Never Eat More than You Can Lift~Miss Piggy,6/22 Update

[tink1957]

Oh no,say it ain't so, the Fish & Steak is off the menu at R & C? It was my favorite meal on our last trip, well I'll just have to console myself with a Peach Snap & a Magic Star & a beer flight, hic.

 

[pezaddict231]

Sticky Toffee Pudding is the best dessert ever. It's even better with vanilla ice cream. Definitely look for Haagen Daas Sticky Toffee Pudding ice cream, if you manage to find it you're in a for a treat....so delicious!

 

[catne]

Oh no,say it ain't so, the Fish & Steak is off the menu at R & C? It was my favorite meal on our last trip, well I'll just have to console myself with a Peach Snap & a Magic Star & a beer flight, hic.

yeah, we couldn't believe it either! They have the pdf of the menu on the WDW official restaurant web page -- and the steak & fish is listed top/left on that menu. But the one we got in the restaurant, that same place on the menu is just the grilled steak. Don't think it's a money-saving deal for the restaurant because the steak & fish had a smaller serving of steak -- the new steak entree is quite big. So don't know why they took the combo off. We would have liked both -- actually did get both since DH ordered the fish & I ordered the steak so we traded bites. Better than nothing (actually, a lot better than nothing)

 

[catne]

Sticky Toffee Pudding is the best dessert ever. It's even better with vanilla ice cream. Definitely look for Haagen Daas Sticky Toffee Pudding ice cream, if you manage to find it you're in a for a treat....so delicious!

Now that sounds very, very tempting-get thee behind me, Sticky Toffee Pudding! I'm being very good on a DIET now! Have to lose some of this because we're going back in September for my birthday - and Free Dining! Have all ressies for September set up, except for last day. We're still debating that one.

 

[catne]

Sunday at Hollywood Studios-forgot the camera, so Sorry no Pictures!!!

Stayed at POFQ, so went over to the counter service (Sassagoula Floatworks Factory) to have beignets for breakfast. We were disappointed that they seem to have changed the way they make beignets – last year they were dusting both sides with a ton of powdered sugar, right after they pulled them out of the fryer. But this year, they just dust the top side. They tasted much better when both sides were sprinkled straight out of the fryer. I asked later in the week if they could just powder both sides like they did before and was told nicely “that’s not the way we make them.” So I just had to re-distribute the powdered sugar myself while they were still hot. Not quite as good as before, but pretty good. Course, as we were paying for the beignets, DH spotted biscuits & gravy on the menu and swore to be back later in the week to try those out.

After a quick breakfast, we headed to DHS – it was Star Wars weekend so was crazy crowded, even long before rope-drop. Great fun seeing the Storm Troopers on top of the buildings while waiting (forever!) to get in to the park. Don’t know how those characters can stand being in those plastic costumes…and the Wookie guy in full hairy-monster gear – whoo, that’s got to be a killer. Despite the crowds, we still had a pretty good morning cuz we were avoiding the Star Wars areas for the most part. A little girl in line behind us at ToT said Happy Birthday to DH & gave him a mini-card with a peppermint in it. We thought that was really sweet. We were amazed how many people wished him Happy Birthday all week, not just cast members but lots of fellow park-goers, too.

Mid Morning Coffee Break

Anyway, by mid-morning it was getting sticky hot, so DH & I headed over to Writer’s Stop. This is a really awesome little shop we’ve never, ever noticed before at DHS -thanks to fellow Disers for sending us to this place! Besides all the usual coffee specialty drinks, they have these “Island chillers” - marvelous frozen concoctions. Besides several fruity varieties (I think there were 5 total flavors slushing away in the machines) one of the flavors is Mocha…a coffee slushy! OMG, coffee heaven on a hot day when you want your coffee break, but not hot! It was wonderful! And then we spotted the carrot-cake cookies I’ve heard tell of on these Disboards, so we had to get one to split. SO SORRY no pictures – no camera! But I’ll describe: take two carrot-cake bars, round, ¾ inch thick & about the diameter of a saucer. Slather cream cheese frosting thickly on one (like ½ to ¾ inch thick!) , then slap the other one on top & call it a cookie. More like a breakfast entrée! Lordy, it was huge and amazingly good – definitely a treat to share. Sweet, but not too sweet. And cold, because it’s refrigerated due to the cream cheese, so again, a great treat for a hot & humid morning. There were lots of other bakery goodies in there, including other kinds of giant cookies, muffins, etc.And if you’re looking for a hot latte, it’s there. We’ll be back to this place for sure!!! The cookie was one snack credit (I think the cash price was around $3.50 or so) and the mocha slushies were also 1 Snack credit each...again, the cash price was between $3 & $4..

