~We seldom report of having eaten too little~ w/ PICS! ~ UPDATE: New Thread Started!

[TinkerBelle_325]

Was this considered dessert for 2? I would love to get this and a creme brulee!

We weren't on the DDP so I have no idea if it is a DDP option. It was $5.99 and it wasn't on the menu, we requested it.

I can't wait to go here on my next trip.

Quick question...what is that on top of the rolls? I keep seeing pics of these spicy rolls and I just can't figure out what's on top.

TIA!

The Spicy Kazan Roll is topped with Tempura Crunch It adds great texture.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Hi Everyone!

Sorry it has taken me so long to update

I've gone back to work as of yesterday and I'm fighting off a sinus infection to boot

I have also realized that my Wolfgang Puck Express/Wave review never got posted

I promise I'll give you guys an update tonight

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

The Wave!

This was a new experience for us and it did not disappoint

Sign

Entrance

Multigrain Bread with butter sprinkled with Hawaiian red sea salt

Shiraz Wine Flight

Closeup of one of the Sauvignon Blanc Wines

DMom ordered the cinnamon rubbed pork tenderloin with fingerling potatoes

DDad ordered the braised chicken pot pie

And I ordered the filet with boniato mash and red wine reduction

For dessert we ordered the Decadent Flavors (chocolate mousse with salted caramel sauce, lemon cornbread with vanilla panna cotta, yogurt gelato with blueberry compote) and the Sugar Free (vanilla bean creme brulee, berries and vanilla panna cotta, chocolate mint mousse).

This meal was absolutely fantastic! We can't wait to try it again

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Thank you for a wonderful update. We can't wait to try The Wave in our December trip.

 

[TigerKat]

Thanks for The Wave review, we're trying it for lunch in October!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Jiko!

We tried Jiko for the first time in October 2008 and we were so excited to return! This review starts with a short story. We arrived about 15 minutes early for our ADR and we were informed that Jiko was running a bit behind. No problem. We were given a pager and we relaxed in the Victoria Falls Lounge.

Our buzzer went off right at our ADR time and we wandered down to the podium. A hostess with the personality of a sheet of white paper walked us in. We noticed 2 tables set by the windows that were ready, and several up against the sunset wall. We were seated in the "watering hole" area with 3 LARGE groups full of small children. Now before I get flamed, I appreciate that kids can behave in fancy restaurants. I was exposed to fine dining at the age of 2 at WDW.

However, these children were at the end of their rope. It was 8:15pm and they were tired, cranky and restless. They were whining, crawling over their parents, etc.

We have friends who own a fine dining establishment here in Toronto and the owner has a very simple rule of thumb:

Never walk patrons by a good table to seat them at a bad one.

That is exactly what this hostess did and we politely requested a different table, gesturing to the numerous empty tables at the sunset wall and the windows. She snapped at us "those stations are closed, we are running behind, this is your table."

We politely asked again to be re-seated. She huffed, rolled her eyes and told us to go back out to the waiting area. As we walked back there we passed the manager. He pulled the hostess aside as he had observed some of the interaction. Within moments we were wisked to a 6 top table right at the windows. We didn't need a 6 top, but I believe it was his way of compensating. The same hostess re-seated us and basically threw our menus at the table and stormed off.

Thankfully, the evening gets MUCH better from here

Menu

Place Setting, Wine Menu and Menu

View from our table

Sunset Wall - Yellow

Sunset Wall - Pink

Sunset Wall - Pale Orange

Cashew Bread, Flaxseed Bread and Tandoori Butter (the baskets are new, the came in a few days before, and each table gets a different coloured one, they are beaded and beautifully detailed!)

Cheese Plate (I have the menu, I'll update soon) and BBQ Chicken Flatbread

We were actually a bit "boring" tonight. We each ordered the filet. DMom and I went with the mac & cheese pairing on the menu.

DDad swapped out for the goat cheese potatoes

For dessert we ordered the Tanzanian Chocolate Cheesecake with Lavander Ice Cream

Our waitress, Dawn (who we LOVED and will be requesting in Oct ) brought out this cute tasting portion of the Pistachio Creme Brulee for my DDad's Bday

Shangilia means "Celebration" in Swahili

DMom ordered a Cape Town Coffee which was coffee, khalua and cointreau. It was amazing!

I ordered a Zebratini - spiced rum, amurula, godiva white chocolate, and a shot of espresso, served in a "zebra" (chocolate drizzled) martini glass.

