The "i've made 1000 changes already" DDR. UPDATED JIKO!

[wen-tom]

Day 4 was a MK day and I have to admit that we usually struggle to find good food in the MK

So much so that we have even thrown a major wobbly before now and left the park because of long lines for poor food. This time however I had heard some pretty good reviews on the Columbia Harbour House and so we headed there for lunch.

We both had a Shrimp Platter. I had the Apple Crisp for dessert and DH had the chocolate cake.

This was a huge amount of shrimp for me. It was good if a little bit greasy.

The apple crisp was really yummy but HUGE I couldn't manage it all and DH (being not really a dessert person) didn't manage all of his chocolate cake either.

I would definately come back to the HCC for counter service.

Later in the day we had ADR at The Whispering Canyon. We had eaten here 2 years ago so we knew what to expect and expected to be stuffed

The wilderness lodge was pretty busy. It was raining outside and had been for a little while - looked like people were trying to stay at their resort rather than venturing out into the bad weather and so there were a lot of people asking for walk ups and getting refused.

One man in particular was not happy as he had seen lots of empty tables at the back of the restaurant which were not being filled. There were lots of people sat with buzzers..

We were seated after about 20 minutes and taken to one of the empty tables at the back - nice as it wasn't as noisy as the main section of the restuarant but also a little bit out of the fun and the action

Our server was 'the brooklyn cowgirl' who got round to us after around minutes. we had already decided on what we wanted before she got to us.

We decided on the:

CANYON SKILLET
ALL-YOU-CARE-TO-ENJOY
Smoked Pork Ribs, Pulled Pork, Oven-roasted Chicken, Beef Brisket, Mashed Potatoes, Cowboy Beans, and Corn on the Cob Mixed Greens Salad with Apple Vinaigrette, Coleslaw, and Fresh-baked Cornbread.

The salad was lovely. I really love their apple dressing

The skillet was nice. It had shrimp the last time we ate here which was missing this time

We couldn't manage a refill on the skillet so probably didn't really get great value for out DDP credit but we didn't want to be too full for the rest of the night as we were heading to MK for wishes.

We both finished with ice cream as a nice light end to the meal.

The tables around us remained empty

It seemed that they did not have enough servers on duty to cover all of the tables and so did not bother to fill them.

We will probably eat here again.

 

[wen-tom]

Day 5 was AK day.

We had always wanted to try the Yak & Yeti for a table service but as the AK closes early and we like to eat at around 7pm we usually don't bother.

This year we decided to have a late lunch so that we could try it and booked an ADR at 3pm.

The Yak & Yeti was not busy at all when we arrived and we were seated almost straight away.

We had a table upstairs and our server was Jeanine who was straight over to us with drinks

We couldn't resist the pot stickers and ordered them OOP. Jeanine said we could have them grilled (as they come) or we could request steamed instead. We asked for steamed and they came grilled

They were still really nice though. so nice that I didn't get a photo before DH had almost eaten them

for my entree I had Maple Tamarind Chicken - Seared chicken breast, Indonesian tamarind glaze, coconut-ginger rice, baby bok choy, and shiitake mushroom stir-fry.

DH had Shaoxing Steak & Shrimp - Skirt steak, tempura-battered shrimp, jasmine rice, stir-fried veggies, and chili plum dipping sauce

The chicken was absolutely lovely and the coconut and ginger rice was hmmmmmmmm. I wasn't keen on the ****ake mushrooms but thats just me. I don't like the texture of them

DH really enjoyed his shrimp & steak. there was a huge tower of rice - much bigger then it looked hiding inside the steak. he cleared his plate

Although we were both really full, we had dessert.

I had the Mango Pie - Shortbread cookie crust, fresh whipped cream and a raspberry sauce. . I really love Mango so anything made with it or from it will be a winner with me. This did not disappoint

DH went for the lighter option with Sorbet - Enjoy a taste of each flavor: mango, lemon and raspberry.
He said they were all nice but did not eat all of it.

Our drinks were refilled quickly here although Jeanine did bring DH a lemonade back instead of a coke

The restaurant was pretty empty but there were children running around everywhere like crazy things which did spoil things a little. I know that kids have to have fun but they were crashing into our table and others while we were eating
They were coming from 2 seperate tables and their parents did not seem to care what they were doing at all.

All in all, I would say that the food here was one of my favourite meals but the children running riot spoiled it a little.

I will come back to the Yak & Yeti. I really enjoyed the food and am now on the hunt for the chicken & rice recipes

 

[choirchic]

The sorbet at Yak and Yeti looks nice and refreshing...not like some of the other heavy desserts that are served. I'm definitely gonna have to order that the next time we're there!

