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

[oybolshoi]

Oh my goodness! If there is Brillat Savarin (or even better....Pierre Robert...) on the cheese plate in March my choice will be VERY easy!

I would have given the Stilton away as well...actually, the Stilton wouldn't show up on my plate because I'm allergic

I've yet to come across a cheese plate that's offered Savarin ... my bad luck I guess.

We are so new to V&A that we can't be bored by the desserts yet...there are so many I haven't tried. I must admit, of the three chocolate offerings in the trio, the Kona souffle was easily the standout!

The souffle was definitely the highlight of the trio! And I just think it's very odd that V&A's dessert offerings don't change at all with the exception of one item that seems to be their nod to seasonality. CA Grill and Flying Fish change their dessert options on a fairly regular basis ... I would have thought V&A would be the same.

May I ask what the adorable little pitcher on your Kobe plate contained? I'm guessing some sort of sauce or reduction?

I checked our menu and there is no mention of the sauce. And since I'm not a big sauce person I know that I didn't use it, so the long answer is no ... I'm sorry, I don't know what it was.

I guess you're just going to have to order it on your next visit and find out for yourself!

Now you are really making me want the caviar AND the kobe (DDad is gonna kill ya ). I just watched an episode of Gordon Ramsay's F Word last night that was all about how wonderful caviar is

Well if you can order both I'd strongly urge you to do so because they were both wonderful. But the caviar was the standout.

What a wonderful revue of V & A's. Sounds like such a fabulous night with Dis friendies. Someday.........................I hope!

Thanks very much! We had a lovely evening!!!

Being a lover of truly great food, I am sad that my DH and I won't be dining at either Bistro de Paris or V&A's. Just not in our budget this time around. So I must live through wonderful reviews like yours! Your reviews are among the most entertaining and informative I've read on the Dis. THANK YOU!! I believe that you mentioned something about kids at the Bistro and as a proud parent to a two year old...what are parents thinking???

Thanks very much for taking the time to read and for the kind words. I hope you have a chance to get back to Bistro and V&A sometime soon - they're still some of the best places to dine on property.

And I'd like to know what those parents were thinking, too!

Hey there! Coming over from All7OfUs' PTR. I've read a bit so far. I love your rating system. Too clever Can't wait to catch up.

Welcome and thank you! I hope you enjoy the madness!

Sorry I'm so late catching up Bendy! It sounds like you guys had a great night, and I love that coffee maker....it looks like a hookah on steroids!

Hiya Heather! There is no late here ... I thought you knew that!

I love your description of the coffee maker!

 

[oybolshoi]

Monday, October 19th - Breakfast at Kona Because our Mystery Guests Requested We Make it So

Jay and I haven't had a truly memorable (in a good way) or tasty morning meal at the Kona Cafe since May 2007. In years past I always made sure to schedule an ADR at Kona so that Jay could get his tonga toast fix, but after that yucky and unfortunate berry compote / viral incident in October 2007, neither one of us has been all that keen to re-visit. However, the nephew really wanted to try the famed tonga toast and since we'd all planned to visit the Magic Kingdom together, Kona seemed like a convenient and safe choice for the first meal of the day.

The journey to the Polynesian was unremarkable, except for the cold weather which didn't seem to want to release its grip on Central Florida. We arrived at the Kona with time to spare and were seated immediately. The restaurant was busy but certainly not packed to the gills with people. Our server, who introduced himself as Cousin Dave, seemed like a friendly if somewhat overly enthusiastic cast member. I don't do early morning perky until I've had my caffeine so we made sure to request that Kona press pot right away. Jay and I were both probably a little logy given all the food and drink and late-night cheer from our Victoria & Albert's dinner the night before, but the nephew and his wife were bright-eyed and raring to go.

After delivering the coffee, Cousin Dave disappeared for a long, long time and someone else brought our breakfast to us. We could see our server at other tables, which he seemed to visit far more frequently than ours, and wondered what we'd done to make our "cousin" dis-own us. By the time he reappeared to ask us how our meal had been we were finished and then he had the nerve to suggest we leave the recommended 20% tip when paying our bill.

