pepperandchips
[melinda]
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2014
Well gang, try as I might, I could not stay away from you and I'm back with another dining report. I hope to make you all very hungry!
As usual, this report will likely span at least two trips. The first of which is already complete - R and I visited WDW over labor day weekend and of course ate a TON!
This is your current cast of characters - I'm Melinda, your garden variety Disneyphile. R, my fiance, has grown to love Disney and tolerates my addiction to the parks fairly well. Basically anytime there is a holiday from work, I am scheming how to get down to Walt Disney World. Since both R and I had labor day off from work, I was able to convince him to go to Orlando with me. We are both in our early 30s and try to eat healthy at home so that we can indulge on vacation - and indulge we did
We also have a trip coming up later this fall (actually we are 24 days out from that trip! woohoo!) where we will be accompanied by one of my friends. On that upcoming trip R and I will be staying in a DVC studio at the Villas at the Grand Floridian and we have lots of plans, fastpasses, and our days all planned out!
This trip was much less planned. I was able to grab a great starwood preferred guest rate at the Dolphin somewhat last minute, and we drove down, once again departing at 2:00ish AM to avoid the traffic. We had exactly one ADR, and while I made fastpasses ahead of the trip, we ended up using exactly two of those fastpasses to ride the only two attractions we experienced the entire weekend! As they say, the food is really its own attraction.
With the preliminary introductions out of the way, let's get to the report!
Saturday, September 2
I'd originally wanted to hit the Magic Kingdom at park opening to do some things we've still not experienced, but we ended up leaving Atlanta a little later than I'd planned, and I ultimately decided it wasn't worth it to try for a couple of hours at MK. We headed straight to the Dolphin instead and wanted to check in so that we might get a room as early as possible in the day for the inevitable nap we'd need later. To my surprise, a room was immediately available, so we took our bags up to scope out the new renovated rooms. I love the new style of the rooms at the Swan and Dolphin but our room still had a faint tinge of the old musty smell that permeates many of the rooms at the Dolphin. Oh well, it was clean and we were really only there for the location! I took the below photo at 9:00 am so we must have arrived in Orlando around 8:30.
view from our room at the Dolphin
We were starving by the time we finished up in the room, so we decided to head down to Picabu, the Dolphin's Quick Service, to find something to tide us over until the food booths opened at Epcot. I actually looked at the menus at the other Crescent Lake resorts thinking we'd try something different, but Picabu's menu sounded the best and it was certainly the most convenient, being a short elevator ride away!
(photo borrowed from elsewhere on the web)
At the right you can see a case of grab n go chilled items and beyond that there was a hot line with sausage, bacon, quiche, scrambled eggs, and other breakfast items. We opted for the eggs any style and each got a side of breakfast meats to share.
We both had eggs fried medium and R opted for bacon while I chose sausage. I was surprised at how good the bacon and sausage were - I would give the sausage the slight edge since it held up better (these were not made to order). The bacon was not your typical wiggly quick service bacon - you could tell it had been fried crisp but got slightly chewy after sitting on the service line. The sausage had good flavor and just the right amount of grease! Each breakfast plate was $8.75, and we also shared a $7.00 fruit salad cup. There is a 13% service charge and with that and tax, our total was $29.28. The staff was exceptionally friendly and we were happy to see that Picabu has a Coke freestyle machine with filtered water available for free, which we used often on our way to and from the park. We were pleasantly full but not stuffed and headed off to Epcot to start our Food and Wine adventure!
This is the sign that greets you at the International Gateway entrance to Epcot. Taken later in the day, as our weather that morning was a little dreary. We were grateful for the clouds as it made the day a little more comfortable.
The first item of business for me was to grab a festival tasting sampler (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/food-wine-festival-tasting-sampler/). With tax this cost $69.23 and comes with a cute Remy festival logo pin. I don't usually buy pins except with my eBay bucks, so I am not including the pin in my value assessment.
(pin thanks to WDWNT)
(last year's nicer pin, in my opinion)
So the tabs were worth about $8.65 each as you get 8 with the tasting sampler. You also get a lanyard to wear the credential with the tabs on it, but I kept mine in my purse the whole time as the tabs come off fairly easily. We located the sampler at the kiosk on the bridge between future world and world showcase.