Did the Muppets, and then went back to use our fast passes on TSM, after which it was time for lunch. We did a repeat of our DHS favorite – Starring Rolls for the giant ham sandwiches. They were just as good as we remembered. Two of us had sea salt potato chips, two had the jalapeno potato chips & all of us had sodas with the sandwiches. DD actually wanted the veggie wrap, but that was all gone for the day (once they sell out of a lunch item, that’s it…no more for the day.) For dessert, DH had the strawberry parfait – light & fluffy, not very large – he really liked it & said perfect lite dessert after a big sandwich, especially on a hot day – it hit the spot. BFF & I both had the Napoleons – these were huge and way too “heavy” for such a hot day. Neither of us came close to finishing. They were delicious, but the kind of dessert that should be served in a petit fors cup, ya know…way to rich and dense to serve such a large portion, especially for a lunch dessert. Probably could have comfortably split the Napoleon three ways – that would have made a serving size you might be able to finish. DD had the “breeze from the keys” – a key lime tart…she said parts of it were good, but part of it seemed to not have been mixed properly so it was like gelatin-rubbery on one side of the thing. So she ate the good half, which was about as much as she had room for anyway. Consensus was the sandwiches were wonderful, the chips were good, and we all probably should have gotten the strawberry parfaits!

Park was getting insanely crowded by now (around 12:30 or 1:00) so we headed back to the hotel…the girls to sleep, and DH & I rested for awhile, then went exploring POFQ – we’d been here before, but didn’t wander around much so this time we were determined to find the fountains & such we’d missed last time. Beautiful resort, good upkeep on the landscaping. Lovely fountains, reflecting pond, etc. And soon we found Mardi-Grogs, the lovely shaded pool bar at POFQ. So we perched ourselves on a couple of bar stools to enjoy Pina Colavas…yum. Those drinks just shout “DisneyWorld” to us. Once I have a pina colava, I know my vacation is really going!

For dinner, we were off to 1900 Park Fare and then the Magic Kingdom…and we remembered the camera this time, so there will be pictures on the next installment!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Welcome home, Cat!

Glad to hear you had a good trip. I was thinking about you when I heard about all the rain in Florida and hoped you'd be O.K.

Can't wait to read the rest of your reviews.

 

[catne]

Sunday Evening-Dining with the Steps

So after a nice break at POFQ, we headed over to the Grand Floridian for dinner at 1900 Park Fare. The weather was again very threatening…thunderheads had been building all afternoon & by the time we got to the GF it was dark enough that outside lights were coming on. Was surely going to be a downpour soon, so we valet-parked the car…mighty handy and well worth the $$$ to DH.

Anyway, we checked in, then skipped the photo op (no characters, what’s the point?) We were seated 10 minutes later – about 3 minutes passed our 5:30 ADR so that was great – have read so many reviews of Park Fare about people getting seated really late, I was dreading that! Maybe that’s a phenom that happens with later ADRs when they have started getting backed up? Guess it’s lucky for us we like the early evening ADRs so we’re seated while food’s still fresh & tables are not backed up yet.

Anyway, we were seated in the main dining room area (the one with direct access to the buffet area) Our waitress was very attentive, noticed DH’s birthday button immediately, wished him Happy Birthday and brought out the special Celebrations laminated placemat with all the 1900 Park Fare character signatures on it. Very nice for an adult! She took our beverage orders, explained the buffet and told us which direction the characters went around the room so that we could time our absences from the table. The place was full but I didn’t think it was overly noisy or chaotic in there as I’ve read (except for the stepsisters, of course…they do get loud. But in a very funny way.) Granted, it’s not the spot for a romatic candle-lit dinner for two – but what buffet is, Disney or otherwise? We thought it was quieter than Chef Mickey’s and Crystal Palace character buffets, and definitely less crowded with people coming & going.

