No more filet mignons! - 8 days of DxDDP; 4/29 Best/Worst

[janloz]

Oh, now I have to re-think our signature dining for Jiko. Looks so good. Glad you are back.

 

[bwolfe]

Thanks for a well thoughtout review! I'll have to add Jiko to the list for the nexyt trip.

 

[heatherandnick]

Awesome!!n We are honeymooning on the DxDDP in August! Can't wait to read everything...we are choosing a lot of the same dining places.

 

[Mocharilla]

Well, after being SO bad about updates, it's time for me to officially come back, for real, for serious, for good.

We've been a little down since we've had no trip coming up and I didn't really want to think about the fact that we didn't know when we'd be going back.

But, I'm happy to announce....


We're going back!!!!

Next summer, either in May or August (have not set dates quite yet, because we're waiting to figure out Nic's internship for the summer).

7 days, probably ASMo (subject to change based on any deals that may come out), regular dining plan, totally based on Jacques.

More info will come in the PTR when I make it, and I'll post a link in here.

But, for right now, in this thread, updates will have to do.

Just need to find the pictures and my notebook....

 

[Mocharilla]

Everything looks awesome Love zebra domes we get them when we go to Boma. Next time you go you and Nic should do the culinary tour at Jiko it's free and you get to sample some of the food. Space is limited it's first come first serve before thre resturant opens.

We'll definitely have to try that when we're down next!

I cannot wait to go to Jiko for the first time, only two weeks! Your meal sounded wonderful, love the review. I didn't know that they allowed you to get a dessert from the kids menu, that's good to know.

I hope you loved it!!

Those Jiko entrees were the exact same ones my hubby and I ordered on our last trip. That steak/mac was soooooo good. Hubby still talks about the ribs.

We will probably always talk about those ribs.

Thank you so much for taken the time to share all of this great info and pics with us! This helped me out more then you could know! There are a few places I'm not going to anymore and a few places I'm going to make sure we go to for sure!!! THANK YOU!

I'm glad to hear it!!

I am really enjoying your reviews! I love your rating system! It's very honest and helpful!

Thanks!!

Aww, thank you!! Yeah, I took what I liked from other rating systems and made my own.

Your review of Jiko was spot -on! We loved it too and those short ribs, OMG! I ordered the filet as well, too chicken to try something 'new'. Hubby got the short ribs and we were fighting over the last few bites.
They are soooooooooooooooooo melt in your mouth good!

I'll definitely have to try the chocolate cheesecake this time instead of the pistachio creme brulee. The creme brulee is good, but not knock your socks off good. You can beat your boots I'll be ordering the Short Ribs this time, though I'm not too crazy about the idea of the potatoes. Last year the short ribs were served with a polenta like thing. YUM! Did y'all enjoy the potatoes or were they kinda an after thought compared to the yummy goodness that is the short ribs?


We'll be eating there in a little over a week!


Great reviews on everything else too.... I just had to ditto your Jiko one!

I'll be honest, we didn't write anything down about the potatoes. We are so bad, but the ribs were so distractingly good.

Count me in!!!!

Yay!!

Jiko is great. Our favorite place so far. Our server was Ron - also amazing. Sounds like they just have a great staff all around.

Yeah, I loved every member of their staff that I met!

Wow, all looks so good!

It was!!

Great reviews!

The toffee cake at LTT is calling out to me! I loved your Jiko review too, looks like you had a fantastic time. It was so sweet of your server to bring you the zebra domes! So beautifully presented too.

Oh my goodness, the toffee cake. We may be going back there just for that this next trip.

? regarding Jiko:
Were your "virgin" daiquiris included as your DDP drink?

Yes, they were!

Great reviews! Talk about great service at Jiko! I have yet to go there... maybe next time

You should. SO good.

Oh, now I have to re-think our signature dining for Jiko. Looks so good. Glad you are back.

I now think everyone should be required to go there. They just need to make it cheaper.

Thanks for a well thoughtout review! I'll have to add Jiko to the list for the nexyt trip.

Do it! You won't be disappointed!

Awesome!!n We are honeymooning on the DxDDP in August! Can't wait to read everything...we are choosing a lot of the same dining places.

Awesome! If so, you made some good choices!

Well, I'm going to keep writing the rest now!!

 

[mickey2minnie1]

Your reviews are so helpful for my up coming trips.

 

[princessallegra]

Your reviews are great!!!!! Jiko is my number one most anticipated ADR. And it goes to ELEVEN????!?!?!?!!!!! CANNOT WAIT!!! That short rib looks insane!!!

Ps our plan is to head to Mara to try the famous Zebra Domes after our ADR as well!!!