To my surprise, many of the booths were open around 10:30! Maybe because it was the first Saturday of the Festival? After purchasing the sampler we decided to start tasting. First up was the beef skewer from the Patagonia booth. Served with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Puree, $5.75.
We both really liked this, and I think it ended up becoming one of R's favorite dishes from the festival. The Boniato puree really did not taste sweet at all, more like traditional mashed potatoes. The chimichurri was delicious and garlicky, and the beef was fairly tender. I would definitely recommend this and get it again.
Next up was the Almond Orchard booth, where I was itching to spend some sampler tabs and also try one of my most-desired dishes.
There's only one way to kick off a food and wine festival in my book, and that's with an adult beverage!
R opted for the Moët & Chandon Brut Rosé Imperial Champagne ($16.00) while I chose the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin “Yellow Label” Brut Champagne ($13.00). Both were nice and dry choices but we both liked the Brut Rose slightly more. It had more depth of flavors and was very delicate. We'd have this several more times over the weekend and I am already looking forward to enjoying it on our next trip!
One of the dishes I was most looking forward to trying was the Cauliflower Risotto with Pulled Chicken, Artichokes, Spinach and Parmesan Cheese and Aged Balsamic ($4.75). I was eager to try this as it sounded like something I would like to make at home in the future, and it did not disappoint! It was very rich and super tasty with lots of sharp parmesan flavor. I loved this and would definitely recommend it. It also paired very nicely with the sparkling wine and was a good value as the portion size was fairly large for the price.
Of course it had only been about two hours since breakfast, so I was getting pretty full. The weather was warming up and I had only one destination on my mind to cool off and relax....
Passion slushes from France! We again used our tabs, cashing in two for the La Passion Martini Slush: Vodka, GreyGoose Le Citron, Cranberry and Passion Fruit Juice ($10.75). I also wanted to try the Moelleux au Fromage de Chèvre et Épinards: Warm Goat Cheese Pudding with Spinach ($4.25)
The goat cheese pudding was very disappointing. The idea was there, but just plopping one dollop of goat cheese in the middle of the dish did not flavor the dish throughout. The remainder of the dish without the goat cheese tasted like a bland crustless quiche, which I guess is just underseasoned eggs. I wouldn't go back for this. I was, however, shocked at the lack of crowds
In fairness, it was only 11:12 when I took the above photo but there was NO ONE in line at what is usually a very hoppin' booth. We enjoyed the tables in the shade near the wall by the canal.
The next stop for us was Brazil, a booth that always remains at the top of my list. While R got in line there, I popped next door to grab another drink
The Chilled Coffee featuring Godiva Chocolate Liqueur from Belgium (used a tab again, but would have cost $10 out of pocket). I don't know why I was expecting a real iced coffee with a Godiva floater... after all, this was not Joffrey's. Needless to say, this was not at all what I was expecting and I was displeased with the fact that it was unceremoniously dispensed from a jug of premixed drink. It was super sweet and tasted like a YooHoo to me. I did finish it but wouldn't get this again. It was also really heavy given the building heat. If I had been in the mood for dessert this would have been perfect!
R went for the M.I.A. Beer Company Barbosa Black Beer, Doral, FL, $4.25 at the Brazil booth. I tasted it but don't remember anything about it. I consulted R and he said that it was pretty good, not his favorite, but not bad. So I would say it wasn't memorable. If I remember it tasted like beer but with some caramel notes.
Of course, we had to get one of my favorite returning dishes, the Crispy Pork Belly with Black Beans, Tomato and Onions - $5.75. At first, we were afraid we were going to have to return this and ask for a different portion as the pork belly looked like it was 100% fat. However we were surprised on digging in - there was a fair amount of meat in this (as far as pork belly goes anyway). I loved this as usual - the black beans were perfectly softened and seasoned well, the pico de gallo added a nice fresh zing, and the pork belly was rich and flavorful. So yummy!
After this point it was getting very very hot. We decided we needed to find a place to cool off and get some water, so we ducked in to the quick service restaurant in America, Liberty Inn. We each got a nice large cup of ice water and we people watched at a table in the air conditioning while we cooled down. We had planned to watch the American Adventure show but ultimately decided that we'd rather get to our nap earlier.
On the way out, I grabbed a beer I'd earmarked - Anchor Brewing Liberty Ale, San Francisco, CA - $4.25. I liked this as it was a tasty ale with a lot of depth without being bitter or overly hoppy.
