Another quick Epcot staycation! Shiki-Sai, WRBBQ, MM, FF, Summerhouse! April 2024 COMPLETE!

[BlovesC]

We had another quick weekend staycation at our usual stomping grounds (Epcot resort area) and I'm back for a short burst of dining reviews!

Featuring some pleasant surprises AND slight disappointments!



The line-up:

Flower & Garden munchies
Shiki-Sai (Epcot Japan)
Bonus: Spaceship Earth Evacuation (LOL)
Woody's Roundup Rodeo BBQ
The Classic DHS Breakfast
Mama Melrose
Flying Fish
Summerhouse on the Lake


If you saw my review thread from January there are some repeats...we definitely have some newly established favorites!!

 

[BlovesC]

Flower & Garden Munchies

We arrived to the hotel waaaay before check-in and headed right through the gate into Epcot to jump into the Flower & Garden festivities. This is our second favorite Epcot festival (behind FoA) and April's a perfect time to get into the garden spirit! Say what you will about the many changes Disney has undergone, but the F&G topiaries never disappoint!

We had skipped breakfast before leaving so we grabbed a couple snacks prior to our lunch ADR!


The Citrus Blossom -

• Orange Sesame Tempura Shrimp with orange-chile sauce
• Southern Tier Brewing Company Orange Twist Imperial Ale

Can't go to any Epcot festival without hitting the Odyssey Pavilion! These shrimp are one of my favorite festival food items, they're not groundbreaking but they're consistent! Just as good as last year's, served hot, generous portion, maintained some crisp despite the glaze! I skip the side sauce personally but DH likes it.
I'm not a beer drinker but DH gave the orange ale high marks and said it was really refreshing!

Speaking of refreshing...


Swirled Showcase

Soft-serve in a Waffle Cone -

• Peanut Butter

Not a festival exclusive but something I'd never tried yet but had been wanting to. If you love soft-serve ice cream, and if you love peanut butter, you'll be in heaven. The texture of this ice cream was like a dream, and the peanut butter flavor was prominent without being overwhelming. This may have been the best tasting cone I've ever had at WDW. Sadly, soft-serve ice cream gives me absolutely wicked brain freeze so I had to tap out barely a third into it! But we anticipated that and DH happily finished it. Such a great treat!


Sommerfest

• Pretzel bread pudding

This was an impulse purchase when we stopped into the Germany QS for some nice iced drinks. Another "the internet made me buy it" type deal, because I always see a lot of love for this dessert!

I know it looks absolutely drowned in sauce but it was needed, bread puddings can be kind of dry and this was no exception. It was definitely warm and indulgent but as a lover of soft pretzels I'd kind of hoped to taste some sort of salty, yeasty tang from them in this and I couldn't. It was a decent bread pudding, just not something I'd be driven to buy again.

Definitely a 2024 Disney bargain though, under $5 and sized to share!

 

[glocon]

I’m not a huge bread pudding girl, but that one looks really good- and so do the shrimp and soft serve!

 

[BlovesC]

Shiki-Sai (Epcot Japan pavilion)

Back again at our new favorite restaurant in Epcot (RIP Via Napoli) for a third time in six months! And for the first time ever, we had a wait for our table; the place was PACKED! Not sure if it's because of F&G, or the DDP, or just general spring crowds, but it WAS nice to see the restaurant get some love! On our last two visits only half the tables had been filled.

We skipped cocktails this time but ordered two appetizers -

Vegetable Tempura​

This is the most basic appetizer in existence yet it's DH's go-to whenever it's on the menu, and he declares no one (in our immediate area, please don't tell us to fly to Japan) does it better than Shiki-Sai! I love the wasabi salt they serve with it, it adds SO much punch.

Dragon Roll​

Barbequed freshwater eel, avocado and shrimp tempura



This roll was our only new item of the meal and it did not disappoint. We both love eel and looooved the bbq flavor of this. This was a MASSIVE roll, we were still eating it throughout our entrees, probably a little too much for just 2 of us!


For our entrees, we both ordered the same thing. DH had gotten this on our last visit and after he let me try a bite of it I spent the rest of our meal looking at his bowl longingly. So I'd been looking forward to my chance to order it for myself!