Here's the thing, I don't like or want service that hovers, but I do expect someone to check back to make sure the meal is acceptable and to keep water glasses refilled. Our cousin did neither of these things until it was obvious we were ready to leave. It galls me to be on the receiving end of indifferent service only to then be asked to tip generously. We tip because that's the appropriate thing to do, but that doesn't mean we have to over-tip someone who does a poor job.

So there!

As for the meal, Jay was happy with the Pineapple Macadameia Nut Pancakes and the nephew loved his Tonga Toast. My French Toast was OK, not great by any stretch of the imagination because it was overcooked, and the nephew's wife ordered a standard Eggs Your Way breakfast that made me develop a serious case of Egg Envy when I saw it! And the bacon was an abomination ... again! Never have we been subject to such repeatedly bad pork at WDW; I suspect the Disney Dining Dictator has been fiddling with the bacon in the smokehouse.

And now, please enjoy some pictures of our breakfast ... the official J&B Kona Cafe rating will be posted at the end.

Fruit bowl

Kona Press Pot

French Toast

Pancakes

Eggies

Tonga Toast

Our final rating for the Kona Cafe has to be the Worker and Parasite:

Depending on who you speak with in our party we had a decent to poor meal with mediocre service. I think that Kona is just not as good as it used to be, and service really seems to be a bit dysfunctional depending on when you visit. When Jay says he has no desire to re-visit anytime soon, you know the breakfast death knell has sounded. For those of you who still love Kona and are still receiving great food and service - roll on! On future trips you will likely find Jay and me perched on our balcony, sipping Velvet Soul coffee and muching yummies from the Boulangerie Patisserie!

 

[creativeamanda]

WHy is it that some of the servers do that? I'm a decent tipper, but I found more of that on my solo trip in December than ever before, especially at the Grand Floridian Cafe, and the Yachtsman.

After my debacle at the Yachtsman, I have no desire to ever visit there again, and GFC has been knocked off of my list for June.

 

[creativeamanda]

Birthday Drink Tally at 9:30PM:

1 Mimosa
6 small glasses of Moet & Chandon Champagne
3 glasses of champagne ala' Flying Fish
1 shared small cup Spanish red wine
1 shared Happy Lye-chee
3 full glasses of Italian wine
1 glass of Rosa Regale
A whole lotta water!

LoL, how were you still walking? One Narcoossee's lemonade, and everything at the Magic Kingdom seemed funnier!

Of course, I've always been a lightweight

I checked this one out because Flying Fish was one of my favorites in December.

 

[ChelleinNC]

We haven't been to Kona in many years and it doesn't appear that we're missing very much Tell Jay that the Tonga Toast is pretty easy to make at home

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I'm sorry Kona was so forgettable. Definitely no excuse for the mediocre service. The nerve of Cousin Dave to come back and ask for the tip after ignoring you! The Tonga Toast has never really appealed to me and I'm not a big breakfast eater in general. I'm with you - hanging out on the balcony with sweets procured from France the night before is the way to go!

 

[oybolshoi]

WHy is it that some of the servers do that? I'm a decent tipper, but I found more of that on my solo trip in December than ever before, especially at the Grand Floridian Cafe, and the Yachtsman.

After my debacle at the Yachtsman, I have no desire to ever visit there again, and GFC has been knocked off of my list for June.

I don't know why servers at WDW do that, but it annoys me especially when it comes from someone who hasn't provided very good service in the first place.

Sorry to hear you've knocked GFC off your list - we had a really nice breakfast experience there in October 2008. Hoping to go back again some day.

LoL, how were you still walking? One Narcoossee's lemonade, and everything at the Magic Kingdom seemed funnier!

Of course, I've always been a lightweight

I checked this one out because Flying Fish was one of my favorites in December.

Well, there was a lot of food interspersed with all that booze ... and I used to be a lightweight until I gained weight!

Flying Fish was a wonderful meal for us (again) ... we definitely plan on paying them another visit on our next trip.

Thanks for reading!

We haven't been to Kona in many years and it doesn't appear that we're missing very much Tell Jay that the Tonga Toast is pretty easy to make at home

Hiya Chelle! We actually have the tonga toast recipe but have never made it at home - primarily because it's not something that I like and just isn't worth the effort or mess!

