Pie That Brownie, Fruitcake! Updated Post #1832 - The End

[Dis_Yoda]

Yeah I agree with you about the breakfast there. I think its some place I'll only go to if I'm staying in that resort area as I wouldn't travel from the Poly to go eat over there.

 

[praisehisname]

Good morning sunshine!

Wrong color or not, that little baby looks good!

Drool...

What a shame...it had so much potential...

Do you think you'll give Kouzzina another try someday?

 

[oybolshoi]

Hrmmmmmmmmm. The more reviews I read, the more torn I get. We will be at the Boardwalk Villas in December with Deluxe Dining, so I made a breakfast ADR for our last day in The World. I was planning on getting the french toast, not the feta scrambled eggs---so maybe I'll have better luck.

That drink looks yummmmmy. I guess if all else fails and the food isn't so great, I can just drink. We are on vacation, after all.

I think, to be fair, that Kouzzina is going through some opening pains; sometimes it takes a while for the staff to get a grip on everything and that can lead to uneven quality like we experienced that morning.

If you want to dine there you should, regardless of what I say; after all it's not my opinoin that matters but yours.

And the sangria was terrific ... I wonder if they sell it at the take out window?

OH! I loved the Stacked breakfast!!!
You told us to get the Sangria and we failed the mission BUT we can be rebuilt! Next time WE WILL!

At least they know how to make the signature breakfast so that it tastes good!

And you must get the sangria when next you're there - it's really wonderful!

That was a sad English Muffin! Do they not have a toast setting in Greece? and if you are in a Greek Restaurant wouldn't it be a Greek Muffin? How do you mess up a an English Muffin?! Do they not know the nooks and crannies need to be crunchy??? Maybe they let Todd English Cook The English Muffin and He messed it up.. he wanted the bronze and jumped in instead of the muffin?! He had nook and crannies envy! That is my story and I'm sticking to it!

The whole thing was kind of sad. Had something been oversalted I might believe the Muppet Man was somehow responsible ... Next time I'm just gonna go back there and show 'em how it's done!

I'm so sorry your breakfast was a bummer. I ordered the stacked breakfast, like Jay did, and absolutely loved it. I came away from Kouzzina with a great impression, so guess it really does matter what you order. Thieir signature coffee blend is only ok, like you said. I prefer a bolder coffee. Did you get to go there for dinner? I'm curious what that would be like.

That sangria looks wonderful btw!

Hey there! The stacked breakfast seems to be the way to go (it's just that it doesn't sound good to me and has too many things I don't like anyway) for people who dine at Kouzzina for their first meal of the day.

The coffee was not nearly as bold (perfect word) as I was expecting ... we drink stronger blends at home so I guess I've gotten spoiled.

We did not go for dinner and probably won't - there isn't much on the dinner menu that appeals to me. Jay would probably love it but me ... not so much.

And yes - the sangria was fabulous. I imagine it would be a great summertime drink.

Sorry about your Kouzzina experience!
It looks like Tom and I have been some of the few lucky ones who had excellent food there! We went for dinner before it officially opened and our meal was excellent! ........... and the sangria was the right colour!

Glad to hear you enjoyed your dinner at Kouzzina and thanks for the sangria picture! I am now a fan of both versions! And since Jay really liked his breakfast it wasn't a total bummer of a meal.

Yeah I agree with you about the breakfast there. I think its some place I'll only go to if I'm staying in that resort area as I wouldn't travel from the Poly to go eat over there.

Yeah - I don't think that it's worth traveling to from outside the resort area, especially for breakfast. Of course, we're starting to feel that way about most restaurants for breakfast. We bring better coffee from home and honestly, if we pick something up from the French Bakery in Epcot we're happier with that for breakfast than almost anything else.

Wrong color or not, that little baby looks good!

Drool...

What a shame...it had so much potential...

Do you think you'll give Kouzzina another try someday?

Hi Denise! Oh yes, the sangria was very good - give it a try if you ever end up at Kouzzina ... I will vouch for the booze! Jay's breakfast was fabulous according to him and his tummy, so all is not lost there. And I'd be willing to bet some day on another trip we're likely to end up there for breakfast one more time ... I'll just make sure to order something else.

 

[podsnel]

Is there a bar in Kouzzina where you can go and order all this great sangria and avoid all the GACK eggs????

 

[oybolshoi]

Is there a bar in Kouzzina where you can go and order all this great sangria and avoid all the GACK eggs????

Sadly there is not.

