September 2011 Disney Dining Reviews - Updated 4/7 - Breakfast @ the Wave

[disneyfav4ever]

Hi everyone! I know it's been forever since I updated my review, but my computer totally crashed months ago, and though I've been able to get online, and on the DIS via my phone, I can't get pictures posted, and pictures are worth a thousand words.

My trip was over six months ago now, (and I'm now past the halfway point to my next trip! ) but I still have a pretty good memory of what I liked and what I didn't last year.

Sanaa

Sanaa is located in Kidani Village at AK Lodge. The restaurant is probably has my favorite dining room of any in the resort, since you can literally watch the animals outside as you eat. The following pics I took just outside, but they're the same animals you can see from your table, the pics are just better.

I was still trying to eat completely vegan at this point in my trip, which was extremely easy to do at Sanaa since they have an entirely vegan menu. (I believe Jiko does too.)

I started my meal with an appetizer; the potato and pea samosas.

These were delicious! The dough was crispy and the filling inside was very filling, a little spicy, and absolutely yummy. They were served with a tamarind dipping sauce, which also had a spiciness to it, but it went very well with the samosas. My server told me if I could handle the spiciness of the samosas, I could handle the spiciness of anything on the menu.

For my entree I had the vegan sampler;

I choose the vegetables in green curry sauce and the stewed spinach, with basmati rice. The vegetables in curry sauce I really liked. There was a nice selection of fresh veggies cooked al dente, in a non-spicy very lemony sauce. The spinach was fine, but not my favorite. It was actually something I only ate a few bites of, and then I didn't want to eat anymore, even though it tasted fine. I think it might of been a texture issue, as there wasn't really anything to chew.

I skipped dessert since I knew where I was headed next, (review should be up shortly for that.)

Would I return to Sanaa? Absolutely. I actually just added lunch there to my plans for this fall.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Babycakes was a new addition to Downtown Disney since my last trip. It sells only gluten-free, dairy-free, and egg-free baked goods, as well as some things that are sweetened with agave instead of cane sugar. It's great for people with allergies, or for people like me who just prefer to eat as little dairy and stuff as possible. Needless to say I went a little crazy here, and instead of just getting one item, I bought a whole box of goodies to keep me happy all week.

Starting in the back is a chocolate frosted cupcake top, two mini doughnuts, I think coconut and strawberry, but I don't remember for sure, pumpkin-chocolate chip bread, a pumpkin frosted cupcake top, a vanilla doughnut, and a few brownie bites.

I didn't like the brownie bites, I thought they had a good chocolate taste, but I thought they were very dry. The doughnuts were good, but I liked the mini ones better then the large one I had. I absolutely loved the pumpkin bread, I thought it was very moist and it made for an excellent breakfast one morning. The cupcake tops I also really enjoyed, the frosting was very creamy, but it wasn't so sweet that it made me feel sick, like most commercial frostings do. The actual cake part was fine for both, but I really loved the frosting.

Would I return? Absolutely. I have two nights when I have dinner ADRs at Downtown Disney, and I plan to get a box full of stuff each night for my room. It worked out really well, as I always had a snack waiting for me at night, and in the morning when I woke up, so I didn't need to go to the food court first thing.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I've always thought of the Studios as a lesser park when it comes to CS options, though this is mostly due to quality, there is also an extreme lack of variety of choices. Luckily in the past two years, either the quality has slightly improved from bad to decent, or I've just been lucky with what I've ordered. Though I can always recommend Starring Rolls for good sweets.

Anyway, today I ate at ABC Comissary, because someone somewhere had said something about once liking a salad there, and I was also pretty sure the salad is vegan.

Asian Salad. I know this doesn't look like much more then just lettuce and chow mein noodles, but there was lots of edammame and pickled ginger mixed in. It was good, possibly the best CS meal I've ever had at the Studios, the salad was fresh, and the Asian dressing was very tasty. I would easily get this again.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

After spending a few more hours at the Studios I had done everything I wanted to do. Not having a park hopper I couldn't really go anywhere else, and I wasn't tired or felt like I needed any kind of break, so I walked out of the park and over to the Boardwalk and Beach Club area thinking maybe there was something I could find to do over there.

