Miss Piggy Goes Over to the Dark Side (They Have Cookies ;) )

[Symans3honeybees]

I think we have just made a nice addition to the "Wikipedia"

 

[catne]

Saturday, May 22 was going to be a Magic Kingdom day, so we booked early breakfast at Crystal Palace. We've eaten dinner with Pooh & Friends several times, but never breakfast. We arrived at Magic Kingdom about 7:40 and joined a long line of people waiting to get in (all were in the dining reservations line - since park did not open until 9:00 a.m. that morning, there was no one else waiting to get in.) At about 7:45 they started letting us in (and yes, if you're wondering: they did check our name off a list before letting us in.) It was really nice to walk into the near-empty park. Now have to say- it was not completely empty: in fact, there was enough people that I was a little concerned with how many were in the line ahead of us at the check-in outside the park entrance. I thought for sure that we'd have a long wait to check in at the restaurant, and then a wait to be seated. However, I guess most of them must have headed to the castle for breakfast with Cindy, or maybe they all stopped to get "empty park" photos, because we had no wait to check in at Crystal Palace, and we were seated just a couple of minutes after 8:00. (Actual ADR was for 8:05.)

Character interaction was superb…the Pooh characters are all just so NICE, ya know! And they don’t ignore adults. Since we were there so early, the characters had plenty of time to stop at every table & pose for pictures:

Yoda, Pooh & Miss Piggy…notice how empty Crystal Palace is: made for a very relaxing breakfast!

Tigger & Kermie

The place was remarkably empty...but that made it all the more enjoyable for breakfast because that meant great service, no lines at the buffet, and noise levels were very low - way lower than normal for a Disney restaurant. Nice for adults who hadn 't yet had the morning quota of caffeine, lol.

 

[catne]

After getting our beverage orders in (we all went for coffee & orange juice) we headed for the buffet lines...and my, oh my, was there some good-looking food on there:

Crystal Palace Pastries: Peach Cobbler, Chocolate Croissant and Puffed French Toast. The Peach Cobbler was good: classic peach cobbler...but very hot (would have been vastly improved with a dollop of ice cream - but then it would have just been a dessert instead of breakfast, right?) Love, love, love the Disney chocolate croissants - it's the light colored, roundish item dusted with powdered sugar in the pic…yummy flaky-layers pastry with a thick slab of chocolate-fudge-like filling - all the Disney restaurants seem to use the same recipe on these. So far, I haven‘t met a Disney chocolate croissant that I didn‘t like. Beware: these don’t look all that impressive, but they are addictive. Then I had to try the vaunted Crystal Palace Puffed French Toast - which is the darker, triangular wedge covered with sugar at the bottom of the plate. I have heard so much about this stuff…and wow, wow wowzer: what a let-down. “French Toast” seems to be a gross misnomer…this really does not resemble French toast at all. It just tasted like an old-fashioned deep-fried donut, rolled in sugar…reminded me of the fried donuts of our youth (many moons ago.) Didn’t help much that I let it sit on the plate while I ate the croissant & cobbler first, so by the time I took a bite, the grease had kind of settled in and spread (just like the fried donuts used to do, lol: you had to eat them right away, or the grease just kind of congealed and soaked into the cake part...not a breakfast of champions, fer sure.) Must admit, I love classic French toast - bread dipped in egg, fried on a griddle…this stuff, not so much. Maybe if they called it something besides “French toast” I’d have liked it more (like if the label said "tastes like the fried donuts of your youth" I could have waxed nostalgic & enjoyed it.) But seriously, if I’m going to have a pastry that‘s not good for me, then I’d choose the chocolate croissant over the puffed French toast any day, IMHO.

Crystal Palace Yogurts: Vanilla-honey yogurt, strawberry yogurt and a strawberry. The yogurt was in huge bowls, near the fresh fruit. Very tasty stuff, especially the strawberry yogurt (much stronger strawberry flavor than the little individual pre-packaged Yoplait cups, we thought-could be they add fruit to jazz up the flavor?) Anyway, all 3 of us like yogurt and this was a hit.

