We Smelled It...It Had to be Eaten, Part II ... Ding, Dong, Done!!!

[irongirlof12]

wow that sushi looks amazing and a cool drinks count as well

 

[TigerKat]

That sushi looks incredible!

 

[ChelleinNC]

I'm jealous. Now I have Teeter envy. Where is Stallings? We used to live in Asheville.

Stallings is just outside Charlotte in Union County. I'm about a mile off of I-485.

http://www.randolphwinecellars.com/r/products/weingut-gunderloch-diva-riesling-spatlese-2006

Here is the Diva Riesling--this is the one I tried on our first Disney trip and then couldn't remember the name. This year I wrote it down. It's so good and crisp and sweet! We scored a little table outside by the fountain in Germany and just had a nice rest. Ahh.

Yes, Biltmore Forest is the fancy-schmancy neighborhood that borders Biltmore property; it is actually it's own little incorporated town with its own police, town hall, etc. This is where the old money is and where Andie McDowell has/had? a home when I lived there. It's really beautiful with huge older homes on large wooded lots. When we were looking for our first house, there was a teeny little house (probably a carriage house) for only $135,000. It was so out of our range then, but we look back now and think, wow what resale value that would have had!

Love Rieslings, so I'll have to remeber this one and give it a try As far as Andie McDowell, I'm pretty sure she still lives in Asheville. Even in the current market, that house would be worth a good bit more than $135,000

 

[D&R love Disney]

Great self picture

The sushi looks amazing and I am all over that wildberry lemonade.

 

[ChelleinNC]

Tuesday, October 14th - We Tried and We Failed, the Lesson is ... Drown Your Sorrows in Sushi!

From Rose and Crown we wandered ...

Where?

I don't know.

Why?

Old age and alcohol are a lethal combination.

Drink #6: Viking Coffee, Norway

Eventually we found ourselves in the land of Erik the Red and cranky trolls; since our choices were pretty limited and we were feeling a bit drowsy thanks to those earlier drinks, coffee seemed like a good pick-us-up.

Hoooooo-eeeeey! This must be the world renowned Viking blend!

This $8 plastic coffee cup was filled to the brim with hot coffee, Kamora Coffee liqueur, and Bailey's Irish Cream. When the CM asked me if I wanted whipped cream on that I responded with, "How much for the entire can?"

I think I shocked five years worth of English language study out of that poor CM ... he had the best deer-in-the-headlights look on his face I've seen in a long time.

Jay broke the stunned silence in the Kringla Bakery by stepping around me and saying, "She's harmless; really. No need for concern."

We took our coffee outside and found a nice shady area where we could stretch out and watch the world and half-a-billion strollers go by. This was a wonderful drink ... I've grown to appreciate the allure of coffee-flavored-coffee, especially when it cleverly masks the alcohol hidden within ... and our coffee was strong and flavorful with just a touch of creamy sweetness.

I love coffee, I love alcohol, I really love coffee drinks with alcohol

Jay and I felt re-energized by the time we were finished and were more than ready for the last five countries in our challenge. Unfortunately our next stop was China and here things came to a crashing halt.

Drink #7: Plum Wine Green Tea Cooler, China

We've had this drink before ... it has always been one of the most refreshing drinks offered at any of the F&W booths and we look forward to having it every year.

Or I should say we used to look forward to drinking it.

It was awful ... only one rung above that vile conconction being sold at the Poland booth. The redeeming factor in China was that this drink was twice the size of the one in Poland for only half the price. It tasted like a plastic cup filled with syrup and ice ... I defy anyone to find the tea in this drink.

Who is responsible for this swill?

When ordering the plum wine poison, Jay also picked up some of the dessert being sold at China's F&W booth: Ginger Ice Cream. I'm not a big fan of ginger and I thought this tasted pretty nasty ... cold creamy ginger isn't any better in my book than pickled ginger, so Jay was able to enjoy this all by himself.

Dessert does not make the drink taste any less swill-like.