 

[Gouden Leeuw]

Just found your thread. Gotta get caught up.

 

[Mocharilla]

Ah, Chef Mickey's. The slowest restaurant on property.

Now, we'd been for dinner on our last trip, and the wait was SOOO long. We had an ADR, we were there early, and waited almost an hour after our ADR to finally get seated. We chalked it up to a fluke and decided to try again.

It seems, though, that we are destined to SLOOOW seating.

Arrived for our 9:30AM ADR at 9:15, so we figured we'd wait a bit. We were FINALLY seated around 10:30, and we were incredibly cranky. So, we get seated back in this weird hallway between two rooms far away from the buffet. Whatever, we chalked that up to it being a character meal and us not being children.

We were incredibly underwhelmed at the food when we were here for dinner, but they're more known for breakfast, so hopefully the food will be better, right?

Not so much. I mean, in the world of Disney character breakfasts, there isn't a super-high precedence set for food. I'm not trying to be a food snob, but, we all know they aren't so popular for the food.

Mostly, we came back as an homage to the fact that it's where we'd eaten right before we got engaged, and now we were on our honeymoon.

But, we won't be back for a while, that's for sure.

Waiter was rather distracted, though I'm sure they've got them overworked. We were so cranky from the wait, though, that it just didn't help. But, he seemed in a good mood, so that helped, even though he only came by to get us drinks and give us our check. He also gave us the check when he brought our drinks, and we never got refills. I know that they're super backed up or whatever, but seriously, do not bring my bill with my drinks. We hadn't even been seated for 5 minutes and they're like "Okay, here's the bill." That doesn't sit right with me.

Anyways, more food porn, less cranky...

Starting at the top, clockwise: Biscuits and gravy (okay), tater tots (good), hard boiled egg (as expected), mickey waffle (good), breakfast pizza (okay), something I don't recognize, granola/yogurt/grape/apple thing (delicious!), something else I don't recognize.

Watermelon (juicy), biscuit, croissant (good), tater tots, potatoes (good, but a little dry), corned beef hash (eh, okay, I suppose), sausage (good).

Characters! We only saw two, because we were feeling pretty rushed, and just wanted to leave.

Food - 6/10
Normal character breakfast food.

Service - 5/10
Server's Name - Robert
Addressed this already.

Atmosphere - 7/10
I love the way the buffet is set up, and there was lots of fun stuff going on.

Overall Experience - 6/10
Not our worst meal (1900 PF...), but just... highly lacking. We won't be back for a while.


Total Cost of Food: $53.23

 

[Mocharilla]

Alright, moving on from that review. Onto better reviews!! I hate bad reviews, so let's do a good one!

Well, after our day off (well, we did do a DVC tour and spent the afternoon visiting with a good friend of ours), it was time for Yachtsman!

We took the monorail over to Epcot, and walked through the park.

It had been raining like crazy all day, so our original plan of walking over from Fantasia Gardens after a round of mini-golf was out. When we got to the BC/YC, all of the lifeguards were out of the pool directing people and opening doors. It was kind of nice, though I'm sure people would've rather been swimming.

Well, we got over and checked in. We peeked through the windows outside and discussed Storm Along Bay. We'll probably pick one of these two as our next deluxe we stay in, so we loved checking it out.

We got seated pretty quickly, and headed into the dining room, and right to the most perfect spot. Right in front of the window, looking out at the pool, the river/lake thing, and the Boardwalk.

First of all, the rolls:

After all I'd heard about these rolls, they did play a large part in why we ate here, I'll be honest. And they were GOOOOOD. Yuummmy! We'd come back for these.

Butter and garlic for them.

Nic ordered the Beef Ravioli:

He thought they were very delicious, and commented that they were a small portion. Note that this was not said in a bad way by any means. With DxDDP, we were appreciating small portions.

I got the cheese plate:

I was so bad and didn't write down what they were, but I wrote down that I loved them all, and that the gouda was my favorite. I'd taken a picture of the sheet, but it's so blurry, I can't read it.

I ordered the filet:

I'm going to be honest, all of these filets were running together. I do remember this was one of the better ones. It was very delicious and tender. For some reason, I was really craving fries, and these hit the spot. Very good.

Nic got the strip steak:

He said it was very good, and the potatoes au gratin were delicious as well.

As a surprise, they brought us this:

We did point out it wasn't actually our anniversary, it was our honeymoon, but I guess our TA had accidentally put anniversary on our ADR, and we weren't going to be mad and complain about free food.

Anyways, they were truffles. Incredibly delicious truffles. There was also little candied raspberry squares that were really good too.

We both ordered the Trio for dinner.

