Surf and Turf Disney Style ..30 days of food on land and at sea! 06/16 WPE

[jenseib]

YUM! That sea bass from EG looks really good. I will have to remember that one for next time. I am so hungry right now, and of course, what do I do...read your reviews... You would think I would learn by now.

 

[dizneeat]

I am definitely following your TR. Very enjoyable as well. Can't wait to read more.

Glad that you are following the TR too! Lots more food and adventures to come! ...... SOON!

My father would never go to buffets. He said that if he had to get the food, he may as well stay home!

I know what you mean about the speed eating. Our oldest son had to spend four months in Toronto a few years ago learing how to run Tim Horton's restaurants. He noticed that when people ate out in Toronto dinner took hours even at the buffets that he went to. That was quite a different dining out experience than he was used to.

Let me tell you - Your father speaks for me too! This is one of our issues - we need to go get the food ourselves. While it is fun at times because you get to try lots of things, the buffet at Cabanas was just too busy for my liking.

And about dining out here - if you go out, you stay for the evening. I mean you have your dinner and then linger (often for hours) over coffee, some drinks and so on. Remember that there are NO free refills here, so you pay for every drink. There is mostly no double booking of tables as people really like to just sit and chat.
Now imagine when we went to a restaurant in the US and not only did they put the appetizer on the table at the same time as the main course, when we told them we couldn't eat dessert we were handed the bill right away. Wouldn't happen here - you have to ask for the bill.
Took me a while to get used to it.

OMG back to more food those pictures are amazing the food looks simply delicous . I still think we should do things backwards next time since food is luke warm you should try dessert first !! then start the meal .

and Happy New Year to you and Tom

Happy New Year, Jeff!
You better do some snacking before reading my upcoming reviews - there is LOTS more yummy DREAM food to be had!

Happy New Year Karin! Hope you and Tom have a good one and I can't wait to see your 2012 adventures!

Happy New Year, Chris! I really hope that YOUR 2012 will be wonderful and maybe our paths will cross in the future!

 

[dizneeat]

Happy New Year!!!
Thanks for the latest review
A real pet hate of mine is food that isn't hot enough, shame that Cabanas wasn't great
I'm sure that when we were on The Dream you just jumped in at the food station you wanted to try and didn't have to line up and go through everything ??

Happy New Year, Linda!

Maybe it is just us, as everyone seems to enjoy Cabanas so much, but we were not really impressed.
As far as not having to line up ..... that was my impression as well, but you should have seen the people lining up and it just felt wrong to "jump ahead" to another station.
I picked up a plate of Sushi for Tom and since there was no one there I just went there and the lady at the station next to it mentioned that there WAS a line.
So, apart from the food not being hot enough I just didn't want to cope with the comments any more.

Happy New Year! I have been following your review and finally decided to post. I love all your reviews for both land and sea. The food looks awesome and it keeps me attached to my favorite place while I wait for my turn to go back to my favorite happy place. I wish I could go for a month. That would put me on Thanks again, really enjoying your reviews.

Happy New Year and Welcome! So glad you came out of lurkdome!

It makes more sense to go for a longer period of time during the summer as we both get the time off easily and the flight is so much more expensive in the summer time. But you are right - a month long vacation is heaven on earth, especially if you spend your time at a Disney destination.

YUM! That sea bass from EG looks really good. I will have to remember that one for next time. I am so hungry right now, and of course, what do I do...read your reviews... You would think I would learn by now.

Jen, you would LOVE the bass! It was sooooo good. Tom really enjoyed it ....... but you should always have a snack at hand when reading my reviews!

 

[mamaboogie]

Happy New Year Karin!

Hope 2012 is full of lovely Disney food for all of us

 

[dizneeat]

Day 10, August 22

Dinner at the Royal Palace

Time for dinner. After Villains Tonight we got changed and went down to the Royal Palace.
Again we were first, but our tablemates arrived shortly after us.

Ana brought our drinks and delivered the bread service, Warm Herb Brioche. Unfortunately I was too slow to take a photo, but I managed to catch

the Olive Spread, which was very good.

And then it was time for appetizers!
Tom had chosen

the Pomegranate Glazed Duck Breast with gewurztraminer gelee and pomegranate glaze. I didn't try it, because I was too much in love with my appetizer, but Tom said that the duck was very well prepared and went perfectly well with the accompanments.

Now, here is what I had chosen .....

the Double Baked Spinach Souffle, coated with a three cheese cream. Now let me tell you that I didn't expect this to be so nice, but it was very light, very creamy and very tasty. I could have had several courses of it. It was wonderful!