The saddest part about our drink was that it was so bad we tossed it out and immediately agreed that there was no way we could continue our quest without experiencing a reversal of fortune the likes of which hadn't been seen since last year's F&W Festival Viral Agent Adventure.

We know when we're licked.

So thanks a lot China.

Yikes! ya know it's bad when it gets compared to the drink in Poland

We made our way to Epcot's front entrance and the resort bus stop holding pens where we only had to wait fifteen minutes for a bus to take us back to Saratoga Springs. Jay and I discussed the approach we thought we'd need to try in October 2009, when we would once again take on Epcot's world showcase and all its alcoholic delights. We're convinced that the best strategy may be to stick with beer, ocassionally venturing over into wine when absolutely necessary.

I guess we'll see how that works in another eight months or so.

The last self-portrait of the day:

Jay and Bendy: sadder, wiser, and tipsier ...

After doing things that frighten bedbugs and taking a late afternoon nap, Jay and I were hungry ... again.

frighten bedbugs

I would've marched straight back to Norway for more coffee goodness or on to France for a Grand Marnier slushie to get rid of the yucky taste.

I told the hubby that I was jonesin for sushi, especially after seeing some stunning sushi platters the night before at Wolfgang Puck's. We walked over to the West Side from the resort and immediately found all the people who had been missing in action the previous evening.

It had to have been at least 8PM by the time we arrived at Wolfgang's and there was a line out the door - we almost walked away and tried something else but we realized that we'd have to wait no matter where we ended up. And so we stood in line for about ten minutes before realizing that if we wanted to eat at the sushi bar it was "first-come, first-serve" rather than "wait 60-minutes for the next available table."

The dining gods smiled on us ... two spots opened up at the sushi bar and we pounced faster than a kitty stalking a catnip mouse!

Puck's was busy, busy, busy but our server did a nice job of keeping an eye on us and our drinks. Our first priority was to order some alcohol to wash away the last bitter vestiges of our Chinese defeat. Jay stuck with beer and ordered a Kirin Ichiban while I took the advice of a young lady sitting next to me and selected a Wildberry Lemonade.

What, you ask, is Wildberry Lemonade?

It's stolichnaya blueberry and raspberry vodkas mixed with strawberry and lemonade and it is fantastic! The perfect girly drink with a kick and very refreshing - I highly recommend this one if you ever find yourself dining at Puck's some day.

Always try to end the day with good booze.

Wildberry lemonade sounds mighty good

After much head scratching and sushi ogling, Jay and I chose a spicy tuna roll, a california roll, and three nigiri selections: yellowtail tuna, ahi tuna, and salmon.

It's all so good ... I wish we were eating it right now!

Mother of Pearl!

This was, without a doubt, the best sushi of the entire trip. Fresh, delicate, flavorful ... we didn't want to stop eating and that's saying something. We struck up a conversation with the couple seated on my right - turns out they were from Yorkshire, England, and had just arrived in Orlando that very day. We eyeballed their plates ... they eyeballed our plates ... we talked about other food joys in Orlando and in between it all we watched in amazement as the sushi chefs performed their magical fish arts.

We tried to get a decent picture of the action going on behind the bar, but those guys move fast! Still, to give you an idea of what it's like at the sushi bar here's a not-very-good picture...

Slap a tourist with some more fish, would ya?

I don't know if it was the very obvious pleasure we and our neighbors were taking in our sushi or if we caught the sushi-man on a good night, but either way we were suddenly presented with a surprise ...

Crab flower!!!

Jay and I received one of these and so did our un-named British friends.

A fabulous and free snow crab sushi flower - one for each of us and almost too pretty to eat, they ended up being too tasty not to eat!!!

Now you might think that we'd had enough, finally, for one day. But our friends had ordered one of the chef's sushi specials and it looked so darn good that we had to order one too. So the last plate of the night was a rainbow roll, which was a california inside-out roll with tuna, whitefish, salmon, shrimp and avocado.

Somewhere over the rainbow...there are more fish waiting to be eaten.

