**Disclaimer** This was my very first attempt at writing WDW dining reviews ... so pardon me if things seem a bit rough around the edges. I was still trying to find my food-voice. ;-)
A little background before we begin, so that you know who the guilty parties are and why they do the seemingly bizarre things that they do:
Brenda: celebrated my 37th birthday the day before we arrived at WDW. I want to eat well, and sometimes I do, but Crohns disease makes me a picky eater; it's a defense mechanism - no one wants their intestinal tract to explode at Disney World. My gastronomic philosophy can best be summed up as this: I don't like stuff in my food.
Jason: trailing behind his aging wife at the ridiculously young age of 36...he wants to eat well, too, and has spent the last ten years convincing me that there is more to life than tuna fish. He is Captain Adventure when it comes to food - the spicier the better as far as Jay is concerned. His gastronomic philosophy is simple, but effective: Bye-bye belt!
We were joined for the last seven days of our trip by my parents. I mention this only because the pictures and reviews will begin to include their choices as well as ours and I didn't want you guys thinking that Jay and I were eating for a family of four all by ourselves!
Reviews will include the following:
Food & Wine Pairing at Coral Reef (Epcot - F&W Festival)
Kona Cafe (Polynesian Resort)
Artists Palette (Saratoga Springs Resort)
Raglan Road Irish Pub (Downtown Disney)
Beach Club Marketplace (Beach Club Resort)
Rose & Crown Pub (Epcot)
Sweet Sundays (Epcot - F&W Festival)
Hurricane Hannahs (Beach Club Resort)
The Plaza (Magic Kingdom)
Victoria & Albert's (Grand Floridian Resort)
Food & Wine Pairing at Restaurant Marrakesh (Epcot - F&W Festival)
Casey's (Magic Kingdom)
Cape May Buffet, Character Breakfast (Beach Club Resort)
Beaches & Cream (Beach Club Resort)
California Grill (Contemporary Resort)
Yacht Club Galley (Yacht Club Resort)
Columbia Harbor House (Magic Kingdom)
Afternoon Tea (Grand Floridian Resort)
I'll also be including a review of the Food & Wine Festival marketplace, which saw Jay and me pigging out at 23 of a possible 26 food booths over the length of our visit. I wish we were eating it all right now!
I Never Knew the Blues Could Taste so Good ... House of Blues (Downtown Disney, 10/18/06)
Between traveling to WDW and relaxing at the Mandara spa on our first day in Florida, there wasn't much time for food until dinner. Luckily, thanks to years of prowling the DIS and months of anal over-planning, I knew enough to make dinner reservations months in advance of any hunger pangs we might experience. Jay and I were not on the Disney dining plan until my parents joined us, so the first few days were all out of pocket and worth every penny.
Our dinner reservation was for 8PM and we were a few minutes late thanks to our decision to walk over to the West Side from our room at Saratoga Springs. This was the first time we stayed at SSR and we underestimated the length of time it would take to walk, especially because we forgot that HoB is at the very end of all the stuff on the West Side. The place was packed when we checked in, but I don't think we waited more than 10 minutes before being seated. We had a very personable waiter from Cuba whose name escapes me but he took great care of us and made some wonderful recommendations. Jason and I started the meal with an appetizer:
Pan Seared Voodoo Shrimp with Rosemary Cornbread and Dixie Beer Reduction
This was yummy! I love shrimp and although I was worried about too much spice, this dish was all about flavor rather than excruciating pain. The cajun seasoning was great and resulted in a bit of kick on the back of the tongue, but nothing too extreme. The cornbread was moist and flavorful and soaked up the dixie beer sauce just fine. We both really enjoyed this selection - I could have made a meal out of it by myself.
For his dinner, Jason ordered the Grilled Fillet of Atlantic Salmon with Shrimp Jambalya Risotto, Asparagus Tips, and Green Onion Butter. I'm not a huge fan of salmon, but Jay loves it and orders it whenever he can - he said this dish was very tasty indeed.
Pretty fishie...
As for me...I tried something different at the suggestion of our waiter who said, quite rightly, that I could eat chicken tenders anywhere. I was flying high from my successful experience with the voodoo shrimp and decided to roll the dice by ordering the Grilled Marinated Chicken Breast with a Savory Andouille-Cornbread Pudding, Pinot Noir Sauce, and Sauteed Vegetables. Well, I should have remembered that I was going to order chicken tenders for a reason; said reason being that I don't like things like andouille sausage and too many green vegetables often result in an intestinal reversal of fortune (was that more than you needed to know, gentle reader?).
The chicken breast was actually quite good - tender and flavorful thanks to the pinot noir sauce, but I thought the bread pudding was disgusting - the flavors just didn't do it for me. Here's a picture of my dinner before I didn't eat much of it:
Bread pudding is only for dessert!
Our wonderful waiter with the name I can't remember was very concerned that I didn't eat much, especially when it came to the bread pudding thingie. I told him I was a picky eater on a good day and that I liked plain cornbread better than the bread pudding that actually came with the dish. Bless his kind heart if he didn't come back a few minutes later with some plain old boring cornbread for this old crohn!
We had planned on ordering dessert but we just didn't have room for it. And to be honest, I was only six weeks out from my second surgery of the year and I was feeling pretty darn tired. I really just wanted a nice Darvocett and a soft, comfortable bed, so this was it for our first evening at the World.
Our waiter gave us a 10% coupon for the Gospel Brunch that HoB has on Sundays and we would have loved to have attended but we already had other plans, as you will read further along in this review. Still, it was a nice gesture on his part. We used our DVC discount and got 20% off the dining tab for the evening and then we strolled back over to the room to watch the Cardinals lose game 6 of the NLCS to the Mets before falling asleep. Overall, the experience at HoB was pretty darn good and we'd definitely go back again.
5 comments:
Now I'm intrigued ... who posted and then deleted? And what deliciously terrible thing did you say that you felt compelled to remove?
You can tell us ... ;-)
It was me. Sorry, I was trying to comment on the dessert entry and clicked on "God Is My Witness..." by accident. Blogging is very new for me.....I've only just learned how to check email--lol.
Oh, don't be sorry Paige ... I was just having some fun with ya sistah!
Blogging is new for me too ... I'm pretty sure that I'm just winging it here ... hopefully none of us will get plooped on by internet birds. ;-)
Great blog. And it's so funny. You should write for a travel guide.
(I post as chrisw127 on DIS boards and came from there.
Thanks for stopping by to take a look Chris and thanks for kind words. If I could find someone to give me a job to write I'd be in heaven ... especially if it included cheeeeeeeese!
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