Kermie’s strawberry yogurt and fresh berries…he loves berries of all kinds, so this was a treat!

Crystal Palace Chocolate Mickey waffle, cheesy-egg frittata, fresh melon & berries, corned beef hash over breakfast taters, and bacon. Not terribly impressed with the chocolate Mickey waffle…tasted very much like a plain ol’ regular waffle (the “chocolate” was definitely more of a color in this waffle than an actual flavor, lol.) Now there was the option of having made-to-order omelets, but we thought the prepared egg dish looked good so decided to try that before getting chef-made omelets. As it turns out, we never did make it to the omelet chef, because the fritatta was hot & delicious - moist, very cheesy eggs, with just the right amount of veggies to spice it up, but not overwhelming the flavor of the eggs & cheese. There was also an option of getting made-to-order pancakes, including chocolate chip pancakes. We never made it that far, either...although the kiddo at the next table had the mickey-shaped choc chip pancakes on his plate: they looked good. Kermie & I both loved the corned beef hash -- tasted freshly made with chopped corned beef, onions, etc. Again, had a taste of our childhood, here…but a good one! The breakfast potatoes were also a classic preparation - just cut up taters, tasted skillet fried with a very light seasoning: not too salty or over spiced. All three of us were very impressed with the fresh fruit at Crystal Palace…maybe because we were in the first seating, but this stuff was FRESH! And tasted as good as it looked-no mushy melon and the berries were all luscious sweet. Didn't have to flip the spoon around the bowl to find a "good" scoop of fruit, it was all good. The bacon was well cooked this time…so often it seems like Disney bacon is either grossly under-, or grossly over-cooked. Rarely is it the right amount of “done”. This bacon was : not totally limp/under done, but also not so crispy it’s ready to become bacon bits. We all liked the bacon at Crystal Palace, and had more than one serving. The sausage was a bit bland...standard Disney breakfast sausage, not going to offend anyone with spicy sausage, lol.

Kermie’s plate: The requisite biscuits and gravy, along with corned beef hash over breakfast taters; also bacon and sausage. Kermie's ideal heaven will be "biscuits & gravy, every day." Crystal Palace had biscuits and gravy: Kermie was in breakfast heaven. ‘Nuff said.

It was really nice to be among the first into a Disney buffet…everything was so steaming hot/fresh/yummy looking. And no lines anywhere on the buffet - that was awesome! Anyway, the service was exceptionally attentive…none of our beverages was allowed to get empty before a refill appeared. Frankly, I was surprised how light the crowd was in there - even by the time we left, the restaurant still wasn’t even ½ full. I thought more people took advantage of the opportunity to be in the park before it opens…maybe the general public just doesn’t know this is an option? It was wonderful to walk up Main Street at a leisurely pace, with no crowding. And then have a nice relaxing breakfast with so many delicious choices. Followed by a leisurely walk up to & through the castle to wait just a few minutes for Fantasyland rope drop at 9:00. Was a great morning for us -- starting Fantasyland rested and refreshed with a good breakfast. Can’t say enough about how nice it was to not have done a Power-Walk all the way from the turnstyles with hundreds of others at rope drop…no “race” for us at all. That long walk was broken up by a breakfast break, lol. When the rope dropped at Fantasyland, we just walked around the corner & walked on Peter Pan...think we were the 2nd group on the ride. Can't beat that: almost worth the price of breakfast, IMHO.

Would we do this again? In a heartbeat...good food, good service. We thought the Crystal Palace food was better & had more choices,than Chef Mickey's. Not quite as good a variety as can be found at Boma breakfast (which is the best on property), but then Boma's not a character meal in a park, either. Give it a 9 out of 10...only place it fell down a little was on the variety. But I guess since they advertise it as American breakfast, maybe it should be a 10 since they cover American breakfast well, lol.

So, the actual cost of breakfast at Crystal Palace rang up at $22.36 per adult (including tax) but the DxDDP covered it, of course. We left a $13 tip.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I've been wondering whether Crystal Palace served eggs made to order, and now I know. I think I'm going to try to convince my family that we don't need Chef Mickey's and book the CP for breakfast instead.

