Hall of Shame: Yak & Yeti, December 25, 2007

We have always been impressed with the way all of Disney’s restaurants accommodate a variety of diners’ preferences, particularly our own.  If you have been following our dining adventures, then you are aware that we are pescatarians, so the only living animals that we eat are those which fall under the category of seafood.

Being that Disney is El-Cheapo, they only allow us to enter certain parks on December 25, Animal Kingdom being one of them.  Last year, we happily lunched on salmon at the Tusker House, but a year of change brought an end to our Tusker House counter service, replacing it with a character buffet.  We chose not to spend our time lunching with 200 cranky toddlers on Christmas day, so instead elected to make reservations at the new Animal Kingdom table service restaurant: Yak & Yeti.

Our first mistake here was not to read the menu in advance, since it was, frankly, uninspiring (or uninspired?).  We were caught up in the excitement of a NEW restaurant in a park that, even before the downfall of Tusker House, has always sorely lacked dining options.

We entered the restaurant just before 12:00 noon, the time of our reservations.  It was much less crowded than we’d expected it to be on Christmas day: only about 20% occupied.   Despite this fact, it took our server a full 10 minutes to greet us.  In our 10 minutes of wait time, we had ample opportunity to peruse the dining menu, and I thought there must be an error somewhere, since nowhere on the menu was a single vegetarian entree listed.  There were two fish entrees, but neither one sounded appealing, so we hoped that this restaurant might do what San Angel Inn does and have a vegetarian menu available on request.  When the server arrived, I asked her about vegetarian options.  And here the hilarity began.

She first said, “Well, I can tell them to leave the chicken and shrimp off the lo mein noodles.”

I replied, “That might be okay.”

She responded, “But the noodles are made with beef broth.”

“Then that’s not really a vegetarian option, is it?” I pointed out to her.  “Since they’re made with beef.”

“That’s why I mentioned it,” our server responded.

Um…  Why suggest it as a vegetarian option at all, if it’s made with beef?  Yak & Yeti is a Landry-owned restaurant; surely we can’t be the first non-meat-eaters they’ve encountered.

Her next suggestion was equally unacceptable.  “Well, I could have them serve you the side dishes of plain rice, with some steamed vegetables.”  Yum.  No, really,  yum.  Plain rice and some steamed vegetables.  That’s EXACTLY why we chose to go out for Christmas lunch.  We stared at each other in astonishment, realizing that these were the Yak & Yeti options for vegetarians: beef noodles or plain rice and steamed vegetables. It was at this point that we told our server thanks, but no thanks, and left Yak & Yeti in disgust.  And, seeing that it was Christmas day, and we were in the Animal Kingdom park, our only other options were soggy Pizzafari pizza or Rainforest Cafe, which ended up being what we chose.

Before we left the park, we went to guest services to register a complaint at the lack of vegetarian options at Yak & Yeti.  We realize this isn’t a Disney-owned restaurant, but come on!  It’s on Disney property, which has historically proven to be wonderfully accommodating to those with diverse dietary needs.  I don’t think we’ve ever just walked out of a restaurant before, but there’s always a first time for everything.  Yak & Yeti goes into our Hall of Shame, and from now on, we will read the menu before making a reservation somewhere!

Raglan Road, September 20, 2007

We had reservations for a 6:30 dinner here, with my sister-in-law and her friend, so this time we were a party of 4.  Of the four of us, my sister-in-law and her friend both ate meat, while my husband and I are still pescatarians!  When we got to the restaurant, we were seated promptly.  I asked to be seated in a quieter room, since we weren’t interested in loud entertainment or louder drunks, and they accommodated us by seating us in one of the side rooms.

My husband and I began with our old favorite, the Smokie City.  For those not in the know about this appetizer, it’s described as “Oven-baked layers of smoked pollock with mature Wexford cheddar and double cream, served with crusty bread.”  At $11.95 for a two-person appetizer, it’s not a great bargain, but is Disney-reasonable.  When my parents-in-law first suggested this appetizer to us, we were iffy on the whole concept of fish mixed with cheese and cream.  But it is really, really good!  The smokiness of the fish is a great foil for the milder potatoes, tomatoes, and cream, while the melted cheese is great with this dish.  We are both big fans of it, and we order this appetizer every time we go to this restaurant.

My sister-in-law ordered the Dalkey Duo, which turned out to be pigs in blankets on forks.  They’d really been excited about this one, but said that the taste was disappointing.

Husband’s entree was the standard fish and chips, with a request to “overcook” the chips. They typically come out of the kitchen in the British-style, which is softer than we Yanks prefer. We were tipped off to this on a previous visit so didn’t make the same mistake twice. The fish was not greasy, but had a slightly off-taste. Wasn’t fishy or bleachy, but a distinct chemical that wasn’t cut by adding lemon.

I was debating between the Scallop Forest, which I’d had before, and the Goats Town, which I’d not yet tried for my entree (I find two appetizers are more than sufficient for me).  I asked our server which he recommended, and he was strongly against the scallops.  Hmmm…  He was so vehement that I didn’t question whether it was a matter of quality that night, or a matter of personal preference.  Regardless, I went with his suggestion and ordered the Goats Town.  This was described on the menu as “Irish goats cheese terrine made with sauteed garlic, shallots, shiitake mushrooms,” so I was expecting more of a terrine.  Instead, I got a round piece of goat cheese.  It was good, mild, but still goaty enough for me, but just not what I expected.  I didn’t care to eat a huge amount of plain goat cheese for dinner, so I quit about halfway through.