If I'd been thinking I would have asked for the recipe so that we could make the stuff here at home but my problem is that when on vacation I tend not to think very much at all. I turn off most of my higher brain functions and just focus on eating and drinking for full sensory overload.

 

[ChelleinNC]

Your plate looked so sad and Jay's looked great Did you forget to flash the server for better food?

 

[MrsSpratt]

THEY SCREWED UP BENDY'S BREAKFAST?

Oh, so very wrong - look, I love food, and I'm a decent cook - HOW CAN YOU SCREW UP BREAKFAST?

At least the cocktail was ok? Sigh....

 

[whogirl'smom]

I'm always afraid to order eggs in a restaurant; you never know how they're going to turn out. So sorry yours were from the Island of Misfit Breakfasts--did you swing by the bakery and pick up something tastier?

We have a Kouzzina adr for an early dinner on our DHS day. I'm hoping I feel more thrilled about it as more reviews come in. Truthfully, I just wanted to try the dips to see if they were close to as good as Spoodles, and to try the Greek lasagna.

And by the way, the check's in the mail!

 

[PNO4TE]

I am glad you liked the sangria, Brenda! But, your breakfast did look sadly lacking. I enjoyed the stacked breakfast with scrambled eggs because poached eggs are GACK to me. I liked mine, and Bob did like the plain old American breakfast. I would order both again, as well as try the French toast because it sounded good too.

I will NEVER order bacon there again. I am glad Jay liked the sausage, because the bacon is probably the worst I have ever had. Anywhere!

And the next time I go, there will be a big honkin' pitcher of sangria (either color) on my table right away.

 

[Disneygrl36]

Sangria good Gack eggs bad
Loving your reviews!!!!

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

I'm glad to see a review of your's from Kouzzina because we will be celebrating my DD's 13th there. She choose it because she's a big Food Network fan, but I though that 2 of us will have a good meal and 2 will be disappointed based on the reviews I've read. Now I am sure looking at your plates, Brenda I guess I will try and convince DH just to get a salad and tell him he can order a burger at ESPN later

 

[WDW Fan]

The Sangria drink looked delish but your meal did look pretty sad. Jay's looked like a hearty breakfast though! I'd probably give Kouzzina a chance if my DH and I actually ate a big breakfast but we're basically oatmeal people so I don't think I'd go there for breakfast. Hurry back with more.

 

[oybolshoi]

Your plate looked so sad and Jay's looked great Did you forget to flash the server for better food?

Mine does look sad next to his, doesn't it? I rarely flash in the morning, even by mistake, so that wasn't the problem this time.

THEY SCREWED UP BENDY'S BREAKFAST?

Oh, so very wrong - look, I love food, and I'm a decent cook - HOW CAN YOU SCREW UP BREAKFAST?

At least the cocktail was ok? Sigh....

I say the same thing ... how can one screw up breakfast??? But yes, they did (only mine, though). The sangria was awesome!

I'm always afraid to order eggs in a restaurant; you never know how they're going to turn out. So sorry yours were from the Island of Misfit Breakfasts--did you swing by the bakery and pick up something tastier?

We have a Kouzzina adr for an early dinner on our DHS day. I'm hoping I feel more thrilled about it as more reviews come in. Truthfully, I just wanted to try the dips to see if they were close to as good as Spoodles, and to try the Greek lasagna.

And by the way, the check's in the mail!

We didn't stop at the bakery because we knew we'd be snacking at the F&W kiosks and we had a culinary demo at 1PM ... it was pretty warm that day, anyway, so maybe they did me a favor.

I wasn't worried about the check but thanks for the heads up.

I am glad you liked the sangria, Brenda! But, your breakfast did look sadly lacking. I enjoyed the stacked breakfast with scrambled eggs because poached eggs are GACK to me. I liked mine, and Bob did like the plain old American breakfast. I would order both again, as well as try the French toast because it sounded good too.

I will NEVER order bacon there again. I am glad Jay liked the sausage, because the bacon is probably the worst I have ever had. Anywhere!

And the next time I go, there will be a big honkin' pitcher of sangria (either color) on my table right away.

Hi Elin! Thanks so much for the advance scouting work you did for us on the white sangria - it really was wonderful! The bacon was awful ... I've never had bacon that bad at WDW before but sadly it seemed to be a theme at every restaurant we had a morning meal at. Another cost cutting measure I wonder?