The characters were Fantastic! Cindy & Prince Charming were both lovely – sweet & charming. DD (age 20) really, really appreciated the Prince’s charms, KWIM. If they had a to-go box, she’d have taken him for dessert, lol. Here’s DD & HRH Prince McDreamy:

And here’s both girls with him…

The stepsisters were over-the-top hilarious, but Anastasia (red-head) is outstandingly funny. Some poor guy just inside the next room must have used some sort of swear word within hearing of her – she spent the whole meal trying to get the Prince to order his guards in to teach this man some manners. She’d shriek “MOTHER! LANGUAGE!” The faces, the antics with flirting with any male around (“MOTHER! I’ll have this one!”) And of course whenever anyone actually watched her, she’d whirl around and give a lecture about “The STARING family here! Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to stare. MOTHER! This people need you!” Here’s the girls with Drizella, she was funny, but more just the pouter, and foot stomper, flouncing around.

Here’s the girls with Anastasia, and then DH (Birthday Boy) with Anastasia-just love her faces & poses:

We also were visited by Lady Tremaine…she was cool & remote, right in character…dripping sarcasm but very “royal” acting. Love her comments to babies about minding their manners and using the proper utensils…was a baby at the next table, couldn’t have been more than 6 months old – barely sitting up in a high chair & she tells the infant to use the correct fork with that food.

Speaking, of…time for the food. We really were not expecting much here, having read quite a few bad reviews. However, we were pleasantly surprised. There were a few meh dishes, and one absolute yuck, but by and large we all enjoyed Park Fare. We started with the drink orders…DH chose Blue Moon beer, I went for a Blackberry mojito, and the girls ordered the green apple freeze (not on the dining plan, but what the heck.) Here’s the green apple freezes – they really enjoyed these:

Here’s my mojito, the perfect complement with my first course – which is the legendary Park Fare strawberry soup. Oh my goodness…that soup is super! I don’t usually like cold soups (or fruity ones for that matter) but will make an exception for this one…no wonder people rave about it. All of the girls at the table had two bowls of this (DH tried it, but he preferred filling up on beef)

DH chose a salad for his first go at the buffet, he enjoyed it…fresh & tasty:

The girls’ plates both looked basically the same, so I just took one photo – this is BFF’s plate. DD’s plate skipped the mac & cheese, she had the beef & salmon instead. On this plate it’s fresh fruit, fried rice, spiral noodles, mac & cheese, ceasar salad, and of course the strawberry soup. All of these foods were very good except the spiral noodles with whatever the meat/sauce combo was…I had some too, thought it tasted like bad plain-label Skillet lasagne. It was the YUCK medallist for the buffet.

Here’s my plate: that’s the carved beef, that YUCK spiral noodle stuff, the fried rice, a slice of bread, mashed potatoes, and salmon in hollandaise sauce. I really liked the beef – it was tender & seasoned well. The bread was seriously tasteless – didn’t know you could make bread that tasteless! The salmon was very good, the mashed potatoes were fabulous (Disney uses real potatoes & it tastes like real butter when they make a mash….yummy.) The fried rice was good, we all had it.

Here’s DH’s plate – basically he did this same plate twice, except for getting mashed potatoes instead of the veggies second time. That’s rare carved beef with horseradish sauce, salmon in hollandaise, and mixed veggies – think that was off the Asian food area. He love the beef, said the salmon was good and the veggies were “alright” – no seconds on them but he went back for beef & salmon:

Starting to get full, so we all started picking out desserts. DD was stuffed, but can’t pass up the chance to get soft-serve ice cream. This was like a double-chocolate flavor, very good. There was a whole toppings bar for the ice cream…seems like there were M & Ms, nuts, cookie crumbles and I don’t know what all. DD was too full to add anything to the ice cream, though.

BFF was into more variety: that’s a giant krispie treat (very fresh & good), then that’s like a spice/carrot cake with cream cheese dollop on top (was dry, not very sweet), then a key lime tart (filling & topping good but pastry yuck) and that’s chocolate mousse cup (very rich)

I ordered coffee with cream served with my dessert (since I drank mojito & water during meal, the coffee counted as the DDP drink) and I had some of the bread pudding with vanilla sauce. I have not yet met a Disney bread pudding with sauce that I do not like, and the Park Fare version measured up, too. Disney chefs seem to have the recipe for bread pudding down pat…this one was very moist, and the vanilla sauce was outstanding.