My sister-in-law had the Pie in the Sky, a chicken and wild mushroom pie, served with rocket, though not, in her case – she has something against rocket, apparently.  The server was more than willing to substitute.  She enjoyed this, but didn’t seem to be wowed by it.

My sister-in-law’s friend had the Serious Sirloin Steak, served medium well.  Aaack!  But she enjoyed it that way, and actually said it was the best steak she’d had in a long time.

For dessert, my husband and I split the Ger’s Bread and Butter Pudding, about which I’d read so much.  It was exactly like eating warm, spongy butter.  This was the most buttery-tasting dish I think I’ve ever tried, with the exception of an actual stick of butter.  It was warm, moist, buttery, and essentially delicious, though it was so rich that we only ate about a third of it.  My sister-in-law and friend had recently been to ‘Ohana and had the bread pudding there, and they said this bread pudding was very similar.  My sister-in-law, to be different, got the Dunbrody Kiss, which was a chocolate dessert.  She seemed to enjoy it except for the rice krispies inside, but I was glad that we got the bread pudding, since it was really an outstanding version of bread pudding.

Overall, we enjoyed our dinner at Raglan Road very much.  My sister-in-law reported that it was their best dinner on their trip to WDW.  We always find the food to be exceptional, better than that of most of the Disney-owned restaurants, and, as locals, we appreciate the availability of reservations at Raglan Road!

California Grill, August 7, 2007

When we arrived at the check-in desk downstairs in the Contemporary, we asked the hostess whether it would be possible to wait for a window seat. She said that she would see what she could do, and she radioed upstairs to let them know that a couple at Disney for their anniversary was requesting a window seat. She then warned us that it might be a bit of a wait and sent us up on the elevator.

When we arrived on the 15th floor, we wandered out to the outside walkway, fully expecting to spend quite a while out there. The walkway had a good amount of people on it, waiting for a table, so we assumed that it would take a bit of time to get a table. Wrong! Within 5 minutes our pager was buzzing, and we were off, to be seated at the most glorious table in all of Christendom. Coincidentally enough, this was the same table we were given last year, so perhaps it’s now a tradition for us?

To show you just how magnificent this table was, I’ll post two photos of our view:

And this:

Both of these photos were taken from the table. Fantabulous, hmm?

Now, I have to give a disclaimer about the photos that will accompany this review. They kind of stink. My husband said that the ISO was set wrong (?), and so they look extremely funky. But you will get the idea, at least, of the presentation & the quantity of the portions.

For our appetizer, we began with Yoshi’s Deluxe Sushi Platter. We both love sushi! And we both really love the California Grill sushi, which is always inventive and always fresh. For example, one of the items on the sushi platter was a roll with fried shrimp inside. My husband’s fried shrimp roll had a piece of strawberry in it, which we’ve had before, and we both love. The tart, juicy strawberry contrasts so nicely with the warm, crispy-coated shrimp. Heavenly… My fried shrimp roll had pieces of melon inside it, which was a nice surprise. Again, the crispness of the melon went very well with the tempura fried shrimp.

The rest of the items were fairly standard rolls & nigiri, some with slight twists like the fish with lemon zest over it. All of the pieces of fish were tender, soft, and very, very delicious. We enjoyed this dish was much as we usually do.

For his entree, my husband elected to go with the BLT flatbread. He was saving room for the cheese platter here! He really liked the bacon on it; it was good quality bacon and was quite thick. He wished that the cheese had had a little more flavor to it, but the crust was nice; crispy and well-seasoned. The lettuce was interesting, because he wasn’t used to lettuce on a pizza, but he liked it. He thought that the tomatoes were a bit juicy, and he wished that they’d been drained a little better. Overall, he enjoyed this selection, though he couldn’t finish it. By the end, the richness of the cheese & the heaviness of the bacon were too much for him.

My entree was another sushi platter: the Yellowfin Tuna Three Ways, poki, tataki, and tartare. The poki was just large-ish, competely raw chunks of tuna, topped with something that was funky looking and bright green. I don’t know what it was, but I enjoyed it! Each of the three items was topped with a different color caviar. The poki had red caviar; the tataki had green caviar; the tartare had yellow caviar.

The tataki was very nice, though I have to give the edge to the Flying Fish’s version of this. The outside was lightly seared, and the inside was nice and rare, but I had been really wowed by the Flying Fish chef’s use of interesting spices on the crust of their tuna tataki. In comparison, this one was a bit bland.

I saved the tuna tartare for last, because it’s usually my favorite, but this one, while good, was actually a touch too spicy for my taste. As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t tolerate heat well, so a normal person may find the level of heat to be just right. The small cubes of mango mixed in with the tuna were quite nice, and I enjoyed their fruitiness. It complemented the tuna very well.

For dessert, we couldn’t wait for the cheese plate! The cheeses were, from first to last:

• Coulommiers- a bit mroe flavor than a brie; liked
• Lionza- mild
• Flixer- good to see you, old friend!  Thanks for the Flying Fish memories
• Clochette- good, not too goaty
• Hubbardston Blue- not memorable, at least at this point

We took our time eating these cheeses, savoring each one; I liked them all. The cheese plate at the California Grill costs $2 more than the one at the Flying Fish, and we didn’t know why that was, except possibly because the California Grill serves larger portions of cheese. We were quite pleased with the size of the cheese wedges here.