Yuuuummmmmmy!!! This was the other reason we came here, and it didn't disappoint either. All of them were superb, but our favorite was the salted caramel.

Now, just for more food porn, I took shots of the dessert trays on the way in.

Food - 10/10
No complaints from either of us. Just good, delicious food. Not quite up to Jiko-par, but damn close.

Service - 9/10
Server's Name - Samir
He was wonderful, but a little slow at times. Nothing major, but just on the refills. He was a sweetie, though!

Atmosphere - 10/10
Wonderful! From our vantage point, we could see the kitchen (which we like), but we were still right next to the window, in what I felt like was the best seat in the house.

Overall Experience - 10/10
Wonderful! We'd definitely come back for a date-night, though we probably won't be back for a few years, due to DS.


Total Cost of Food: About $130 before tax and tips (lost my reciept, but I have my tip math that I generalize the cost on)

 

[Mocharilla]

Alright, quick note here: We used 5 snack credits for breakfast.

Neither of us were too hungry, since we were really feeling the amount of food, and it was pretty hot.

Now, on a non-food note, I'd love to say, we loved mornings like this. We were there at rope drop, and rushed to TSMM and grabbed our fastpasses, and we had a whole plan on ridemax, and now was our break, so 16 minutes after rope drop, we were laughing at people running around like crazy and eating our breakfast. And, even being silly like this, we never waited more than 15 minutes in a line. Ridemax is our favorite thing ever.

Anyways, on to the food:

I got a fruit tart and chocolate milk (not pictured).

Good, and hit the spot perfectly.

Nic got a croissant, a banana, and OJ.

He felt the same as me.

It was a nice, light breakfast that gave us a perfect boost of energy until later.

 

[Mocharilla]

We had to come back here, since we loved it so much last time.

The waitress was a blast this time! We were sitting next to this family who was clearly unaware and scared, and she started us talking, and they were totally wonderful people!

She teased us for being too similar, and joked that she could see why we got married. We were similar because...

We both ordered PB&J milkshakes.

Surprisingly delicious! We were a little leery, but we were happy with it!!

We also both ordered onion rings.

We just had to, after all we've heard. SOOOO good!! We loved them. They weren't greasy, and perfectly battered. YUM!

Then, we both ordered meatloaf.

It was delicious, though we decided we like the pot roast better.

But, we finally changed it up.

I ordered the S'mores.

They were good, but only for a few bites.

Nic got the No-sugar-added cheesecake.

He said it was okay, but kind of weird.

Food - 8/10
Pretty good overall, though there were a few things that were a little off.

Service - 10/10
Server's Name - M.J.
She was such a wonderful server!! Loved her!!

Atmosphere - 8/10
I love the atmosphere, but we were right by the door to the kitchen, so it was a little killing of the mood.

Overall Experience - 9/10
Loved it, and we'll be back again!


Total Cost of Food: Can't find my receipt, but I want to say around $60.

 

[Mocharilla]

Well, we originally planned on Sci-Fi for dinner. But, we were pretty bored at DHS, and had rode everything we wanted to multiple times (other than TSMM, but we weren't waiting the 2 and a half hours for that again, since we'd been through with FPs). We were also still feeling iffy on Sci-Fi, so while waiting for ride #4 on ToT, I called Disney Dining, and got an ADR for The Wave that night. That way, we could head back to the hotel and relax a while (it was only 3PM), and freshen up for dinner.

We were both feeling some heat exhaustion by the time we got there, even with the break at the hotel. We felt like we were going to pass out in the waiting room. Nic had it much worse than me, and when she came to take our orders, I actually had to order for him, because he could barely read the menu. It was bad.

I got the watermelon and arugula salad.

This was SO delicious. I scoured all of the cookbooks for the recipe, but to no avail, which I assumed was because it's a relatively new restaurant. But, we've recreated it ourselves several times at home. SOOOO good. I'm drooling thinking about it.

Nic had the chicken and wild rice soup.

Also, very delicious, and it seemed to hit the spot and start to bring him back to sanity.

We also got bread.

It was very dry, and we weren't big fans. It barely got touched.

He got the flank steak.

It was really good, especially with all the side stuff (guacamole and I want to say onions).

I got the cinnamon pork.

Also, VERY delicious. I loved it. I'm not normally a huge pork person, because it tends to be a drier meat, but this was delicious. It was cinnamon crusted with a delicious applesauce and SUPER delicious steamed summer squash and zucchini.

Then, we got the trios:

Nic had the Cheesecake, Passion Fruit/Chocolate Mousse, and Vanilla Panna Cotta.

I had the vanilla bean creme brulee, braised pineapple spears, and mint/chocolate mousse.

