Nat and Joh make a (Food) Porno

[fnrsgrl]

Yummy (and great title)! Can't wait for more!

 

[wilma-bride]

Firstly, apologies for the fact that I am still dragging this out some 5 months after our trip - in my defence, your honour, I have been avoiding the restaurants/reviews board like the plague as I've been trying in vain to lose the 10lbs I gained back in October (November, December and January).

Secondly, apologies in advance for the fact that this particular segment will be a little light on pictures (and detail). For some reason (I suspect because it was so foul) we didn't take any pictures of lunch on our second day and not many of dinner.

Still, I hope to make up for that over the next few updates So, without further ado, on with the show....

Our second day in Florida was spent at Busch Gardens. DH and I hadn't been since 2004 and the others had never been so we were all really looking forward to it. The kids and I had taken an early morning stroll over to Jambo House, where we had picked up tea (for DH) and a couple of pastries, which we all shared for breakfast. I believe Nat, John and her tribe had some cereal bars in their room.

We had a great day at Busch Gardens but I remember having a sinking feeling of deja vu when it came to finding something suitable for lunch. I remember DH and I strugggling to find anything on our last visit and it seemed we were destined to have the same problem. We didn't want anything too heavy as it was a scorching hot day but there just didn't seem to be any suitable counter service options.

We ended up at a little window where we bought some chicken strip meals to share. The fries were cold and the strips were just lukewarm and tasted 'old'. Still, they filled a hole and kept the kids quiet for a little while. No pictures but imagine, if you can, cold chicken strips and fries - and that's what it looked like

Later that day, the adults fancied another round on Sheikra so bought the kids some ice creams and treats to enjoy while they waited. For some reason I only seem to have a picture of Ellie enjoying the remnants of her ice cream sundae.

After another round on Sheikra, Nat and I shared a funnel cake. It was cooked fresh and was ultra delicious, hot and crisp with just the right amount of powdered sugary goodness. It was so yummy, I wished we'd got one each.

Sian was in a 'fruity' mood so got a strawberry shortcake. She gave it a big thumbs up

While driving back to WDW later on, we debated about where to have dinner. The kids were tired and hungry so we settled for a Bennigans on the 192. I thought I had read that Bennigans had folded so was surprised to find this one open - and, once we'd eaten there, I was very surprised that it had managed to remain in business. The food was mediocre - at best - and the service was sadly lacking. It was a real shame as we've had some great meals at Bennigans in the past.

Turkey O'Toole (mine) - the best thing I can find to say about it is that the turkey was moist and juicy, however the bread tasted stale and was very chewy.

Guinness Burger I believe this may have been John's meal

Kids Chick-a-Little

Daniel had the kids' mozzarella sticks meal, which was absoutely foul. The cheese sticks were completely covered in parmesan and inedible. DS took once bite and turned his nose up at it.

The kids had cookies and cream sundaes for dessert but the adults didn't bother.

Total cost for the 9 of us, including tip, $130

 

[darthtatty]

hey Joh, good to see youve added more. know what you mean about trying to lose weight and staying away from the Food section.

shame you had a bad days food, great pics.

 

[wilma-bride]

The next day was spent at Universal.

We started the day with breakfast at Cinnabon

2 packages of Cinnabon Stix and a diet coke - the breakfast of champions

With AP discount, this came to $9.45.

Matthew hadn;t been feeling well this morning but managed to get his appetite back in time for lunch at the Richter Burger Company. Following DD's behaviour this morning (see my main trip report for details), she was still sulking and refused to join us for lunch which saved me a few bucks so I wasn't complaining

Daniel and I shared a chicken burger with bacon, Rea had a chicken burger and Gary had a burger. With two medium diet cokes, the total for lunch was $28.14.

I don't appear to have taken any pictures of our lunch, which I can only assume it because I was stressed out by DD's behaviour and the events of the morning. I recall the chicken burger being pretty good, though, but Gary wasn't that impressed with his burger.

After leaving Universal, we stopped at out favourite I-Drive haunt, Friendlys. This was another first for Nat and John and I really hoped they would like it as much as we do.

We started with some appetiser combos of BBQ and regular popcorn chicken and cheese sticks.

I have quite a few pictures from dinner but, for some reason, this is one of the few receipts I don't seem to have kept so not really sure who had what. I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed their food, though. I know I did

Steak tips - I believe this was Nat's

Some kind of asian chicken salad - this must have been Gary's

Kids' meal - maybe Matthew's, possibly chicken wrap

Kids' chicken sliders - my man is a child of simple taste (like his mother), he still maintains this is his favourite meal in America

Turkey Club Melt - this one is mine and was delicious

The kids had make-your-own sundaes for dessert

As I said, I can't find the check from this dinner but I had made a note in my notebook that I used to track our Fairfx card spend and the total was £140 inc tax and tip

 

[dizneeat]

I am glad to see that we were NOT the only ones having problems to find a decent meal at Busch Gardens!
We haven't been in a while, but the last time we went we were in and out of restaurants looking for food, but all we found was some LOOOOOOOOOONG lines and mediocre food!

 

[wilma-bride]

Later that night, the adults finally made it to the lovely Sanaa bar.

The boys stuck with Bud light while Nat and I had to try some of the lovely cocktails on offer. I was very disappointed to find that my wonderful Skyy Berry Martini was no longer on offer - according to the bartender, WDW are no longer serving Skyy vodka

So I needed to find a new love.

We started with a Very Berry Punch and a Bahama Mama

I actually loved the Very Berry Punch so had another

While Nat decided to try a Magical Star cocktail (complete with glowing ice cube)

W dropped $75 on those four drinks (half of what we paid for dinner) but it was well worth it. I was obviously a very generous tipper, though, as I just realised the drinks only came to $60.

 

[darthtatty]

those chicken sliders looked fab

yum cocktails, im not much of a cocktail drinker but im sure i can work on that in August
I do like the magical star one, my husband brought that a few times on our last holiday and i manage to pinch a lot of it.

 

[TigerKat]

I, too, was upset over the absence of my Skyy Berry Martini. Your cocktails look really yummy though!

 

[Mich123]

Yay! Welcome back, love the report!

 

[CooCoo4WDW]

Can't wait to read more.

 

[vinotinto]

...before he could drag himself away from his tea and then, when he did, this is what he came back with.

The phrase 'why bother' springs to mind

Thanks for the reviews!

BTW, this is my favorite cereal - Kashi.

 

[irongirlof12]

fab update- love the look of those cocktails

 

[Stepharia]

Loving your review and the title is hilarious!!! Was glad to hear that those dark Mickey waffles at CP are chocolate because they didn't look to appetizing for regular waffles. Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[Chilly]

Love very berry punch!

 

[rodeo65]

Joining in and enjoying your reviews so far!!

We really enjoyed T-Rex as well last June. All of our meals were good and the kids loved the atmosphere. We took tons of pictures with no trouble.

 

[mamaboogie]

Hmmm...funnel cake (another thing on my must do list!)

Joh - did I see somewhere that you are going back in August? Us too! When and where?

Shari

 

[wilma-bride]

Hmmm...funnel cake (another thing on my must do list!)

Joh - did I see somewhere that you are going back in August? Us too! When and where?

Shari

Woohoo Shari, yes we are going back in August - the 25th. When are you going? In fact, I'll send you a PM

 

[runskyhy]

Yeah!!!! LOVE the food reviews & photos! I think I'm almost caught up on ALL your TRs in your link! Glad to hear there will be another one to read later this year!

 

[Gouden Leeuw]

Signing on. Need to get caught up!

 

[Hayley94]

Yum!!! I'm craving funnel cake now! great report so far!!!