The Drinker and Dessert Fiend are Back - Completed 6/26!

Thank you for the honest Ohana review! This is one of the places that my sister and I are going to in August and I was sort of on the fence about it. My sister and I like very different things but I think that there are enough options here to satisfy both of us. I think I'd like the steak and she'd like the shrimp.

I'm enjoying your reviews and this one certainly helped!! I'm am absolutely going to go for it with the Red Grape Sensation too!

I was so not excited about 'Ohana, but they kind of won me over for some things. Even if you end up not wanting to return, I would at least think you won't consider it time wasted.

You won't regret a Red Grape Sensation!

I enjoyed reading your review of Ohana! What was the deal with telling you to return and not letting you know when your table was ready. I get that it was busy but still...not very Disney like.

The Red Grape Sensation looks great...am glad you enjoyed it. The bread doesn't look well in the photo so am not surprised to hear that it was stale :eek:

:woohoo: on finding items of food you enjoyed eating!

I know, I don't understand why they couldn't have just said "please stay close by so we can call you when it's your turn"....which is what they ended up doing. :confused3

That bread sounded like it would be so good. I'm disappointed that you ended up with a stale loaf.

Great review though. I love the detail on the drink. (I'm also a lightweight and don't drink much, but might need to try that.) Ohana is on our maybe list and it sounds like it had some good and some bad, which seems to happen at most places.

If you want somewhat exotic food at a 1 TS casual place, I like Sanaa the best. :)

Love the pics from the caramel shop! I'm not sure which looks better, the caramel corn or the strawberry... Great pics from Ohana as well!

Thanks!

Great Ohana review

I've never tried it but the bread pudding is making me want to :thumbsup2

That bread pudding alone might just make a trip to 'Ohana worth it. Just maybe!

Ohanas bread pudding and Karamell Kuche caramel corn are amazing. They are both loved so much, I assumed that they could never live up to the hype. They both do. Great reviews and Pictures.:thumbsup2

Thanks for reading!

The Red Grape Sensation sounds amazing! I can't wait to try one in May!

Your 'Ohana review made my mouth water!!! We used to love it there, then over the past few years, we have had both good and bad experiences there. So, we usually give it a break and go every other year. We are going back in May, so I am hoping it will be great!

Hope it is great for you, or at least some of it!
 
The next morning I ate breakfast alone while Mark slept in. I had a KTTK Tour which Mark decided not to join me on, so he slept in and checked us out of ASMu.

I went to the Intermission Food Court and with my new found knowledge of needing to order an item they make while you wait, I chose the Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwich.
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It was a pretty decent meal. The bread was a plain, thick-cut white bread which could have used some butter brushed on the outside before grilling. The ham was a nice, thin shaved type, but I think they put about twice what you need on the sandwich. Having too much ham made it so the middle bits were still cold. I ended up taking some off for a thinner sandwich. The cheese was just a Kraft singles American type, but I actually like that for grilled cheese once in a while.

It was a fueling, protein filled breakfast, which is exactly what I need for long days at Disney. I also had an OJ - Minute Maid from concentrate....meh, not good, but not horrible. It does the job.

Grade: C
 
Your review of Ohana's was amazing, my mouth is watering. We plan on dining there in December with the kiddoz. I can't wait to taste those wings and shrimp. The bread pudding looks so good to.
 
Thanks for the review of AsMU - hope you enjoyed the KTTK tour. Am looking forward to eating some fuel filled breakfasts at Pop :)
 

After a wonderful day taking the KTTK tour (which I HIGHLY recommend!) and moving from ASMu to AKV Jambo, we had a dinner ADR for Bistro de Paris in Epcot.

I was excited to try this as I love French food and have heard many good things about the restaurant. At the same time, I was a bit apprehensive about the meal because I have extremely high standards when it comes to French cuisine. You see, in addition to my obsession of all things Disney, I also have a, um, strong fondness for France and anything French. Especially the food. (Surprise Surprise :rolleyes:) I even went so far as to live in France while working as an au pair (live-in nanny) for a French family. So in addition to just visiting and eating in the restaurants in France, I've had a lot of home cooked French meals too.

So.....can Bistro impress me?

We arrived right at our ADR time of 7:00. Bistro de Paris is located on the 2nd floor (1st if you're in France ;) ) on the same building that houses Les Chefs de France. The check in podium is on the ground floor in a foyer area off Les Chefs. Walking in to the little foyer feels very intimate, like you're arriving for dinner at someone's home. We were taken up the spiral staircase to the dining room where we waited a few minutes before being led to a lovely window-side table in the middle of the restaurant.

