Someday, my private water carafe will come....an April 2015 dining report! (5/10 Kona Cafe))

[Sailormoon2]

Interesting mix of restaurants and meal choices so far!!!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Enjoying your report so far. CSR is a beautiful resort. Would be returning there next year if we hadn't managed to snag a further $400 savings on CBR.
Looking forward to the rest :

 

[BlovesC]

Lunch at Las Ventanas at Coronado Springs


We hadn't made any big plans for lunch on this day since we were relaxing poolside, but we decided to try the resort's newest Table Service restaurant, Las Ventanas (formerly a private dining room off Cafe Rix). The place is down the hall from Pepper Market's back exit...very small, but nicely appointed and very quiet! We were seated immediately without an ADR.

My selection...

Chicken Focaccia - herb-marinated grilled chicken on focaccia with sliced tomato, baby arugula and bacon aioli. Served with house-seasoned fries, sweet fries, quinoa salad or jicama slaw and a pickle.

This was delicious. Not a very good photo, but trust me! A lot of flavor, delicious bread, and very juicy chicken. The only misstep was the side...I normally love sweet potato fries but as with breakfast I was just not into potatoes at the moment (which became a theme for the trip!) and wished I had chosen one of the more interesting sides, especially the jicama slaw!

DH chose...

French Dip - slow-cooked beef in a natural jus, piled high on a sourdough baguette served with horseradish creme. Served with house-seasoned fries or sweet potato fries and a pickle.

Another hit! The baguette was perfectly toasted and C said the beef was very tender. And HE loved his fries.


We decided to keep the goodness rolling and split a dessert:

Key Lime Pie: made in-house, rich key lime custard in a graham cracker crust topped with flamed meringue

SO GOOD. Possibly one of the best (if not THE best) key lime pies I've tasted on property. Not overly sweet, not overly tart, and a perfect meringue. This put my Artist Point dessert to shame!

We loved Las Ventanas (so much so we hit it up again!) and definitely considered it a tiny hidden gem of the resort. I don't think it's necessarily a place we'd go out of the way to visit if staying elsewhere, but if you're at CSR I don't think you can beat it.

 

[kastoney]

Wow, you all are really finding the hidden gems. I've never even heard of las ventanas but those sandwiches look Devine.

 

[isabellea]

Staying at CSR for the first time in July. The food at Las Ventanas looks yummy! Will have to add it to my list!

 

[BlovesC]

Dinner at Kona Cafe

This was our first time back at the Poly since all the recent construction was unveiled. We wandered around with our eyes wide taking in all the new decor, and had a fierce debate over the new lobby chandelier...thing....before hitting up Kona Cafe, an old favorite!

We hadn't planned on ordering an appetizer (since that delicious Hawaiian bread, which I sadly neglected to photograph, is usually enough!) but they were advertising a new appetizer and snared us in their trap with their enthusiasm for it!

Corn Fritters...with some sort of soy/teriyaki glaze and cucumber salad...sorry, going off memory here!

These...did not go over well. They were mushy, salty, and tasted like...I don't know, old gym socks? It was seriously funky and seriously unappealing. Our server very eagerly asked our opinion on the fritters, because it was an appetizer was in testing and the chef was looking for feedback. I tried to dial down my reaction a bit and simply told her they were too salty for my taste, and commented that I expected them to have a bit more of a sweet taste from the corn. She said other patrons had mentioned that as well. Kind of wish they'd reduced the price for an item they were still working out the kinks on, but oh well! Luckily we had that delicious bread to devour in place of the fritters!

We had come to Kona with one thing in mind....SUSHI! And so decided to go all out and share three rolls for dinner, a total sushi parade!

Top: Volcano Roll - Spicy Tuna Seafood Lau'ai with Tempura Crunch
Bottom left: Caterpillar Roll - Inside out Tuna Roll, Shrimp Salad Tempura Crunch topped with a layer of Avocado
Bottom right: Shrimp Tempura Roll - Tempura Shrimp and fresh Mango served with Liliko'i Sauce

Now, last time we ate at Kona I'd ordered the shrimp tempura roll and was underwhelmed, greatly performing the volcano roll that DH had ordered. This time it was the opposite...the shrimp tempura roll was delicious and by far my fave! Great crunch to the shrimp combined with the sweet mango...delicious. The volcano roll seemed somehow different than last time....less POP and pizzazz, if that makes any sense, but not bad by any means. The caterpillar roll, while adorable, was strangely kind of boring in flavor, despite having the most 'going on', but DH liked it the most. So I stuck to shrimp, he claimed the caterpillar, and we picked at the volcano. Win win!

After all that sushi we had to pass on dessert. We definitely enjoyed our meal, but next time we're at Kona we'll probably diverge from the somewhat-inconsistent sushi menu and try some of the new entrees they're always coming up with.

And we did wander down to Trader Sam's in an attempt to give it a whirl...but had to say "no thanks" to the 35-minute wait to enter!

 

[Adgie128]

Great reviews! Looking forward to the rest. Thanks for sharing!

 

[kastoney]

Thanks for the Kona review, I don't see too much about it for dinner as most reviews are for breakfast. Too bad that appetizer wasn't up to par. You'd think they would work the kinks out before unveiling it or if not at least not charge you for it. We'll be staying at Poly next trip and anticipate doing dinner at Kona one night. Think we'll do a sushi and entree combo if the former can be inconsistent.

 

[ursalita]

I'm enjoying your reviews. Too bad you didn't enjoy your Artist Point dessert. I made the mistake of buying some goat cheese caramel thinking the sugar would mask the goat taste. Nope. I love goat cheese but in desserts? YUCK! Your omelet at Olivia sounds delicious. Interesting to read about Las Ventanas. Your meal there looks and sounds terrific. The Kona sushi looks amazing also. It's seriously making me crave sushi.

 

[AllyinWonderland]

Great reviews so far and congrats on your Masters degree!

 

[archdandy]

Now I wish I had tried Las Ventanas on our last trip. It looks so yummy!

 

[ksromack]

I'm following! We missed 2014 but will be spending 7 days at CBR during F&W, which is a first for us. I'm loving the food porn!