Two Trips in Two Weeks....A F & W Extravaganza!

[Tink rules]

Sooooo????? When do you leave again??? I'm waiting!!!

 

[cbg1027]

FF looks and sounds yummy!
Guess we will have to make our way over there again in the near future!

And I take my hat off to you for being able to resist the Strawberry Shortcake at SS!

Actually it was easy for me to resist it because I despise whipped cream with anything other than some cream and sugar in it...and since I couldn't do a taste test before purchasing, I decided not to take the risk.

Sooooo????? When do you leave again??? I'm waiting!!!

Ha, not until I get job!!

 

[Tink rules]

Between you and Niki... I'm goin through withdrawal and I didn't even get to go to F&W!!!

 

[cbg1027]

Ten short days later, I was back at Disney with my Gram!

We got a later start then we intended (surprise surprise) and didn't make it to Epcot for lunch as planned.

We arrived in just in time to unpack and settle in the room before heading to our 5:00 ADR at Yachtsman Steakhouse.

We checked in and had to wait about 5 minutes but we got to check out the meat aging room so we could start pondering what cut of steak to order!

We were seated at a two top table right near a room with beautiful bay windows looking out on to Stormalong Bay:

We both received menus that said "Happy Birthday'. We were perusing them as our server showed up to take drink orders. I briefly considered some wine, but knew I would drinking quite a lot of it in the coming days so I decided against it and just went with water. Gram had a seltzer with lime.

Gram took a look at kids menu, but they didn't have any actual steak on it, which she really wanted. So after a long time figuring out what to get we finally placed our order.

The server then brought out the bread basket, which has Pull-Apart Onion Rolls, Sourdough Rolls, and is served with Roasted Garlic, along with Butter and Sea Salt:

This might take the cake (the bread?) for the best bread basket at Disney. The Onion rolls were amazing! Warm, soft, fluffy, buttery but not too greasy, and had a nice subtle onion flavor. The sourdough rolls were perfect as well and just outstanding with a dab of butter and clove of the roasted garlic spread on them. I truly could have been happy with just the bread for dinner! We finished our basket but resisted when we were offered a second one.

For a started, we split the Steakhouse 'Wedge' Salad - organic greens, hen egg, heirloom apples, and tomatoes with sweet cream dressing.

I don't really see how this resembled a wedge salad...but it was tasty nonetheless. The greens were mild and sweet, and I loved how the julienned the apples. The tomatoes were ripe and tasty, and I liked the egg with it all. The dressing was subtle and let you taste the vegetables well.

For our entrees, Gram and I decided to split a few things. For our steak, we went with the 8oz Center Cut Filet Mignon, served with Mashed Potatoes and Cabernet Wine Sauce:

We ordered the filet medium rare, and it came out perfectly:

The steak was very good. I have really high standards for steak and this didn't disappoint. The meat was tender, flavorful, and not at all tough. I really think the aging is key for a better steak. This wasn't the best steak I've ever eaten (the honor repeatedly goes to Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa), but this was definitely up there and worth going back for.

I liked the wine sauce with the steak...if I didn't drink my wine, it was great to have it in my food!

The mashed potatoes were good, house made for sure. They were plain, but had good potato flavor, and it complemented the strong meat and sauce nicely.

We also got a side of White Balsamic Caramelized Onions:

I actually didn't care for these. The balsamic vinegar kind of cancels out the sweetness of the caramelization. It wasn't bad....I just wasn't a fan and would prefer basic caramelized onions. My Grandma enjoyed them.

And Truffle Mac n Cheese made with Orecchiette Pasta and Reypenaer Cheese:

This was REALLY good. I'm a sucker for truffle mac n cheese and this was a very well done version. The pasta was house-made, cooked perfectly al dente, and was a great choice of shape since the shallow cups held the cheese sauce well. There was a lot of cheese and very little filler of cream. The truffle flavor went great with the meal - earthy, aromatic, and a perfect dish for fall!

We were pretty full from all that heavy food, but we had to check out the dessert menu! I figured I would be ordering something because I can't pass up desserts at the signatures, but to my utter shock....nothing on the dessert menu appealed to me much. So Gram and I decided we'd take a stroll around Crescent Lake and look for sweets somewhere else.

EDIT:
I forgot...we did have a dessert in Yachtsman!

Both Gram and I were given little complimentary cupcakes with lit candles for our birthdays! It was just a standard mini vanilla cupcake, nothing wonderful....but thoughtful and very much appreciated nonetheless! Our server even sang to us.

This was first visit to Yachtsman Steakhouse and I left fairly impressed. I read a lot of mixed reviews, but it turned out to be excellent for us. The cuisine isn't super creative, but something that's ok and not what one is looking for. It's a nice semi-upscale steak and potatoes place, and sometimes, that's just what you want.

I've now been to all of the DDP signatures and I have a hard time ranking them because there are a lot of ties. Citricos still remains my absolute favorite. The only one I don't care for is Narcoossee's. Yachtsman will be added in to the rotation!