Here is a shot of the place setting:
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What cute napkin origami!

I was expecting a quiet, low-key place but instead found the restaurant almost packed to capacity and buzzing with people. Servers were running around in tuxedos....but more than half of the patrons are in t-shirts. :sad2: Not the ambiance I was hoping for in a signature restaurant, but I understand Bistro is inside a theme park so it would probably lose a lot of business if there was a dress code enforced.

Here's a shot of the diners that evening:
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(I love the Seminoles dude, but come on....a sports team t-shirt for Bistro???)

Our server, Vincent, introduced himself after a very appropriately French wait of 5 or 10 minutes. I didn't catch much of what he said because I was too busy staring at him. That guy was cute! :rotfl:

I did manage to get in an order for water, sans glace s'il vous plaît (no ice please), the way it's served in France.

Mark and I knew we wanted wine at Bistro so we decided to see what food we were interested in before we settled on wine.

After making our food decisions and placing our wine order, Vincent was back with a bottle of Chateau Greysac 2008 Medoc Bordeaux.
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I usually love Bordeaux, but I just wasn't feeling this. It was very....harsh. Maybe it needed decanting? I don't know too much about wine....just what I like and don't. This was somewhat spicy and not at all smooth to me.
Mark loves a big fat super-dry red wine so he seemed to like it, but not love it. He didn't let any go to waste. :laughing:

Shortly after our wine, we were delivered Mini Baguettes and an amuse bouche - a Seafood Gratin.
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The baguettes were quite good, for American made bread. I've just come to accept the fact that no bread in the States will ever stand up to a good French baguette from a little neighborhood bakery.

The seafood gratin had a nice flavor and lots of chunks of fish and shellfish, but it was entirely too runny for a gratin, IMO. It was more like a cheesy seafood soup once you broke through the top crust.

I had ordered an appetizer (entrée in French) and it arrived fairly quickly.
It was the Warm Goat Cheese with basil and sundried tomatoes in a crisp shell, baby mixed greens, balsamic vinaigrette.
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This dish was a play on a common French cafe salad called Chevre Chaud (Warm Goat Cheese). It is a very basic salad of greens and vinaigrette topped with disks of goat cheese that are usually breaded and pan-fried.

Bistro's version had a fun presentation and it tasted good too. The pastry shell was light and crisp. The goat cheese was tart and delicately perfumed with the basil and sun-dried tomato it was mixed with. I liked the salad of frisée lettuce - it was simple and light. You couldn't really mix the two things together though. You had to eat them as two separate items. It was a tasty dish nonetheless.

Our entrees (plat principal in French) came out too soon for my tastes as I was not yet finished with my appetizer.

Mark went for the Sea Bass roasted with poppy seeds, gnocchi sautéed with artichoke and sunchoke, champagne beurrre blanc.
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I had a taste of this and thought it was quite good. The bass was moist and tender, cooked just right. I think the airy gnocchi were the best part though. I would have been happy with a bowl of those!

I chose the Rack of Lamb, roasted with thyme, ratatouille, thin onion tart with rosemary and eggplant caviar baked with parmesan.
The presentation on this dish is a lot of fun - the server rolls the meat out on a cart and carves the lamb chops tableside, so you get a lot of looks from other patrons.
There wasn't enough space for the cart right next to our table, so Vincent had to do the carving from an aisle over:
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I had decided to be really French that evening and order my Lamb Rare:
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I was expecting American rare, not French rare (practically still moving), but I was game for it. Vincent kept asking me if I wanted it cooked more, insisting that it would be no trouble to make it more of a medium if it was too undercooked for me. No need to worry my dear....I know, and usually like, how you Frenchies eat your meat!

Well the Lamb was very tasty. It was extremely rare, but I think it was fairly high quality meat and it showed. The texture was like...meat butter. The flavor was good and I enjoyed it a lot. I don't think I would ever cook anything that rare at home, but it made me feel like I was back in France. :goodvibes

Unfortunately, the other items on the plate left a lot to be desired. The ratatouille was extremely overcooked and a pretty tasteless vegetable mush. The onion tart wasn't great either. A hit and miss on the Lamb Dish.

