Pudge Controls the Weather-A Dining Report (Updated 9/1-Bfast at EG-Closing Thoughts)

[Tracerr00]

Definitely joining in! I loved your review of the Lovely Beer - it was lovely! I've been wondering about those zebra domes too as I I've never had a clear idea of what they are!

Sorry to hear about your ankle. It's so tough to be laid up. Even if you have to use a scooter I'm sure you'll still have a fabulous time! I've often wished that I had a scooter at WDW too!

 

[vettegirl]

I felt the same way the first time I tried a zebra domb as well. Then I tried then again last Nov at Boma and loved it I have always enjoyed dining at Mara and find it is one of the best counterservice resort restaurants. Looking forward to hearing about Yak and Yeti, I that place!

 

[jecskc]

sorry about the ankle but glad to have another dining report from you.

Thanks so much !!! Yep. The ankle thing sucks !!

We'll be there the 8-15th staying at BLT- maybe I'll see you at a dining ressie! Love the review so far!

Maybe !!! I will post a list of our ressies and we will compare !!

Definitely joining in! I loved your review of the Lovely Beer - it was lovely! I've been wondering about those zebra domes too as I I've never had a clear idea of what they are!

Sorry to hear about your ankle. It's so tough to be laid up. Even if you have to use a scooter I'm sure you'll still have a fabulous time! I've often wished that I had a scooter at WDW too!

I thought I would love the Zebra Domes. I didn't hate them, but I didn't swoon over them either.

It really does suck to be laid up !! I play tennis and my team is winning and I haven't even been able to get out and watch a match. I have often wished I had a scooter at WDW as well. But this time I have a legitimate excuse besides I wiegh too much and I'm out of shape.

I felt the same way the first time I tried a zebra domb as well. Then I tried then again last Nov at Boma and loved it I have always enjoyed dining at Mara and find it is one of the best counterservice resort restaurants. Looking forward to hearing about Yak and Yeti, I that place!

That is confusing. Maybe I should give them another shot. Yak and Yeti coming up later today !!

 

[jecskc]

So I have been thinking about adding some kind of rating system and here's what I have come up with. Since The Incredibles is one of my favorite Disney movies I will use some characters from that one.

So the best rating would be:

Mrs. Incredible.

She signifies dining excellence which in my report means the food and service were good. We enjoyed our meal and would definitely go back.

The middle rating would be:

Edna Mode

She signifies dining that was satisfactory. We liked our meal, everything was fine, but we might try something else next time. Or there were minimal things wrong with the meal, but it wasn't horrible.

The bottom rating would be:

Syndrome

He signifies that something went wrong with our dining experience and we definitely won't be back.

I have gone back to the reviews I have already done and inserted my ratings.

 

[jecskc]

Dinner at Yak and Yeti

I have always wanted to eat here. It always smelled so good when we would walk by, so I was really excited to try it.

We got seated right away.

And right away we ordered a drink

I had a Yak Attack - Mango Daiquiri, Bacardi Light Rum, and Wildberry Flavors

It was fruity and yummy.

DH ordered a Bonzai Blast. And I can’t find anywhere on the internet what was in it, but it tasted like a really good lemonade.

In comparing the two, I liked DH’S drink better because it was more tangy and less sweet than mine. But mine was very enjoyable, too.

For an appetizer, we ordered the

Wok-Fried Green Beans - Battered green beans with sweet Thai chili sauce. And here is a photo I remembered to take halfway through eating them.

We all chowed down on these things. They were soooo good !!! And the dipping sauce was kinda sweet with a little bit of a kick to it. They didn’t last long.

DS ordered the

Lo Mein - Lo mein noodles, carrots, cabbage, green onions and bean sprouts. Served with chicken or with Shrimp. He asked the waiter if he could get it with beef and the waiter said no problem.

I wasn’t sure he would like this, but he really did. It was a huge portion and we all had some and it really was very good.

DD had gotten some pressed pennies in the lobby so according to her, I had to get a photo.

She ordered Chicken Fingers and French Fries.

And ate every bit. She said the fries were super good.

DH and I decided to split the

Crispy Mahi Mahi - Filet of mahi mahi, Japanese bread crumbs, Cantonese sweet and sour sauce, jasmine rice and stir-fried veggies.

It come out all split up for us on separate plates, so this is HALF a portion. And it was very good. And we ate every bit.

For dessert, DS ordered the

Sorbet - Enjoy a taste of each flavor: mango, lemon and raspberry.

He liked the mango best, but I liked the lemon. DH liked the raspberry. This was a lite dessert, not heavy at all.

DH and I shared

Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons with vanilla ice cream and honey vanilla drizzle.

Oh my goodness, these were soooo good. Everyone has raved about them on the DIS and I am right there with everyone. Absolutley heavenly.

DD got a Kid’s sundae. Just ice cream and chocolate syrup. I didn’t get a photo.

We really enjoyed our dinner at Yak and Yeti and would definitely go back. Very enjoyable meal.

I am going to give this meal a Mrs. Incredible rating:

we loved this meal and would definitely go back !!