 

[catne]

I've been wondering whether Crystal Palace served eggs made to order, and now I know. I think I'm going to try to convince my family that we don't need Chef Mickey's and book the CP for breakfast instead.

If you don't "need" the Mickey characters, I'd definitely go for Crystal Palace breakfast over Chef Mickey's...the advantage of already being in the park when it opens is great. But really, we liked the food at CM's breakfast, and the characters are nice. but we thought the selection at Crystal Palace was way better. And the Pooh characters are fun (they do the napkin-twirling parade through CP too, if your kiddos like that interaction at breakfast.)

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

Thanks for the pictures of your CP breakfast. It brings back good memories of meals past for us. We tried lunch there last trip, and while we enjoyed it I definitely prefer the breakfast.

Turf Club looks wonderful. We don't see a whole lot of reviews for it so I really appreciate the information. I would definitely try it if we ever have a car while at Disney.

 

[catne]

Thanks for the pictures of your CP breakfast. It brings back good memories of meals past for us. We tried lunch there last trip, and while we enjoyed it I definitely prefer the breakfast.

Turf Club looks wonderful. We don't see a whole lot of reviews for it so I really appreciate the information. I would definitely try it if we ever have a car while at Disney.

I would definitely recommend having a car to get to Turf Club, although you could take the bus to DTD, and then the boat to SSR...but as you can see from my transportation story, plan at least an hour to get there!

 

[catne]

After a great morning at Magic Kingdom, we were hot, tired and looking forward to a nice relaxing sit-down lunch inside air conditioning, lol. Sorry I didn’t remember to take pictures, but we did stop mid-morning at the snack counter near Aladdin in Adventureland…don’t know what the name of the place is (just a snack counter, don’t think there was any lunch type items on the menu) It’s not Aloha Isle, though you can get vanilla ice cream soft-serve float made with pineapple juice if you’re craving a dole-whip type snack. That’s what Kermie picked...he regretted it a little: close, but no ceegar...not a dole whip! At least the ice cream was cold, lol. And, unlike Aloha Isle, there was no line here. I chose iced coffee - was desperately needing a caffeine fix at this point, but wanted something really cold, too (temp was in the high 80s at that point- around 10:30 a.m…heading for the mid 90s that day.) Yoda chose a strawberry slushy type beverage. We used 3 snack credits on the treats.

At 1:00, we met up with a childhood friend of DD’s…he’s a Disney cast member since October, so was great fun to visit with him for a little while on his new “home turf.” Wish the visit could have been a little longer, but he had to go clock-in & get into costume, so we headed over to Tony’s around 1:15 for our 1:35 ADR.

We were seated immediately. Although all of the restaurants verbally acknowledged our anniversary with a "happy anniversary" or "congratulations" when we checked in, Tony’s was the only place that actually did anything extra: the table was strewn with Mickey glitter & a paper curly-ribbon streamer, so bonus points to Tony‘s. They also left the little zip-lock baggy on the table so I was able to collect the sprinkles. I took them with me for the scrapbook I might eventually get around to making. Yoda & I discovered we could “decorate” the drink glasses (rootbeer and raspberry lemonade):

Tony’s was busy…I think there were a few empty tables, but most were full when we arrived. (it did clear out considerably by the time we left.) Of course, being a Disney restaurant you expect it to be busy and noisy, but it was exceptionally LOUD (I wonder if they deliberately avoid any noise control measures in the MK restaurants just to keep the tables turning over faster…the atmosphere so loud it’s too uncomfortable to linger? Anyway, this place seems to be over-the-top loud.) Once again, tTony's was pretty much just generic Disney restaurant decor, with the little bit of “theme” being a slight homage to “Lady & the Tramp” rendered with prints on the walls of scenes from the movie. But mostly the décor is just dark wood paneling on the booths and walls. Nothing to make you go “Oh, awesome décor”, lol. Guess I'm getting jaded on the Disney restaurant decor...just seems like so many of them are interchangeable. Maybe it will make me appreciate the different ones all the more, eh?