I'm glad to see a review of your's from Kouzzina because we will be celebrating my DD's 13th there. She choose it because she's a big Food Network fan, but I though that 2 of us will have a good meal and 2 will be disappointed based on the reviews I've read. Now I am sure looking at your plates, Brenda I guess I will try and convince DH just to get a salad and tell him he can order a burger at ESPN later

Have him get some sangria with his salad ... it might make the meal a little more palatable.

I hope you have a terrific meal when you dine - all of you!!

The Sangria drink looked delish but your meal did look pretty sad. Jay's looked like a hearty breakfast though! I'd probably give Kouzzina a chance if my DH and I actually ate a big breakfast but we're basically oatmeal people so I don't think I'd go there for breakfast. Hurry back with more.

The sangria was very good and I hereby award it the Boozie Bendy Breakfast Beverage Gold Star of Excellence!

Thanks for reading!

 

[oybolshoi]

Sangria good Gack eggs bad
Loving your reviews!!!!

Ooops ... sorry I missed you when I was responding ... thanks for reading. Sangria very good ... eggs worth skipping next time!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Bren, your review of Kouzzina just had me do something I never every do....admit that Todd was right!

When we were at the Swan in Oct I wanted to do breakfast there, I wanted the frappe so bad that I would order anything else off the menu just to eat there...and Todd said no way...every morning we passed it on the way to the BWI bakery and I would say "Lets try this new place" and he would say "That may be new but when it was Spoodles it was the worst breakfast we ever had and you can change the name but I bet the food is still lousy"

We did a Spoodles breakfast once and it was the worst thing we ever ate...and the kicker was for $10 more we could gone to Cape May Cafe for better food, service and characters! So I guess that memory stuck in his head because we never got to try Kouzzina breakfast ...

And now I see your "EH" review and the fact that they CAN screw up breakfast and I have to give dear ol' hubby the point....

Sigh, when is it my turn to be right?

 

[OurDogCisco]

Okay.. Bendy... we even done Spoodles for breakfast and your plate look like it too. The food was always a hit or miss at Spoodles. I think, on our last trip it took them forever and a day to serve us and there were hardly any people in the place. I think, this placed is definitely jinxed!

 

[oybolshoi]

Bren, your review of Kouzzina just had me do something I never every do....admit that Todd was right!

When we were at the Swan in Oct I wanted to do breakfast there, I wanted the frappe so bad that I would order anything else off the menu just to eat there...and Todd said no way...every morning we passed it on the way to the BWI bakery and I would say "Lets try this new place" and he would say "That may be new but when it was Spoodles it was the worst breakfast we ever had and you can change the name but I bet the food is still lousy"

We did a Spoodles breakfast once and it was the worst thing we ever ate...and the kicker was for $10 more we could gone to Cape May Cafe for better food, service and characters! So I guess that memory stuck in his head because we never got to try Kouzzina breakfast ...

And now I see your "EH" review and the fact that they CAN screw up breakfast and I have to give dear ol' hubby the point....

Sigh, when is it my turn to be right?

Awww, Nicki .... you're right almost all the time or you wouldn't be planning all the trips you guys take to WDW.

They can screw up breakfast but remember that Jay's was very good ... so I still say you have a 50/50 shot at having a great experience. And I was on the fence about the frappe because it sounded really good, too, but I opted for the booze this time. And the booze was awesome!

Okay.. Bendy... we even done Spoodles for breakfast and your plate look like it too. The food was always a hit or miss at Spoodles. I think, on our last trip it took them forever and a day to serve us and there were hardly any people in the place. I think, this placed is definitely jinxed!

Now we never had a chance to do breakfast at Spoodles but did have a great dinner experience there about two years ago ... so go figure.

Thanks for reading even if this one was kind of a downer. I should have held out some hope to everyone that it will only get better from here - the rest of our day and foods and drinks and such were incredible!!!

 

[oybolshoi]

Thursday, October 15th - Warming up to the Festival With a Wee Snack or Two.

Once we were finished with breakfast at Kouzzina, Jay and I made a beeline for Epcot - it was time to check out the Festival Welcome Center and pick up our tickets for the 1PM culinary demo we'd booked (that will be reviewed in a separate post - it was just that good). We had also agreed to meet BriarRosie (Lori) in France around 11AM so that we could do a little snacking together.

The Festival Welcome Center was in the farthest reaches of Future World, tucked away on a small hill behind Ellen's Universe of Energy. While we didn't mind the walk - more steps means more calories burned which means more food and booze to keep us going - the location wasn't exactly convenient when we were having a fun old time in the World Showcase. And certain castmembers who were working at the Welcome Center were insidious purveyors of misinformation ... or DISinformation. One gentleman in particular told us on this very day that we didn't need a ticket to gain admittance to our deminar (demo / seminar); all we had to do was show up and someone would cross our names off the list.