Our server was so kind as to bring us out a slice of possibly the richest chocolate cake I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. We couldn’t quite finish it, but we made a good effort! It was lovely, with a thick, cold, extremely rich chocolate ganache layered between the slices of soft, moist chocolate cake.

For those interested in dining at the California Grill, the dress code is business casual. Shorts and tank tops are out of place here. Sushi platters average $20, and entrees range from $23-35. The flatbreads are a relatively affordable entree alternative with a $10-$14 price tag.

Many people come solely for the view, which is a mistake. Odds are against ever being given a window seat, especially around fireworks time. For as many times as we’ve been to the California Grill, we’ve only gotten a window seat twice: our past two visits. If you don’t have a window seat, forget about trying to view from within the restaurant. People at the bar will shout at you to move and crouch down, even if you happen to be barely 5 feet tall (I know this from experience!). And people on the viewing walkway will shove you around. Apparently fireworks at Disney are the equivalent of a shipment of food to the Sudan. People are ready to hurt you, just to get a better fireworks view. It’s a scary thing.

But the food alone is worth visiting for. In many ways, I wish they’d move Chef Mickey’s up here and just create a Lord of the Flies-esque pandemonium on Floor 15, while letting those of us who enjoy good cuisine quietly eat our California Grill meals, sans shoving or yelling, in a less view-centered arena.

Victoria & Albert’s Chef’s Table, August 4, 2007

Since we had our wedding reception at Victoria & Albert’s Restaurant, we return here every year for our anniversary. We prefer to eat at the Chef’s Table, even if we can’t get it on quite the right date, which happened to be the case this year.

Even though the Chef’s Table is in the kitchen, the dress code is still formal, with jacket required for men and a similar level of formality for women. Once seated at the Chef’s Table, though, men can remove their jackets, which is a big no-no in the main room. The primary advantage of the Chef’s Table is twofold: 1. You get to sample EVERYTHING and 2. You get to interact with the chefs and watch them at work.

On this particular evening, Chef Scott was off, so Sous Chef Aimee was our chef for the evening. My husband selected to go with the wine pairings, but we all started off with a champagne toast: Hiedsieck Monopole Blue Top Brut Champagne, NV.

Our amuse bouche course was incredible, so we began the meal with exuberance. The Cream of Cashew soup was sweet and incredibly creamy, and the candied cashews added an interesting crunchy texture that contrasted nicely with the thick creaminess of the soup. There were small pieces of squash in the soup that my husband could have done without; he felt that they didn’t add anything to either the flavor or the texture.

The next amuse was Lobster en Crepe with Vanilla Aioli. In contrast to the soup, this was very light and delicate. We wished that it had a bit more flavor; the strongest taste came from the vanilla. I wished that there had been more caviar, because there is usually a caviar-based amuse bouche.

Our final amuse was Monterey Abalone with Preserved Lemon. Neither of us had ever had abalone before, so this was a new taste for us. In my husband’s words, it tasted like “an awesome fried clam.” It was clean and tender, with a bright taste, and was fried delicately, so that it wasn’t greasy at all. This dish and the cashew soup both had that “wow” factor.

My husband’s first course was Seared Colorado Buffalo Tenderloin, Braised Fennel, Radishes and Blood Orange Vinaigrette. He could only taste the outside of the tenderloin: the sear and the seasoning. The inside wasn’t as flavorful, so it got lost in the stronger flavor of the crust, which tasted almost like beef jerky. The blood oranges had an exotic taste, like oranges with an interesting twist. The wine paired with this was the Cantina Del Taburno Falanghina, Campania 2005.

My first course was upsetting to me, mainly because it included *gasp!* prosciutto. As I’d specifically told them that I didn’t eat meat, and as Chef Aimee had confirmed this with me prior to the start of the meal, I was surprised that they’d made this glaring omission to their usually dietary vigilance. I peeled the prosciutto off and gave it to my husband, and then proceeded to eat the (no longer) Prosciutto Wrapped Gulf Shrimp with Melon Coulis and Pickled Watermelon.

This dish was very good, nice and light; the melon coulis gave a faintly sweet, fresh taste to the shrimp. Except for the pig, I enjoyed it very much.

Our next dishes were similar, yet different: two variations on one theme. My husband had the Crab Stuffed Tempura Squash Bloom with Grape Must Mustard. The tempura batter was light, not greasy, and the crab was sweet, which provided a nice foil for the fried batter. This dish was great. The mustard was creamy, not too pungent or strong, and it was light enough to pair with the crab without overpowering it. Every ingredient was beautifully matched. It was the kind of dish that, if we tried to make it at home, the mustard would be too strong, or the crab would be too tasteless, or the batter would be too greasy, but somehow the chefs at Victoria & Albert’s harmonized these ingredients beautifully. He ate it all, even the stem! His wine with this was one of our favorites, Caymus Conundrum, California, 2001.

My dish was a Vegetable Ratatouille Stuffed Tempura Squash Bloom with Tomato Broth. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this dish. I’d had the crab stuffed squash blossom before and had been a big fan, so I was at first disappointed to get a different version. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of tomato broth, but, again, every ingredient worked so well together. The faintly tart tomato cut through the light, fluffy, crispy tempura batter, while the bits of vegetable added an interest to the texture. My husband offered to half his squash blossom with me, but after tasting mine, I said that I’d prefer to stick with my own dish, though I did taste his.