It did not take long for entrees to be brought out. Tom had ordered

Double Cut Rack of Lamb with a Dijon Crust, with fine green beans, gratin potatoes and rosemary jus (sorry for the blurry photo). Again, I did not try but the lamb was perfectly pink and juicy. The green beans weren't cooked too much and the gratin was wonderful.

I wanted to try the

Royal Palace Aged Angus Grilled Beef Tenderloin and Lobster Medallions, sauteed snow peas and marquis potatoes with a cognac reduction. Now the beef was cooked to a perfect medium and melted in your mouth. I haven't had much lobster in my lifetime, but I thought that the medallions were just a tad bit chewy, but maybe that is the way lobster has to taste. I love snow peas and the potatoes were creamy and well seasoned. The reduction tasted wonderful even though I would not have guessed that it was cognac, but have I told you that it was tasty? Really tasty!

And then it was time for dessert!

Tom tried

the Grand Marnier Souffle, infused with fresh orange zest and served with creme Anglaise. He had tried something similar on the Disney WONDER and it tasted like a muffin, but this WAS a souffle, light and creamy inside and it was perfect when paired with the Creme Anglaise.

My heart was set on

the Peanut Butter Mousse, Dark chocolate infused with peanut butter, chiffon cake, and whipped cream. ..... does that say enough? The mousse was light and had a very slight peanut taste. I just loved it - lick the plate clean love!

Someone at our table had

the Sweet Temptations, a Trio of peanut butter mousse, mango cheesecake and Tahitian vanilla creme brulee and since I took photos of most of our food they let me take a photo of it too.

Stephanie, the young bride, didn't find anything she liked on the regular menu, so she was allowed to order from the kids menu and she had

cupcakes!


Next up - Cabanas breakfast

 

[dizneeat]

Happy New Year Karin!

Hope 2012 is full of lovely Disney food for all of us

Happy New Year, Shari!

I really hope that 2012 turns out to be a wonderful year for you and your family!

 

[tinacaplan]

Everything from your dinner looks absolutely DREAM-y. Overall, how would you say the quality of the food on ship compares to the food at Disney? Everything you have on the ship just look soooo good!

As for lobster... ugh... while I realize there is spiny lobster and a few other smaller types...lobster is a big New England thing (where I live) and we mostly enjoy it boiled with lots drawn butter. For this reason, I tend to avoid it when I'm out, especially when I'm out far away from here.

Also, lobster tends to get chewy when you overcook it.

So, if you ever were to drive up the east coast on one of your summer adventures, you could try some real New England lobster. And I'll even give it up to Maine, home of the best lobster in the world.

 

[mamaboogie]

Oh my word!

That dinner looks delicious! I was putting in some serious drool time while I was reading about it. Great photos!

 

[Mich123]

So glad I found your trip report! It's great! Your descriptions and pictures are great and I like that you linked all of your posts.

Since you commented about not liking American breakfast sausage, I'm curious: What is Austrian sausage like? I've been to Austria, but I don't remember the breakfast sausage. Is the consistency different?

 

[dizneeat]

Everything from your dinner looks absolutely DREAM-y. Overall, how would you say the quality of the food on ship compares to the food at Disney? Everything you have on the ship just look soooo good!

As for lobster... ugh... while I realize there is spiny lobster and a few other smaller types...lobster is a big New England thing (where I live) and we mostly enjoy it boiled with lots drawn butter. For this reason, I tend to avoid it when I'm out, especially when I'm out far away from here.

Also, lobster tends to get chewy when you overcook it.

So, if you ever were to drive up the east coast on one of your summer adventures, you could try some real New England lobster. And I'll even give it up to Maine, home of the best lobster in the world.

I would say that the overall food quality is pretty high on the Disney ships. We loved the food on the WONDERful Disney WONDER and loved it on the Disney DREAM quite as much. Everything (or nearly everything) was cooked perfectly and the ingredients were top notch!
I have to admit that my only real complaint was the temperature of the food at the buffet. But there is a reason for it. They do hand you a "warm(ish)" plate, but until you reach the buffet, the plate is cold. Then you put the food that sits out for a while on it in little heaps and it cools some more, then you go find a table in an air conditioned environment and there you have cold food. As easy as that .....

Thanks for clearing up the lobster question for me. Lobster is nothing that is very common here.
My first brush with lobster was at Narcoossee's (surf and turf) and it was a bad one. Not knowing what to expect I tried it and it was as tough as shoe leather. I didn't know if it was supposed to be like it and didn't say anything until Joe complained about it and then we all chimed in - it was pretty horrible and all the meats we had were cooked wrongly. Have not been back to Narcoossee's since.
Then I had lobster (pieces) on the burger and with breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe and it was completely different - loved it!

I would love to go back to NYC and then tour the New England states, so I hope that one day I'll get to try that really nice lobster you are talking about!

Oh my word!