Here’s another dessert plate DH & I nibbled at: that’s cheesecake at top (was o.k., just plain cheesecake), the key lime tart (agree with BFF-the key lime part & the topping were good, pastry is totally meh) and that’s the chocolate mousse cup with the chocolate straw. The mousse was very rich, dark chocolate taste. It’s tiny, but couldn’t finish it – that rich.
My favorite dessert of all was that bread pudding…

Then, naturally, once we were stuffed to the absolute maximum limit, they bring out a birthday cupcake for DH...very cute. He ate the chocolate Mickey wafer off the top: all he had room for. Here's the cupcake & you can see his birthday placemat in the background:

We left, stuffed, fat & happy again - and the threatening weather had become a monsoon so we spent about a half hour exploring the Grand Floridian before going on to the Magic Kingdom for evening EMH. DD's BFF swears she's going to have a Disney wedding at the GF, so they were checking out the wedding dress display and such. As for 1900 Park Fare, well to sum it up - we liked the food & loved the entertainment. So to rate it - well for ambiance, give it a 7, it's a pretty setting & all, but it IS a buffet, and it IS busy & noisier than a non-buffet. Characters – 10+, especially Anastasia. All were very much in character all the time, they circulated constantly, going in both rooms. Near as I can tell they didn’t skip any tables. Food – give it an 8. Some very good food available, as well as some yuck stuff. But it was all fresh, hot and replenished/cleaned up constantly. Service was excellent – give that a 10, too. So overall, I’d say the place is a good solid 8+. Meal took 4 table services (one each) and we paid OOP $57.41 for beer, mojito, apple freezes and the tip. We’d go back (in fact, we are – in September – taking DS & his BFF.)

 

[MinnieNurse]

We did R&C in 2006 and we liked it okay, but after reading your reviews I think we might have to give it another shot.

I just added 1900 Park Fare to my list to try in 2010. 2009 trip is already over flowing with ADR's.

Great reviews!

 

[catne]

We did R&C in 2006 and we liked it okay, but after reading your reviews I think we might have to give it another shot.

I just added 1900 Park Fare to my list to try in 2010. 2009 trip is already over flowing with ADR's.

Great reviews!

My only suggestion on 1900 Park Fare is to eat early - before the food gets dried out, tables backed up,etc. I know when we arrived, we were seated within minutes of our ADR -- but when we left about an hour later, there had to be 100+ people waiting in the lobby area with the little pager things. They were certainly backed up by 6:30.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

I am enjoying your review so far!

 

[catne]

Breakfast at POFQ's Sassagoula Floatworks

So it’s Monday, and the girls were worn out from two fairly late nights in a row, so when given the option of sleeping instead of going to Animal Kingdom early that a.m., they did what any sensible college-aged kid would do & chose sleeping in for awhile. DH & I are not late sleepers, though, so we decided to skip the cereal bars and actually have breakfast. We headed over to POFQ’s counter service, Sassagoula Floatworks. After seeing the Biscuits & gravy on the menu yesterday morning, DH was ready to try the POFQ version…it did not disappoint. We were there fairly early – before 8:00 a.m., so everything was very fresh still – nothing tasted like it had spent any length of time under a heat lamp. The biscuits were soft, the gravy had plenty of real sausage floating in it. With a cup of coffee, he was a happy man:

I was just going to get beignets, but on the walk over there I decided I was hungry for more, so I got the King Creole breakfast platter, to share (I took one bite of the biscuits and gravy – it did actually taste like sausage gravy – not the plain white sauce heavy with pepper that some places try to pass off. But either way, I’m not that much of a fan, so DH ate most of it) Here's my King Creole platter:

The eggs were cooked the way I like them, light & fluffy. The sausage was very good – not overly spicy which so many breakfast sausages seem to be; bacon was cooked just a might too soft for me – I don’t like super-crunchy bacon, but this could have been just a tad crispier. The potatoes were very good – this batch must have been fresh off the griddle or skillet because they were very hot on the outside but still moist on the inside. They were mildly seasoned - tasted something like Lawrey's seasoning salt – we both liked them. The biscuit tasted like it was fresh out of the oven, slightly crunchy on the outside and soft inside…I just ate it with butter. To complete my breakfast, I chose a cup of coke to get a cold caffeine buzz.