All of them were SOOOO delicious and perfect. We loved them all.

Food - 9/10
We were really surprised and glad we ate here. The food was SO good. We just wish we'd have been a little more coherent.

Service - 10/10
Server's Name - Bonnie
She was wonderful. She completely understood our heat exhaustion and was very patient with us and I know we weren't easy people that night. We absolutely loved and appreciated her wonderful attitude and general good nature.

Atmosphere - 7/10
Not much of an atmosphere that seems to have a purpose. The entry way is really cool, but it totally loses that when you get in the dining room. It didn't seem to be very fluid/matching.

Overall Experience - --
I decided not to give an overall experience score for this meal. I don't feel like I could do so accurately. I mean, we had great service and food, but it was an awful experience due to just feeling awful. If we'd been feeling better, it'd be a 9 or 10, but in honesty, it was maybe a 3. But, that's not to the fault of the restaurant in any way. So, no score here.


Total Cost of Food: $77.99

 

[disney_princess_85]

Wow, you've really gone for it with the reviews today! Glad they were mostly positive.

 

[janloz]

yeah, some more reviews. Glad to see good reviews for Yachtman's and 50's PT, we will be going to both in Sept.

 

[Summer-Caitlin]

Loving your reviews so far. You have eaten in a lot of the places we are booked into this year. We are also doing the DDDP. I LOVED Jiko last time so glad you loved it too. The Yachtsman looks fantastic, I so hope that trio of chocolate desserts is there when we go. I hadn't heard about the bread, cool, something else to look forward to!

 

[Mocharilla]

Wow, you've really gone for it with the reviews today! Glad they were mostly positive.

lol, Yeah. I came back to the new 3-month rule thing, so I'm trying to hurry up before I get yelled at by the dining moderators for breaking another rule. Most of the rest are good reviews, which I like. Only one semi-bad-ish one, and the rest are good.

yeah, some more reviews. Glad to see good reviews for Yachtman's and 50's PT, we will be going to both in Sept.

Yes, finally finishing! Too much insanity in life the past six months, but things are really finally settling down, and we're back to Disney planning!!

Loving your reviews so far. You have eaten in a lot of the places we are booked into this year. We are also doing the DDDP. I LOVED Jiko last time so glad you loved it too. The Yachtsman looks fantastic, I so hope that trio of chocolate desserts is there when we go. I hadn't heard about the bread, cool, something else to look forward to!

I can't wait to see your reviews for them! You better do a dining report! Jiko is so wonderful. They better have the trio still! It was so good. I'd be really sad if they ever got rid of it. The bread was delicious! They're like onion roll sort of things. Well, only two of the four are. But they're all so good!

 

[Mocharilla]

Well, we started the morning nice and rested from heading to bed early the night before.

We called out for a cab, since we had an 8 AM ADR at CMC, so Epcot was still closed, and we couldn't get through to it, and we just figured we'd call a cab and it'd be easier.

Well, it was easier, but also, the guy seemed to be going some weird ways, and I'll admit, I got a little snippy with him, because from the Poly, he took us around by OKW and down towards DTD, and then back under DHS and up. He didn't seem to be understanding of where the BC was at all, but whatever. We were in a relatively good mood from the sleeping, so we moved on.

We headed in after paying and checked in. About 5 minutes later, we were seated. Alright, sweet. Fast seating.

We got to our seats, gave her our drink orders, and headed up to the buffet.

Nic's plate:

Croissant, watermelon, granola, and yogurt, pineapple, sausage, and potatoes.

My plate:

Muffin, pastry, pineapple, yogurt and granola, oatmeal, potatoes, hard boiled egg, and pizza.

Oh my goodness, we loved it all!! The fruit was super fresh, the pastries were delicious. We loved it because there were a lot of light options, which we are definitely into.

The oatmeal was so good, I got a whole separate extra bowl.

Us and Goofy:

Our waitress was wonderful, and made sure we got a picture together with him.

Minnie and Nic:

Minnie and I:

Minnie insisted on this picture

Nic and Donald:

Donald and I:

Food - 9/10
Of course the normal breakfast fare there was it's usual weird self, but we really loved most of the food!! No complaints about anything we ate!

Service - 9/10
Server's Name - Ingrid
She was wonderful! Quick and efficient and helpful. We loved her!

Atmosphere - 7/10
Probably would've been higher, but we were in a weird corner. We didn't mind too much, but it's probably our one complaint if we had to make one.

Overall Experience - 9/10
We'll definitely be back! We had a blast! Between the good food and good service, we were definitely pleased.