Ishiyaki-Sukiyaki Rice​

Grill strips of beef in hot stone bowl at your tableside along with spinach and rice in a sweet garlic sauce



There's just something so magical about the flavor of the sauce and the meat and the bits of rice that get super crispy from the hot hot stone. It's SO satisfying.

I will say though that our bowls this time seemed to have less beef than what DH was served last time, which also lowered the overall amazing beefy umami flavor of the rice - we blamed it on DDP (like everything LOL) but if last time the dish was a perfect 10, this time it was about a 9.5. Still delicious!


Another fantastic Shiki-Sai experience on the books! If we have multiple days planned at Epcot we might branch out, but for the foreseeable future if we get one meal there, it's gonna be here. It's such a delight, reasonable pricing (by WDW standards), great service and exceptional food.

Next time we visit I hope to finally try one of their desserts, we just need to keep ourselves from all those appetizers.



BONUS: Spaceship Earth Evacuation

We were enjoying a respite from the afternoon sun on Spaceship Earth when we started getting a little worried...the ride had barely begun and our ride vehicles had stopped at least 8 times. Sure enough, we'd just gotten to the moon landing scene when a CM announced the ride was experiencing technical difficulties and a CM would be along shortly.

The CM who let us out of our ride vehicles hilariously said "cross this off your Disney bucket list" and boy were they right. We've been passholders every year since 2008(!) and never once had to be evacuated off a ride. It absolutely, however foolishly, WAS a goal of mine.

And although my real dream had been to break down at the top of Expedition Everest and have to walk down those long narrow stairs (I know, I know) I have to say Spaceship Earth was definitely a GREAT ride for a first evacuation experience. It was so interesting to see the exhibits with the lights on, and walk so closely past all the animatronics!

The crowd was in really good spirits about it - no one got upset, everyone seemed to treat it like a special experience. We saw people stopping to snap selfies with the sets, but no one touched anything or tried to mess with anything. And luckily, the long ramp through the set and backdoor staircases down and out of the sphere seemed manageable by most parties. CMs loaded a fastpass to our MDE apps for the inconvenience.

I only took a couple pics, but here they are!

 

[BlovesC]

Woody's Roundup Rodeo BBQ


Poor Woody...we'd had at least four ADRs here since it opened that we always wound up cancelling. We both wanted to go for the experience but the menu was so unappealing. This time we swore to each other no backing out, we were gonna finally give it a go...and we're glad we did!



Of course, the decor, ambience, and festivities are the selling point here. The restaurant is adorable and such a perfect addition to DHS. We were seated in the "Bo Peep" room and our server, named Timo, went above and beyond. He was one of the friendliest, funniest, and most efficient servers we'd ever had. And as we could see throughout the restaurant, most of the CMs seemed to have a lot of energy and devote themselves to the theme.

Soft drinks were included with the price of the meal, and we both got cokes and waters, which...one tickmark in the negatives already. I'm a perpetual water guzzler who usually drinks 3-5 glasses at a Disney meal, and I'm well used to FL water, but the water at this restaurant was just awful. DH actually said "it's in theme, it's water from Andy's backyard hose."


The food was FAST and plentiful, as very quickly our 2-top table was absolutely packed full -

• The Prospector’s Homemade Cheddar Biscuits with Sweet Pepper Jelly​

• Rootin’ Tootin Tomato Salad​

• Cucumbers, Pickled Red Onion, White Balsamic Vinaigrette (Plant-based)

• Wheezy’s Watermelon Salad​

  Fresh-torn Mint (Plant-based)

I'll be dreaming about these biscuits for months to come. They were SO GOOD. They appear dry in the picture but they weren't at all; thick, warm, cheesy, and savory, I just absolutely loved them. I wasn't big on the jelly, although DH liked it, but even plain these were absolutely one of the best bread services I've had at Disney in recent times. I had to restrain myself from ordering a second basket!

The salads were nice and refreshing. Nothing fancy, just some nice crisp cold watermelon, cucumbers, and tomatoes. No complaints!