We sat for several minutes waiting for our waitress, so we perused the menus. After a while, our waitress came to take our drink and appetizer orders. Being in the MK, no alcohol of course, so we had to resort to coke, rootbeer and raspberry lemonade. We actually were ready to order our entrees, too, but she scurried off before we could add those. Wish we would have gotten them in then, because she was scarce for most of the time we were in there. Our drinks were delivered fairly quickly, but it was a good 15 minutes before our apps showed up, and we did not see our waitress again until we were almost done with the apps.

Yoda chose the “Tomato and Mozzarella Salad" which was described as "Tomatoes, fresh Mozzarella, Basil,and a Balsamic Dressing, $8.69” Thick slabs of tomato, topped with just barely-gooey mozzarella, over a very small amount of greens (mostly spinach); the balsamic dressing was tangy. The croustini (bread) was very crustiny-indeed...more like a garlic cracker than any kind of bread. Yoda enjoyed this salad, the bread, not so much.

I chose the “Zucchini Fries: Breaded seasoned Zucchini with Creamy Sun-dried Tomato Dressing for dipping $7.99” This was interesting…zucchini is basically a tasteless veggie, so all the flavor in this item was in the breading. The overwhelming flavors were garlic & oregano. The dip, a ranch-style dressing seasoned with tomato, was light & creamy (little zing to it, though.) This appetizer was one of the smallest we‘ve seen at Disney. Usually the servings are so large you wonder if you should get an entrée. This was actually just the right size for an app for one.

Kermie chose the minestrone (his favorite kind of veggie soup) which shows up on the menu as “Minestrone with Orzo Pasta $5.49” Again, this was a fairly small serving, maybe a cup: but it was delicious, so full of veggies & pasta it was more like a thick stew than a soup. As an appetizer for one, it was the right size.

 

[catne]

Our waitress did come back just after our apps were delivered to the table when we were able to ask for drink refills, as well as glasses of ice water, because our drinks were dry at that point. She apologized for the empties, said she'd get our refills immediately...and again she scurried off without taking our entree order. We thought she was going to hurry back with our refills, but no. We did get our drinks after about 10 more minutes, but delivered by a food-runner…which was good, because we were seriously thirsty after the hot morning...but bad because by now we really wanted to get our entree orders in...really did not want to spend the whole afternoon in the restaurant. While the crowd had thinned, it was still very loud in there. Waitress did come back a minute or so after the drink refills were delivered, and she took our entree orders at that point...which then took quite a long time to get out to us - almost 1/2 an hour. Who knew Tony's on Main Street was supposed to be a "fine dining-signature experience"? At least the timing on food ordering & delivery qualified it that way, lol.

Yoda chose the “Shrimp Scampi Linguini with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Asparagus tossed in a Garlic Sauce $16.99” Huge bowl, way too much for lunch, for sure, especially after appetizers. Yoda mostly just picked out the shrimp (was about a dozen good-sized shrimps in that bowl.) Pasta was good, cooked al dente, but much too much on a hot, hot day. The garlic bread on this dish was still in the "bread" stage...crusty on the outside, drenched with garlic butter inside. Tasty, but perhaps too heavy for a hot-day lunch.

Kermie chose the “Panini of the Day," described as pastrami that day. It was served on warm Italian roll…crisp crust with soft bread inside, piled high with roast-beef-like pastrami. It was served with a dill pickle and dish of cole slaw, for $12.99. The sandwich was very large, delicious, but the cole slaw was hot - yuck! Now we weren't sure if it was supposed to be that way...some places serve hot potato salad so maybe Italians like hot cole slaw? By the time the waitress came back to our table to ask how was the food, Kermie had finished the sandwich ...and we were informed the cole slaw is supposed to be cold. But Kermie was getting full, and didn’t care for more cole slaw so we declined the offer of fresh cole slaw (besides, would probably have taken 15 minutes to get it!) The pickle that came with the sandwich was not hot, so apparently the cole slaw sat under the heat lamp but the pickle did not?