We paid cash for all, total was $14.66. Not bad for quite a large breakfast. We really like the Sassagoula Floatworks Factory – even when it’s “busy” it just never seems to build up super-long lines, and it’s not nearly as noisy as some of the other counter-service places we’ve been to. I kind of like the gaudy masks & such hanging off the ceiling (DD thinks it's mildly creepy)

Give it an 8 on ambiance – it IS a food court, after all. Food, 9. Prices, excellent for Disney food…a 10; service was about a 9 overall (there are some very good CMs in there, but also a few that just seem to be total space-cases) - so give the overall rating of an 8.5 to a 9. We’d go back – it’s a great option for food, especially when you’re hanging around the resort.

 

[tlynk]

Loving your trip report! I'm gearing up for my upcoming trip, and finding it hard to figure out where I truly want to dine- everything looks wonderful!

 

[Twinkly-Tink]

Just found your review! and loving it!!

Thanks for the info on POFQ - we leave today for our first time there!

 

[catne]

Just found your review! and loving it!!

Thanks for the info on POFQ - we leave today for our first time there!

You're welcome...and hope you have a wonderful time! And enjoy POFQ...it's so beautiful there.

 

[catne]

Since girls were sleeping in, DH & I walked around the grounds of POFQ for awhile after breakfast…so very pretty, and peaceful, there. We stayed at POP last September and you were always running into people on the sidewalks there - clumps of people, extended families, piled high with luggage & coolers & ginormous strollers (exaggeration, sorry.) Though there seemed to be plenty of families around the food court & and the pool, somehow whenever we were out & about at POFQ there was virtually no one wandering the grounds. Which made it even more peaceful & serene. We also checked out the gift shop. DH was scouting for what he might want to buy with his gift card, come Wednesday. So far he’s leaning towards getting a t-shirt of some sort and he’d really like a golf shirt with a very small Mickey emblem. We sat in the pretty lobby for awhile, watching one of the CMs entertain some kids by throwing the shiny plastic Mardi Gras coins all over. The kids really enjoyed trying to figure out where the coins landed (he pretty much threw them every possible direction.) DH & I decided for lunch we'd sit at the tables over by the bar area just off the lobby - it was much quieter over there.

The girls had a lovely sleep-in, and then joined us for lunch at POFQ Sassagoula Floatworks, to be followed with a swim/hot tub session. Then we’d be off to AK for dinner & evening Magic hours...so Monday was working up to be a very laid back day for us.

The place was barely busy, given that it was lunch time. Guess most people were at the parks…there was one or two people waiting at each station, and when we checked out the two registers each had a couple of people in line. Not bad at all, wait wise. We did find a table for four over in the seating just outside the bar - was a really pretty spot to sit with a nice view of the lovely lobby. And it was about 1/2 the noise level of the Sassagoula Floatworks.

DD had the taco salad with all the toppings (they ask you which you want) She highly recommends getting them all – made for a very rich & filling salad. She liked the taco shell bowl, too – crispy and didn’t sog-out early on the bottom. She had a coke to drink, and ordered 2 scoops of ice cream to get after lunch (they’ll let you bring the receipt back within an hour to get your ice cream so you don’t have to take it right away & melt while you’re eating.) No one ahead of her at that station, so she had hers within a minute.

Her BFF ordered the grilled chicken and French fries, with BBQ sauce…she also had a coke and ordered the ice cream for later. Her food took the longest by far – they were not holding the grilled chicken under heat lamps at that point, so it was close to 10 minutes while they cooked it. She enjoyed it, ate most of the sandwich and fries.

DH & I both ordered the muffaletto sandwiches – these are basically hot Italian pocket-sandwiches, loaded with meat & cheese. The sauce on the sandwich is an oil & vinegar with olives – very piquant. They’re served with homemade potato chips. I'm told they are not close to the original muffaletto from New Orleans, but oh well...we still find them to be quite enjoyable alternative that is a bit different from the usual burger/fries lunches. Actually, authentic or not, we loved these sandwiches last year…and they did not disappoint this year. Both of us also had cokes & opted for the “later” ice cream.

