Our Quest for American Food - and Pictures of it

[slk537]

This is just wonderful - I love the idea of breakfast in the morning on the balcony at AKL...!

You have such a fresh perspective and fantastic photos - I am signing on for the ride!

 

[scrapbookinmickeyfan]

I am enjoying your review. I cannot wait to read more!

 

[PrejeanPrincess]

Great reviews, can't wait to hear/see Kona as we have ressies there for Sept.

 

[DisneyJo]

Loving your reviews, we don't do waffles and bacon either, but we don't do all your cold meats for breakfast either, I can remember 2 German exchange trips and being so surprised at the breakfasts I was offered

 

[kindakrazy2]

Great review! Keep it coming!

 

[debster812]

I'm really enjoying your reviews a lot. I want to also compliment you on your English. I speak Spanish and Portuguese, and there is NO WAY I could ever write as well in either of those languages as you are doing these in English.

Guter Job (I think that's good job, at least that's waht I wanted it to be)

 

[SmallWorld71]

Just wanted to say that I am enjoying your reviews and find your perspective to be very refreshing. Looking forward to more.

 

[iluvdisney01]

Great reviews! Can't wait to read more!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

I love your dining report! It's very cool to read about the dining experiences of someone who isn't American. You give great descriptions and great pictures too. Can't wait to read more

 

[deide71]

I am really enjoying your reviews.

It is so nice to get a different perspective in the restaurants.

Thank you!

 

[TheDisneyClan]

I love this review!!! Thank you!

 

[irongirlof12]

hoping there is more to come, your reviews are great, and I am amazed that English is a 2nd language for you

 

[Flossbolna]

First of all, thanks to all of you for the encouraging comments! I have been really looking forward to do this review and its great to know that it is appreciated!!

Loving your reviews, we don't do waffles and bacon either, but we don't do all your cold meats for breakfast either, I can remember 2 German exchange trips and being so surprised at the breakfasts I was offered

Hi DisneyJo, yes there definitely is a big difference between a German breakfast and an English breakfast!! Isn't it great that we have such a diversity within one continent? However, as great as Italian food is, I really do not appreciate their breakfast (coffee and a dry bread roll was what we got on a class trip to Rome).

I'm really enjoying your reviews a lot. I want to also compliment you on your English. I speak Spanish and Portuguese, and there is NO WAY I could ever write as well in either of those languages as you are doing these in English.

Guter Job (I think that's good job, at least that's waht I wanted it to be)

debster812: yes, you got it right! Thanks for the compliment, I have spent some time at University in England so that helped a lot. However, it is difficult to keep up your language skills if you do not get to use the foreign language on a daily basis. Which actually makes a good excuse for spending time on the DISboards: practice my English

I am working on the next installment, hope to post it sometime today!

 

[ursula28]

Just found this thread, enjoying it with my coffee. Would like to have a cup of the hot chocolate in first photo, beautiful presentation. Love your reviews & your photos are great.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Love your reviews! It is great to read experiences and food reviews through fresh eyes. (Even though you were repeat guests.)
In the Marketplace in DTD there is Wolfgang Puck's Express. If you ever in a similar situation and want a quick and lighter bite that may be a good choice.
They also serve pizza, salads, etc. There meatloaf dinner there is nearly the same (if not the same) as the full service restaurant, and almost half the price.
Where you dined for Wolfgang's would be more relaxing though. The express is a walk up counter service with no ADRs required.

Awaiting your continued reviews!
Great job!

 

[Flossbolna]

Saturday February 10

This day was our full MK day, another rope drop (it really helps if rope drop at 9 am would have been 3 pm at home!). I think Carola had again a carrot cake from Mara at AKL while I was not feeling hungry at all (after only two days on the DDP!!) and just had a cup of tea, so nothing to report on breakfast.

Lunch at Pecos Bill's (Magic Kingdom)

We were in the general area when we started to feel hungry around 11 am again, and both decided that there was something for us on the menue, so we got our food and had a nice outdoor table as it was not hot at all and sitting in the sun was very nice and for us a big luxury on a February day when at home it would be cold and miserable.

I had the double bacon cheeseburger:

The picture was taken after I had hit the toppings bar. I really should have taken a picture of it, it was so great! I was not sure what to expect, burgers here are generally only available at McDonalds or Burger King and there aren't any such things as topping bars. From previous posters I expected a small stand where you could get ketchup and stuff like that. Well, I was surprised that the toppings bar was more a toppings buffet. Besides ketchup there were tomatoe slices, lettuce, sautteed mushrooms, onions, pickles. As you can see, I filled up the little burger tray with a lot stuff. I actually ended up eating only one of the burger pads (I opted for the double burger because I wanted to get the bacon) and loved having all the green stuff on my burger! The burger itself was good, but to me tasted more like a fast food burger than the really great burgers I had in table service restaurants in the USA.