I chose the “Chicken Florentine Calzone: calzone pastry stuffed with Chicken, Spinach, Caramelized Onions, and Mozzarella $13.99" Sorry, I didn’t think to take a picture of the insides, lol. It was full of gooey-mozzarella goodness…lots of chicken & cheese with just enough spinach and onion to lend a bit of flavor. Must say, the outside of the pastry was sprinkled with mozzarella…and salt. As in: way too much salt…I ended up scraping off the toasted mozzarella and that took most of the salt with it, so the rest was very edible.
The marinara sauce was a tad sweet for my tastes.

Again, it was probably 10 minutes after we finished eating before we saw our waitress again -- by which time we’d stacked our plates in the corner of the table and someone else walking by had cleared them off for us. She did apologize for the delay again, and took our orders. We were surprised that the desserts were actually out quickly…no more than 5 minutes later, which was nice because we were getting tired and fussy...time for our naps, lol.

Yoda chose this awesome pistachio crème brulee for $5.99…delicate pistachio flavor in a good creamy custard with a nicely-carmelized top. One of his favorite crème brulees. That little bit on the side of the plate was like a carmelized-sugar wafer cup, with a couple of bites of strawberry & some sugared pistachios. The strawberry & nuts were good but the little cup thingy just tasted like over-burnt sugar...pretty to look at, but not really for eating.

Kermie went for the "Spumoni: Layers of Ice Cream with Pistachio Nuts and Cherries $4.99” This actually was quite a large slab of ice cream, and served with a couple of cookies. The cookies were nothing to write home about, straight out of a package, probably. But the ice cream was wonderful: the flavors were lemon, pistachio and chocolate. This creamy-smooth ice cream was LOADED with maraschino cherries (you can see one in the chocolate portion) The cherries were throughout all three flavors of ice cream, as well as a sprinkling of nuts. Kermie loved this dessert.

My choice was the "Tiramisu': Espresso-soaked Lady Fingers, Whipped Mascarpone,and Dark Chocolate Shavings $6.49." Don’t know if they always serve it with the “celebrate” and sprinkles or if this was served this way because of our anniversary but it was a pretty touch. The tiramisu was absolutely scrumptious…rich, creamy and totally decadent! Only thing I didn’t like was the “chocolate shavings” on top…I swear that stuff was the fakey pretzel-dip candy (I.e., not really chocolate) I left that on the plate…but cleaned up the tirimisu!

Overall, we enjoyed most of our food at Tony’s, though there were certainly issues. This place gets a bad rap quite often…I guess I can see where that comes from. There were several things wrong in our experience: Tony’s seems to have an extra loud atmosphere, very slow service (nearly an hour & a half for a lunch...when we arrived after the main lunch rush?), and then the little oddities with the food like the hot cole slaw, excess salt on the calzone, and using the fake-chocolate shavings on an otherwise elegant dessert ? Not bad enough to ruin our meal, but I can see how a few more errors would have tipped the balance for us…at Disney prices, you tend to expect at least well-prepared/well-served foods. I do know the guy at the next table was also not happy with his meal -- had been arguing quietly with his waitress, and as we were leaving a manager-type was headed towards that table…so I’m thinking the service/food issues were not unique to us. We're pretty easy-going people, and don't stress enough to complain very often. This experience just wasn't bad enough for us to make a snit, but not a place I'd brag about, either.

Would we return? Maybe…though we'd probably try it for dinner one night instead of lunch again. Just pretty sure the lunch was not worth those $$$ though, especially when you‘re looking for a relaxed table service meal. With the noise level in there, you‘re not getting much of a break from the crowded-park atmosphere...and well I guess if you could nap between courses it could be relaxing, lol. I’d give Tony’s a 6.5 out of 10, better than average, but no danger of being great. The cash total for the 3 meals would have been $101.92...but of course that was covered by the DxDP.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Joining and enjoying your food reviews...thank you for sharing.
We always go to CP for lunch and have been reading good reviews for breakfast so we will try it for our December trip. I actually have CP for breakfast, lunch and dinner but I have to cancel lunch to try something new...maybe go to The Wave and ate here for lunch.
can't wait for more

 

[KatMark]

I just saw this, but am dashing for the train. So I'm subscribing and will read when I get home from work.

 

[KatMark]

Okay...I'm all caught up. I'm sorry about all your transportation problems your first night. This is why we DRIVE everywhere...don't want to deal with that.