 

[oybolshoi]

I'm sorry Kona was so forgettable. Definitely no excuse for the mediocre service. The nerve of Cousin Dave to come back and ask for the tip after ignoring you! The Tonga Toast has never really appealed to me and I'm not a big breakfast eater in general. I'm with you - hanging out on the balcony with sweets procured from France the night before is the way to go!

Hi Christine!

I'm not a tonga toast person, either, but it's always been one of Jay's favorites ... although this was the first time in recorded history that he didn't order it for breakfast!

We expect to spend a lotta time on the balcony this fall having breakfast from France ...

 

[PNO4TE]

Out of curiosity... do you tell your servers you have TiW at the beginning of the meal? We used to. Had horrible service when we did, so we stopped letting them know until the end. They have to re-run the bill anyway, so it is not an issue of more work for them. We have had much better service since we stopped letting them know in advance.

 

[PNO4TE]

Bob likes the Tonga Toast too, so when he is interested in that for breakfast we go to Capt. Cook's instead! I love that they serve that there now. As well as darned good grilled cheese and the delighfully refreshing Dole Whip!

 

[PNO4TE]

And the bacon was an abomination ... again! Never have we been subject to such repeatedly bad pork at WDW; I suspect the Disney Dining Dictator has been fiddling with the bacon in the smokehouse.

I will never order bacon at WDW again! It has become detestable. It doesn't seem like any restaurant is exempt either. I prefer bacon over sausage usually, but anymore you will find piggy rolls instead of slabs on my plate instead.

 

[creativeamanda]

I will never order bacon at WDW again! It has become detestable. It doesn't seem like any restaurant is exempt either. I prefer bacon over sausage usually, but anymore you will find piggy rolls instead of slabs on my plate instead.

I hate the WDW bacon, as well. I skip it every time I see it. I don't know what they do to it, but I can't stomach the stuff.

 

[oybolshoi]

Out of curiosity... do you tell your servers you have TiW at the beginning of the meal? We used to. Had horrible service when we did, so we stopped letting them know until the end. They have to re-run the bill anyway, so it is not an issue of more work for them. We have had much better service since we stopped letting them know in advance.

We never tell them we have the TWiT card - we just answer "no" when they ask if we're on the DDP. Usually once they know we're not on the dining plan they visibly relax. I think Cousin Dave was a flake who had a bad day when it came to our table.

Bob likes the Tonga Toast too, so when he is interested in that for breakfast we go to Capt. Cook's instead! I love that they serve that there now. As well as darned good grilled cheese and the delighfully refreshing Dole Whip!

I will keep Captain Cook's in mind if Jay gets another tonga toast crave - thanks!

I will never order bacon at WDW again! It has become detestable. It doesn't seem like any restaurant is exempt either. I prefer bacon over sausage usually, but anymore you will find piggy rolls instead of slabs on my plate instead.

I do like the breakfast sausage that they serve but I can't eat much of it (the goblin tolerates bacon far better than sausage for some reason). This is the first time we've noticed the bacon being so consistently bad regardless of where we had breakfast.

I hate the WDW bacon, as well. I skip it every time I see it. I don't know what they do to it, but I can't stomach the stuff.

Well, we're going to be skipping it from now on because it was baaaaad!

 

[shovan]

Hidey Ho there Bendy & Friendies,

I've finally had the time to catch up & slowly peruse your fine food porn!
I am alternately wiping away the drool & choking from laughter. Great stuff!

The caviar & kobe beef are now permanently imprinted on my brain! It really looks like a good time was had by all!


On to Kona, I'm honestly surprised that Cousin Dave had the nerve to ask for a tip! We have never had a server in WDW ever do that? Not even at Kona where we have also had much less than stellar service. I am shocked & saddened.

 

[hmgray95]

We had very spotty service the last time we went to Kona for breakfast too. First they confused our ADR with someone else's, causing us to wait for 20 minutes to be seated. Then once we sat down, our server initially told us that we couldn't get the press pot because they had no water connection to the restaurant due to work on the pipes in the bathroom around the corner, but then showed up with the press pot halfway through the meal. Plus several items that we were supposed to get never made it to the table at all.