I decided it might be nice to get a snack at Beaches and Cream, and not only was a seat at the bar immediatly available, but they had just debuted a new menu, including a veggie sandwich.

I forget what all kinds of vegetables were in it, but I there was definatly eggplant and zucchini. It was good, I loved the bread it was on, though there seemed to be a little too much bread to the amount of veggies, and it had a delicious goat cheese spread. My one complaint would be that the vegetables were ice cold, and I would've preferred it a little warmer, but overall it was very nice, and a great vegetarian option besides just a veggie burger.

 

[Willa]

Welcome back! Just this morning I was wondering what that Asian salad at the Commissary is like, so your timing was perfect for me.

I really like the looks of those curry veggies at Sanaa, and of course the Babycakes treats as well. That was a great idea, getting a box of them for your room.

Looking forward to more reviews!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

After Beaches and Cream I went to Downtown Disney for a few hours. I really wish I had spent the extra money for a hopper pass now, since where I really wanted to go was Epcot, but I knew I had the whole next day there, so I headed back to Downtown Disney debating what to do with my evening. I actually really didn't do anything, but I walked the entire length of Downtown Disney and back, only going in stores to browse. There were no movies I felt like seeing, Characters in Flight was not running, I didn't want to spend the money for a day's admission into Disney Quest, (which someday I am going to try,) or anything else. So instead I started looking at dinner options. I didn't want a big meal, so I decided on CS. It had been a long time since I'd eaten at Earl of Sandwich, and it's such a great bargain when paying OOP, that I went there.

The vegetarian sounded good, but I had just had a vegetable sandwich for lunch, and a salad before that, so I was kind of sick of veggies at that point, so I decdided to get the tuna melt.

This was delicioius. I can be pretty picky about tuna fish sandwiches, but this one was really good. It was the perfect blend of tuna and cheese, and had a very good flavor to it, without having too much mayonnaise or anything.

Plus you can get cherry coke here, which is kind of hard to find in Disney. I usually just drink regular diet Coke, but when I can get cherry, I do. I think Wolfgang Puck Express has it as well, which is another great CS option at Downtown Disney, and is more like TS then CS.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I spent the next day at Epcot. There was one thing I really wanted to try for breakfast; the crossiant berry bread pudding at Sunshine Seasons, which was convienant since my first stop at Epcot is always the Land for Soarin anyway.

I know it doesn't look like much, but it is so delicious. It's very similar in taste to the breakfast lasagna at Crystal Palace, so if you're a fan of that, I suggest you try this. I'm actually even more glad I discovered this since I don't really do character meals anymore, so this is a nice treat for me.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

For lunch I went to Japan. There are two TS restaurants in Japan, Tokyo Dining and Teppan Edo, and though I really want to try Teppan Edo someday, I always end up booking Tokyo Dining. This year I do have an ADR for Teppan Edo, I'm going to force myself to not switch it to Tokyo Dining.

Tokyo Dining was extremely uncrowded, and I was seated at a window table with a lovely view of the park. It was a beautiful day, aside from it being a little too hot, but the crowds were extremely low.

I think this would be a fantastic place to watch Illuminations from. Though I'm sure it's more crowded and window tables are harder to get in the evening.

I explained to my server that I was trying to eat vegan, (though by this point in my trip, vegan had pretty much switched back to pescetarian in the last 24 hours,) I was told there was fish powder in the dipping sauce for the tempura, which is what I was hoping to have, though I'm not 100% sure my diet was egg-free since egg is used in so many tempura batters.

I did at least eat vegetarian today, as I decided to get the veggie tempura as my entree.

Close up of just the veggies;

This was a delicious pretty light lunch. I'd say healthy, but I think the fact that it was mostly fried eliminates any health aspect.