 

[wen-tom]

DH said it was really tasty and he would have eaten it all if he hadn't been so full from the entree

 

[Linda67]

Wonderful updates

I am hoping to try Whispering Canyon on my next trip as we will be staying at the Wilderness Lodge

Do you know if you can order to skillet for just one person? (DH would love it and I don't eat meat)

 

[princess aleya]

Great updates and pictures. Can't wait to see more.

 

[wen-tom]

Wonderful updates

I am hoping to try Whispering Canyon on my next trip as we will be staying at the Wilderness Lodge

Do you know if you can order to skillet for just one person? (DH would love it and I don't eat meat)

I think you can

We knew what we wanted this time so we told them not to worry about explaining the menu but i'm sure that when we went before that they said you could order it for 1... not 100% though

 

[wen-tom]

Hi All,
sorry that I have taken so long to post my next review. I lost my notebook and couldn't remember what I was reviewing

I found it ..... in the dogs bed! so here we go with Mara & Jiko
So Day 6, we ate lunch at the Mara at the AKL.

We both really like the Mara. Since the last time we stayed there they have added a buzzer service. You used to just wait for your food to be prepared and take it away with you but now, probably because it has become so much busier with Kidani Village guests having to go there aswell, they have added a CM to take your order, you are given a piece of paper to go pay and a buzzer.

The service was still quite good and we had our food within 5 minutes.

We both had our favorite ... chicken Pitta. The picture I have is 1 chicken pitta (front) and 1 Falafel pitta which we ate on another day..

Chicken Pitta is soooo yummy I may have to try to make it at home.


Jiko to follow soon ...

 

[Disney_Cutie]

Great reviews! Looking forward to Jiko update

 

[athenna]

So far, so good Looking forward to Jiko!

 

[TruBlu]

Yummy! So good to see some pics from the Mara.

 

[wen-tom]

Ok, here we go with Jiko...
sorry that I made you wait. I had a shift at work and ran out of time

Our Dinner ADR at Jiko was for 6pm, we were staying at AKL so had a cocktail in the bar before heading down.

We have never eaten at Jiko before despite staying at AKL numerous times. I can't really think why we did not try it before

We checked in at around 5:55 and were asked to take a seat in the bar area until our table was ready. The restuarant was almost empty and we were seated within a few minutes. Our server was Leslie.

We had looked at the menu a few days before our ADR so we had a rough idea of what we wanted. Leslie didn't really offer to run through the menu.

We started with the Taste of Africa - Trio of Dips with Assorted Breads and House-made Naan. The Naan bread was very nice although the dips were not to my taste. A little spicy

DH had said a few days earlier that he wanted the steak but would not order it because it was served with macaroni cheese which he does not like.

When it came to ordering, he ordered the Steak

Oak-Grilled Filet Mignon - with Macaroni & Cheese and Red Wine Sauce.

I ordered Maize-crusted Halibut - with Vegetables of the Moment and Tomato-Butter Sauce.

I have just realised that I have a huge confession to make

I have no photos of Jiko food! I don't know why

In any case, DH said the filet Mignon was lovely but as he suspected he did not like the Mac cheese with the red wine sauce. he said the sauce would have been nice on its own but made for a strange combo with mac cheese.

The Halibut was delicious. The server at the outdoor bar had recommended this to me and she was not wrong. The fish was cooked perfectly and the tomato sauce was really light.

I really was not up to standard on this night as I didn't write down what we had for dessert and the things that we had do not appear to be on the menu online

DH had a sponge pudding with custard which Leslie had recommended for him as he wanted something nice and light.
I had a trio of desserts - two of which were lovely. The 3rd, some sort of cornmeal slice was not nice at all. Leslie said that no one seems to like this one and for this reason he does not recommend this dessert to anyone.

Jiko was a very pretty restaurant and had a nice atmosphere but for 2 credits, I am not sure that I would revisit.

Of everything we ate, only my halibut stood out as being outstanding. I am a little worried about giving this review because everyone else praises Jiko so highly but this was our honest opinion.

 

[wdwfanatic316]

Really enjoying your reviews! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Linda67]

Thanks for the Jiko review

I really want to try the Halibut when we visit as everyone seems to really enjoy it

 

[hill6]

If DH doesn't like the mac and cheese why didn't he ask for a different side? I have never ran into a problem substituting one starch for another.

 

[wen-tom]

I don't know why he didn't :

We swapped quite a few things around on other meals but for reasons only known to him he didn't here

 

[butiflfeet]

Thanks for sharing your reviews! I'm really enjoying this

 

[Motherofboys]

Really great to see a review and pics of the Captain's Galley at YC! Thanks so much for sharing!

Looking forward to reading more!