I know that I sound like a broken record, but Wolfgang Puck's sushi bar was producing amazing fishies that night. It all tasted incredible and when I say that, I want you all to understand that I don't use sauce, wasabi, or ginger with my sushi - I just eat the roll or the fish'n'rice as presented. The flavor was absolutely amazing and just thinking about it has set my salivary glands a droolin'.

Jay and I couldn't have been happier with the way our evening turned out and we wholeheartedly gave Wolfgang Puck's sushi bar our highest rating: MONSTROUS FINE!!!!

Friends, if you like sushi you simply must visit Puck's and get yourselves smacked upside the head with some raw fishies. It's just that good.

I eat my sushi just like you do; no soy sauce or yucky wasabi or yuckier ginger The sushi all looks incredible! Now I'm jonesin for sushi

 

[oybolshoi]

Ok ALL of that sushi looks AMAZING! I want some now! LOL And you got all of my favorites especially the spicy tuna!

Last time we ate at Wolfgang Puck's it was a bit of a miss, but we might just try it again now solely for sushi.

Hi there! Oh, that sushi was incredible - we are totally spoiled now for any kind of sushi here in Stinktown. And before we ate there we were hearing really good things about the sushi bar at Puck's, so I think you're probably in good shape if you give that a try on your next trip.

You know... I swear one of these days you two are going to sprout gills!!!

I wouldn't be surprised!

Loved the self portrait B. You wear your hat in that position around here and you might be finding yourself being initiated into some unsavory gang activity. Then again, you could probably talk your way out of it with some sushi conversation. Talk about a deer in headlights!

Nice reads B.

Hi Nancy! I wish we would have finished the world showcase drinking tour because we had some great pictures lined up for the end, but we can't use them yet because we failed. Hopefully this year we'll have better success and then we can really bust a gut with the re-telling!

wow that sushi looks amazing and a cool drinks count as well

Hey stranger! Thanks for reading and posting ... the sushi was awesome!

That sushi looks incredible!

It was ... try some on your next trip if you get a chance!

Great self picture

The sushi looks amazing and I am all over that wildberry lemonade.

Hi Deb! What I like best about that picture is how Jay was able to make it look a little blurry ... just like us!

And yes ... the sushi and lemonade were incredible!

I love coffee, I love alcohol, I really love coffee drinks with alcohol

Yes ... you can't go wrong with coffee and booze ... so so good!

Yikes! ya know it's bad when it gets compared to the drink in Poland

Not only was it bad but it was so disappointing ... that drink used to be a F&W staple and they've ruined it ... those ruiners!

frighten bedbugs

I thought that was funny, too!

I would've marched straight back to Norway for more coffee goodness or on to France for a Grand Marnier slushie to get rid of the yucky taste.

If it had happened earlier in the day we might have survived it, but we just felt like if we tried to do more we would live to regret it. Ah well, it was good practice for this year!

Wildberry lemonade sounds mighty good. I eat my sushi just like you do; no soy sauce or yucky wasabi or yuckier ginger The sushi all looks incredible! Now I'm jonesin for sushi

That wildberry lemonade was terrific and so was the sushi ... Jay and I are kinda jonesin for some ourselves today - I think we're going to have to pick some up at the grocery store this afteroon.

Thanks for reading everyone!

 

[SmallWorld71]

The sushi looks delicious! DH, DS10 and I are big fans and it's not that often that we get to have really good sushi. Glad the evening ended on a happy food note. I actually remember the China drink from your other reports (not sure what that says about me ) and I was very disappointed along with you that it wasn't up to snuff.

 

[oybolshoi]

The sushi looks delicious! DH, DS10 and I are big fans and it's not that often that we get to have really good sushi. Glad the evening ended on a happy food note. I actually remember the China drink from your other reports (not sure what that says about me ) and I was very disappointed along with you that it wasn't up to snuff.

The sushi was absolutely the best we had during the whole trip ... we still talk about it!

It doesn't say anything about you that you remember me talking about China's tea / wine cooler in past reports ... Jay and always drank at least one every time we went to F&W! It was so good that I always wanted to share the drink-love with you guys but I can't recommend it any longer. Too many other people have mentioned that it just didn't taste good in 2008 ... someone messed with the recipe.

