was perfect, a nice char on the outside and juicy inside. I love the gremolata as well.

DD1 had the lamb shank which was huge. It sat in a broth with what looked like a large butter bean. It was delicious.

DH had the greek trio- lamb burger, greek lasagna and cinnamon stewed chicken. DH liked the chicken the best. A single diner near us got the full portion of the lasagna which came in a casserole dish big enough for a family of four. She must have not read the menu description b/c she complained that the kitchen forgot the tomato sauce and wanted to order something else. The menu says it is a greek style lasagna with cinnamon stewed beef and bechamel but I guess not everyone knows that bechamel is a white sauce. She also returned the whole fish she ordered next b/c she could not look at the head.

While we all enjoyed our meal, everything, including the bread seemed a bit salty.

We had the doughnuts for dessert drizzled with honey and both a vanilla and raspberry dipping sauce. The doughnuts would have been better if hot and the sauces were nothing special.

Throughout the meal, cooks in the open kitchen call out "Opa!" which I did not know means celebrate.

 

[dumbotink'smom]

Day 3:

Breakfast
Main Street Bakery
MK

Last trip I sent DH there as DD2 and I waited in line for Dumbo (thank goodness they are building a second Dumbo in the Fantsyland expansion) and he brought me a cheese danish. It was good but I really wanted the Cinnamon roll! This time I got it! It was huge but very soft and doughy. The icing was so sweet it hurt my teeth but drizzle of butterscotch on top made me push through the sweetness.

Snack
CSR main pool

Nachos! Regular old nachos with cheese whiz cheese. Oh so greasy and gooey but just what I wanted at the time.

Dinner
Kona Cafe
Poly

We ate at Ohana on our last trip in 2006 and had a blast. We loved the turkey, cheesy potatoes and banana bread pudding. I read some disappointing reviews prior to this trip so we decided on Kona Cafe instead. I am glad we did. DH and DD1 had the Pan-asian noodles, one had chicken and one had shrimp. I had the Teriyaki NY strip. Very good. We all had dessert but I don't remember them except for DD2's Kona cone. I know they were pretty good but I was stuffed having the nachos as a late snack so I did not eat much of them. We watched Wishes from the beach at Poly that night which was nice.

 

[Dizneydaz]

We love Kona and watching Wishes from Poly's beach is awesome!

 

[dumbotink'smom]

Last Day

DH brought muffins etc. back from Cafe Rix for breakfast.

Lunch
Pollo Compero
Marketplace Downtown Disney

Dh had the signature fried chicken which he must have loved as I was never offered a bite!

DD1 and I had selections from Fresh-a-Peel which is in the same building as Pollo Compero. I had the Citrus-grilled chicken salad. The lettuce was limp and there was a flavor in the salad I did not like but I could not identify. DD1 ahd the chicken casear salad which again was ok but the lettuce was limp. The chicken in each had no particular flavor.

For dessert we had Babycakes NYC (the main reason we went to Pollo Compero in which Babycakes is housed). I love making cupcakes and my family enjoys eating them. I was very interested in trying their egg-free, dairy- free, soy- free, gluten- free cupcakes. We tried the red velvet, pumpkin and vanilla. The red velvet crumbled into pieces as we tried to divide it but it was still moist. The vanilla and pumpkin stayed together better and the pumpkin was the moistest. The frosting was also good - very sweet but they compensated by not putting much on top. DD2 had a doughnut which was really dry and not at all appealing.