Some Short/Sweet Comments from This Week (July/August 2018)

[Christine]

Just got back last night and had a few food comments to share. Trip was all adults: me (54), DH (55), DS (23), and my parents (in their 70s).

Three of us were on the dining plan so that was interesting as we've never done it before. I have to say, it was too much food given the heat and we lost our appetites during the day.

We stayed at the Contemporary so made use of the Contempo Cafe several times a day for drinks. Great little place. They have WONDERFUL cupcakes here that work well with snack credits. They look large and disgusting (in a good way) but they are light and fluffy. The flatbread pizzas are VERY VERY good. This cafe still has the regular soda machines versus Freestyle so I was really glad about that. I don't care for the Freestyle machines. I have a "hot tea in the morning" habit and this worked well. I had the refillable mug with my dining plan but I brought a big ceramic mug from home because I just can't drink my tea out of plastic. No one had an issue with me filling up my own tea mug but I did make sure to carry my refillable mug with me. So every morning I had one to two cups of Twinings English Breakfast.

First dinner was at Raglan Road. This has been a family favorite over the years and it did not disappoint this year. Raglan Road is much busier and more popular than it ever used to be. We had some great entertainment right near our table. Food was excellent. Our party ordered a variety of menu items: Fish and Chips, Shepherd's Pie, Cider Salmon (really good), Pork Chop (really good). Dessert ordered was the bread pudding (best in the world, IMO) and trifle. In hindsight I wished we had ordered the dessert flight. The regular desserts were just so big.

Next dinner was Boma buffet. You can't go wrong here. All the food was very good. Desserts were plentiful. I know they dessert bar gets raves but it's probably my least favorite of the buffets. I mean, believe me, I had my fill, but nothing was standout. I'm not a huge fan of the Zebra Domes.

We then went to Artist's Point. We have dined here before but it's been YEARS. Food here is still spectactular but, I have to say, it's really just TOO much. We all, but one, got the 5 course meal for $75. We felt miserable for that night and the next day. I blame the mushroom bisque, which is fabulous but it's so rich that after eating half the bowl, I knew I was in trouble. Between us, we either chose the hangar steak or the scallops. Both excellent. The Romaine salad was preferred over the mixed greens. Everyone got the creme brulee which is very subtle and light. The other person in our party got the salmon and they loved it.

We then dined at Chef Art's Homecomin'. I liked everything about this place. Atmosphere (seated on the screened in porch) was great, service was great. I really, really enjoyed the fried chicken. Hummingbird cake was the highlight dessert of my trip. My son had the barbeque. I really liked the flavor of that. Deviled Eggs were good but nothing special.

Our last dinner was Spice Road Table at Epcot. I was on and off again about going here but a HUGE storm was brewing and it worked out. This was my least favorite meal here and I would not recommend it. Our server was nice but incredibly slow. The type of food is something I eat regularly at home but I apparently can get it MUCH better done in Virginia. Just really bland. I had the mixed skewer. My son had the Lamb Sliders which he liked but said wasn't much different than hamburger. Two in our party had rack of lamb which they liked. Now this was my mistake. I have one person in my party with a nut allergy. This is NOT the place to go with a nut allergy. Oh, they were very good about ensuring my son was safe; however, his menu options were extremely limited here. Had it not be like a hurricane outside, I probably would have left. So a very disappointing last night's meal.

Since we were on the dining plan, we did order alcohol at every meal. Can't remember everything but if you have any questions about it, please ask.

For lunches:

Contempo Cafe pizza as I said above.
S'atuli Canteen - A+++++ so good.
Tangeriene Cafe - Very good

Breakfast:

We only had one table service breakfast which was the The Wave buffet. This buffet runs $23 and might be a little smaller than the big, character buffets, but it was so nice and calm in there. The buffet was not overrun with people and the food was kept very fresh. I highly recommend if you are looking for non-character breakfast and want some calm. My mother ordered the table service breakfast and it was HUGE for $14.

 

[goofy78]

Thanks for sharing! Regarding your Artist Point review I have never been but have it booked for October. DH is slightly cautious. He looked at the menu and wasn’t wowed by it but a lot of other menus don’t have the wow factor either but still end up being delicious. He’s also skeptical because there are pretty positive reviews on here for Hollywood Brown Derby and it ended up being disappointing on our last trip. Was your dinner just too much food or something else to make you not feel well?

 

[Newsies]

Thanks for sharing!