Total Cost of Food: Lost my receipt again. I'm sorry

 

[Mocharilla]

Oh, how we love Teppan Edo!! If you're looking for a happy TE review, you'll always find it with us, I'm sure.

We always enjoy meeting new people, so we love to start off by talking about our group members. Here's a diagram of the table:
Chef
1 8
2 7
3 4 5 6

We were in seats 3 and 4. In 5-8 was a wonderful family. They were there with their son and daughter (if I were to guess, about 6 and 8 respectively). They were absolutely adorable, and we had a blast talking to them. Unfortunately, the kids in 1 and 2 were probably 13 or 14 and clearly allowed to go off with charging privileges and no parents. Their discussions of food were based solely on what was most expensive. It disgusted us to see them order the Filet Mignon and then drench it in so much soy sauce that there was a good half inch or so deep left in the dish after they were done. If you're going to do that, just order the regular steak. They also got specialty (non-alcoholic) drinks and drank 3 or 4 each. It's just one of those things that bothers us, but whatever. We just mostly ignored them (they were uninterested in talking anyways) and focused on each other and the nice family.

Anyways, for the meal...

Nic ordered the seaweed salad with ginger dressing:

It was really good, though a little OD on the dressing. Next time, we'll ask for it on the side.

I ordered the assorted tempura:

Delicious! Lightly battered and cooked just to perfection! Yummy!

We both ordered the Nihon Bashi (chicken and steak):

We declared it yummy-licious. Sooooo good. It also came with noodles and veggies, but we ate them before the picture. They were both very good, though a tiny bit on the bland side if eaten without sauce.

For dessert, we both got the chocolate ginger cake:

Again, a very delicious course. It's a little strange of a dessert, but sooo good.

Food - 9/10
Delicious, though a few very very minor complaints as mentioned.

Service - 9/10
Server's Name - Yuki
I sadly didn't write our chef's name down, but they were all so wonderful!

Atmosphere - 10/10
I love the atmosphere, because even when your chef isn't working, you can look around and see the others working.

Overall Experience - 10/10
We'll be back, for sure. This is a must-do whenever possible. We love it so much!!


Total Cost of Food: $96.49

 

[Mocharilla]

Well, after much debating, we decided to try Akershus.

We checked in, and as expected, it was a HUGE fiasco. But, we came into it expecting it, so we weren't too bothered. As a heads up, though, don't think because it's not CRT, it's not insane, because it is.

When we got in, we got our picture with Belle:

We headed up to the cold buffet to grab some food. While the food on the buffet was good and there was a lot of selection, it seems rather... all over the place. Maybe this is normal for Norway (we've never been there/eaten there), but there was just a large jumble of weird things that seemed to be more of a "let's clean out the fridge" thing.

Our plates:

Nic ordered the lamb stew:

First, this is exactly how it was served. A little sloppy on the sides, but we chalked that up to maybe a slip while carrying it, which is understandable. We were thinking this'd be like when we make lamb stew, and it has a good amount of lamb meat. Not so much. There were barely any pieces of meat, and it was just strange in general. He barely touched it in the end, after a lot of picking to try and find some meat.

I got the traditional kjottkake:

Now, this problem was just a bad communication error. I asked if these were like the sweedish meatballs you get at ikea (I know, I'm wonderful at culture), and the girl seemed to completely know what I was saying, and said "Yep, exactly the same thing!" (and not in a sarcastic manner or anything). So, I figured they were. Yeah, no. Not the same. The sauce was different, it didn't have a taste at all really, and these just seemed like giant, unflavored, balls of ground hamburger. Also, they're very large and while the outside was cooked okay, the inside was a little undercooked from what I like.

But, we were ready for dessert, which was what we knew was up our alley.

Oh my goodness, soooo good. Okay, the chocolate mousse was delicious. It had a harder shell, and just was so good. Then, there was the school bread. Unfortunately, it was a little skimpy on the topping, but still SO good. Yummmmmy! Then, the rice pudding. Delicious, but probably our least favorite, if we had to pick one. We love chocolate rice pudding better, and make it at home a lot. But, this was still super delicious!

Us and the princesses:

Food - 6/10
The stuff from the buffet was good, though strange, and the desserts were good, but the entrees were definitely not to our taste.

Service - 9/10
Server's Name - Beate
We had good service, other than the little mix up. She was a sweetie and answered all of our weird little questions about Norway.

Atmosphere - 8/10
The atmosphere was a little strange, but overall, nice. We were just in a weird seat that was on a wall between two doorways and we were getting knocked into quite a bit.

Overall Experience - 6/10
It was okay, but we probably won't come back unless we have a little girl who really wants to.


Total Cost of Food: Lost my receipt.