I love the way you tell your story with your review...very nice. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the puffed french toast at CP -- it is one of my all time favorite foods at Disney.

 

[catne]

Okay...I'm all caught up. I'm sorry about all your transportation problems your first night. This is why we DRIVE everywhere...don't want to deal with that.

I love the way you tell your story with your review...very nice. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the puffed french toast at CP -- it is one of my all time favorite foods at Disney.

Well, thanks! And you know, we always drive everywhere else, but figured we'd just enjoy the boat that night...well, we did enjoy the boat going back.

Well, there was plenty of other great food at CP that we enjoyed. And probably would have liked the french toast if I had a better idea of what it was, lol.

 

[catne]

After a break in the air conditioning back at POFQ, refreshed from our nap, we headed over to the Polynesian Resort for dinner at the Kona Café. We were in for a treat: who knew Kona has a “floor show”? Turns out some dramatic divas were going to demonstrate the value of reservations on Saturday night at 7:30 in Disney World.

Our ADR time was 7:35, and we got into the check-in line at 7:15. Twenty minutes later, we were finally checked in…and there was only like 4 or 5 parties ahead of us in that line! You wouldn’t think it would take long to get your little buzzer thingy, but all these people ahead of us did not have reservations and were trying to talk their way into a fully-booked restaurant...and boy, what a show hungry people put on! Kona was actually willing to seat them all, but at a 75-90 minute wait for a table. One group "just wanted dessert, so of course you can find us a table now...we're Disney guests, after all", complete with snotty tone & hissy-fit approach. The 2nd group wanted a to-go order when they found out it would be 90 minutes to get a table...and they tried the "We're Being Very Reasonable, So You Should Grant Our Request" performance. Neither group was very happy when they couldn't get what they wanted - no immediate table & no to-go orders at Kona. Both groups told the maitre'd they realized that reservations were recommended, but felt sure that an exception could be made for them. Hellooo! What about the 100 people who are already on the waiting list for non-reserved tables...don't think exceptions had been made for them.

So obviously, even though the 3rd weekend in May is not “high” season, Kona was very busy that night, with the bar & waiting area packed with people. Crazy-busy, so when it was finally our turn to check-in, I was very surprised to be told it would be just a short wait for our table…I was so pleased, the maitre’d had to comment “yes, mam, that’s how it works when you have reservations - you get the next available table…that‘ll be in about 10 minutes.” Course, we’d already waited 20 minutes in line just to check in, but that was due to the Stupid Guest Trick contestants in front of us. Our buzzer went off right about 7:45, so we were seated just 10 minutes after our actual ADR time.

OK, enough drama…on to the feast! Kona is open to the lobby so can be very loud…luckily, we were seated at a banquette table against the back wall so probably had the quietest location in the place.. After watching all the drama in line, we were quite parched, so we ordered beverages right away:

Left to right, that’s mine on the left: A Magical Star Cocktail - described in the menus as “Light up your celebration with X-Fusion Organic Mango and Passion Fruit Liqueur, Parrot Bay Coconut Rum, Pineapple Juice, and a souvenir Multicolored Glow Cube $10.99” This is one of my favorite Disney cocktails - exceptionally yummy on a hot day, and I enjoy adding to my glow-cube collection Yoda ordered the martini in the middle: for $9.25, it was Godiva Chocolate Martini, a mixture of “Stoli Vanil Vodka, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, and Frangelico”…it was strong, but delicious. Kermie’s choice was the least expensive, at $7.25, he had the “Island Sunset, which was “A delicious blend of spiced rum, coconut rum, melon, and peach combined with our guava passion fruit juice.” He loves his pirate-juice (rum) so this was a perfect fit for him.
Here’s my glow cube in action:

Kona’s fabulous Hawaiian bread arrived at the table shortly after the drinks: this scrumptious bread…warm, puffy, sweet and just a little bit of heaven…and it‘s served with macadamia nut butter: what a taste treat! Just love this stuff - times like these, I kind of wish we weren‘t getting appetizers, because I could just about make a meal of this bread & butter!