I opted to get the carrots instead of fries:

The carrots were a bit soggy, but very sweet. I was very proud of myself to have chosen the healthy option!

Carola got the Bbq Pork Sandwich with fries:

I did not try it, so I cannot comment, but Carola was very happy with her choice. Unfortunately she liked the toppings bar as much as I, so you cannot see too much of the actual sandwich filling.

By then we were rather cautious with regard to the CS desserts (did not want to spoil the appetite for dinner), so we only got one Peanut Butter Brownie Mousse to share:

It is a very soft and moist chocolate cake topped with peanut butter mousse and then caramel and choclate sauce on top. we both liked the mousse much better than the cake. We both love brownies, but this tasted a bit artificial to us. Since none of us was hungry after the main meal anyway, we enjoyed what we liked and left the rest. However, in my opinion this dessert did not add anything to our meal, which we otherwise enjoyed a lot.

We used two CS credits for the meal and both thought that it was a good CS option if you want a meal in this area. Eating at 11 am again gave us no wait time at the register and plenty of space to sit and eat. Inside the restaurant was virtually empty:

Snack from Aloha Isle (Magik Kingdom)

Well, by mentioning the location most of you probably will have guessed that my snack had to do something with a Dole Whip. Here it is; a Dole Whip Float, bought with one snack credit:

Pinapple is my favourite fruit, so there was nothing not to like for me. It's great, I will make a point of getting it again if I am at WDW again!

Dinner at Kona Cafe (Polynesian Resort)

I had been looking forward to this meal ever since I started reading dining reviews on the DISboards and became a fan of the "food porn thread". I would have loved to have breakfast here as well, but big breakfasts just did not fit in with our touring plans. I just love early mornings in the parks and see no point in wasting time for a big meal.

Our ADR was for 5:20 pm because we planned on spending the evening at MK and wanted to get there as early as possible considering that the "late" evening at MK ended at 9 pm (the downside of offseason touring). We left AKL around 4:20 pm, took the bus to MK and then the boat to the Poly. This is a lovely boat ride, but it took us nearly as long as the bus ride from AKL! Fortunately we had plenty of time to spare and even could have a good look around the beautiful grounds of the Poly, the lobby and the shops before checking in about 5 min early. At first we were told that there would be a wait and they gave us a pager but then this was immediately taken away from us again and we were seated at a booth table:

Our server was Donna and she was very good. She took good care of us and explained the menue thoroughly as well how the DDP works. She suggested that we could get some speciality drinks (non alcoholic) and Carola took up her recommendation for the Strawberry Banana Smoothie:

While I decided that I wanted something fruity without yoghurt in it and Donna recommended a virgin strawberry Daiquiri:

We both liked our own drinks very much and were very happy that we had not choosen the other's drink!

We also got some bread. It was still warm when it was brought to us. It was served with some oil with spices to dip in. It was very good oil and not too spicy.

For starter Carola got the famous crab cakes. I did not try it as I do not like crab (and found out that I might possibly be slightly allergic against it, great excuse!), but it looked beautiful and I think it is one of the most widely reviewed dishes here on the boards anyway! But enjoy the picture:

I thought that they were actually rather big and Carola was really torn whether she should finish them as she was well aware that finishing her starter would mean that she would get in trouble with her main course later on! But she thought it was too good to leave anything on the plate!

I had been set on getting the Kona salad since I first read about it here on the boards. I absolutely love blue cheese. But then just before we left I read reviews stating that there were pears in the salad instead of strawberry. And pear is something I am really allergic against (not violently, but I can feel the effects). So I was cautiously optimistic when the menue described the salad this way:

Kona Salad - Mixed greens, Maytag blue cheese, fresh fruit, red onions, and smoked almonds with a citrus vinaigrette (thanks to allearsnet, they have the February menue!)

Okay, fresh fruit seemed to provide the possibilty of something else than pear... I asked our server what the fresh fruit was and she said pear But she seemed to realize that I was not happy with that answer and immediately asked whether I would prefer a different fruit. I felt a bit uncomfortable about asking for something different, but mentioned that it was because I was allergic against pears. Donna suggested strawberries (I already had a drink full of strawberries) and mentioned that they adjust the fruit according to season, but strawberry would be very good with the salad, too. So I was really happy! And since I already started to make alterations to the food I ordered, I asked for it to be without onions, which I am not very fond of.