I knew I had to try dessert and had been eying the Grand Marnier souffles for weeks. When I ordered it, Vincent informed me that it took at least 20 minutes to cook. Mark and I really wanted to see Illuminations so I decided to skip the souffles and go with something else that could be made quicker. I settled on the Warm Chocolate and Almond Cake - crispy feuilletine and white chocolate mousse with praline sauce.
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This was a delicious dessert. The cake was perfectly cooked with a molten center and a delicate almond-cocoa flavor. The praline sauce was delicious poured over the cake and the mousse was light and sweet. The little stick of berries was a great accompaniment to balance out the earthy tones of almond and chocolate with sweet, crisp fruit.

We settled up our bill and said bonsoir to Vincent just in time to watch Illuminations from the bridge between the IG and France. It was super cold so not many people were out and we were able to get a prime viewing spot five minutes before showtime. :wizard:

So...did Bistro impress me? Sadly, it did not. It was a good meal, I enjoyed it and would return one day, but it's not on my 'favorites' list. I really would like to try one of their French Regional Lunches during the F & W festival and see how those are.

Grade: B
 
Sorry your Bistro experience was not as wonderful as ours when DW and I went the week after Thanksgiving, 2010. We too had a table by the window and DW had the best seat in the house to watch Illuminations during our meal. She also had the lamb and our server, Tibaud, put on a show when serving. He topped himself though when he prepared her dessert - flambeed crepes. It must have been his first time or he was the most experienced because even the other servers stopped to watch Tibaud prepare the dessert (or maybe they are instructed to watch in case the flame gets out of hand? :lmao:) The restaurant was not at capacity, maybe because we had 8:30 reservations, but it was not loud while we were there. It was a VERY romantic evening for us and we kept saying it was like a scene from a movie. The food was fantastic and one of the best French restaurants we have visited. We still have many other restaurants at WDW and the surrounding resorts we have not tried but at this point, Bistro is our 2nd favorite behind Victoria & Albert's. Enjoying your trip report. Keep it going!
 
Love the review of Bistro - there are not many reviews of that place on these boards. Think more people go for Les Chefs instead!

Was certainly not expecting to see such an informal dress wear by customers but like you said it is in a theme park.

The presentation sure does look good on your appetiser - am glad you enjoyed it.

Wow that meat does look rare! It's a shame Bistro didn't impress you but if you do return one day hope you manage to try the Grand Marnier Souffles :goodvibes
 
Vincent is movie star handsome! I've been to several of the F&W French Regional lunches and they have all been fabulous. I've become somewhat disenchanted with some of the F&W offerings and was reluctant to spend $100 on what could be a hit or miss meal. But they have all been excellent and have become one of my favorite things about F&W.
 
So far sounds good but not the rare Lamb no thanks .Ohana used to serve Turkey and since they took that off the menu I skipped last trip but hope to go back next trip.
 
We've never made it to Bistro and unfortunately from what I've been reading we probably won't go now. I can see from your pic what I've been hearing is right. The French Bistro atmosphere is lost on me with the way some of those folks are dressed. Yes, I know it's in a theme park but somehow I was hoping for a quieter, less packed atmosphere.:sad2:
 
We've never made it to Bistro and unfortunately from what I've been reading we probably won't go now. I can see from your pic what I've been hearing is right. The French Bistro atmosphere is lost on me with the way some of those folks are dressed. Yes, I know it's in a theme park but somehow I was hoping for a quieter, less packed atmosphere.:sad2:

I'm not sure if we hit it just right or what but when we went, it was very quiet, very upscale and very romantic. Maybe we just got lucky but we will surely go back often.
 
I'm not sure if we hit it just right or what but when we went, it was very quiet, very upscale and very romantic. Maybe we just got lucky but we will surely go back often.

Really? What time did you go, maybe later is better?
 
Sorry your Bistro experience was not as wonderful as ours when DW and I went the week after Thanksgiving, 2010. We too had a table by the window and DW had the best seat in the house to watch Illuminations during our meal. She also had the lamb and our server, Tibaud, put on a show when serving. He topped himself though when he prepared her dessert - flambeed crepes. It must have been his first time or he was the most experienced because even the other servers stopped to watch Tibaud prepare the dessert (or maybe they are instructed to watch in case the flame gets out of hand? :lmao:) The restaurant was not at capacity, maybe because we had 8:30 reservations, but it was not loud while we were there. It was a VERY romantic evening for us and we kept saying it was like a scene from a movie. The food was fantastic and one of the best French restaurants we have visited. We still have many other restaurants at WDW and the surrounding resorts we have not tried but at this point, Bistro is our 2nd favorite behind Victoria & Albert's. Enjoying your trip report. Keep it going!