 

[catne]

So far, service-wise, our experience at Kona was much better than Tony’s…our waitress was friendly & very efficient - no long waits for anything. Our appetizers were delivered very shortly after our beverages, and she took our entrée order right then. Yoda chose the Pot Stickers, described on the menu as “Wok-seared Duck Dumplings with creamy Ginger-Soy Sauce $7.49” He enjoyed these, but did think the sauce could have been improved with a little bit more of a “bite” to it. The greens were tasty.

After seeing Yoda’s crab cakes the night before at Turf Club, I saw these on the Kona’s menu and had to try them: “Lump Crab Cakes: with Asian Tartar Sauce and Pineapple Relish $10.49”, served on a bed of greens. Though small (each crab cake was about the size of a large olive) I really enjoyed these. The pineapple relish was just the right piquant addition to this dish. Can‘t tell you anything about the “asian tartar sauce“ because truth be told, I believe they forgot to put it on the plate, lol. The crab cakes didn‘t actually need a sauce, as they were crispy on the outside but moist & flaky inside, and they were served on a bed of greens so it kind of made for a little salad, too.

Kermie wanted something light to start his meal, so he chose the “Kona Salad: Mixed Greens, Blue Cheese, fresh Fruit, Red Onions, and Smoked Almonds with Citrus Vinaigrette 7.99” The salad was good, but mostly greens, and very light on the cheese/fruit/almonds. The citrus vinaigrette did make for a light-tasting salad, Kermie liked it.

 

[catne]

On to the main course: Yoda loves fish & loves Asian, so quickly chose the “Miso-glazed Mahi Mahi; served with Asian Noodles and Baby Bok Choy $21.99“ This did not disappoint. He finished all the fish, and most of the noodles & veggies.

Last time we ate at Kona, Kermie was recovering from a round of tummy-upsets, so he had ordered plain prime rib, and barely ate. This time he wanted the same kind of steak I had ordered then: the “Teriyaki-style New York Strip: Sirloin Strip grilled with Pineapple Teriyaki Glaze served with Sticky Rice and Stir-fried Broccolini $27.99” He loved, loved, loved this steak. The rice and broccolini, not so much. He did have a few bites of the rice, nothing wrong with it…just didn’t want to waste stomach-space on what basically was just plain rice. And the broccolini: well, that’s just wasted plate space, lol.

Since we’ve been in Tampa area for a couple of weeks before Disney, I’d had my fill of wonderful fresh seafood, so here I really wanted some BEEF! I‘ve had the teriyaki steak before, and enjoyed it, but this time I chose the “Ginger-crusted Rib Eye: with Tamarind Jus, Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes, and Stir-fried Broccolini $25.99 “ Now I will admit, I was just a tad leery of the “ginger-crusted” description, because I really don’t care for ginger all that much…but figured I could scrape off the “crust” if it was totally blech. Surprise, surprise…don’t know how much actual ginger was in that seasoning but it sure tasted like any plain ol’ steak rub to me. In other words, this was a well seasoned large steak. Had to be 12 ounces, at least, and grilled perfectly rare. Loved it…along with the Yukon gold potatoes (these seem to be a very popular Disney side-dish for many of the steaks at Disney restaurants…but fine by me, ‘cuz I love ‘em.) The broccolini…not so much. They could just lose that stuff. I try a bite every time just to see if I'll suddenly like it...nope, it's yuck. What’s wrong with regular broccoli…or asparagus…heck, even green beans taste better than this silly veg. Oh well, truth was I couldn’t finish the taters anyway, so wouldn’t have even tried to finish the greens.

 

[KatMark]

Great review of Kona. We're doing breakfast in September (we've never done either meal). It's funny--you didn't like the puffed french toast at CP, and I don't like those yukon mashed potatos. I had them at Fulton's last September and thought they were awful.