An onslaught of sides were delivered -

• Potato Barrels​

• The Claw! Veggie Slaw​

• Slinky Doooooooooog's Mac & Cheese​

• Buckin’ Baked Beans​

• Cowpoke Corn on the Cob​

Again, super simple food but surprisingly tasty. I did not expect to enjoy the mac and cheese, but it tasted a step above typical disney buffet mac. Not Kraft-like in any way...maybe more like Velveeta and the crumbs on top added a nice crunch. I am not at all shamed to admit the potato barrels were my favorite; they were SO, so, so crispy and piping hot, which is exactly what you want with a tot! The corn had a nice flavor and normally would have been my favorite thing, but the cobs I'm guessing were frozen, there was a mushiness to them that didn't quite live up to the toppings. The slaw was pretty standard grocery store stuff but refreshing. And I didn't try the beans, not my thing, but DH LOVED them.

• Enjoy a Platter of all the Following House-Smoked Items​

Evil Dr. Smoked Ribs | Buttercup's Beef Brisket | There’s a Sausage in my Boot - Fire-grilled Pork Sausage | BBQ Chicken - with Style! | Buckin’ Baked Beans




The meat is where the meal falls apart for me, but that's got less to do with the restaurant and more to do with my own tastebuds; I don't typically like BBQ, or pork, or brisket, and Woody's wasn't able to change that. There was salmon available upon request, which probably would have been a nice alternative for me, but I was worried about DH trying to get through all the meat on his own (he'd see it as challenge!) so I thought I'd power through. I tried a bite of the sausage and a bite of brisket but then stuck to the chicken. The chicken was fine and there was a TON of it, but to me, everything in this platter had such an OVERWHELMING smoke flavor. It was all I could taste.

DH however was in heaven! The ribs were his favorite, he declared them delicious! Followed closely by the brisket, then the chicken. The only thing he didn't love was the sausage, which he thought had an odd flavor.

BUT - this was an obscene amount of food for 2 people. It seemed to me that Disney served the same sized platter of meat for parties between 2-4. I hope they change that; since it's all you care to enjoy, let people start with less and request more of what they want! It seems so wasteful otherwise (and we are 2 fully overgrown pooh-sized adults!)

For dessert, while the menu stressed "choose 1 from our offerings", our lovely server stressed repeatedly that he could bring us as many desserts as we wanted. But since we were recovering from the meat sweats we stuck to just one each -

• Bo’s Lemon and Blueberry Cheesecake​

• Gruff’s Peach-Strawberry Pie​

These were fine! The portion size was perfect for us at that moment, it didn't feel like too much more than a taste of sweetness to round out the meal. They reminded us exactly like something they'd serve at a MK dessert party, not something you'd want to pay for on its own, but serviceable as a little treat!

All in all we had a great time at Woody's. It's one of those examples of low expectations leading to the most pleasant surprises! I expected it to be a one and done for "~the experience~" but I'd honestly go back someday IF we ever had a larger party with us that wanted to try it. But the starters and sides were great, the antics were fun, and Timo was a star!

 

[blabbermouth]

Great, looking forward to how you enjoyed some of the same places we visited this past trip! We did also really enjoy Shiki Sai!!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Yum! The food at Shiki Sai especially looks great. Can’t wait for the rest!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Great reviews! Totally agree with you on Shiki Sai (and, it sounds like, Via Napoli!). Had lunch at Shiki Sai a few weeks ago and they were very busy but were able to accommodate us with a walk-up -- we sat at the bar. The cast members there are fantastic. Will have to try that beef dish next time. How cool to get evacuated from Spaceship Earth! Definite bucket list item!!

 

[erinch]

Love your reviews!

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more

 

[BlovesC]

The DHS breakfast of champions

We rope-dropped DHS and when getting some iced coffee for the morning, there was only one item we wanted to split for our breakfast -

the Carrot Cake Cookie! (or as they call it now, Carrot Cake Whoopie Pie)




This is the only carrot cake I've EVER liked in my life! Has it changed a bunch over the years, like everything else at WDW? Yes! Is it still delicious? Also yes! This is the kind of breakfast that you can truly only get away with in a theme park, and it hits every time! It's a DHS staple (but I would still give it up to get Starring Rolls back).



Lunch at Mama Melrose


This was a last-minute change for us; we usually eat at either Sci-Fi or Brown Derby at DHS, almost never anywhere else, but the night before DHS had randomly started craving spaghetti and meatballs, so switched over to MM.