 

[jecskc]

Saturday, April 7, 2012

I always eat breakfast. I have to or else I will feel terrible. The rest of my family can wait for lunch. As a matter of fact, we have to make them eat something in the mornings at WDW because they bottom out before lunch and get whiny. I don’t understand at all why they don’t want breakfast. I can’t WAIT to eat in the morning. So for breakfast, I usually had a muffin or an energy bar and I tried to get everyone else to eat something too.

Our first stop of the day food-wise was:

Club Cool

We headed over to Club Cool to try out some sodas.

They were still out of the China one which is DD’s favorite.

I always like to stop here and taste the sodas. I am going to give this a Syndrome rating for being out of several kinds of sodas. And the floor was sticky.

 

[jecskc]

Lunch at Electric Umbrella

After visiting Club Cool, we went to Electric Umbrella to get some lunch.

The weather was gorgeous so we snagged a table outside.

DH got the Chicken Caesar salad.

They used to have a fantastic Greek salad here, but they have taken it off the menu. DH said his salad was “OK”.

DD and DS got Chicken and French Fries.

I got the Black Bean Flatbread. This was different but pretty tasty. I liked that it was a little spicy and that it wasn’t the same old burger.

DH had the strawberry cheesecake for dessert which he said was pretty good. DS and I had cookies which were really nasty. We had a bite or two and then threw them out. DD had the sugar free brownie which, surprisingly, was really good.

Just as I ordered our food, the soda machines went down. So I rushed over to the counter to trade our cups in for water. There was a gathering of grumbling customers at the drink machines and I wondered how that day was gonna go for them since the lunch rush was just starting. We were on the dining plan, so we got a drink anyway, but the counter was still selling sodas and people weren’t going to get them.

Due to the fact that the food was just mediocre and they were out of soda, I am going to give this a Syndrome rating:

The kids like the chicken and French fries here, but we can get that anywhere. So I will try to encourage them to eat somewhere else for lunch next time we are in Epcot.

 

[jecskc]

La Cava del Tequila

I have always wanted to sneak into the La Cava del Tequila

and try a specialty margarita from there. I wanted to try a Hibiscus one, but they said they didn’t make them anymore, so I had think quick and ordered an Avocado one. I know this sounds icky, but it was really smooth and good. Kinda different, but in a good way.

This isn’t my photo. My margarita had hibiscus salt on the rim. Which was red. I got it to go since this wasn’t a stellar environment for kids and we headed back out to the World Showcase.

Since this was a slightly sweet frozen drink with salty goodness on the rim, I am going to give this a Mrs. Incredible rating:

I would definitely order this again.

 

[E-P-C-O-T]

I am dying to try the margaritas at La Cava, just found recently out that you can ask for it to go I plan to send DH and DD to ride 3 Caballeros while I get my avocado margarita! It's a win-win, DD gets to ride her favorite ride and Mom gets to have her favorite drink!

That Margarita sure looks refreshing...

 

[jecskc]

I am dying to try the margaritas at La Cava, just found recently out that you can ask for it to go I plan to send DH and DD to ride 3 Caballeros while I get my avocado margarita! It's a win-win, DD gets to ride her favorite ride and Mom gets to have her favorite drink!

That Margarita sure looks refreshing...

Gotta love the Dis !! That is how I found about this margarita and that I could get it to go. It was very refreshing and surprisingly good. I plan to try the cucumber one next time we go.

 

[debjk4]

I'm in! Great pics and the fried wontons look heavenly!! Can't wait to try them when we go in June!

 

[jecskc]

I'm in! Great pics and the fried wontons look heavenly!! Can't wait to try them when we go in June!

Definitely get those fried wontons. So, so good !!!

 

[TheNewMrsB]

Gosh, I keep telling myself that I'm going to get one of those avocado margaritas one day...!

Also? I don't get the whole zebra dome thing, either.

 

[jecskc]

Gosh, I keep telling myself that I'm going to get one of those avocado margaritas one day...!

Also? I don't get the whole zebra dome thing, either.

That margarita is surprisingly good. Very smooth.

I'm glad it isn't just me. I think I expected them to be more truffle like and not what they are.

 

[jecskc]

Via Napoli

Via Napoli was on the schedule for dinner in Italy on this night. After some exploring, it was time for our ADR. We headed to the back of Italy

and Via Napoli

(this is a stock photo. The night we were there, they had a good bit of outside seating and it was really pretty. And, of course, the weather was amazing.)

Anywho we got there and there was a SUPER long line. We were a little worried that it was a line for reservations, but it turned out it was just the line for walk-ups so we headed into the reception area and let them know we were there. We only waited a few minutes and then we were seated. We were so excited about this ADR, so we ordered right away.

We told the waitress we wanted to split an entrée and we also ordered an appetizer and a bottle of wine. After a bit the waitress came back and told me we couldn’t share. And this made me mad because we always share, everywhere. Except for the buffets and places like Whispering Canyon which has an all you can eat option. I asked for the manager and she told me that it was their “policy”. So I cancelled the appetizer and ordered another entrée. I was not happy about this at all because I knew it would be too much food.