You know the restaurant did clear out a lot as our meal went on. Maybe if I make another ADR there I will try to a later time and see if that makes a difference.

Thanks for reading!

Love the review of Bistro - there are not many reviews of that place on these boards. Think more people go for Les Chefs instead!

Was certainly not expecting to see such an informal dress wear by customers but like you said it is in a theme park.

The presentation sure does look good on your appetiser - am glad you enjoyed it.

Wow that meat does look rare! It's a shame Bistro didn't impress you but if you do return one day hope you manage to try the Grand Marnier Souffles :goodvibes

I don't think many people go to Bistro since it's not on the DDP and it's more expensive than Chefs. Works for me because I despise the DDP, and especially 'free' dining!

Vincent is movie star handsome! I've been to several of the F&W French Regional lunches and they have all been fabulous. I've become somewhat disenchanted with some of the F&W offerings and was reluctant to spend $100 on what could be a hit or miss meal. But they have all been excellent and have become one of my favorite things about F&W.

I'm in the process of trying to schedule a F & W trip now, so the FRL is high on my list!

So far sounds good but not the rare Lamb no thanks .Ohana used to serve Turkey and since they took that off the menu I skipped last trip but hope to go back next trip.

Thanks for joining in.

We've never made it to Bistro and unfortunately from what I've been reading we probably won't go now. I can see from your pic what I've been hearing is right. The French Bistro atmosphere is lost on me with the way some of those folks are dressed. Yes, I know it's in a theme park but somehow I was hoping for a quieter, less packed atmosphere.:sad2:

I think I def want to try a Frunch, but I don't think I would go back for a regular ADR. If you want a better atmosphere, the Swalphin signatures are probably the best bet. Although the less popular Disney signatures can be quite nice. I'm a big Citricos fan myself.
 
Thank you for the Bistro review! I have been thinking about it, but am now even more unsure if I shouldn't take my money to the real France for such a meal. ;)

I thought I had commented on your Ohana review because I remember reading it, but obviously I didn't. :confused3
I have never seen or considered your ham and cheese sandwich at the All Stars. It looks real nice, maybe next time - it's the little things sometimes! ;)
 
Great review and pics!

Thank You!

Thank you for the Bistro review! I have been thinking about it, but am now even more unsure if I shouldn't take my money to the real France for such a meal. ;)

I thought I had commented on your Ohana review because I remember reading it, but obviously I didn't. :confused3
I have never seen or considered your ham and cheese sandwich at the All Stars. It looks real nice, maybe next time - it's the little things sometimes! ;)

Thanks for reading Karin. I would definitely save your French dining for the next time you can get the real thing. ;) You just can't even compare!

The ham and cheese sandwich isn't traditional American breakfast food, but I saw them being made and it sounded like a good protein filled option to get me through the morning!
 
It was our first morning in a deluxe hotel, so we felt spoiled and wanted to continue to trend. We had a savannah view studio in Jambo house and decided to enjoy over view over breakfast in the room! :thumbsup2

We had not thought to place our order the night before, but when I called they said the food would be delivered within 45 minutes. Perfect...enough time to get dressed before the food comes and still leave in time for RD!

There was a knock on our door about 35 minutes after I placed the order. A very bubbly CM was there with our food! I let him in and he proceeded to set the table with a real tablecloth and napkins, a newspaper, and our food on real plates - no plastic or paper ware with room service. There were even little bitty salt and pepper shakers, along with ketchup in little glass jars.

Our table and food:
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Mark had ordered the Safari Breakfast - two eggs (he ordered over medium), breakfast potatoes, biscuit, and your choice of sausage or bacon (bacon for Mark).
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Mark also got some Frunch - the specialty juice mix at AKL.

I didn't taste Mark's food, but he cleaned his plate so it must have been decent enough.

As for me, I chose the Kid's Pumbaa Plate - one egg (I ordered scrambled) with breakfast potatoes and choice of grapes, bacon, or sausage (sausage for me). I also got a glass of Frunch, which comes with the Kid's plate.
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The food was decent but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm pretty sure it's the same stuff you can get for breakfast down at The Mara, with the exception of the made to order eggs. The juice is really yummy though - not sure what the blend is.

The difference of real plates and the convenience of eating in our savannah view room gave this meal a much higher rating than if we had eaten at The Mara. Neither Mark nor I had ever had room service before, so we felt sort of like rockstars. :rotfl: This is not something I would do every morning, but maybe once during any stay at a deluxe would be a very worthwhile splurge.

Grade: A-
Food Only Grade: C+
 















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