I'd eaten at MM only once before, in 2008 on a trip with family, but DHS and I had never been together. And with their recent menu additions it seemed time to finally give it a try.

We ordered two appetizers that in hindsight were a little redundant -

Fried Mozzarella Sticks​

Marinara Sauce, Lemon Aïoli

House Garlic Bread​

Roasted Garlic Spread, Parmesan, Marinara Sauce




The cheesesticks were piping hot and had a really nice crust and "cheese pull" factor. They were veeeeeeeery salty but DHS loved that. I don't like marinara sauce on its own so I didn't try it, but I did try the lemon aioli which was an interesting choice? The lemon didn't really lighten up the richness of the mayo, it was still heavy on top of heavy so I wasn't a big fan.

While DHS preferred the cheese sticks, I preferred the garlic bread. I think kids would LOVE this stuff. There was very little actual garlic flavor, it was mostly just crusty bread and melty cheese. Kind of bland but in a comforting way, if that makes sense!


For our entrees, despite MM having spaghetti on the menu and despite his supposed craving, DH did NOT order spaghetti!

He chose the

Rigatoni Bolognese​

Ground Beef, Italian Sausage, Parmesan



Despite it not being spaghetti, he said it hit the spot! It was a deceptively large portion and pretty simple stuff, but tasty enough for him. He usually finds most red sauces too acidic but said this one was on the sweeter side.



In an absolute lapse of judgment, I ordered the

Margherita Pizza​

Fresh Mozzarella, Marinara Sauce, Basil




I am trying to not knock MM for this when it was ME who made the mistake of ordering more bread sauce and cheese for a meal after enjoying...bread sauce and cheese as a starter. But this was not at all enjoyable to me, and it made me feel guilty that since we couldn't really carry the leftovers around in the heat, most of it went into the trash. I could handle one slice and nothing more, and DH could not be convinced to try it. To me, it tasted like a dorm room struggle meal, like a saltine cracker someone squirted ketchup onto, sprinkled with cheese, and microwaved for 30 seconds. Ooof.

Our service at MM was odd, not sure how else to describe it. Whenever our server stopped by she spoke so quickly and so quietly and would run off before we could even ask her to repeat anything, but she WAS on top of our water glasses so I really can't complain! We had no needs that went ignored, it was just...odd.


All in all a pretty mixed meal, and Mama Melrose will probably go back onto the back burner for another 10+ years or so. I am not at all mad we gave it a try though! It was nice to branch out.

 

[BlovesC]

Le Petit Cafe

When we left DHS we decided to hop on the skyliner for a brief afternoon detour to the Riviera resort, which we hadn't yet visited but had been contemplating booking it for one of our weekend staycations. We explored the grounds and what little there was to explore of the resort (don't think we'll be staying here!) and stopped for some afternoon coffee at Le Petit Cafe.


The pastries looked absolutely lovely! These may have been a better buy than the coffees we wound choosing - we got an iced slushy type coffee and an almond cream cold brew. They both kind of had a funky taste. The plain coffee is probably (hopefully) better here.





Dinner at Flying Fish

Later that night we headed back to our long-time favorite signature restaurant in all of WDW. We enjoyed our first meal together here in 2010 and have been around 10 times, but only once since the re-opening. It never disappointed...(dundundun...foreshadowing!!!!!)


I do miss the old decor, but the restaurant is still beautiful!




So, service here started off a bit oddly. Neither of us recognized our server at all but she insisted she'd waited on us before and knew we were local, so it's definitely possible (we have a good memory for servers though, especially here, the only restaurant at Disney we'd ever had a favorite server. We miss you, Bob!)

The CM also proceeded to upsell us more aggressively than we've ever experienced at any restaurant. "Water? Here's our varieties. Oh, you want still? Here's our varieties. Oh, tap water is fine? What about spa water with cucumber instead. Here's the cocktail menu. You don't want to drink? How about a lovely mocktail? Let me explain our appetizers. By the way you can customize your appetizers! See this section here? Any of those accompaniments can be added to your appetizer! Want to add a lobster tail or some shrimp to it? I just brought out a lovely custom platter to the table behind you, did you see the size of it? Your entrée doesn't come with a starch, would you like to add a side of au gratin potatoes? No? French fries or mash, then? No?"