Bleargh!

 

[oybolshoi]

For anyone interested in a non-Disney review I've posted a recap of a lunch Jay and I shared yesterday with his parents at Brio, an Italian restaurant here in Stinktown.

If you're interested just click on the link in my signature (gastropod travels) to get to my blog and read all about it.

Thanks and enjoy!

 

[Briarmom]

Hey Bendy! I've not been posting lately, but I had to pop in to say YUMMMMMM to the sushi pics.

 

[oybolshoi]

Hey Bendy! I've not been posting lately, but I had to pop in to say YUMMMMMM to the sushi pics.

Briarmom!!! I love hearing from you ... you're always so entertaining and you have the best stuff in your signature. That alcohol card is a perfect example ...

Oh, and that sushi was terrific so visit Wolfie next time you're at DTD ... and don't forget to have a drink!

 

[WDW Fan]

Brenda, I finally got caught up with your dining review and I was absolutely entertained!!! The foodie pictures and your quick witt were wonderful as usual. The sushi pictures were amazing from Wolfgang Puck! I truly admired your effort to drink your way around the World Showcase and you did a great job! Loved your latest review on the Gastropod travels!!! Hurry back with more please.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

Loved the newest update! The picture of you two on the bus is priceless. Certainly deserving of being blown up and framed in your home.

Now I have a serious question. I would not mind venturing out into the world of sushi. So where would you recommend a beginner start ? When recommending please type slow and explain things as I am completely sushi illiterate .

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Your description of WP's sushi sounds wonderful. I think DH would be very happy dining there one night-now I must put it on the list. I myself don't touch the stuff, but the man of the house is addicted to it. Maybe one day I'll feel the urge.

Love the exhausted/buzzed pic of you and Jay. You guys look like you ran the Disney gauntlet successfully that day!

 

[oybolshoi]

Brenda, I finally got caught up with your dining review and I was absolutely entertained!!! The foodie pictures and your quick witt were wonderful as usual. The sushi pictures were amazing from Wolfgang Puck! I truly admired your effort to drink your way around the World Showcase and you did a great job! Loved your latest review on the Gastropod travels!!! Hurry back with more please.

Hi Linda! Thank you so much for reading and for your lovely comments ... I'm working on the next update and will hopefully get that posted later this week. F&W boothing and then afternoon tea and then dinner at Blue Zoo with BriarRosie and TheDISneyFamily!!!

Loved the newest update! The picture of you two on the bus is priceless. Certainly deserving of being blown up and framed in your home.

Thanks! I don't think I want that picture hanging where anyone could actually see it ... no one would understand like you guys do!

Now I have a serious question. I would not mind venturing out into the world of sushi. So where would you recommend a beginner start ? When recommending please type slow and explain things as I am completely sushi illiterate .

Tough question ... I'm no sushi expert so it's really hard for me to say. I thought Puck's had nice variety ... what I like to call "safe" sushi as well as some of the more exotic stuff that Jay likes to eat. I'm a big fan of nigiri sushi which is just the fish and the rice with just a hint of wasabi. I have to be careful with the rolls because too much seaweed and other stuff like seeds and raw veggies can bother my crohn goblin.

Kimonos over at the Swan had a good sushi selection, too. I'm sorry I'm not more help on this ... it's hard to know where to send you and I hate to suggest someplace and then have you go there and hate it.

Your description of WP's sushi sounds wonderful. I think DH would be very happy dining there one night-now I must put it on the list. I myself don't touch the stuff, but the man of the house is addicted to it. Maybe one day I'll feel the urge.

Jay and I just started getting into sushi a few years ago and I've come a long way but I still won't eat a lot of the more ... creative ... dishes. I'm happy with salmon and tuna nigiri with a rainbow or california roll tossed in for variety. Jay is the one who will eat squid and octopus and kraken ...

Love the exhausted/buzzed pic of you and Jay. You guys look like you ran the Disney gauntlet successfully that day!