My husband’s next course was a Pondichery Peppered Quail with a Four Grain Pancake, Georgia Peaches and Corn. He said that this was so nice. The best part was the cracked pepper on top of the quail egg; it tasted like no other cracked pepper he’d ever had, and it worked well with the quail. The theme was pancakes and eggs, and the pancake was okay. It was a nice background but didn’t really add anything to the dish. The quail was juicy, tender, and extremely flavorful. The egg was too small; he wanted more of it. It was cooked sunny side up just perfectly: a little past soft, so that it didn’t run everywhere, but still had a nice liquidity to it. The wine paired with this was a Grans-Fassian Auslese Trittenheimer Apotheke, Pfalz 2002, and it was off-dry. He liked this wine very much.

My next dish was a Vegetarian Consommee with Potato Gnocchi and Morels Mushrooms. I thought that this was the weakest of all of my dishes. The vegetable broth was very light, and, though it had some flavor, it was still lacking oomph. I was underwhelmed. The potato gnocchi was very light and fluffy, but, again, wasn’t as interesting as it could have been.

My husband’s next dish was a Ballotine of Poulet Rouge with Duck Consomme and Morels. This was his weakest dish. The duck and the consomme were both rich and flavorful, but the chicken didn’t go very well with the mushrooms. The chicken was too mild tasting, and didn’t pair well with the earthiness of the mushrooms. He thought it was a weak match. Boiled chicken by itself has a wimpy taste anyway, so there probably wasn’t much they could have done to make this dish interesting or exotic. The wine with this was a Newton Red Label Chardonnay, Napa 2005.

I had the Seared Wild Turbot with Brown Butter Sauce and Toasted Capers. Chef Aimee said that Turbot was her favorite fish, and I agreed that it tasted wonderful. The fish was deliciously flavorful, and the rich, creamy brown butter sauce contrasted beautifully with the tartness of the capers. Despite the rich sauce, this dish was not too heavy at all.

My husband then had the Duo of Pan Roasted and Chilled Terrine of Foie Gras. The foie gras had a great taste, but it was a bit greasy and weighed heavier than it normally would have, given how full he was. It was slightly over-salted, as well. In comparison with the foie gras he’d recently had at Per Se, this was a disappointment. It still had a great taste, but he’s had better foie gras there. This was paired with Royal Tokaji Azsu 5 Puttonyos, Mad Tokaj-Hegyalja 2000, which we’ve had before. We always enjoy this dessert wine.

The terrine was rich, and it tasted very much like a richer, gamier version of a chicken liver pate. It was heavier than the seared foie gras, and he wished that they’d just served him the foie gras, not the duo.

My next course was Virginia Beach Striped Bass with Oyster Sauce and Asian Vegetables. The bass was good, and the oyster sauce added a nice flavor to the mild taste of the fish. The sauce was enjoyable, but not outstanding; it tasted like standard oyster sauce.

My husband’s main course was a Tasting of Japanese “Wagyu” and Australian “Kobe” Beef Tenderloin with Oxtail Jus. This was paired with a Chateau Cantemerle, Haut-Medoc 2003.

The Australian “kobe” was tender like butter. He didn’t really need to use the knife with this. The flavor, also, was mild. He’s had this several times before, at just about every meal. The jus had an anise, licorice flavor to it and was very rich.

The Japanese Wagyu, in comparison, was like night and day. It had so much more beef flavor. It was extremely well seasoned and had more marbling, which is probably why it had so much more flavor. He definitely preferred the wagyu to the “kobe.”

The shortribs that accompanied this dish were the one of the richest things he’s ever eaten. They were nicely shredded, not fatty, but a bit greasy. They felt heavy in his mouth, and he could barely finish this dish, not because of the way it tasted, but because of where it was placed in the meal. The shortribs tasted great, though he has to give the preference to the pork shortribs that Chef Aimee does also.

My next dish was an Alaskan King Salmon with Bamboo Rice Blend,Coconut Broth. The salmon was great. It had a lot of flavor, and there were crispy, very salted pieces of salmon that tasted almost like bacon. I enjoyed it very much, especially since I’m a big salmon fan but don’t often get salmon of this quality.

The bamboo rice was flavorful. Again, it was very salty, but it tasted more like something that I could get in a good Chinese restaurant, instead of something truly special and unique.

We then each had a cheese course next: a Comte Saint Antoine, Pierre Robert, Monte Enebro and Fourme D’Ambert. Unfortunately, we don’t remember much about these! The Comte Saint Antoine was rather mild, as the first cheese, and the Pierre Robert had more flavor than the triple creme cheeses usually do. The Monte Enebro was a goat’s cheese that was very good, and the Fourme D’Ambert was quite mild for a blue cheese. My husband’s final wine was a Cockburn’s 10 year old Tawny Porto. I prefer a 20 year tawny port, since the flavor is just much richer, but this one was quite good also.

We then had a course of fruity desserts: Wild Strawberry Sorbet, Mango-Yogurt Panna Cotta and Miniature Banana Gateau. The sorbet was a nice palate cleanser, and we preferred this course of fruit-based desserts followed by a chocolate dessert to the meals from years past when we had a chocolate course followed by another heavy or rich dessert. The Mango-Yogurt Panna Cotta was also light and refreshing, and the banana gateau was very sweet and creamy, but still fairly light.

Our final course was the chocolate course: Tanzanian Chocolate Pyramid, Hawaiian Kona Chocolate Souffle and Peruvian Chocolate Ice Cream and Puff Pastry. Of these three items, we’d had two before: the souffle and the pyramid. The ice cream and puff pastry was new to us on this trip, and I didn’t like the way it looked. It reminded me of a small, spiky animal. It wasn’t enough to keep me from tasting it, but I just didn’t find the presentation to be very appealing.