It was HOT. We headed to the Friendship Boats and discussed our plans for the balance of the afternoon. I'd somehow miraculously snagged Flight of Passage fastpasses after CONSTANTLY checking the app in the weeks prior to our trip. Aside from our nap and heading to Animal Kingdom, we had no plans, so we decided to stop off at the Boardwalk and check out a place we'd not yet visited.
Have you been to Ample Hills Creamery yet? If the answer is no, get yourself there IMMEDIATELY on your next trip. It's so cute in there! I don't know why I didn't listen to @Vernie822 earlier. I found my ice cream soulmate here. And 5 other good options!
Of course we did the flight. We got the following flavors:
Dark Chocolate Ice Cream - Rich Dark Chocolate Ice Cream made with 72% E. Guiffard Chocolate
Peppermint Pattie Ice Cream - Cool Peppermint Ice Cream with flakes of Dark Chocolate and House-made Peppermint Patties
Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream - the creamiest Vanilla Ice Cream made with Cream Cheese and gobs of House-made St. Louis-Style Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. A staff favorite!
Nonna D's Oatmeal Lace Ice Cream - Dark Brown Sugar Cinnamon Ice Cream with Housemade Oatmeal Lace Cookies
Baked/Unbaked Ice Cream - Vanilla Ice Cream with pieces of Housemade Chocolate Chip Cookies and Brown Butter Cookie Dough
Malty Salty Pretzel Punch Ice Cream - Vanilla Malted Ice Cream with Chocolate-covered Pretzel Pieces
Holy cow all of these were amazing! I especially loved the Nonna D's Oatmeal Lace because I'm a grandma and am the hugest fan of oatmeal cookies. The cinnamon ice cream was the perfect background flavor for the cookies. My other favorite was the Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. Next time we decided we would get a sundae with a whole piece of ooey gooey butter cake as the base. So so yummy! Everything was good so it's hard to say we had a favorite. The baked/unbaked and dark chocolate were also standouts.
The flight was $10.11 including tax and we had no problem joining the clean plate club!
Up Next: Pandora, Morimoto Asia, and Il Mulino
As usual, this report will likely span at least two trips. The first of which is already complete - R and I visited WDW over labor day weekend and of course ate a TON!
This is your current cast of characters - I'm Melinda, your garden variety Disneyphile. R, my fiance, has grown to love Disney and tolerates my addiction to the parks fairly well. Basically anytime there is a holiday from work, I am scheming how to get down to Walt Disney World. Since both R and I had labor day off from work, I was able to convince him to go to Orlando with me. We are both in our early 30s and try to eat healthy at home so that we can indulge on vacation - and indulge we did
We also have a trip coming up later this fall (actually we are 24 days out from that trip! woohoo!) where we will be accompanied by one of my friends. On that upcoming trip R and I will be staying in a DVC studio at the Villas at the Grand Floridian and we have lots of plans, fastpasses, and our days all planned out!
This trip was much less planned. I was able to grab a great starwood preferred guest rate at the Dolphin somewhat last minute, and we drove down, once again departing at 2:00ish AM to avoid the traffic. We had exactly one ADR, and while I made fastpasses ahead of the trip, we ended up using exactly two of those fastpasses to ride the only two attractions we experienced the entire weekend! As they say, the food is really its own attraction.
With the preliminary introductions out of the way, let's get to the report!
Saturday, September 2
I'd originally wanted to hit the Magic Kingdom at park opening to do some things we've still not experienced, but we ended up leaving Atlanta a little later than I'd planned, and I ultimately decided it wasn't worth it to try for a couple of hours at MK. We headed straight to the Dolphin instead and wanted to check in so that we might get a room as early as possible in the day for the inevitable nap we'd need later. To my surprise, a room was immediately available, so we took our bags up to scope out the new renovated rooms. I love the new style of the rooms at the Swan and Dolphin but our room still had a faint tinge of the old musty smell that permeates many of the rooms at the Dolphin. Oh well, it was clean and we were really only there for the location! I took the below photo at 9:00 am so we must have arrived in Orlando around 8:30.
view from our room at the Dolphin
We were starving by the time we finished up in the room, so we decided to head down to Picabu, the Dolphin's Quick Service, to find something to tide us over until the food booths opened at Epcot. I actually looked at the menus at the other Crescent Lake resorts thinking we'd try something different, but Picabu's menu sounded the best and it was certainly the most convenient, being a short elevator ride away!