Grade for Yachstman: A

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Glad that Yachtsman made it into your rotation! I have to say, we've seen some more creative things added to Yachtsman's menu recently. Deconstructed dishes, foams, powders, other forms of molecular gastronomy, etc. I think Yachtsman is really stepping it up. The steaks will probably remain simple in preparation, but we've seen some really exciting appetizers and desserts there.

Over the summer, there was an amazing nutella trio dessert that included a hot chocolate shot with candied bacon. I wonder why that didn't stay on the menu very long? It was awesome (especially when the other desserts on the menu are basic, such as crème brûlée).

 

[Tink rules]

I KNEW you had more to share!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Yachtsman looks great, Abby!

I had the same entree and it was sooooooo good, so was the bread!

Did they still have the Habanero infused chocolate cake on the menu, Abby - I am sure you would have loved it! Subtle chocolate flavour and then the Habanero hits you!

Can't wait for more!

 

[TanzUnited99]

The bread looks yummy! Lol at stopping yourself from having a second one...don't think I would have been as strong!

I'm glad you enjoyed Yachtsman and would love to try Citrico's on a future trip. I have to say I had to do a double take on reading you didn't order dessert! Hope you got your sweet fix later on in the evening.

 

[cbg1027]

I KNEW you had more to share!!!

Lots more, I'm just really lazy about updating!

Yachtsman looks great, Abby!

I had the same entree and it was sooooooo good, so was the bread!

Did they still have the Habanero infused chocolate cake on the menu, Abby - I am sure you would have loved it! Subtle chocolate flavour and then the Habanero hits you!

Can't wait for more!

They did have the Habenero cake Karin. But I'm not a huge fan of the chocolate chili combo for a whole dessert. I can appreciate a piece of dark chocolate with chili....but the idea just doesn't do much for me as a whole dessert.

The bread looks yummy! Lol at stopping yourself from having a second one...don't think I would have been as strong!

I'm glad you enjoyed Yachtsman and would love to try Citrico's on a future trip. I have to say I had to do a double take on reading you didn't order dessert! Hope you got your sweet fix later on in the evening.

It was very hard not to get another bread basket. Now I wish we had....we could have gotten it takeout and eaten it in our room! But the rest of the food is just so heavy, it's easy to fill up quickly at Yachtsman. When I go to other signatures, I will usually split an appetizer, and then have my own entree and dessert. But the entree was soooo filling...I'm glad I had someone to split everything with. Also made for a cheap night at a signature!

 

[MrsSpratt]

Hi there!

I do believe I am in on this one!

It looks like Yachtsman is trying to do the deconstructed thing; I wonder how far they will actually be able to take it? (Although that salad was much more appealing to me than a traditional wedge!)

Glad to hear Flying Fish was good, too...trying figure out next December!

Looking forward to more!

Jaime

 

[Tink rules]

Hi Jaime!!!

 

[librarygeek]

The Yachtsman looks really good! That steak looks amazing.

 

[TigerKat]

Abby, you mentioned not caring for Narcoossee's. We were underwhelmed when we went there in '08 but I booked it for our Feb trip, thinking it may have been us. When was the last time you were there?

 

[Linda67]

Oh boy looking at the bread basket at YSH is making me hungry
Glad you enjoyed your dinner there, looking forward to reading more

 

[cbg1027]

Hi there!

I do believe I am in on this one!

It looks like Yachtsman is trying to do the deconstructed thing; I wonder how far they will actually be able to take it? (Although that salad was much more appealing to me than a traditional wedge!)

Glad to hear Flying Fish was good, too...trying figure out next December!

Looking forward to more!

Jaime

They had a deconstructed Beef Wellington on the menu then too. I guess they're trying to experiment and offer a little more than regular steak.
Thanks for reading Jaime....I'm so happy that you're going to WDW! You deserve it!

The Yachtsman looks really good! That steak looks amazing.

It was great! Thanks for joining in.

Abby, you mentioned not caring for Narcoossee's. We were underwhelmed when we went there in '08 but I booked it for our Feb trip, thinking it may have been us. When was the last time you were there?

The only time I've been was in Dec 2009. It wasn't bad....it just wasn't signature worthy to me, and I don't want to pay those kind of prices for what seemed like a '1 TS' place.

Oh boy looking at the bread basket at YSH is making me hungry
Glad you enjoyed your dinner there, looking forward to reading more

Haha I'm hungry again just looking at it! Thanks for reading along!

 

[cbg1027]

On our first full day, October 27th, we woke up and went straight to Epcot to be there when the booths opened at 11!