We adore Jiko. This was easily the best meal of the trip

 

[TigerKat]

Sorry it got off to a rocky start but so glad it ended up as I would expect!!!! We LOVE Jiko, our favorite restaurant!!!!

 

[Shenanigoat]

What a rude Hostess.

Is the lavender icecream any good? I like lavender, but sometimes it can be a bit too much. The zebratini looks amazing

 

[MickeyNicki]

The Wave, we loved that place and the pork and filet were awesome! Would love to fit that in again, hmmmm maybe I need to plan another trip? Might be able to squeak in a lunch there, convince DH that we need to relax and cool off from MK.....

Jiko, well honey I would have complained up one side and down the other...I love kids, have no problem dining with kids but I do not want to listen to screaming, crying, yelling and whining when I am dropping $150 for dinner.....reminds me of our FF meal this past June, I though I was gonna lose my mind!

So glad the manager stepped in and diverted you to a quieter location and the food, oh baby the food...DH is still dreaming about that filet and mac and cheese and of course, the pistachio creme brulee!

How many more days until I can pig out on that again? How many more days until you can?

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

The Wave, we loved that place and the pork and filet were awesome! Would love to fit that in again, hmmmm maybe I need to plan another trip? Might be able to squeak in a lunch there, convince DH that we need to relax and cool off from MK.....

Jiko, well honey I would have complained up one side and down the other...I love kids, have no problem dining with kids but I do not want to listen to screaming, crying, yelling and whining when I am dropping $150 for dinner.....reminds me of our FF meal this past June, I though I was gonna lose my mind!

So glad the manager stepped in and diverted you to a quieter location and the food, oh baby the food...DH is still dreaming about that filet and mac and cheese and of course, the pistachio creme brulee!

How many more days until I can pig out on that again? How many more days until you can?

We love kids too, but when you are paying prices like those at Jiko, and dining late you don't expect to be seated in "romper room"

I find that hostesses have serious power trip issues, and this one was no exception lol. We were happy with the solution though

I think we are going to try The Wave for lunch on our next trip too.

I'm not sure about you, but it is 41 days until I return

I made the decision not to book any F&W events this year We are doing V&A as our splurge and I'm just not that enthralled by anything else being offered during our time there. Though I was excited to see that Caymus is doing a wine tasting during our stay! That is totally worth $8/person if you ask me

We want to focus more on the booths, so even our "dinners" are going to be more like a few appetizers to share, split a dessert and go tackle the booths

 

[amandelba]

Great reviews. I am so looking forward to Jiko - I'll be sure to watch out for that hostess though.

 

[fantasia73]

Jiko was a favorite on our last trip too. The only negative was a table next to had a 2 year old screaming and throwing her sippy cup towards my table. The parents weren't having fun, the kids weren't having fun, and I certainly wasn't having fun. Thankfully, they were done with their meals just as our appetizers were served.

 

[cdtommie]

I can't wait to go here on my next trip.

Quick question...what is that on top of the rolls? I keep seeing pics of these spicy rolls and I just can't figure out what's on top.

TIA!

This is the fireball sauce I believe it's mayo based and has scallops and spices...it's darn tasty and we get this roll every time we go to CG.

 

[milmore104]

Great reviews. I can't wait for our ADR in Oct. I've been drooling over that filet w/ the mac n cheese. I made our ADR just so I could try it. And some kind of flat bread.

 

[kirkson]

thanks! Wave and Jiko are two of the new ones for us on our next trip, very excited to try them

 

[irongirlof12]

yum, the food at Jiko looks amazing

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

1 month from today I'll be back in WDW!!​

​

I can't believe how fast the time is flying by!! I believe this is the shortest turnaround we have ever had between trips....

My May/June trip finished on the 3rd and I returned on July 31st...so that was 58 days.

My July/Aug trip ended on Aug 8th and I am returning Sept 24th...so that is 47 days! Yup, definitely the shortest turnaround

I'm so looking forward to the Food & Wine Festival this year. I love that they have posted the marketplace menus and released the Festival Guide in advance!

We have decided not to do any special events this year and instead focus on the marketplaces and a few wine tastings and food demos at the Festival Centre.