Thanks! I wish we'd finished the challenge so we could share the really good picture ... Never fear ... we know what we need to do this fall and we're prepared ... and then we can really dazzle everyone with our achievements.

 

[blueangel]

Loved the newest update! The picture of you two on the bus is priceless. Certainly deserving of being blown up and framed in your home.

Now I have a serious question. I would not mind venturing out into the world of sushi. So where would you recommend a beginner start ? When recommending please type slow and explain things as I am completely sushi illiterate .

Not to hijack, but a warning. A lot of people recommend starting with a California Roll because there isn't any raw fish, but most places will use roe on them (fish eggs). Make sure you ask about all ingredients before ordering! I am not up to raw yet, so I stick to things labeled tempura or crunchy and use plenty of soy sauce to hide the taste of the seaweed.

Someday I aspire to be like my sushi heroine, Brenda, but I am not yet couragaous enough.

 

[oybolshoi]

Not to hijack, but a warning. A lot of people recommend starting with a California Roll because there isn't any raw fish, but most places will use roe on them (fish eggs). Make sure you ask about all ingredients before ordering! I am not up to raw yet, so I stick to things labeled tempura or crunchy and use plenty of soy sauce to hide the taste of the seaweed.

Someday I aspire to be like my sushi heroine, Brenda, but I am not yet couragaous enough.

Hey there! I haven't seen you around for a while ... glad to know you're still here!

No need to worry about a thread hijack ... for one thing that never bothers me and for another you posted great advice which I certainly didn't think about (mostly because I've never eaten anything tempura). And I love love love the roe ...

Sushi heroine ... me? I always thought eating nigiri made me a sushi baby because it's so simple. But I think that's why I like it so much ... it's simple and flavorful without being too over the top. And who would have guessed that raw fish could taste so darn good?

Now I'm going to start singing on my way to work:

Fish-heads, fish-heads,
Roly-poly fish-heads;
Fish-heads, fish-heads;
Eat them up, yum!!!

 

[BriarRosie]

I liked the rant about China. You pull no punches. Go Brenda Go!

Tuesday, October 14th - We Tried and We Failed, the Lesson is ... Drown Your Sorrows in Sushi!

Jay and I couldn't have been happier with the way our evening turned out and we wholeheartedly gave Wolfgang Puck's sushi bar our highest rating: MONSTROUS FINE!!!!

Friends, if you like sushi you simply must visit Puck's and get yourselves smacked upside the head with some raw fishies. It's just that good.

And now you know why I made that offhand remark earlier:

"I've never made it past the sushi bar at Puck's to try anything else there."
See? See?

I've gone there for lunch after shopping at Downtown Disney usually. I haven't gone there as the specific destination, but I still love it.

 

[whogirl'smom]

I really want to be cool and hip and tell you how great that sushi looked, really I do....but alas, I am still a hick at heart and cannot try raw fish. I just (gulp) can't. But you're still my friendie!

Now, the alcohol-laced coffee--that I can get into! And something I can look forward to in December, when I'm not sweating buckets for a change!

 

[oybolshoi]

I liked the rant about China. You pull no punches. Go Brenda Go!

It was just nasty. And knowing how good it's been in past years made that experience a real disappointment. We'll never order it again ... singing toe beer it is this fall.

And now you know why I made that offhand remark earlier:

"I've never made it past the sushi bar at Puck's to try anything else there."
See? See?

I've gone there for lunch after shopping at Downtown Disney usually. I haven't gone there as the specific destination, but I still love it.

Puck's was terrific and now I really do understand why you can't make it to the upstairs dining room. I'm not sure we'll ever be able to walk past the sushi bar again!

I really want to be cool and hip and tell you how great that sushi looked, really I do....but alas, I am still a hick at heart and cannot try raw fish. I just (gulp) can't. But you're still my friendie!

Now, the alcohol-laced coffee--that I can get into! And something I can look forward to in December, when I'm not sweating buckets for a change!

You're still cool even if you don't like sushi. It's an acquired taste and some people just don't enjoy it ... I can respect that!

The viking coffee is excellent ... be sure to ask for extra whipped cream!