Of the three chocolate dishes, my least favorite was the Peruvian Chocolate Ice Cream. My husband agreed that it was nothing special, but he thought that it was the best of the three! He said this was probably because it was cold and at that point, he was so full that he wanted something a bit more refreshing. The chocolate pyramid was a deliciously rich mousse, though the Kona chocolate souffle was too heavy for me to eat at this point in the meal! Each time we eat at the Chef’s Table, we come with empty stomachs and try to do justice to all of the courses, but we never quite make it. Still, I’d prefer having too much fantastic food at Victoria & Albert’s than a few good courses and stingy portions at Per Se.

And, as always, we finished with a delicious cup of coffee, brewed in the Cona coffee maker:

Overall, this was an immensely enjoyable experience. We always appreciate the care and attention to detail that go into our meals at Victoria & Albert’s. The service was very smooth, and the only glitch was the prosciutto that found its way into my shrimp dish. This was disappointing, but not enough to prevent us from returning, and neither are the rapidly rising dinner prices

Sunshine Seasons Food Fair, August 5 & 7

We visited this counter service restaurant twice, only getting a soup on our first trip.  The reason for this was that we’d eaten lunch earlier that day at the Kringla Bakeri Og Cafe, and then we went off to do the Aqua Tour.  All the swimming left me hungry after a relatively light lunch, so I suggested that we stop by the Sunshine Seasons for a quick snack.  Hence not one, but two days of reviews rolled together.

Our first meal consisted of a bowl of creamy tomato soup and the accompanying giganto cracker.  It pretty much tasted like creamy tomato soup with an immensely large cracker.  The soup was about mid-range creamy, not rich and luscious, but definitely not pure tomato juice.  This dish was a great comfort food, and I think they should offer it during the winter time for guests facing down the blizzards of Central Florida.

One of the reasons why we like this place is that it has a variety of stations, so there’s pretty much something for everyone.  There is a salad bar, for those attempting to stay on a diet while at Disney World (good luck with that).  There is an Asian bar, which I never try, since it seems to consist mostly of meat offerings.  There is a sandwich bar, a dessert bar, and, finally, there is my favorite bar: the warm foods bar.  At this bar, you can choose from salmon or chicken, and you get to pick two vegetable sides.

I chose the salmon with mashed potatoes and carrots as my sides.  Since Tusker House has fallen victim to the notorious Disney Dining Plan, the salmon here at Sunshine Seasons has become my favorite counter-service salmon.  It’s got flavorful char marks on it, and it served warm with a cold kalamata olive sauce.  The mashed potatoes were also pretty good.  They weren’t extremely creamy, but they weren’t dry at all.  There were big pieces of red potato skin in this item.

My husband’s sandwich was a Turkey and Muenster sandwich, which was far too dry.  It needed more chipotle mayonnaise to make it palatable.  The turkey and cheese here were just standard, grocery store deli counter fare, and the chipotle mayonnaise was nice, but  they’d skimped on this necessary ingredient.

Overall, we would return, though my husband would probably order something different.  I continue to order the same salmon dish every time we eat here, because it is decent quality counter service food.  My only complaint is that they don’t accept the Disney Dining Experience discount here.

Kringla Bakeri Og Cafe, August 5, 2007

This was just a quick counter service meal for us, so we decided to split the Daily Chef’s Selection, which came with an open-faced ham sandwich, a cup of Jarlsberg and Leek soup, and a Veiled Maiden.

Since we were on vacation, my husband was eating meat, though I was remaining a pescatarian, so he took the ham sandwich.  He said that this was okay, but nothing great.  The ham was just deli counter ham that we could purchase at any grocery store.  It also didn’t have mayonnaise on the sandwich, so he had to add this.

I was expecting the Jarlsberg and Leek soup to be creamy, but it wasn’t.  If anything, it was quite watery, and it badly needed salt.  Fortunately, they had little salt packets at the condiment table, so I was able to amend this need.

Our dessert was a Veiled Maiden, which turned out to be sweet baked apples layered in between whipped cream.  It was okay, but, again, was quite bland.  Since I just had the bland soup and the bland dessert, my general impression was one of excrutiating mediocrity.  An ingredient with a more interesting texture would have added to this dish, raising it from a mushy mediocrity to something even faintly memorable.  Oh, well…

We probably would not return here for lunch, since there are other, better counter service choices available in the Epcot park.  Our general consensus was, “Eh.”

Flying Fish Cafe, August 6, 2007

We’d been to the Flying Fish several times before, and have consistently been unimpressed, but this restaurant recently acquired a new chef (Tim Keating, I believe?), so we were willing to give him a chance.

Our server started us out with some bread, which was so nice.  The bread was still warm, and it had a lovely hard crust on it that went very well with the soft, creamy butter.

My husband started with the Main Lobster Bisque with roasted sweet corn & crab salad and chive oil.  This was quite good, and very creamy.  It was actually heavier than he’d anticipated, but he liked the taste.  The corn kernels in the bisque were a nice surprise, but, if they were going for additional texture, he would have preferred chunks of lobster.

I decided to have two appetizers, one as my appetizer and one as my entree, in order to save room for the cheese plate we’d been eyeing for dessert.  On the recommendation of my server, I had the Duo of Yellowfin Tuna alla Mediterranee (tartare, avruga caviar, and quail egg as one, and Moroccan-spiced loin, tomato, piquillo and olive compote as the other).   This was outstanding, so much so that I wished that I’d ended with this dish rather than beginning with it.  I like to work my way up to the best.