So far we are interested in:
Sat Sept 26th
- Caymus Wine Tasting
- Eat to the Deat: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Wed Sept 30th
- Chefs de France culinary demo
- Ohana culinary demo

As far as ADRs go we have a new approach this year. We go to the F&W festival to enjoy the marketplaces, but don't want to miss out on our favorite restaurants either. So, we have booked ADRs with the intention of stopping by our favorite restaurants to share a few appetizers/first courses and a dessert, glass of wine etc, before going out to tackle the booths for the evening. This way we get the best of both worlds (ack...not trying to sound like Hannah Montana )

The only "full" (appetizer/entree/dessert) meals we see ourselves doing this trip are:
- Victoria & Alberts
- Jiko
- Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch)
- The Wave (lunch)
- Garden View Tea

The other "sampling" ADRs are as follows:
LUNCH
- Flame Tree BBQ
- ESPN Club
- Wolfgang Puck Express
- Chefs de France

DINNER
- Chefs de France
- Kona Cafe
- bluezoo
- California Grill
- Kouzzina
- Tokyo Dining
- Wolfgang Puck Express

That gives us 8 lunches, 8 dinners and leaves 1 lunch and 1 dinner purely for "eat around the world" purposes. We really want to try and hit EVERY booth this year for at least 1 item

 

[MickeyNicki]

You and I are sooo much alike! I love turn around trips...so far mine have been appx 2 months between each other!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

You and I are sooo much alike! I love turn around trips...so far mine have been appx 2 months between each other!

Well great minds think alike

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

I'm doing the....

TWO WEEK HAPPY DANCE!!​

Two weeks from today I will be at the Polynesian, specifically at Kona Cafe for lunch

Thought it was time to bump my report back up and post my updated Dining plans

First thing - THE ADRs (I promise they have changed for the last time )

Sept 24th
LUNCH - Kona Cafe
DINNER - F&W Festival Preview (hopefully!) and Chefs de France

Sept 25th
LUNCH - Liberty Tree Tavern with Belle_373 and her DBF
DINNER - Kona Cafe

Sept 26th
LUNCH - Flame Tree BBQ
EVENT - Caymus Wine Tasting - 2pm
DINNER - bluezoo & F&W Festival Booths

Sept 27th
LUNCH - F&W Festival Booths
EVENT - American Brownie Tasting 1pm
DINNER - Victoria & Albert's

Sept 28th
LUNCH - Garden View Tea for DMom & I / ESPN Club for DDad
DINNER - California Grill

Sept 29th
BREAKFAST - Kona Cafe
LUNCH - F&W Festival Booths
DINNER - Flying Fish & F&W Festival Booths

Sept 30th
LUNCH - Wolfgang Puck Express
DINNER - Kouzzina & F&W Festival Booths

Oct 1st
LUNCH - Chefs de France & F&W Festival Booths
DINNER - Jiko

Oct 2nd
LUNCH - Liberty Tree Tavern
DINNER - Tokyo Dining & F&W Festival Booths

I am getting so excited that it is getting harder and harder to focus at work rolleyes1)

I've been reading the offerings at the Booths/Marketplaces over and over and I'm most excited to try:
- ATHENS - Chicken Souvlaki
- BANGKOK - Green Papaya Salad with Shrimp
- BARCELONA - Crema Catalana
- BOLOGNA - Polpetti
- BUENOS AIRES - Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri and Boniato Puree
- CAPE TOWN - Seared Beef Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Puree and Mango BBQ sauce
- CORK - Toss up between - Lobster and Scallop Fisherman's Pie and the Chocolate Lava Cake with Bailey's Ganache
- MELBOURNE - Lambington (apparently it is yellow sponge cake, dipped in chocolate and coated in coconut - yum!)
- MEXICO CITY - Taco de Cochinita Pibil
- MONTREAL - Spicy Chicken Sausage with Sweet Corn Polenta (no idea what is Canadian about this )
- MUNICH - Spaetzle Gratin with Ham and Cheese
- NEW DELHI - Rava Masala Dosa
- NEW ORLEANS - Chicken and Andouille Gumbo
- PARIS - Cabernet Short Ribs with Mashed Potatoes
- RIO DE JANIERO - Grilled Pork with Farofa
- SAN JUAN - Ham Croquette
- SANTIAGO - Corn & Cheese Arepa
- SHANGHAI - Shrimp or Beef Rice Pancake
- TOKYO - Tuna Sensation
- VIENNA - Sachertorte
- WELLINGTON - Seared Sea Scallop with Vegetable Slaw and Lemon Oil
- DESSERTS & CHAMPAGNE - Frozen Grand Marnier Parfait, Orange Coulis

And that is just picking items I've NEVER tried! I have a feeling it is going to be a fantastic festival this year