You mentioned having alcohol at every meal. Did you by any chance have a "shine" drink at Homecomin'? If so, how did you like it?

 

[Christine]

Thanks for sharing! Regarding your Artist Point review I have never been but have it booked for October. DH is slightly cautious. He looked at the menu and wasn’t wowed by it but a lot of other menus don’t have the wow factor either but still end up being delicious. He’s also skeptical because there are pretty positive reviews on here for Hollywood Brown Derby and it ended up being disappointing on our last trip. Was your dinner just too much food or something else to make you not feel well?

I felt the same way about the Artist's Point menu (it has changed slightly from many years ago) and it wasn't doing it for me. But we went. The food, every aspect of it, was delicious. But the food itself was so much "richer" than any of the other meals we had, if that makes sense. Even the Romaine salad, which was a whole heart of romaine topped with a dressing and cotija cheese was a bit much. I couldn't tell if we had just had too many meals by that point or what. But I felt fine before I ate half of the mushroom bisque. It is delicious but extremely rich and I think it got us all!! I didn't even mention the sides. I ordered the brussel sprouts per recommendation from the waiter. Delicious. But they bring you quite a lot. My dad had the potatoes and it was just SO much. Half the amount of food would have been fine. My dad ALWAYS cleans his plate no matter what. Could not do it here. So, yes it was all very good but you need to come and be VERY hungry.

 

[Christine]

Thanks for sharing!

You mentioned having alcohol at every meal. Did you by any chance have a "shine" drink at Homecomin'? If so, how did you like it?

I had a "muleshine." It was not very good. My son had the Blueberry Bliss I think (it was very blue) and he liked it. My husband had the Florida Crush (good).

 

[Newsies]

I had a "muleshine." It was not very good. My son had the Blueberry Bliss I think (it was very blue) and he liked it. My husband had the Florida Crush (good).

Interesting, thank you so much!

 

[Christine]

Interesting, thank you so much!

I'm not a great judge on cocktails, but we passed the muleshine around and no one liked it (but we do like Moscow Mules).

 

[goofy78]

I felt the same way about the Artist's Point menu (it has changed slightly from many years ago) and it wasn't doing it for me. But we went. The food, every aspect of it, was delicious. But the food itself was so much "richer" than any of the other meals we had, if that makes sense. Even the Romaine salad, which was a whole heart of romaine topped with a dressing and cotija cheese was a bit much. I couldn't tell if we had just had too many meals by that point or what. But I felt fine before I ate half of the mushroom bisque. It is delicious but extremely rich and I think it got us all!! I didn't even mention the sides. I ordered the brussel sprouts per recommendation from the waiter. Delicious. But they bring you quite a lot. My dad had the potatoes and it was just SO much. Half the amount of food would have been fine. My dad ALWAYS cleans his plate no matter what. Could not do it here. So, yes it was all very good but you need to come and be VERY hungry.

Perfect! Thanks so much!

 

[Shellyred8]

We love Satu'li too!!! I just wish they still did breakfast there on a full-time basis, because it was pretty awesome too!! We have been debating Homecoming. Was the fried chicken really greasy? Or was it properly done so you didn't feel like you had just consumed a vat of oil?

Thanks for the report!

 

[Christine]

We love Satu'li too!!! I just wish they still did breakfast there on a full-time basis, because it was pretty awesome too!! We have been debating Homecoming. Was the fried chicken really greasy? Or was it properly done so you didn't feel like you had just consumed a vat of oil?

Thanks for the report!

I would say the fried chicken was "middle of the road" greasy. I didn't have to keep wiping my hands nor did I feel like I consumed a vat of oil, but it wasn't dry either. I didn't mind the grease level at all. But I am not a fried chicken expert either so take that with a grain of salt. I went there because I love fried chicken and all we get around here is Popeye's. I found it to be crispy, not a horrible amount of breading but good enough to get some crunch.

 

[kastoney]

Thanks for sharing. I didn't know Artist Point did a 5 course meal. I'll have to look into that. Seems like a good deal for the price.

 

[Christine]

Thanks for sharing. I didn't know Artist Point did a 5 course meal. I'll have to look into that. Seems like a good deal for the price.

One of the five courses are not really food: There is a glass of champagne as well as some homemade sweets at the end (chocolate made by some WDW chocolatier and some weird strawberry gelee things). Otherwise it's choice of soup/paperdelle pasta, choice of one of two salads, entree, and dessert.