Here’s the ice cream – three of us had this combo – mint chip & dutch chocolate. DD had Vanilla bean & dutch chocolate. This is really excellent premium ice cream…I think it was Edy’s? Whatever, they go through a lot so seems like every time we were in the dessert area, they were opening new cartons…never had any freezer-burned ice cream at POFQ, that’s for sure.
Was nice to have ice cream for counter service dessert instead of the prepackaged desserts like a lot of park counter service offer. There also were some bakery options we could have chosen, but we were already trying to vary the desserts by choosing non-cake items when possible. The ice cream did the trick:

Ambiance again an 8 – it’s a counter service, so a little noisy, a little hectic. Cute décor (or creepy, according to DD) and it was quieter sitting off to the side near the closed bar -- with a view to the lobby & the floatworks. Lunch food – I think it’s better than breakfast – would give our lunch foods a solid 9. Loved the ice cream option for dessert – that’ll add a “plus”. Convenience & service at lunch was excellent – a 10. Overall, would give the lunch experience a 9+. We’d definitely go back, and probably order the same items…although BFF might get the taco salad instead on another trip.

So after a very leisurely Monday morning, we were headed off to Animal Kingdom for some late afternoon touring, then dinner at Yak & Yeti, then evening EMH.

 

[TigerKat]

The Muffuletta sold at POFQ isn't authentic but is an excellent sandwich!

 

[catne]

The Muffuletta sold at POFQ isn't authentic but is an excellent sandwich!

yeah, I know, but it's as close as I can get in WDW, darn the luck. It would take some REAL pixie dust (is there such a thing?, lol) to get authentic New Orleans food in Orlando...I'll just have to tell DH we need a trip, pronto, to New Orleans so we can do a legitimate, timely, taste test

...I figure it's kind of like the taste of real Mexican food vs. Taco Bell, real Italian food vs. Olive Garden...I like the food at those places, but I know it doesn't compare to the real thing - we had a neighbor from Mexico a few years back, and when he cooked it was wonderful - but not much like what you'd get at Taco Bell. Same with the Italians I went to school with many moons ago -- when their grandmas made tomato sauce (the all-day bubbling on the stove version) and home-made spaghetti, you KNEW what pasta/sauce was really supposed to taste like. Hmmmm, now I'm off to food-memory-lane:

 

[soontobewed07]

I LOVE your reviews you have sold me on Rose and Crown for one of our dinners. I also like it is a little loud LOL because DS 2 can sometimes be a little loud gotta love the terrible two's

Disclaimer: We always remove him from the rest. when he gets Loud

 

[catne]

After our laid-back day, we headed out to AK late afternoon. Sent the girls ahead to get fastpasses for Expedition Everest, then we wandered a bit looking at some of the exhibits on the path going towards Yak & Yeti. Saw various exotic birds getting fed, including those black-necked swans. Weather was again looking very bad…this seemed to be the pattern every day…start the day with a clear blue sky, building heat through morning & early afternoon. Come about 2:00 p.m, and the clouds started moving in & piling up. By about 5:00 every day, it was raining. Most days was a major downpour, followed by off & on drizzle-to-steady-rain for the evening. By the time we got to Yak & Yeti to check in for our 5:00 ADR, it was just starting to drip a little. Five minutes later, we were seated upstairs, corner window table so everyone at the table had a view…which a few minutes later was totally obscured by pouring rain. Didn’t bother us any, because we were high & dry, once again lucking out on timing of heavy rain...enjoying our cocktails & dinner while others ran for cover. That was our real pixie dust for the week!

We started with beverage orders…DH got the Kirin Ichiban beer and I had the Big Bamboo (thanks for the reco, Nicki!)