The rice was good, and I really liked the seaweed salad. Usually I don't like seaweed salad. I've tried several before, and I never like the texture of the greens, I find most of them to be very chewy, and just downright gross. And I know seaweed has a ton of health benefits, but I just don't like it most of the time. For some reason I absolutely love the seaweed at Tokyo Dining, both times I've had it it's been really tasty, and not chewy at all.

The veggies were so good, the tempura batter was light and crispy, not greasy at all, just the way tempura should be. I had plain soy sauce with my veggies, and that went well with it. There was a beautiful sliced zuchinni "fan," onion rings, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, and my favorite; a shredded vegetable fritter, which I think was just a combination of everything, except maybe the green beans. It was really tasty.

I skipped dessert, and unfortunatly my allergies were starting to act up, which almost never happens in Disney, though I did have my allergy medicine with me in Florida, but of course it was back in my room, because I'd felt fine that morning. So I headed back to Pop with the intention of taking my medicine and a nap, but I kind of just passed out in my room, slept right through the afternoon and my dinner ADR at Kouzzina, which I was so bummed about missing, and when I woke up it was after 8:00, so I didn't even bother trying to get back to Epcot for Illuminations. I felt really bad about only spending a couple of hours at Epcot this trip though.

Would I return to Tokyo Dining? Yes, and I would be returning this trip if I wasn't so set on trying Teppan Edo.

 

[Krissalee]

I'm glad you are back! You are correct - the photos really make the reviews. The veggie tempura looks delicious - I love any kind of tempura, but rarely have it, so it is a treat. Makes me think I want to go back to Tokyo Dining on my next trip....hmmmm

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I was originally going to go to Kona Cafe for breakfast this morning, but after hearing the Wave had sweet potato pancakes on their breakfast menu, I changed my mind.

I didn't have an ADR, but the restaurant was not busy at all, and I was seated right away. I was there really early though, I forget what time exactly, but I made it to MK for rope drop, so I'm guessing it was no later then 8:00 when I got to the Contemporary.

I was given a regular menu, but was also informed of the buffet, which had basically everything the regular menu did, including the sweet potato pancakes. Being as I wanted some fruit, and would've ended up paying for a drink as well, the buffet seemed like a better option.

Aside from some fresh fruit, I had the sweet potato pancakes, with pecan butter, a multi-grain Mickey waffle, potatoes, and a sticky bun.

This is the first time I've been to a breakfast buffet where I've truly loved everything on my plate.

The fruit, I had watermelon, honeydew, and cantaloupe, was all very fresh and good, the pancakes were wonderful, and the butter was so tasty with them. I really liked the waffle. I know that some people may be turned off by the fact that it's a "healthy" waffle, but I eat mostly whole grain bread and stuff at home, so I really enjoyed it. The potatoes were delicious, very soft, and I don't think they had any seasoning aside from some salt and pepper, and a few herbs, but they were really good. And the sticky bun was so yummy, it had a very sweet caramely center, and it was possibly my favorite thing on the buffet.

I had seconds, but it was more of the same, so I didn't bother to take a picture. Aside from what I had, there were also the standard eggs, bacon, and sausage, as well as smoked salmon, and hot and cold cereals.

I love the Wave, and I'll be going there again!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I'm glad you are back! You are correct - the photos really make the reviews. The veggie tempura looks delicious - I love any kind of tempura, but rarely have it, so it is a treat. Makes me think I want to go back to Tokyo Dining on my next trip....hmmmm

I think Tokyo Dining would be a great choice.

 

[TigerKat]

Glad to hear you enjoyed The Wave breakfast buffet. We tried it back in February and were very disappointed. We tend to choose egg dishes and samplings of the meats offered vs. the sweet items and nothing we had was very good at all.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Glad to hear you enjoyed The Wave breakfast buffet. We tried it back in February and were very disappointed. We tend to choose egg dishes and samplings of the meats offered vs. the sweet items and nothing we had was very good at all.

I'm sorry to hear that. I hope it hasn't gone downhill since I've been there.