(photo borrowed from elsewhere on the web)
At the right you can see a case of grab n go chilled items and beyond that there was a hot line with sausage, bacon, quiche, scrambled eggs, and other breakfast items. We opted for the eggs any style and each got a side of breakfast meats to share.
We both had eggs fried medium and R opted for bacon while I chose sausage. I was surprised at how good the bacon and sausage were - I would give the sausage the slight edge since it held up better (these were not made to order). The bacon was not your typical wiggly quick service bacon - you could tell it had been fried crisp but got slightly chewy after sitting on the service line. The sausage had good flavor and just the right amount of grease! Each breakfast plate was $8.75, and we also shared a $7.00 fruit salad cup. There is a 13% service charge and with that and tax, our total was $29.28. The staff was exceptionally friendly and we were happy to see that Picabu has a Coke freestyle machine with filtered water available for free, which we used often on our way to and from the park. We were pleasantly full but not stuffed and headed off to Epcot to start our Food and Wine adventure!
This is the sign that greets you at the International Gateway entrance to Epcot. Taken later in the day, as our weather that morning was a little dreary. We were grateful for the clouds as it made the day a little more comfortable.
The first item of business for me was to grab a festival tasting sampler (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/events-tours/epcot/food-wine-festival-tasting-sampler/). With tax this cost $69.23 and comes with a cute Remy festival logo pin. I don't usually buy pins except with my eBay bucks, so I am not including the pin in my value assessment.
(pin thanks to WDWNT)
(last year's nicer pin, in my opinion)
So the tabs were worth about $8.65 each as you get 8 with the tasting sampler. You also get a lanyard to wear the credential with the tabs on it, but I kept mine in my purse the whole time as the tabs come off fairly easily. We located the sampler at the kiosk on the bridge between future world and world showcase.
To my surprise, many of the booths were open around 10:30! Maybe because it was the first Saturday of the Festival? After purchasing the sampler we decided to start tasting. First up was the beef skewer from the Patagonia booth. Served with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Puree, $5.75.
We both really liked this, and I think it ended up becoming one of R's favorite dishes from the festival. The Boniato puree really did not taste sweet at all, more like traditional mashed potatoes. The chimichurri was delicious and garlicky, and the beef was fairly tender. I would definitely recommend this and get it again.
Next up was the Almond Orchard booth, where I was itching to spend some sampler tabs and also try one of my most-desired dishes.
There's only one way to kick off a food and wine festival in my book, and that's with an adult beverage!
R opted for the Moët & Chandon Brut Rosé Imperial Champagne ($16.00) while I chose the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin “Yellow Label” Brut Champagne ($13.00). Both were nice and dry choices but we both liked the Brut Rose slightly more. It had more depth of flavors and was very delicate. We'd have this several more times over the weekend and I am already looking forward to enjoying it on our next trip!
One of the dishes I was most looking forward to trying was the Cauliflower Risotto with Pulled Chicken, Artichokes, Spinach and Parmesan Cheese and Aged Balsamic ($4.75). I was eager to try this as it sounded like something I would like to make at home in the future, and it did not disappoint! It was very rich and super tasty with lots of sharp parmesan flavor. I loved this and would definitely recommend it. It also paired very nicely with the sparkling wine and was a good value as the portion size was fairly large for the price.
Of course it had only been about two hours since breakfast, so I was getting pretty full. The weather was warming up and I had only one destination on my mind to cool off and relax....
Passion slushes from France! We again used our tabs, cashing in two for the La Passion Martini Slush: Vodka, GreyGoose Le Citron, Cranberry and Passion Fruit Juice ($10.75). I also wanted to try the Moelleux au Fromage de Chèvre et Épinards: Warm Goat Cheese Pudding with Spinach ($4.25)
The goat cheese pudding was very disappointing. The idea was there, but just plopping one dollop of goat cheese in the middle of the dish did not flavor the dish throughout. The remainder of the dish without the goat cheese tasted like a bland crustless quiche, which I guess is just underseasoned eggs. I wouldn't go back for this. I was, however, shocked at the lack of crowds
In fairness, it was only 11:12 when I took the above photo but there was NO ONE in line at what is usually a very hoppin' booth. We enjoyed the tables in the shade near the wall by the canal.