It was honestly a little exhausting! But since we kept politely declining everything "custom" and simply ordered our appetizers and entrees as-is, she thankfully took the hint and didn't push anything further. The actual service wasn't bad at all, it was just that initial pushiness when we ordered.

Bread service was warm sourdough and soft herbed butter. This is one area Disney's improved in; we haven't seen one of those classic signature restaurant ice-cold and unspreadable squares of butter sprinkled with sea salt in awhile now




For my appetizer I chose -

Hawaiian Hamachi​

Blood Orange Verjus, Florida Citrus, Pink Peppercorn Yogurt




Such a beautiful, vibrant dish! But it felt like it lacked balanced; the sauce was so overwhelmingly acidic that was the only flavor profile, and the lovely delicate fish was completely lost. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't love it.


DH went with the

Slow-roasted Pork Belly​

Spiced Apple, Cherry Gastrique



I wish he'd turned it before snapping the pic, the pork belly itself is well-hidden But this went over better than my appetizer in terms of flavor! He enjoyed the flavor of the pork, the little croquette, and the lotus root chips, his only note was that it was a little dry. I can't really see the sauce in the pic, but I also didn't try it!



For entrees, since they suffered the same issue, we're gonna talk about both at once:

Chilean Sea Bass*​

Jumbo Lump Crab, Grilled Asparagus, Tarragon, Ras el Hanout Brown Butter

Potato-wrapped Red Snapper*​

Leek Fondue, Cassis-Red Wine Reduction





After we finished our appetizers we had a considerable wait for our entrees. Which, it's a signature restaurant, that's expected, so not a problem! But when we got our plates, it seemed evident they'd been sitting under a heat lamp for a bit. My sea bass was a touch overdone and DH's snapper was definitely on the crispy side.

Here's where you say "why didn't you ask for it to be remade?" and that's entirely valid! But tbh neither of us wanted to extend an already long dinner any further.

And honestly, after trying both dishes, I'm not sure how much our impressions would have been helped with redone fish. Both dishes just seemed overwhelmingly simplified from what we'd expect. Did my sea bass taste bad? No! But did it taste like a $56 plate of food that I couldn't make at home? No, not really. It was sea bass, asparagus, a whole lot of butter, and some crab on top. It lacked seasoning and if I'd been served it at a wedding I would have thought it was fine, but coming from my favorite restaurant I just wished for a little more.

The potato-wrapped snapper used to be THE dish we always ordered at FF and it's obviously gone through some changes with everything else. The heat lamp may have affected this one a bit more, as you can see the potato was super crispy, and DH said as with mine it lacked seasoning. It seemed all the flavor was expected to come from the sauce, which was at least pretty good!

When we declined the dessert menu, our server didn't push at all; in fact, she positively read our minds and asked if we were heading over to Boardwalk Ice Cream instead, which 100% was our plan. We shared a good laugh about that and ended the meal on a pleasant note.

So, in summary...did we have a bad meal at FF? Nope. Did we have a disappointing meal at FF? Yes! I know it's 2024 and everything is expensive, but it's just hard to swallow spending over $200 on 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 1 drink (DH got an old fashioned) that are anything less than impressive. Our meal at Shiki-Sai the day prior had been better prepared and a lot more fun for substantially less money. I'm sure we'll still go back to Flying Fish eventually, one disappointing meal won't undo all the years of fondness we have for it, but it just may be a long while.

 

[BlovesC]

Boardwalk Ice Cream

Not too much to say here! The place was absolutely hopping when we went in, but by the time we sat down it had emptied out!

I ordered a 2 scoop sundae with coffee ice cream and peanut butter sauce (my favorite combo of all time and no, it's NOT weird!)

While we're Beaches and Cream loyalists, it was really nice to sit outside in the magic hour of sunset and enjoy the boardwalk ambience, and ice cream never lets us down!






Summerhouse on the Lake Brunch

On our checkout day, we stuck to the same routine we had on our last trip a few months prior; sleep-in, pack and leave the hotel, and head to Disney Springs for Summerhouse!

Last time we'd been here for an early lunch, but this was our first time being there during brunch. This was our second time here, and our last meal had been so wonderful we were eager to return.