The Moroccan-spiced loin was great; it was served cold and raw in the center, though lightly seared on the outside.  The Moroccan spices here added so much to this item, and really complemented the mild flavor of the tuna.  They were faintly sweet, and it was spicy without having much heat, which is good, since I don’t tolerate heat well.

My favorite of the two, though, was the tuna tartare.  It tasted as lovely as it looked.  The soft, buttery tuna, the gentle pop of the caviar, the smooth dark taste of the yolk, and the crispness of the quail egg white all melded perfectly.  I enjoyed it very much, and I took my time, savoring every small bite.

My husband’s next dish was Lemon Myrtle Scented Maine Diver Scallops & Black Tiger Shrimp, served with tomato-mushroom polenta cake, forest mushrooms, corn & lobster roe emulsion.  We both thought that this  dish was simply outstanding.  The server had warned my husband ahead of time that the scallops were quite small this time of year, so they gave him four small scallops in lieu of two larger ones.  The server also asked him how he’d like the scallops to be cooked, which was a nice touch, since he is quite particular about how his scallops are done.

The dish was truly a myriad of flavors, his favorite of which was the lobster roe emulsion.  I particularly enjoyed the very flavorful polenta.  There were so many flavors in this dish, but, unlike those we tried at Blue Zoo, these flavors all harmonized beautifully with and complemented each other.  By the time he had finished this dish, my husband’s palate was a bit fatigued from so many different tastes.

My main dish was my second appetizer, the signature Crisp Jonah Lump Crab Cake over savory vegetable slaw and served with ancho chili remoulade.  I did not enjoy this at all.  The breading was not memorable in any way, and I wished that there had been large chunks of crab inside the crab cake.  The remoulade was much too spicy for me.  As I mentioned earlier, I don’t do well with too much heat, and I couldn’t finish this dish.  This dish has been on the menu through the past few chefs, the ones who didn’t dazzle us, and I was enjoying this new chef’s work so much that I wished I’d ordered something that had been his creation, instead of an old standby.  The vegetable slaw had celery seeds, and I have an antipathy to celery.

Our dessert was the tasting of five cheeses: Comte, Shelburne Two-year Cheddar, Flixer, Monte Enebro, and Rogue River Blue.  We are both fans of cheese: the more interesting, the better.  We found the Comte and the Shelburne to be inoffensive but too mild for our tastes.  The Flixer was more to my liking.  A sheep’s milk cheese, Flixer is mild in taste, but it has a very funky smell.  Mmmm…  Apparently it’s quite a rare cheese, made by only one cheesemaker in Switzerland, from his herd of 12 or so sheep.  The Monte Enebro was also very enjoyable.  It had a lovely, goaty taste, without being overpoweringly sharp as some goat cheeses can be.  This was again, quite mild, but it had a lot of flavor.  Finally, the Rogue River Blue was too much for my husband.  He couldn’t eat very much of it.  I liked it, because it lacked that ammonia taste that some blues have.  It was also fairly mild, for a blue cheese, but I’m not a huge blue cheese fan.

Overall, we would return to the Flying Fish.  We  enjoyed this chef’s inventive use of a variety of spices and ingredients in his dishes.  He has raised the quality of the Flying Fish from so-so to quite good, so we were pleased with our overall experience.  Our server was prompt and very courteous, though not exuding warmth.  We appreciated the way that she let us know in advance that the scallops were small and that she asked how my husband would like the scallops to be prepared.

Beaches & Cream, June 17, 2007

Beaches and Cream is one of our favorite restaurants at Disney World. It doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is: a greasy burgers & ice cream joint. For what they offer, it’s good quality. If you’re looking for a good, greasy burger, you can’t do better than this restaurant. We used to really enjoy the burgers here, before we became pescatarians. Now, however, we go for the equally greasy grilled cheese sandwiches and fries.

To enter this restaurant is to enter Disney’s version of the 1950’s. Is it fakey? Well, it’s Disney – what did you expect? The juke box doesn’t work, but the atmosphere (the lady below excepted) is cute and kitschy, with lots of light blues, pinks, and greens.

Though we are both adults, we invariably order off the children’s menu, because it has the one thing we can still eat and enjoy here: the grilled cheese sandwiches. A platter of a grilled cheese sandwich and fries costs $7.49, and the burger prices are approximately the same ($7.89 for a single patty). There is an option to add fruit as a side, but come on – if you’re here, you’re here for the grease. This is not a dieter-friendly place.

The bread for the grilled cheese sandwiches is first buttered, then – what else? – grilled. The fries are nice and crispy, though they’ve got more meat to them than those skinny McDonald’s fries. They also have more flavor. This restaurant accepts the Disney Dining Experience card, so what we do is just make our final bill what it was before the discount, in effect, getting the 20% tip for free.

Beaches & Cream offers a variety of ice cream floats and sundaes, our favorite of which is the No Way Jose. This is composed of vanilla ice cream topped with hot fudge, hot peanut butter, and peanut butter and chocolate chips. Yummalicious. On this particular day, we weren’t having that, though, so I have no photo to offer you.

The most infamous dessert at Beaches & Cream, though, is the Kitchen Sink, a whopping 8 scoops of ice cream, served with some of every single topping they have in the restaurant, along with an entire can of whipped cream. Only in America, I fervently hope.