The next stop for us was Brazil, a booth that always remains at the top of my list. While R got in line there, I popped next door to grab another drink
The Chilled Coffee featuring Godiva Chocolate Liqueur from Belgium (used a tab again, but would have cost $10 out of pocket). I don't know why I was expecting a real iced coffee with a Godiva floater... after all, this was not Joffrey's. Needless to say, this was not at all what I was expecting and I was displeased with the fact that it was unceremoniously dispensed from a jug of premixed drink. It was super sweet and tasted like a YooHoo to me. I did finish it but wouldn't get this again. It was also really heavy given the building heat. If I had been in the mood for dessert this would have been perfect!
R went for the M.I.A. Beer Company Barbosa Black Beer, Doral, FL, $4.25 at the Brazil booth. I tasted it but don't remember anything about it. I consulted R and he said that it was pretty good, not his favorite, but not bad. So I would say it wasn't memorable. If I remember it tasted like beer but with some caramel notes.
Of course, we had to get one of my favorite returning dishes, the Crispy Pork Belly with Black Beans, Tomato and Onions - $5.75. At first, we were afraid we were going to have to return this and ask for a different portion as the pork belly looked like it was 100% fat. However we were surprised on digging in - there was a fair amount of meat in this (as far as pork belly goes anyway). I loved this as usual - the black beans were perfectly softened and seasoned well, the pico de gallo added a nice fresh zing, and the pork belly was rich and flavorful. So yummy!
After this point it was getting very very hot. We decided we needed to find a place to cool off and get some water, so we ducked in to the quick service restaurant in America, Liberty Inn. We each got a nice large cup of ice water and we people watched at a table in the air conditioning while we cooled down. We had planned to watch the American Adventure show but ultimately decided that we'd rather get to our nap earlier.
On the way out, I grabbed a beer I'd earmarked - Anchor Brewing Liberty Ale, San Francisco, CA - $4.25. I liked this as it was a tasty ale with a lot of depth without being bitter or overly hoppy.
It was HOT. We headed to the Friendship Boats and discussed our plans for the balance of the afternoon. I'd somehow miraculously snagged Flight of Passage fastpasses after CONSTANTLY checking the app in the weeks prior to our trip. Aside from our nap and heading to Animal Kingdom, we had no plans, so we decided to stop off at the Boardwalk and check out a place we'd not yet visited.
Have you been to Ample Hills Creamery yet? If the answer is no, get yourself there IMMEDIATELY on your next trip. It's so cute in there! I don't know why I didn't listen to @Vernie822 earlier. I found my ice cream soulmate here. And 5 other good options!
Of course we did the flight. We got the following flavors:
Dark Chocolate Ice Cream - Rich Dark Chocolate Ice Cream made with 72% E. Guiffard Chocolate
Peppermint Pattie Ice Cream - Cool Peppermint Ice Cream with flakes of Dark Chocolate and House-made Peppermint Patties
Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream - the creamiest Vanilla Ice Cream made with Cream Cheese and gobs of House-made St. Louis-Style Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. A staff favorite!
Nonna D's Oatmeal Lace Ice Cream - Dark Brown Sugar Cinnamon Ice Cream with Housemade Oatmeal Lace Cookies
Baked/Unbaked Ice Cream - Vanilla Ice Cream with pieces of Housemade Chocolate Chip Cookies and Brown Butter Cookie Dough
Malty Salty Pretzel Punch Ice Cream - Vanilla Malted Ice Cream with Chocolate-covered Pretzel Pieces
Holy cow all of these were amazing! I especially loved the Nonna D's Oatmeal Lace because I'm a grandma and am the hugest fan of oatmeal cookies. The cinnamon ice cream was the perfect background flavor for the cookies. My other favorite was the Ooey Gooey Butter Cake. Next time we decided we would get a sundae with a whole piece of ooey gooey butter cake as the base. So so yummy! Everything was good so it's hard to say we had a favorite. The baked/unbaked and dark chocolate were also standouts.
The flight was $10.11 including tax and we had no problem joining the clean plate club!
Up Next: Pandora, Morimoto Asia, and Il Mulino