We were sat by the patio, but not on it, which was nice - it wasn't too warm, there was a slight breeze, and although DS was pretty quiet still it was fun to people watch.



We started our meals with coffee and then an item listed as a starter on the brunch menu -


House-made Almond Croissant



This was so stupidly good I don't have enough words for it. Almond croissants are one of my favorite pastries and we line up from time to time to get them from the best bakery in our town - THIS ONE was better! It was served warm, which honestly we'd never tried before, and man oh man did it enhance the almond flavor. Simply delicious, a perfect brunch item.


For my entrée I went with the same thing thing I had last time, because I enjoyed it so much!

Turkey Stack
havarti, lettuce, tomato, bacon, grain mustard, mayo, 9 grain bread, fries





This honestly may be my favorite sandwich anywhere (not just WDW) right now. It's just SO fresh, so generously portioned, and so tasty. The bread is thick and holds up well to the ingredients, the bacon is SUPER crispy and in small pieces so you get bacon in every bite, the lettuce is shredded instead of being one big leaf that pulls out of the entire sandwich on your first bite...it's just a very thoughtfully constructed sandwich and to me it's SO GOOD! And the french fries they serve are my ideal type; super skinny and VERY crispy, with lots of salt!

As with last time though, between the starter and fries I wound up leaving half the sandwich untouched and had it boxed up to take home. So it's also two meals in one, another bonus!


DH went in a more breakfast direction with the

Breakfast Burrito
scrambled eggs, jack cheese, pico de gallo, bacon, avocado




Another simple dish that was just prepared with care and abundantly sized; DH loved it, especially with the salsa verde! Although funnily enough, the burrito is listed as coming with a side salad. When our server asked DH "is the side salad ok?" DH answered without thinking "sure" and the server must have seen my eyebrow raise, because he brought the plate out with french fries. Which is definitely DH's preference.


One thing we hadn't done last time was try any cookies, so we stopped by the cookie bar on our way out for some to take home.





Summerhouse Chocolate Walnut Cookie




I love soft-baked cookies but I'm NOT a fan of just eating cookie dough, and the issue I have with Gideon's cookies is that they taste like mounds of unbaked dough. This cookie was better than any Gideon's cookie I've ever had, BUT it was still a little too much on the soft side for me to really LOVE love it. Great flavor, and chocolate chip walnut is my favorite combo, but if it had just been sliiiiightly thinner perhaps it may have been a home run.


Summerhouse Lemon Cookie



This one was a big nope for both of us. We love lemon, but this tasted overwhelmingly artificial. Almost like it had been squirted with Pledge. I'm guessing they went overboard on extract here. The FIRST item we'd had from Summerhouse that we wouldn't eat again!

So, while we probably wouldn't stop at the cookie bar again, we will ABSOLUTELY eat at Summerhouse in the near future, and I'm eager to try more of their pastries.

The food here is simple, but it's well made with great ingredients and GREAT pricing, by current disney standards. My sandwich was less than half of my sea bass at FF, I enjoyed it three times as much, AND got two meals out of it. Sheesh! The one thing that worries me is that both times we've been here the restaurant has been mostly dead. Is it safe to call this an underrated gem? It seems so!




And with that, another weekend report is completed! See you all again in another few months

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Argh! I've been hoping Flying Fish wasn't the disappointment. That's a bummer and all the upselling sounds uncomfortable . To go back to Mama Melrose for a minute... serving aioli with mozzarella sticks is so odd to me. I somehow have yet to try Summerhouse but sounds like I need to make it a priority!!! I'm curious what turned you off about Riviera ... just not big enough? I've been pondering a staycation there as I think it may have the best food or Saratoga Springs is my other thought -- nothing to do with the resort amenities and all to do with the Disney Springs proximity so I can eat my way around there!! I'm already looking forward to your next report.

 

[hertamaniac]

FF meal sits near the top of our eateries, but that was when Chef Tim was in charge. We have another staycation coming up with FF on our ADR. The 20% AP discount that was announced yesterday has me thinking it could offset a lesser experience. I'm planning on keeping this ADR for nostalgic reasons.

I also made another ADR for Yachtsman wondering if their fish/scallops might be on par with FF.