I gave him a skeptical giant eyeball with an arched brow for extra effect and then said, "That's not what we've been told by friends of ours who have already attended events here."

And then we walked away, heading towards the area where our event was going to be held. We found a very nice older lady who did indeed have a list ... along with a stack of tickets for various demos that were going to be held throughout the day. She very happily gave us our tickets after I signed her list and provided multiple forms of identification including my out-of-state drivers license and DVC card.

Many people have already posted plenty about the Festival Welcome Center in their reviews and there isn't much for me to add to what they've already said. The venue wasn't perfect but I do think the event planners made noticeable improvements compared with 2008 - ambient noise levels were not nearly as noticeable this year and Palmhenge appeared to have been reinforced to keep out the nosy and the non-paying.

Tickets in hand, Jay and I wandered back towards the World Showcase and our meet-n-eat with Lori.

Our favorite festival signage!

I've been offering to buy a French squishee for Lori now for something like two years so you can imagine my horror when I discovered that the squishee stand didn't open until noon. Honestly, if the World Showcase opens at 11AM then we guests should be able to purchase squishees at 11:01AM. Luckily Lori is a roll-with-the-punches kind of gal and was happy to accept a Parisien Cosmo Slush in lieu of the Grey Goose or Grand Marnier squishees at the permanent champagne booth.

Jay and I ordered a Pomegranate Kir and the Braised Short Ribs in Cabernet with Mashed Potatoes. The pomegranate kir is one of my favorite drinks; it's a mix of champagne and Pama pomegranate liqueur and it's very refreshing as long as the person who makes the drink doesn't overload it with the Pama. A little bit of that stuff goes a long way because it's pretty sweet, but I was fortunate that my drink just had a quick splah of Pama added to a generous pour of bubbly.

The short ribs were amazing and one of the best food items that we tried while we were at the Festival. The meat, which was tender, juicy, and flavorful, was tucked inside of the creamy, mashed up, molded taters. It was a heavenly combination that Jay and I both enjoyed tremendously.

Braised Short Ribs & Taters

Pomegranate Kir

While wandering the showcase we tried for a self-portrait ...

Lori, me, and Jay

And then a very nice guest wandered by and offered to take a "real picture" for us ...

Lori, Quasimodo, and Jay

Since we needed to save room for our culinary demo, Jay and I eyeballed a number of booths but opted not to eat very much. Upon arriving in Germany, however, we threw caution to the wind in order to see if the steroid sausage was still being served on a micro-pretzel roll. Imagine our glee when we discovered that it was!!!

We'll take one suggestive snack and a beer, please; and don't mind our giggles, we may look middle-aged but our maturity levels never graduated from junior high.

The picture that follows became the source of much mirth during our trip and at the risk of being kicked off the boards I won't share the details - I'm sure you can come up with your own jokes - but I would like to point out that our sausage came with a nubbin that led to many jokes in and of itself. If you need a hint, let's just say we didn't refer to it as a nubbin.

Other than its amazing ... ahem ... size, the sausage tasted just like the ones we've ordered at past F&W festivals. It was a little greasy and a little spicy and paired wonderfully with the mustard. I only wish they'd given us a pretzel roll that could adequately showcase said sausage in all its glistening glory because it was a little awkward, and dare I say embarrassing, to eat. As for our beer - it was an Oktoberfest, that pretty well describes itself.

It's a Nuerenberger Sausage on a Pretzel Roll ... get your minds out of the gutter!

Beck's Oktoberfest

I wanted to share one last thing with you guys because it's so cute. Along with the many, varied F&W merchandise options to tempt guests, Epcot also brings in local artists to showcase and sell some of their work. Normally I don't pay much attention to stuff like this - just not my thing - but this particular artist had these wonderful little watercolors of different cats posed with wine. When I saw this one I had to have it; the kitty looks just like our furbaby Handsome Pete and the picture is open to interpretation ... is the cat tipsy or is he playing with the cork? You be the judge!

Handsome Pete immortalized!

 

[OurDogCisco]

Nuerenberger Sausage on a Pretzel Roll ... get your minds out of the gutter! You are deifnitely on a roll tonight!!!! I can't stop laughing. I wonder how the people serving the food kept a STRAIGHT face.

 

[WDW Fan]

You're just the best storyteller Brenda! Loved the picture of the sausage! I love the painting that you bought of the cat!!!