 

[catne]

I had the crème brulee last time we were here, and had raved about how delicious it was, so Kermie had to try it this time. It’s on the menu as “Banana-Chocolate Creme Brulee - crème brulee over a layer of creamy chocolate fudge, topped with a carmelized banana slice & a chocolate spiral $5.99“ Now as you can see, they went just a little overboard with the brulee part of this…apparently a real pyro-fiend was doing the torching here, because both the custard & the banana were more than just a bit too crispy. (the white spots are just flash-glare from the camera) I was disappointed for him, but Kermie said it wasn’t worth waiting for another one, because he was too full to finish it, anyway. He just scraped most of the carmelized/burnt sugar to the side and ate the custard & fudge base…which he declared was wonderful.

Yoda started the Kona experience with chocolate (a martini) and decided to close with chocolate too: the "Chocolate Fondue $6.99." The chocolate fondue was served with strawberry, pineapple, kiwi fruit, orange, a macaroon and a sugar wafer. The chocolate fondue tasted more like a creamy milk chocolate rather than dark chocolate and it was melted to the right consistency for dipping with minimal dripping. Yoda liked it all (except the pineapple…not a pina fan)

After seeing one delivered to the next table, I had to go for the Kona Kone…it just looks so fun! It‘s $5.99 for two over-sized scoops of ice cream, one chocolate, one vanilla in a giant waffle cone. The whole thing is served upright in a conical stand, and drizzled with chocolate sauce and Mickey sprinkles. Then it’s topped with a dark-chocolate mickey candy wafer, and the stand is surrounded by a "cloud" of blue cotton candy. The plate is scattered with candy-coated chocolate candies (not M & Ms…the phony kind! Yoda tried one, and said it tasted like those cheapie Halloween candies - “sixlets“ He’s right.) The ice cream is very good (think it’s all Edy’s) I didn’t eat much of the waffle cone, but did have a bite -- nothing special there. The cotton candy is the packaged kind, so the sticky-goodness not quite as good as fresh-made. Truth be told, I was pretty stuffed already, so only ate about ¼ of this dessert. The “special” is all about the presentation…not the actual dessert itself. Bottom line, it is just a fancy ice cream cone...fun if you're craving ice cream for dessert.

We did enjoy our meals at Kona, especially the entrees. There were things here & there that made it less than perfect (some ingredients seemed to be "missing" from foods, like the nuts & fruits in a salad, the sauce from my app; burnt brulee, and cheaper ingredients here & there.) Service was excellent, though. All in all, would give Kona Cafe an 7 out of 10 (actual steaks & fish would have got a 10, though) and we would return. Yoda’s meal was $38.85; Kermie & mine were $89.94, for a total of $128.99 covered by DxDP. Drinks & tip came to an a additional $60.48 (which we paid for with Disney rewards $$$ )

 

[catne]

Great review of Kona. We're doing breakfast in September (we've never done either meal). It's funny--you didn't like the puffed french toast at CP, and I don't like those yukon mashed potatos. I had them at Fulton's last September and thought they were awful.

That is funny...but I'm Irish through & through so really have never met a 'tater I didn't like,

We loved breakfast at Kona...that Big Kahuna breakfast is my favorite. Love the macadamia nut pancakes with the pineapple sauce. And if you or Mark are coffee lovers, get the pressed pot Kona coffee...awesome! It's expensive-like $7.50 or so-but definitely worth it if you appreciate really good coffee. Each pot is two large cups, so if you have any leftover, they'll give you a to-go cup to take with you

 

[KatMark]

That is funny...but I'm Irish through & through so really have never met a 'tater I didn't like,

We loved breakfast at Kona...that Big Kahuna breakfast is my favorite. Love the macadamia nut pancakes with the pineapple sauce. And if you or Mark are coffee lovers, get the pressed pot Kona coffee...awesome! It's expensive-like $7.50 or so-but definitely worth it if you appreciate really good coffee. Each pot is two large cups, so if you have any leftover, they'll give you a to-go cup to take with you

I LOVE coffee and definitely plan on getting it (is it covered on the dining plan?). Mark already has his eyes on the Big Kahuna (I think I even posted a picture of it in my PTR (someone let me use their picture). I'm going with the omelet and will taste some of his stuff (I don't like bananas so won't eat Tonga Toast and I don't like nuts so the pancakes are out).

I love potatos. It may have just been an "off" night for them.