That dinner looks delicious! I was putting in some serious drool time while I was reading about it. Great photos!

I am glad you find my reviews droolworthy!
Shari, you really have to give those cruises a try - the experience is wonderful and the food is really top notch!

So glad I found your trip report! It's great! Your descriptions and pictures are great and I like that you linked all of your posts.

Since you commented about not liking American breakfast sausage, I'm curious: What is Austrian sausage like? I've been to Austria, but I don't remember the breakfast sausage. Is the consistency different?

Welcome! I am glad you are here!

There is a good reason you don't remember Austrian breakfast sausage - there is no such thing.
To be very honest - all I remember is that I did not like the taste of the sausage and ordered without it the next time. I have had some really nice breakfast sausages and really enjoyed them, but this one just had a funny taste.

 

[Linda67]

Oh wow Karin, your dinner at the Royal Palace looks soooo yummy

As if I wasn't looking forward to my cruise enough already, you have now tipped me over the edge

 

[gardengirl628]

Wow! Your peanut butter mousse dessert looks amazing!!! I gotta have it!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Happy New Year!

I'm loving all the reviews from your cruise part of the trip and the desserts are so mouthwatering. I could easily lick the Peanut Butter Mousse plate clean!

 

[annmarieda]

Yep, definitely lunch time! Those pics look even better than the ones you have on your other thread! YUM!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Oh wow Karin, your dinner at the Royal Palace looks soooo yummy

As if I wasn't looking forward to my cruise enough already, you have now tipped me over the edge

We had so much fun with our servers that we requested them for all three cruises and the food and company were outstanding!

I cannot wait for your cruise - it should give me a lot of ideas for our 2013 cruise!

Wow! Your peanut butter mousse dessert looks amazing!!! I gotta have it!

It was wonderful! You are going to love it!

Happy New Year!

I'm loving all the reviews from your cruise part of the trip and the desserts are so mouthwatering. I could easily lick the Peanut Butter Mousse plate clean!

Happy New Year to you, too!
I am glad you enjoy the cruise reviews. All the desserts were wonderful, we did not hear any complaints!

Yep, definitely lunch time! Those pics look even better than the ones you have on your other thread! YUM!!!

Glad you like the photos, Ann!
The food tasted as good as it looked!

 

[jenseib]

YUMMY! I had the souffle too and the trio! And I enjoyed them all, but I rolled out of there.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 11, August 23

Breakfast at Cabanas

Since we stayed only one deck away from Cabanas we thought of giving it another try for breakfast on Castaway Cay day.
We were up there at quarter to 8 and it was packed!

But nevertheless, we got in line and picked up our breakfast. We were stunned at HOW MANY choices there were and it all looked very good.

Here's Tom's plate

Starting at 6 o'clock, he had a breakfast burrito, some bacon, breakfast potatoes, some scrambled eggs and there is toast on top, an egg Benedict, hash browns, a Mickey Waffle, some pancakes and a grilled tomato.

And here's my plate

Mickey Waffles - they look so cute, but actually they must have sat for a while as they tasted like cardboard - neither of us ate more than one bite.

Scrambled eggs and an Egg Benedict - scrambled eggs were good, not too dry and I cannot go past an Egg Benedict and these really amazed me, as the eggs were poached to perfection (it helped that they just put a new tray out!) and the Hollandaise was nice and fresh and well seasoned.

Breakfast potatoes, a grilled tomato and some bread. Let's start with the bread - not the fluffy kind, but a bit more dense, fresh and really nice for breakfast. The breakfast potatoes were soft on the inside and very well seasoned and the tomato was just grilled right, not grilled to mush and had a really nice tomato flavour.

Downside - well, it was the same as always at buffets. Everything was rather on the cold side when we finally started eating.
If I could get everything to the table hot I really would enjoy Cabanas much more.

Next up - Serenity Bay Grill station

 

[jenseib]

I don't think they had mickey waffles when we sailed. I had heard that they were adding them later, we must've missed it.

 

[dizneeat]

YUMMY! I had the souffle too and the trio! And I enjoyed them all, but I rolled out of there.

We felt like "rolling" to our stateroom whenever we left one of their dining rooms - it felt like we always ate too much, but everything was just so yummy!

I don't think they had mickey waffles when we sailed. I had heard that they were adding them later, we must've missed it.

We only saw them in Cabanas, they did not have them at the Royal Palace - their waffles were horrible!

 

[HowieHowie]

We only saw them in Cabanas, they did not have them at the Royal Palace - their waffles were horrible!

We liked Cabanas for breakfast & lunch. Howie, Scott & Rachel like buffets. Your right the waffles were horrible! We love the Mickey waffles at Chef Mickey's in WDW and thought these would taste the same...were we in for a big surprise when they tasted terrible!!