Where WE ate over Labor Day weekend

[halfway there]

We stayed one night at ASMo before heading over to AKL for another two. There were four of us including DD 12 and DS 8.

ASMo food court: I've always heard good things about this particular food court especially in comparison to the other two, now I know why. It is better!! But why? I can't figure it out but maybe it's the abundance of choices and quality food. We certainly enjoyed it for dinner our first night and breakfast the next morning.

dinner: nachos (YUM!), baked chicken X2 w/veggies and rice , pasta w/breadstick

breakfast: omelette w/potates and biscuit, Mickey waffle w/bacon (large, did you know these came in two sizes?), chocolate chip pancakes (can't find these everywhere!), chocolate covered croissant (can you tell DD is a chocoholic?)

Mara: This place has a lot of variety as well and delicious food. I think they get the extras from Boma's (double YUM!). It's the only place we ate at AKL since we have done Boma's for breakfast and dinner (twice) already. I did enjoy breathing in the smell of Boma's whenever I had the chance! DH isn't a big fan and wanted to try other things while I pined for Boma (one of my favorites in all of WDW!)

lunch: turkey wrap from the prepackaged section, chicken pepper pot soup (from Boma's), salad, Doritos (DS wasn't hungry after that Mickey waffle!), zebra domes and mocha nut crunch (also from Boma ). It was in a little sampler box in the refrigerated section. Definitely go take a look if you haven't been to Boma's yet and want to see what all the fuss is about!

Shula's: This is at the Dolphin where we took advantage of the free kid's club Camp Dolphin for two hours. We were a little over our limit but they let us slide! The steaks here were excellent but this place is expensive! The veggies are separately priced so the only thing included with the steak is peppers and mushrooms. DH finished the 48oz porterhouse and will have his named engraved on a plaque! We'll have to go see it next time!

dinner: NY strip sirloin, Caesar salad (only OK), 48oz porterhouse (honestly it looked huge when they brought it out raw and I said "no way, you'll never finish it" but once it was cooked it wasn't too bad, for him anyway. He gnawed right down to the bone! ), asparagus (DH said too hard, wouldn't have gotten if he knew other veggies were included)

We went here with another couple who were celebrating an anniversary so we got a free chocolate souffle! I was stuffed but it was good. They split if 4 ways and pour cream or something over it. I don't know that I would order it myself, but it was a nice freebie! They both had prime rib which I guess they liked but again the asparagus was too hard! Undercooked perhaps?

Donald's breakfastasaurus: Character breakfast at AK. We were running late but then they hold you at the entrance so despite being there right at 8:30am for our 8:30 reservations, we didn't go up to the restaurant till almost 9am. We were starved! We had a very funny waiter. Mickey spilled OJ all over our table! (What are ya gonna do? He's a mouse with big hands!) We also saw Donald, Pluto and Goofy. Good basic buffet food.

Ohana: Not too thrilled with this experience. Nothing bad really but DH is on Atkins and we hoped all the meat would be a good choice but it seems everything here is slathered with sugar of some sort. It wasn't a big deal as he'd already downed a donut at breakfast ( ) but the dressing on the salad was a honey-lime concoction, pork and shrimp had a sweet BBQ sauce, veggies were in sweet stir fry sauce, wings - honey coriander and dipping sauces were fruit, BBQ, and peanut (which tasted like a teriyaki-soy sauce combination, DD and I loved it), the wontons tasted too fishy to me altho' DH said they were fine and one thing that wasn't sweetened, the turkey was the best, the steak so-so and finally the pineapple with caramel sauce! That is an extreme sugar shock!! Who eats this?

We didn't participate in any of the fun because we didn't even know where it was happening. We could hear the goings on but it must have been on the other side. The waiters weren't very engaging but the hostess did come by at the end which was nice. No great loss but I don't think we'll be hurrying back here any time soon.

House of Blues: Very weird looking place in DTD Westside but the food was good. We were searching for Hidden Mickey's at this point and DS was convinced there had to be one in here with all the, uh, decoration, I'll call it! LOL

lunch: pepperoni pizza (pepperoni was cut in little matchsticks, very unique and delicious), roast beef sandwich sans the bread w/greens instead of fries (Atkins), hamburger, grilled cheese and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies (for the chocoholic, of course )

Whew!! That's about it. Enjoy!

 

[Magickndm]

Originally posted by halfway there
Ohana: Not too thrilled with this experience.

Guess that's why there are different restuarants. We ate there Sunday and loved it!

the wontons tasted too fishy to me

They are stuffed with shrimp, so that's the fishy taste. We ate all of ours and asked for more.

finally the pineapple with caramel sauce! That is an extreme sugar shock!! Who eats this?

Ummm...we did. We loved this as well, even made a mental note what a quick, pretty dessert this would be for company.

 

[onecoolmama]

I think that it all comes down to tastes. I have never eaten there, but my guess because everyone raves about how great it is...if you ordered something different on a different day and sat at a different table, the whole expirience could be different! I would give it another try in and if you still didn't like it, then I would be done with it. It is a bummer that you didn't have a good time there. It is a lot of money to spend on a not so great expirience.

 

[halfway there]

Magickndm,

All the more room for you there now, eh?
Interestingly, we were there Sunday night too! Small world!!
Typically, I do not eat seafood but can usually tolerate shrimp in things like eggrolls. The one wonton I had tasted like bad fish so it could have been just that one....or just me.
I didn't mean to knock the place, we didn't hate it, we just weren't thrilled at our experience so I thought I'd share for those who like to see a both sides. Thanks for your comments.

You're right onecoolmama, different strokes for different folks. I probably will give it another chance but there is so much more to eat out there. I'd rather spend my time and money exploring the next good thing. We'll come back to it eventually.

 

[jmkst58]

I didn't fall in love with O'hana's either. Must be as onecoolmamma said.

THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS. good stuff. thanks!

 

[KSgirl]

We were there Sunday night too. We sat by the windows and had a great view of MK. Enjoyed the meal, but won't go back with our 4 kids.

 

[Magickndm]

I didn't think you were knocking it at all, halfway there, it's so true, different people have different tastes. The one restaurant we weren't thrilled with was Alfredo's, but like onecoolmama said, it could have been the time we ate (New Year's Eve), the food we picked, and the fact that they sat too many of us at a small table.
I love your quote, I hope to eat at all the restaurants too one day.

 

[halfway there]

Thanks Magickndm!

Good to know I didn't offend!

 

[Harambe]

Thanks for the positive review of Mara. We're going to be at AKL in Jan. and I wasn't sure how good this counter service was. We do have ressies at Boma for our anniversary dinner! Hope we like it as much as you!

 

[Scratch42]

I was not impressed, food was good but service was lacking.

We had PS's for 5:30 and did not get in until just before 6:00. Then they stuck us behind the wall so we did not see any of the so called action! It was nice to try but not a must do! The Pineapple we received was not even ripe and with the Caramel Sauce made it even worse!YUCK!

Also, regarding the woman who tried to sing, DD said she should take singing lessons!

Thank goodness the Kona Coffee made up for it! Got a take out at the Kafe! Next time will go there instead!

Scratch

 

[halfway there]

Originally posted by Scratch42
The Pineapple we received was not even ripe and with the Caramel Sauce made it even worse!YUCK!

Actually, neither was ours! Maybe that's why I disliked it so much!?

Also, regarding the woman who tried to sing, DD said she should take singing lessons!

TOO funny!!

Thank goodness the Kona Coffee made up for it! Got a take out at the Kafe! Next time will go there instead!

We loved Kona! Do try it!!

Harambe,
Mara is like a Boma preview. Enjoy!

Thanks to all for your comments.