However, this order had two results: Because I used the word allergic, the chef came out to ask me whether I would be really okay with strawberries, If I had any other allergies (hazelnut) and so on. That was very thoughtfull, but I also felt a bit embarassed. I am sure they do not want to take any risk, but my allergies really aren't lifethreatening! And secondly, it caused a mix up with my salad. Carola had nearly finished her crab cakes until my salad appeared. Donna apologized very much for it, obviously they got everything wrong in the kitchen, first they made it with pears and then forgot to leave out the onions... But when I finally got it, it was absolutely worth the wait! It does not look very good because everything was tossed together, but I prefer my salads tossed before they are served. That is something I really like about restaurants in the US. In Germany in most cases a salad would be neatly arranged on a plate with the dressing slightly sprinkled on top. I am not very fond of this, it looks better, but I do not like the uneven distribution of dressing on the salad ingredients. So the American way of tossing the salat in the kitchen is very much approved of by me!!

Even though it is not the most beautiful dish, it was absolutely great, one of my favourite dishes in WDW this time. As I said, I love blue cheese and the taste of the cheese combined with the strawberry was to die for. The almonds gave it a nice crunchy texture and the vinaigrette was fresh and not over-powering.

I would definitely return to Kona just for the salad. Unfortunately I was not as much blown away by my entree. I chose the Beef Teriyaki - 10 ounce sirloin strip, grilled with pineapple teriyaki sauce, mashed Yukon gold potatoes, and stir-fried broccoli florets.

It was not bad, but it was just not really what I personally liked best. The broccoli was nice, a bit too soft for me, I like it when it is still very crunchy. But it was seasoned well. The mashed potatoes were very creamy, I liked those, too. The thing I was a bit dissappointed in was the steak. Not because anything was wrong with it, I just realized that my love for pineapple had lured me away from a dish I would have liked much more, the one that Carola ordered: Char Crusted Filet Mignon - mashed yukon gold potatoes, asparagus and a 5-spice mushroom sauce:

I just liked her steak much better. It is not that steaks are not available here in Germany, but we usually have much less different options here. So this evening I found out that I really prefer fillet mignon and that I really like the chargrilled taste with my steak. And I would have loved to have asparagus instead of broccoli. Both steaks were very tender. As I said, I loved the crust on the fillet so much that my pinapple sauce appeared a bit boring to me. It was rather mild in its taste I thought, much less exotic than I had expected and hoped for. So, the next time I will stick with my starter, but get the other steak!

Once again we were way too full to think about dessert. Donna was the first server to suggest that we should get dessert to go. She assured us that there would be no problem to take them into the park with us and made sure that they were put into small boxes. I decided to get the Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart and Carola got the Kilauea Torte, both without the ice cream they were supposed to come with. Unfortuanately both suffered rather from being carried around MK for the evening and were not really worth a picture once we got home. In my opinion these were huge portions for dessert, we nibbled on them for breakfast and afternoon snacks for the next two days.

Overall we had a great experience at Kona. I loved the atmosphere, rather relaxed. Everyone was very friendly and our server was absolutely outstanding! I loved that it is so close to MK and the boat ride or monorail ride there is a bit of an attraction in itself. Last time we had a meal at Ohana and while this is an experience, I would rather eat at Kona again! Visiting the Poynesian Resort is great, I think it is very beautiful and I would love to stay there once (otherwise I am totally hooked on AKL). We used two TS credits for the two of us. This was one of the restaurants where we could have shared a meal to save credits, but I was very glad that we did not do this, I would have hated to share my salad!!

By the way, this was one of the two times I was drawing attention to myself taking pictures of our food. Two ladies at the table across from us thoroughly approved of this, they had their camera out for pictures, too! I was about to ask them whether they were on the DISbaords, too, but was too shy.

Next day was our CS-only-day: La Cantina and Sunshine Season at Epcot.

 

[Flossbolna]

Love your reviews! It is great to read experiences and food reviews through fresh eyes. (Even though you were repeat guests.)
In the Marketplace in DTD there is Wolfgang Puck's Express. If you ever in a similar situation and want a quick and lighter bite that may be a good choice.
They also serve pizza, salads, etc. There meatloaf dinner there is nearly the same (if not the same) as the full service restaurant, and almost half the price.
Where you dined for Wolfgang's would be more relaxing though. The express is a walk up counter service with no ADRs required.

Awaiting your continued reviews!
Great job!

Thanks, I guess the Wolfgang Puck at the Marketplace sounds very much like the place I would like to try out at my next visit (unfortunately still very unclear, when this might happen...)

 

[dawgfan]

Great review. Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Donna is a great server! We have not seen her there in so long we thought she left.
Another great review!

 

[DisneyJo]

That strawberry daquiri looks delicious, good to know you can get it on the DP.

Great reviews again