He liked his beer (haven’t found one that he would turn down, actually. Some he prefers over others, but he liked this one.) I loved the Big Bamboo – can’t find a description of it, but suffice to say it was a bunch of tropical juice flavors (some liqueurs) and I think coconut rum (maybe – definitely some nice booze in there.) Very refreshing, very dangerous as it didn’t taste like alcohol, though it felt like it. Girls both chose “Glacier Water”, which is one of the non-alcoholic drinks featured on the menu – not covered on the DDP, but ordered anyway:

As you can see in the photo, this is a very blue drink – actually was about the color of glaciers (we’ve seen the real thing, in Alaska—they really are an unnatural looking blue! Pretty, but not what you’d think frozen water looks like. Enough of that, back to the food review, lol.) Anyway, these Glacier Waters were named after the color, not the taste. The taste was actually really sweet coconut. Like pina colada without the pineapple (and no rum of course.) I think they were almost too sweet, because the girls really sipped slowly at them and both also requested water with their meals...don't think they ended up finishing these (they are quite large drinks, though - think those are 14 or 16 oz. glasses.)

On to our entrees – we all chose different items. DH ordered the Baby Back Ribs, which are described as being slow-roasted with hoisin BBQ sauce, fried rice and sweet chili cole slaw.

Loved the BBQ ribs – fall off the bone tender- DH licked those bones clean. The
rice was good, but just good chicken fried rice, no special touches. The overwhelming taste of this slaw is vinegar – completely vinegar- enough to choke you. Definite yuck.

I ordered the Shaoxing Steak and Shrimp, which was like a long strip of very tender, very well marinated & grilled steak wrapped around a scoop of plain rice. But the sweet marinade from the meat soaked into the jasmine rice, giving it wonderful flavor. The tempura shrimp were very large - the photo doesn't really show them at a good angle, but each was 2-3 bites worth.The batter on the shrimp was light & crispy…the chili plum dipping sauce was just a little bit too hot-spicy for me, but I indulged anyway because it was the perfect zinger with the shrimp. The stir-fried vegetables were good, but I only ate a few because I was getting full and wanted to save room for dessert!

DD went for the Crispy Honey Chicken, which is tempura chicken, with broccoli, carrots, honey sauce…they offer a choice of jasmine (white) rice, or long grain brown rice.

She chose the brown rice with hers. She really enjoyed this dish – it’s not as sweet as it sounds like it should be – but tasted like the honey sauce is made with honey and soy sauce. She ate all of the chicken, most of the veggies and about ½ the rice.

BFF chose Sweet & Sour Tempura chicken, served with choice of jasmine or brown rice. It’s served in a sweet/sour sauce with chunks of pineapple, green and red peppers. BFF also chose the brown rice:

She ate all of the chicken, some of the veggies/pineapple and about ½ her rice, too.

Everyone was well satisfied with the entrees – overall, very good Asian food. But onto the REALLY good stuff: dessert.

DD & her BFF chose the Fudge Brownie Sundae for Two – this is allowed on the DDP as long as both people are on the DDP & choose this for their dessert. They LOVED this dessert – especially the chunks of very moist, very chewy and very fudgy-brownie. It was dripping about a cup of chocolate sauce & caramel sauce. Together, they managed to eat most of this:

DH & I both chose the Yak & Yeti’s celebrated Fried Wontons: these are marvelous cream cheese-filled fried wontons, on a skewer alternating with grilled pineapple. These are drizzled (that's the menu description - they're actually covered!) with a vanilla-honey sauce, and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side…and if that’s not enough, there’s slices of fresh strawberries decorating the plate. Oh, just looking at the pictures makes we want to go back and get this again: it was heavenly good:

I tried DD’s sundae – it was good, but I preferred my fried wontons. DD tried my wontons – and she preferred her sundae. We all decided that we’d enjoy coming back to Yak & Yeti, and we’d probably all order the same things again. Service was excellent, the décor was very nice – lots of Asian statuary and carvings around, pretty wall colors with those decorated windows. Tables are not as close together as some WDW restaurants, not so close you feel like you’re sitting with others. We’d give the food (entrees) a 9 – not quite a 10 due to the odd cole slaw and not-so-special rice; but the desserts & adult beverages were a 10…overall, definitely a 9+ experience. Yak & Yeti took 4 table service; had we paid cash, the bill would have been $118 & change for just the entrees and desserts. Our actual cash cost after DDP credits was $51.25 which included the cost of the beer, my cocktail, two Glacier Waters, and the tip. We’d go back in a flash.

 

[TigerKat]

I'm still hoping to squeeze Y&Y into a trip soon. There's just so many places to try!!!