And we too had a server at Chef Mickey's who mentioned to us that the normal tip amount was 20%! And this was after she gave us the worst service that I have had at any Disney or non-Disney restaurant ever!

 

[TDC Nala]

Guys, I need to put the moderator hat on and remind you that tipping is supposed to be discussed only on the tipping thread...we're taking a turn into tipping stories here.

I just avoid breakfast. The last WDW breakfast I had that I liked was at The Wave. It was pretty good! I used to crawl out of the cave for sweet potato pancakes at Boatwrights but those are gone now.

 

[oybolshoi]

Thanks for the "tip" TDC Nala!

 

[oybolshoi]

Hidey Ho there Bendy & Friendies,

I've finally had the time to catch up & slowly peruse your fine food porn!
I am alternately wiping away the drool & choking from laughter. Great stuff!

The caviar & kobe beef are now permanently imprinted on my brain! It really looks like a good time was had by all!

Hi Sheryl! Glad to see you're still here and enjoying the silliness!

V&A was a lovely evening - I'm so happy we were able to pull it together and make it work for everyone.

On to Kona, I'm honestly surprised that Cousin Dave had the nerve to ask for a tip! We have never had a server in WDW ever do that? Not even at Kona where we have also had much less than stellar service. I am shocked & saddened.

Kona's service is just too ... uneven ... lately. I think we will just stick with breakfast in the room. We make better coffee, anyway!

We had very spotty service the last time we went to Kona for breakfast too. First they confused our ADR with someone else's, causing us to wait for 20 minutes to be seated. Then once we sat down, our server initially told us that we couldn't get the press pot because they had no water connection to the restaurant due to work on the pipes in the bathroom around the corner, but then showed up with the press pot halfway through the meal. Plus several items that we were supposed to get never made it to the table at all.

And we too had a server at Chef Mickey's who mentioned to us that the normal tip amount was 20%! And this was after she gave us the worst service that I have had at any Disney or non-Disney restaurant ever!

Hi Heather! Sorry to hear about your poor experience at Kona ... luckily ours wasn't nearly that bad. Thanks for stopping by to take a read ... better stories and reviews are pending!

Guys, I need to put the moderator hat on and remind you that tipping is supposed to be discussed only on the tipping thread...we're taking a turn into tipping stories here.

Sorry - that's my fault for mentioning Cousin Dave in the first place; I just didn't think about it.

I just avoid breakfast. The last WDW breakfast I had that I liked was at The Wave. It was pretty good! I used to crawl out of the cave for sweet potato pancakes at Boatwrights but those are gone now.

We were supposed to have breakfast at The Wave last October and canceled in favor of eating in the room instead. I'd still like to give them a try ... what did you have?

 

[shovan]

I just avoid breakfast. The last WDW breakfast I had that I liked was at The Wave. It was pretty good! I used to crawl out of the cave for sweet potato pancakes at Boatwrights but those are gone now.

Darn, I have a lunch booked at the Wave for our upcoming trip! Maybe I can still try for a breakfast!

Hi Sheryl! Glad to see you're still here and enjoying the silliness!

V&A was a lovely evening - I'm so happy we were able to pull it together and make it work for everyone.


Kona's service is just too ... uneven ... lately. I think we will just stick with breakfast in the room. We make better coffee, anyway!

I'm still here & enjoying all the reviews & the silliness. I just can't keep up with all of it, all of the time. So I guess I'm a semi-lurker?

I think for us, Disney has become a victim due to how many times we've visited. I can remember years & years back ( early 80's ) when Kona's coffee was some of the best we'd ever tasted. That was back in day, before buying coffee beans, grinders, french press, even cappuccino & espresso! (At least here in Nola.) Although I have to say our coffee & chicory and cafe au lait has always rocked!

 

[whogirl'smom]

Just now saw the chocolate cigar pictures--cracking me up!

Sorry it was yet another disappointment at Kona--I think I might have an ADR there for breakfast, I'll have to check.. I have never been so lackadaisical about a trip before...at this rate I'll never get out of the pool except for ice cream at Beaches!