This restaurant is tiny, so the best bet is to go on a weekday, when it’s less crowded. Otherwise, sitting at the counter will get you seated faster than waiting for one of the very few tables or booths.  The service is spotty and runs the gamut from servers who are smiling, friendly, and prompt, and those who don’t crack a smile and take nearly 20 minutes to appear at the table and take your drinks order.

Belle Vue Lounge Breakfast, June 17, 2007

I don’t think many people know about this place for breakfast, because, if they did, they wouldn’t all be lining up like suckers at the Boardwalk Bakery. Boardwalk Bakery in the a.m. = line out the door. Belle Vue Lounge in the a.m. = no lines.

The way this works is you approach the counter, upon which a variety of pastries and breads are spread. You choose the one(s) you want (these are all very, very large, though: about the size of a small child’s head). You then tell the server behind the counter what you’d like to drink: coffee, tea, juice, milk, etc. You pay the man/woman, and you are done. Nothing left to do but find a comfortable chair in which to enjoy your pastry in peace.

On our visit, we each got a different pastry. My husband ordered a cinnamon roll:

As good as it looks, he would not recommend this to fellow diners. The cinnamon roll itself was hollow, which was disappointing. It was also undercooked on the inside, so that it was chewy and doughy.

My selection, on the other hand, was a cheese danish:

This was not just any cheese danish however; it was a prince among danishes. Kind of like Hamlet. The pastry was nicely done: light and soft. The icing was deliciously sweet, with a faintly lemony taste. The cream cheese filling, though, was the star. It was soft, smooth, and creamy, without being too heavy, and without having that grainy, ricotta-like taste that some danish fillings have. I’ve had danishes where I ate the dry pastry reluctantly, waiting to get to the sweet center, but this was not like that. I enjoyed this entire pastry very much.

For two pastries and two juices, with a Disney Dining Experience discount, we paid around $9-10. This is unreasonable pretty much anywhere in the world except for at Disney World, but at Disney World, $5/person for breakfast is an amazing feat. We would highly recommend this place for those looking to relax in a cool, quiet, comfortable lounge for breakfast, while avoiding the long lines at the bakery below.

Boma March 24, 2007

We had reservations for a party of four at Boma, a buffet-style restaurant located inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.  The dress code is casual.  We arrived about 10 minutes early for our 6:00 reservations. At that time, we heard the hostess tell a guest in front of us that there was a 2 hour wait for walk-ups. Now that we are Orlando locals, we’ve gotten used to the excessive crowds at restaurants, so we don’t ever go out without reservations.

The check-in area was noisy and crowded, though I think that most of that was caused by people without reservations, since quite a few people were turned away by the long wait. We only had to wait 10 minutes before being seated.

We were a party of four adults. My husband and I are pescatarians, so we eat seafood, but no meat products. When we were seated, our server took drink orders, then he specifically recommended the coconut curry chicken soup and the carrot ginger soup. I asked him whether the carrot ginger soup had a chicken stock base, as I’d had a bad experience at Jiko where they had served me a carrot soup made with a chicken stock base even though I’d made them aware of my dietary requirements. Our server told us that the carrot ginger soup, though, was a vegetarian soup – huzzah!

Following his recommendation, I started with a bowl of this carrot ginger soup. I cannot say enough good things about it! It was warm, creamy, and sweet, with just a subtle taste of fresh ginger. It’s sweetness actually reminded me of a warm, milky pudding. I gobbled this bowl down and went back for seconds. My husband did the same, though he actually decided to have his second bowl of this soup for his dessert!

We missed the sweet Butternut Squash soup and the creamy, savory crab soup from our last trip, but the Carrot Ginger soup was a lovely surprise, and it was nice to try something new.

There is some overlap here, since this dinner is a buffet, and my husband and I got some of the same items. The next photo is of his first plate. Starting in the front and moving clockwise, he had a piece of bread. It was thin and flaky, with no center (hollow & filled with air). He described it as being like when a Saltine cracker gets a bubble in it. He didn’t eat it with his soup, but instead dipped it into the mustard sauce, which he LOVED. Unfortunately, we can’t remember the name of this bread.

Next to the bread are the seasoned potatoes (Potatoes with Afritude). We both agreed that these were just okay. They were far too heavily seasoned, and yet, paradoxically, lacked flavor. We did not really enjoy these.

Just above the bread is the pecan-crusted salmon, flanked by the mustard sauce on its right and a sauce whose name we can’t remember on its left. The unknown sauce was equally unremarkable, but the mustard sauce was outstanding. I’m not a fan of mustard, but this was very flavorful and pungent, and, after tasting this on my husband’s plate, I got some on my next go-round to the buffet.

In the center of his plate was the coconut rice. He liked this, because it was very simple. He thought it contrasted nicely with the other items on his plate, since it was light and refreshing. He actually wanted to add some of this to his carrot ginger soup, since he felt the soup needed a bit more texture.

To the right of the coconut rice was cous cous. It was not memorable, and he did not go back for more. Just below this is a falafel, with a yogurt sauce. He enjoyed this, because he said it tasted like a hush puppy. He liked that the grains were finer than in most other falafels he’s eaten. He went back for seconds of the falafel.

The next photo is of my first plate. I will begin with the pecan-crusted salmon at the bottom of the plate and continue clockwise. The salmon was good, with a nice flavor, though the pecan crusting had a noticeable amount of heat. Its effects were cumulative, so that, by the end of the meal, my mother-in-law’s mouth was burning. The heat was only in the pecan crust, though, so for those who don’t enjoy hot dishes, I would just suggest knocking the crust off. I preferred the salmon that we’d had last time we were at Boma. That one had been steamed in a banana leaf and had a lovely peanut sauce over it, but this dish, while not quite as flavorful, was still good enough for me to have seconds of!

