Flying Fish
Tonight’s dinner was one to remember. On a whim I added this reservation to our dining plans. It originally didn’t make the cut, but we needed a restaurant and we wanted out of the parks so we settled on Flying Fish. The restaurant is a little out of the way at the Boardwalk and there are no firework viewings, no illuminations, and no frills from this eatery. What we DID find that this spot has, is wonderful food with a fun atmosphere and friendly wait staff.
I started off the evening with the Cheese Tasting.
Degustation of Flying Fish Artisanal Cheeses. $15
This tasting was five cheeses, and accompaniments. They included honey comb, raisins on the vine, and fig & almond compote. It was also served with 2 types of bread (no picture – Sorry!).
Cheese 1 – Robbiola Ciabot – This cheese is from Italy and gets its name from the tradition of ripening the cheese in little houses called Ciabot. It is a mixture of sheep and cows milk and ripens for about a month. Once ripe, it is creamy and has an intense flavor.
Cheese 2 – BMF Double Gloucester – This cheese is a traditional English cheddar made in Gloucestershire. It has a bold orange color and sharp flavor.
Cheese 3 – Ubriaco al Borolo – This is a hard cheese made from sheep’s milk. The name translates to drunken in Italian and is so named because the young cheese is soaked in wine and covered with crushed grape skins. It is then allowed to mature for up to 10 months. This cheese was firm and somewhat crumbly but the flavor was good!
Cheese 4 – Cypress Grove Chevre – This American made cheese is produced in Northern California at the Cypress Grove Dairies. This Chevre was FANTASTIC – Creamy, tangy, soft, smooth, ---- just Yumm-O!
Cheese 5 – Echo Mountain Blue Cheese – This cheese is produced in Oregon at the Rogue Creamery. It is aged goat & cow milk and is allowed to age for at least 18 months. This cheese was smooth, tangy, and an excellent blue cheese specimen!
I didn’t do the wine pairing so I can’t say as to what that would have been like, but you can bet next time, I will try it! Overall, this cheese plate was outstanding. I ate the whole thing. I think I might have shared a little bit with Thomas, but not too much!
Thomas started the evening with the crab cake.
Our Signature Flying Fish Café Crisp Jonah Lump Crab Cake $14
The crab cake was served a top of savory vegetable slaw, pea shoots, Roasted Red Peper Coulis, and an Ancho Chili Remoulade.
Leaving out the expletive (that would be a four letter word to all you southerners), Thomas described this dish as “Really Good!” The crab cake was crisp but not greasy at all. It was FULL of crab with very little “cake.” The coulis and remoulade were fantastic also with tangy & sharp flavors that complemented the cake wonderfully!
For our entrees we stuck with a fish theme.
I got the Oak-grilled Wild Alaskan King Salmon. $36
It was served with Rainbow Chard, heirloom beans, potatoes, apple-smoked bacon, and a vermouth-caviar butter sauce.
YUM YUM YUM!! The fish was perfectly cooked, and that butter sauce… Oh. My. God. It was so good. I was back to wanting to lick the plate. The veggies were crisp and perfect.
Thomas got the Citrus/Schezuan Peppercorn-Spiced Yellowfin Tuna Loin. $34
It was served with Bok Choy, Asian mushrooms, little carrots, and a light curried Carrot-Coconut Infusion. Thomas enjoyed this dish, but honestly he liked my salmon dish better. He was expecting more of a schezuan flavor – in other words more hit-you-in-the-mouth kind of experience rather than the subtle flavors on this dish. The curry flavor was very mild and paired well with the fish and vegetables. It was tasty and prepared just the way he likes it (on the rare side). He says he would eat it again, but he’d love to go back to try other things more!
Dessert
Unfortunately, my notes (and lack of photos of menus) limit my ability to properly describe the desserts from this evening. But for your viewing pleasure I have the following.
Trio of Apple Desserts
On the left was an apple muffin with an apple filling on top – sort of like strawberry shortcake, but with apples (?). The middle one was an eggroll type dessert filled with apples and (I think) cranberries. Very tasty. The final one on the right was more like a traditional apple pie.
This dessert was very tasty and I would eat it again. Unless there was dark chocolate on the menu!
Cappuccino Panna Cotta and cookies.
The panna cotta was served in a cappuccino cup (and was cappuccino flavored). It was served with chocolate, vanilla and orange cookies.
Thomas says his dessert was VERY rich and tasted like a cappuccino. Except it was solid. He enjoyed it and would eat it again. He especially likes coffee flavored items so this was a no-brainer.
The total if we paid cash would have been $126 plus tip. We used our Dining plan so we used a total of 4 credits - this is a signature location.
Overall, WE LOVED FLYING FISH. Our server was very busy, but managed to give us personal service and good advice. Bob (our server) even posed for a picture with me!
He also recommended this next shot. If you pose at the back of the restaurant, and have the ferris wheel like thing in the background – you end up with a very cool picture. Bob took it of us. The flash from the camera shows off the different levels and you end up with the effect.
I hate this picture of me, but the background was so cool, I had to include it.
And thanks again for the review of the Coral Reef event - we are trying to figure out what we want to do this year and plan to add that to the list for sure.
If you go, I KNOW you will enjoy!!
Glad I could provide some humor to your household. We still laugh about it here!
3. Not so sure about this! I feel like I am typing the same things over and over agian!