The waitress brought our wine and when she did, she apologized. I was still unhappy, but it wasn’t her fault and I told her so and tried really hard to be nice.

DH ordered

Candele - candle stick pasta, sausage ragu, polpettine meatballs, mozzarella, ricotta

DS ordered

Lasagna Verde - spinach, parmesan, besciamella

I ordered

The individual signature pie - Quattro Formaggi - mozzarella, parmesan, fontina, provolone

And DD ordered kids pizza (I didn’t get a photo)

And here’s what happened. The Candele and Lasagna came out right away. The dishes were too hot to touch but the actual food was lukewarm. DS decided he didn’t like his lasagna so I offered to eat it knowing he would probably like the pizza I ordered, which had not arrived yet. So DH and I started on our entrees. DH’s was good, but I wasn’t too wild about the lasagna. It had a white sauce that I thought was too heavy. It tasted OK, just not my thing. DH helped eat it but we both liked the Candele better. Still no pizzas for the kids.

The waitress brought some bread, some pepper and some parmesan cheese, but no olive oil for dipping, so the pepper and parmesan were useless. The bread was cold and hard anyway and we didn’t eat it. Yuck.

So after about 20 minutes, DD’s pizza comes. And it is burned on the bottom. Not just brown, but black. You could smell the burned smell when the plate came to the table. Completely inedible. She was pretty upset, but thankfully, the other pizza came at that time.

The kids tore into it so quickly, that I didn’t get a photo, but they both REALLY liked it and it was gone pretty quick. So since they were happy, with their food, I didn’t bother complaining about DD’s pizza because I knew it would take forever to get another one. And she was supposed to get an appetizer which was a fruit cup, but we never got it.

Then came dessert. DD is allergic to nuts, so her only option was.

Which she ate. And she’s super picky, so they must have tasted OK.

DS ordered

Coppa Di Brutti Ma Buoni - Ugly, but good. Amarena cherry and vanilla gelato sundae with ugly, but good cookies of carnevale

He said it was just OK. DH said it was pretty good, though.

DH ordered

Tiramisu - Mascarpone cream, espresso coffee, lady fingers, and chocolate

He said it was pretty good and liked it

I ordered

Zeppole di Ricotta - Ricotta cheese fritters, served with whipped cream and chocolate sauce

Now these saved the meal for me. These were heavenly and the cream and chocolate that came with them were really good as well.

And after about an hour and a half, we were finished. And here is the run down on the whole meal. I will start with the negatives first so we can end on a positive note.

Negatives – Not being able to share. SLOW service. Cold bread. No appetizer for DD. No oil for the bread. Food brought at different intervals. Lasagne – I just didn’t like this version. DD’s pizza was burned and inedible.

Positives – Wine was very good. Candele was tasty. Kids loved the adult pizza. Desserts were very yummy.

Many people have had a positive experience here, so don’t NOT go based on our experience, but since WDW has so many other options, this is a place we will not return to. We were so disappointed because we were looking forward to this ADR and we really wanted to like it. But no, we won’t go back.

I am pretty sure it is no surprise to anyone that I am giving this a Syndrome rating.

 

[jecskc]

Snacks in Japan

After dinner we explored World Showcase a bit and right before the fireworks, the kids had to have a Kaki Gori. They just love these things and they are a snack credit. Basically, it is a snow cone, but a high end one. Really nice shaved ice with cherry syrup. The kids both love these.

And her silly little poodle had to be in the photo, too.

I am going to give this a Mrs. Incredible rating.

Because the kids love them, it makes them happy and they are a snack credit.

 

[happy2012]

I'm reading along!! MMMmm the chicken pita @ the Mara looks yummy!!
I might have to see if you can get those special margaritas in a to go cup since it's not super kid friendly.
Well, everything looks delish!!!

 

[ladyfoundhertramp]

So sorry about the ankle!! That stinks. 6 weeks before our 2008 trip my husband needed surgery and I thought we would have to cancel--but that scooter was a lifesaver

So ready for some reviews!

 

[jecskc]

I'm reading along!! MMMmm the chicken pita @ the Mara looks yummy!!
I might have to see if you can get those special margaritas in a to go cup since it's not super kid friendly.
Well, everything looks delish!!!

Thanks so much for reading !! The chicken pita WAS good !! I would order it again. A nice change from a burger.

So sorry about the ankle!! That stinks. 6 weeks before our 2008 trip my husband needed surgery and I thought we would have to cancel--but that scooter was a lifesaver

So ready for some reviews!

Yes, the ankle really is bad. Almost 4 weeks and I can just walk short distances. And it really hurts ALL of the time.

You have to tell me about your scooter experience. I am certain I will need one since we go back in just 23 days. Did you rent from a company ?? If so, which one ?? What would you do different, if anything? I could really use your advice.

 

[deenbrad]

We were also less than thrilled with VN. We had to send our pizzas back for being black on the bottom also. That's crazy that you can't share.

I told my DH I want to try an avocado margarita while we're there. He was surprised and my DS said "Mommy, you don't drink!" I told them both I just think it looks good!!