Next to the salmon, I had the unknown dressing and the Tamarind BBQ sauce. The Tamarind sauce was wonderfully tangy & sweet, and I thought it went very well with the salmon.

Just touching the bbq sauce is the fruit salad, which, on this particular night, was an Avocado, Grapefruit, and Papaya salad. I missed the sweet, coconut pineapple salad from our last Boma visit, but this was good in its own way. It was crisp and refreshing, and the grapefruit slices weren’t too tart. The papaya was a bit flavorless, but overall I enjoyed this dish.

To the right of the salad, I have the Potatoes with Afritude, which I’ve already discussed, and a green bean coconut curry tofu dish. This was very mild and underseasoned, and the tofu lacked flavor. Perhaps that was why I did not enjoy the coconut rice (flanking the salmon); again, I found it too mild and lacking in flavor.

Next to the green beans, I had Fruli, a sweet potato casserole type dish. I am a fan of sweet potato casserole, so I enjoyed this, but there was nothing really exotic or special about it.

This next plate was my husband’s. I’ll start with the coleslaw (kool slai – sp?) and continue clockwise. He liked this dish; it was sweet but not tangy, and he used it, like the rice, as a palate cleanser. Again, I disagreed – I found this item to be lacking in flavor, but perhaps my palate needs less cleansing

Just to the right of the coleslaw was meali bread, which was like cornbread, but with a much finer grain. It was very slightly sweet, soft, and not too dry. He liked this and recommended it to me, but by that time I’d eaten my second plate and wasn’t up for bread.

Just above the cornbread is another piece of pecan-crusted salmon, and the sauce next to it was the mustard sauce. He was such a fan that he put a large portion on his 2nd plate, and this sauce did pair nicely with the salmon – it gave it a zing.

To the right of the salmon, he had some Fruli, and just below that was a mixture of cous cous, corn, and onions. We can’t remember the name of this, but he didn’t care for it. He put it on his plate just to try it, and he said it wasn’t offensive, but it didn’t wow him in any way.

Below that, he had 2 more falafels with yogurt sauce.

For my next plate, I had a piece of watermelon (top). It was nice and refreshing, but didn’t have a whole lot of flavor, since it’s still early in the year for watermelon. I think many of the fresh fruits here were served without regard for season and were, consequently, lacking in flavor.

To the right of that is my 2nd piece of salmon and, below the salmon, Tamarind BBQ sauce and mustard sauce. Even I, the mustard-hater, got some of this sauce – it was that good!

Following along the rim of the plate is a piece of crisp flatbread, and, just to the right of this, the three hummuses (hummi?) served that night. The one on the left was a white bean hummus, then calamata hummus, then a sundried tomato hummus on the right. These were all okay, but confirmed to me that I am just not a hummus fan. Like falafel, it’s one of those things I wish I liked, but I just don’t.

Above the flatbread is more Fruli.

Finally, for dessert, I wanted to try several items. You may be wondering why I did not eat the zebra domes, so I will share my two reasons. 1. I’ve had them and I don’t think they’re anything special, and 2. I don’t eat meat-based products, and they contain animal hooves in the form of gelatin.

On the top right-hand side, I had more of the Avocado Grapefruit Papaya salad. This was my palate cleanser, and I again enjoyed its refreshing flavor. Just below this was another palate cleanser for me: Orange, Radish, and Carrot salad. I ate the oranges here but left the radishes. They had a bitter flavor that I found unappealing.

Continuing clockwise, the cherry crumble is just to the left. This was my favorite of the desserts. I found the cherries to be tart and refreshing, which provided a nice contrast to the super-sweet crumble crust. Again, this was nothing outstanding: just an ordinary fruit crumble, but I enjoyed it and actually wished I was less full, so that I could have found it even more appetizing.

Just above this was a banana bread pudding with chocolate rum sauce. This sounds better than it was. The bread pudding was overly spongy, and the chocolate rum sauce needed more of a rum “zing.”

At the very top of the plate was a strawberry wrapped in phyllo pastry that had been filled with a cream that tasted like a Creme Anglaise. It was nice and light, but the phyllo was very soggy from the cream, and the cream could have been a bit sweeter & more flavorful.

Just below this was the item that I’d been most excited about and was, thus, most disappointed in. This was a mango mousse tartlet. I LOVE mangoes; I love their sweet yet tart flavor, and I have had mango mousse before that really captured this sweet, crisp, refreshing flavor. This item disappointed me, because it only faintly tasted of mangoes – it actually reminded me of biting into a very underripe mango. Again, I think the chefs here incorporated fruits into their dishes regardless of season & ripeness, and the flavor thus suffered. I used my spoon to scoop the filling out of the tart, which helped a bit, since the extremely mild taste of the mousse was overwhelmed by the thick crust. However, it still disappointed, and I left wishing that I’d done what my husband did and had a bowl of Carrot Ginger soup for dessert!

I will also attach a photo of my father-in-law’s plate. It’s darker than the other photos, and I can’t tell you much about the dishes (I know there is a rare prime rib, some chicken, and some falafels), but I thought the meat eaters may enjoy reading this, and perhaps he will write in and give his own recaps.

Overall, we enjoyed this dinner very much. We are big fans of Boma, because it provides an experience that’s much better than the average buffet. As pescatarians, we appreciate the wide range of items that we can eat, though we find the dessert selection disappointing.