Having read the wonderful reviews of the bakery in Norway, we decided to eat lunch at Kringla Bakeri og Cafe. We arrived shortly before noon and our orders were taken with no waiting.
We were told the
DDP Special was the best choice. You get an open-faced sandwich, soup or salad, a pastry and drink for 1 CS credit. DD, DS and I all ordered the Jarlsberg and leek soup
with our open-faced sandwiches.
The soup was excellent. It was cheesy and creamy, with a hint of the leek throughout.
DW, who ordered the salad instead of the soup, wished she'd ordered the soup instead. Her salad was an ordinary garden salad with greens that were wilted and brown around the edges. You can get better at a Wendy's.
The sandwich was, well, not good. The sandwich looked and tasted as if it had been made hours in advance. The bread was stale, the cheese was hard around the edges and the sandwich meat tasted as if it had come from a supermarket deli.
The school bread made the meal!
Puffy white yeast dough filled with custard, iced with a white-sugar/coconut icing, then more custard on top. The custard wasn't too sweet, which was good because the sweetness of the icing went just right with the custard and bread. I was surprised at how large it was; even though our sandwiches went largely uneaten and we enjoyed the school bread very much, it was almost too large to finish.
DD ordered the rasberry cheesecake.
She liked it very much. It was thick, creamy and rich.
Overall, our experience here was mixed. The soup and desserts were very good, but the sandwiches and salads were very not-so-good. If I were paying OOP, I'd just come here for the soup and dessert. Maybe they can give you an additional cup of soup instead of the sandwich?
For dinner we went to the Boardwalk
and ate at Spoodles.
The layout for the restaurant is large and open. We got the feeling that it was what you might expect in a large Italian farmhouse.
We had a 9:30 ADR, but left MGM early and arrived around 8:50. We just planned on checking in and then exploring the Boardwalk until our table was ready, but the restaurant was less than half full and we were seated immediately.
Our server, Georgi (ironically, from the country of Georgia!), did an outstanding job. He took the time to explain the menu and offer recommendations. When he learned we were on the DDP, he advised what we could add on according to the menus. He encouraged those of us ordering the alfredo and the steak to add on both shrimp and scallops, which we did. He went above and beyond and really made our meal a pleasure.
DW and DD started with the Mediterranean Dips.
Hummus, a yogurt-based dip and a dip with sundried tomatoes were served with olives, almonds and toasted pita. This is DW's kind of food--she loves tapas and little nibbles of this and that with different tastes and textures, and she thoroughly enjoyed this appetizer, as did DD. It was too much for them to eat and we all shared liberally. If ordering this OOP, 1 of these appetizers could be shared between 2 people easily, and 4 could probably handle it just fine, too.
DS ordered the lamb kefka.
It was ground lamb cooked with spices in a patty form and served on a bed of couscous. It also had a spicy sauce that gave it an extra zing. DS gobbled this down so quickly that we didn't have time to share!
I had the flatbread with olive tapenade, tomatoes and mozzarella.
The crispy bread went perfectly with the veggies and gooey cheese, and the balsamic drizzle on top set the whole thing apart.
For entrees, DD and DS each had the Fetuccini Alfredo with shrimp.
Both of the kids thought it was very creamy and cheesy, and they didn't want to share with Mom and Dad!
DW had the Portugese Stew.
Copious amounts of seafood was served with potatoes in a thick broth. DW loved this, saying the seafood was cooked just right and not overdone. She's not much on calimari but ate the whole thing.
Yours truly ordered the strip steak with shrimp and scallop add-ons.
Strip steak is not my favorite cut of beef; I prefer filet, ribeye or prime rib just because strip steak is pretty lean and it's easy to overcook. I ordered this anyway, thinking that I could always just enjoy the shrimp and scallops if they screw up the steak.
Well, no need to worry--this was the best strip steak I've ever had. It was char-crusted on the outside and cooked a perfect medium-rare on the inside. It came with a horeradish-based sauce that went perfectly with the steak and the sweet potato fries. The shrimp and scallops were grilled with fresh herbs and would've been a perfect entree by themselves. I ended up sharing a lot of this with the family because as good as it was, there was just too much there to finish if we were going to have dessert, too.
Ah, dessert.
A big fan of anything white chocolate, DS had the white chocolate orange cake
while DD had the homemade gelato.
DW had the ice cream sundae (forgot to take a pic), and I had the vanilla bean creme brulee.
^Sorry for the low image quality
The kids definitely made great choices. They were beautiful, both in presentation and flavor. DS' cake was moist, rich and fruity. He said it was the best cake he's ever had. DD's gelato came with a homemade fruit syrup and candied wafer of toasted nuts. DW was unimpressed with her sundae (it looked like a kids' make-your-own sundae) and DD graciously shared her dessert with her Mom, and they both enjoyed it thoroughly. The vanilla taste was abundant throughout the creme brulee and was a nice way to end the meal.
We thoroughly enjoyed everything about this underrated restaurant. Everything was top-notch, from the atmosphere to the service to the meal itself. If we were paying OOP we would've probably ordered half the food we ordered and walked out feeling quite satisfied. We usually tried to "pace ourselves" at our TS meals during our trip, but it was very difficult to do so here because everything was just
so good. We left both happy and miserable, because we were all quite full.
It was easily one of our top 3 meals of the week. On one hand, we want to make sure that everybody gives this wonderful restaurant a chance, but OTOH, we kinda like having it as our own little secret.
Oh, OK: I guess y'all can try it, too.
Next: Day 7--fish and lobster
! I love all the pictures and details! We'll be staying at CSR in November 
. Reading your reviews and seeing your pictures makes my mouth water! I also have ADRs at LeCellier (love it 
). Thanks again!
Caroline 
They have given me great ideas for dining when we go later in the year.