We started at the Hawaii booth and split the Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayo:

A wonderful way to start the festival! A soft, fresh brioche bun filled with moist shredded pork, sweet pineapple chutney, and perfect little splash of spicy mayo. From reading the festival material, Kalua refers to the method of cooking used on the pork - slow roasting in a banana leaf. Both Gram and I could have eaten several of these....but we had a lot more to explore so we settled on the one for the time being.
Grade: A

Next we stopped in Greece and had the Greek Salad:

This was just like it was in the years past. A decent salad, with all the ingredients chopped fairly small so you got all the flavors in each bite. It's served with a warm pita bread wedge, good for sopping up any extra dressing. This isn't an outstanding dish, but it's a nice break from some of the heavier items. I appreciate the use of real Kalamata olives instead of a basic black olive from a can.
Grade: B

We also had the Griddled Greek Cheese with Pistachios and Honey (Saganaki):

I've never had Saganaki before, but this wasn't anything like I was expecting. I was thinking the cheese would have a melt-y, creamy texture, but this was just kind of like a warm hard foam texture. The flavor was nice...but the texture just really threw me off and I didn't enjoy it much.
Grade: C-

We walked across the way to Canada and then went for the Maple and Moosehead Beer Glazed Salmon with Barley Salad:

This was a decent item. The salmon had a nice caramelization from the glaze and sweet maple flavor. The barley salad would have been a nice compliment, but the dressing was super sweet. I think this dish would have been better with more savory dressing.
Grade: B-

I had a Cheddar Cheese Soup as well:

I had really been looking forward to this. It's nice to be able to have some of the cheese soup without booking an ADR for Le Cellier. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed with the soup this year. It was SO salty I couldn't taste anything else. I ended up throwing it out after two bites. Hopefully I just got a bad batch and it wasn't like this the whole festival.
Grade: F

We walked over to France next, where we split the Coq au Vin sur Gratin de Macaroni (Red wine braised chicken over macaroni gratin):

This was just ok, but it did taste better than it looks. The chicken was tender and had a nice flavor, but there were too many fatty pieces on our plate. The macaroni was decent, but I didn't like the two paired together. Usually, Coq au Vin in eaten on it's own, with some bread. I applaud the festival chefs for trying to come up with some new and different, but this kind of missed the mark for me.
Grade: C

My grandmother loves Boulangerie Patisserie in France, so we had to make a stop in there for her to get a pastry.
She went for an Apple Tarte:

Sorry, she cut in to it before I could get a photo!
I took a taste of this and it was pretty good. A nice, soft pastry base with sweet, slightly crunchy apple slices. It wasn't overly sweet and made for lovely little lighter choice if you're not up for all the creamy stuff.
Grade: A-

At 1:30, we made our way back out to the front of the France Pavilion for a DIS Meet! I had arranged for a Slushie meetup with a group of DISers. There is a wine kiosk in France that sells some adult beverages, among them two frozen drinks: The Grand Marnier Orange Slush and the Grey Goose Citron Slush. During the festival, the France booth sells a Parisian Cosmo Slush. We all had our choice of Slushie - most of us went with the Grey Goose Citron, but all three were found in the bunch! I had tried the Orange before, and this time I went with the Citron. It tasted like a really good spiked lemonade. I could even find little pieces of lemon zest in the drink. It was a great drink for a warm day. I'm sorry I didn't get a photo in the excitement of the meet up!

Grey Goose Citron Slushie Grade: A+

After the Slushie meet, Gram and I headed for one last booth - Belgium!
We had the Mussels with Garlic Cream Sauce:

These were quite good. I was a little nervous they might be overcooked as it's so easy to do with shellfish, especially when working with such large quantities. But these mussels were just perfect, and the garlic is the sauce wasn't overpowering. A nice pairing with the toasted baguette to sop up the leftover sauce!
Grade: A

We also got the Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote:

Normally, this comes with whipped cream too, but we requested to have that left off ours since I hate whipped cream from a can.

The waffle was warm and fresh from the iron. It was slightly sweet and malty, fluffy, and delicious! The berry compote had a tart berry flavor and a thick syrup that coated the waffle nicely. A really yummy item!
Grade: A

We were sufficiently filled by that point, and I knew I would be having a large dinner that evening, so we left to spend some time back at CSR.

Our first eat around the world of the trip had been very satisfying!

 

[dizneeat]

Looks like a fun DISmeet! And I see a few familiar faces!

Oh my, your food looks very yummy. Thanks for doing all the hard tasting work - I really appreciate it!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Mmm all the food looks good!

I'm sorry to hear the Cheddar Cheese soup did not live up to it's hype.

Yay on the DIS meet - sounds like you all had fun!

 

[franandaj]

You've got some of the best pictures of the kiosk food that I've seen so far. And we would have both been arriving on the same day. Well I'm booked for next year. I can't wait to see the rest of the stuff I would have done if I got to go!

 

[librarygeek]

Mmm, I love to see pics of the food and wine booths! The Grey Goose slushie meet up sounds awesome Sorry to hear you got some bad soup, I've been dying to try it. And this is the first pic I've seen of the mussels from Belgium, those look absolutely delicious!