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View Full Version : No Planes, but trains and automobiles – Table Service Dining Review 2



Mickey'sGirl
08-15-2012, 08:33 PM
Cast:
DH – Brian (CanadianWDWFan) Turning 45 on this trip
DS14 – Harry – Celebrating graduating from Grade 8 (High School already?!?!?)
DS8 ˝ – Euan – Celebrating his Half-Birthday because we can’t go down in January
Me – Jennifer – Just happy to be making the trip with my guys!

Part 1 Can be found here (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=2292178#post2292178)

Part 3 Can be found here (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?p=2292188#post2292188)

4. Sci Fi Dine In Theater – Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Atmosphere: There is NO better atmosphere at any dining establishment in DisneyWorld than at the Sci Fi. We all LOVE LOVE LOVE the campy movies, and the Drive In setting. 5/5

Food: I have long defended the food at Sci Fi, but I feel I have to go with the masses on this visit. I had the Turkey sandwich with Avacado Mayo sandwich. I don’t know if it was just me, but the sandwich which was so stellar last year, seemed rather slapped together this time. Brian had the Ruben which was fine, Harry had a bacon cheeseburger which he enjoyed, and Euan had the hotdog with carrots and apples. This was all accompanied by gallons of iced tea, but the food was nothing spectacular for sure. 2/5

Service: Our server was good. He brought lots of refills, ice cream sundaes for both of the boys because of Brian’s birthday pin, and Euan got ice cream with his kid’s meal. It was thoughtful of him …. And he sang Happy Birthday to Brian. 3/5

I am not as keen on the Sci Fi as I as prior to this visit, but we will likely return. We always do because it is a fabulous place to cool down when spending a day at the Studios. Overall rating - 3/5

5. Big River Grille – The BoardWalk

Atmosphere: I think eating outside on the Boardwalk would be nice in the evening, but we ate indoors at the ridiculously small tables. There was no atmosphere at all. 1/5

Food: We shared an order of standard pub food nachos to start. I ordered a salmon Caesar salad, because the room we had overlooked the outdoor seating at the Big River Grille, and people had been ordering them all week. I’ll just say that they look better than they tasted. The salad was basically romaine lettuce with far too much dressing. The salmon portion was good, but it was a bit over cooked. Perhaps it had been pre-cooked then reheated. Brian had a house beer and the pulled pork sandwich, which had the opposite problem from my salad, it was very dry, and lacking in sauce. Harry had the Hickory Bacon Burger which he enjoyed (A burger is a burger, Mom!), and Euan had a kid’s cheeseburger. 1/5

Service: In all fairness, our server was fine. She was friendly and efficient and did a good job. 3/5

I can honestly say I will never harken the doorway of the Big River Grille again. The food was horrible, and the seating area inside was cramped and lacklustre. Overall rating – 1/5

6. Tokyo Dining – Japan Pavillion - Epcot

Atmosphere: I love the straight lines and clean minimalistic décor of Tokyo Dining. We were seated in the area in front of the sushi chefs. Tables are well spaced. 5/5

Food: We really love sushi in our house, but whenever we have dined in “Japan” at Epcot, we have always opted for Teppan Edo. Our decision to go to Tokyo Dining was spur of the moment and based on Euan taking on an Agent P mission in Japan. It was a great decision! As before, we shared several sushi dishes to start, California rolls, cucumber rolls and salmon rolls (so Euan would share), also some spicy rolls and chef’s suggestions, and some Edamame. It was really lovely, and we enjoyed watching the chefs prepare the sushi. Harry had the sushi combination platter for his main course - tuna, yellowtail, salmon, izumi-dai, shrimp, Masago and California Roll, Brian had a beef and noodle bento box, I had a bento box that had tempura vegetables, avocado and salmon salad, Philadelphia rolls (salmon and cream cheese sushi) and teriyaki beef. The salmon and avocado dish was particularly fabulous. Euan had a kids meal of tempura shrimp, green beans, carrots and rice. It was served on a monorail plate, and he thought it was the best thing EVER. 5/5

Service: I have always said that I always feel special after eating at a Japanese restaurant, and Tokyo Dining made me feel even more so. Everyone is so polite and respectful, it is really lovely to experience. Like at Tony’s, we saw all of the staff pitching in to get things done. When a table was vacated, everyone available went and cleaned it off and got it prepared for the next guests. It was quick and efficient, and really the way people should work together. Our server was very good, and attentive to the boys. 5/5

This was a fabulous last minute addition to our eating roster. We were all tempted to go back the next day because we enjoyed it all so much! Overall Rating - 5/5

ibelieveindisneymagic
08-15-2012, 08:45 PM
Thanks for sharing!

We've been thinking about Big River Grille, but it sounds like a miss.

Crow
08-15-2012, 09:44 PM
thanks for the reviews. i love TD and always say how great the service is.

yourmagicalguide
08-16-2012, 03:37 PM
I completely agree with your review of the Sci-Fi Dine-In. The atmosphere was awesome but the food was nothing to come back for. I've had better food at a real drive-in movie theater consession stand.

I'll steer clear of Big River Grille - Thanks for the heads up! :thumbsup:

I've always wanted to eat at Tokyo Dining, and your review just confirmed all the good things I've heard about it :D

Thanks again for the reviews! Off to read the next :mickey:

ElenitaB
08-16-2012, 11:00 PM
I can't agree more about Big River Grille. I know that I put in my :twocents: about it often. Your experience was better than ours, believe it or not. At least you didn't see dirty dishes staged on tables next to yours before heading into the kitchen and the bonus: you didn't get :ack: and have to stay in your room for a day afterwards. Maybe the key is to go for just beer and appetizers ... otherwise I see no saving grace except for its exceptional location.

Our next long trip we will be adding TD to our roster.

Disappointed to hear that SF is sliding again. The food was good when we went in 2010, thankfully. And the atmosphere is a hoot!

Thanks for your reviews. I love your system.

January-2007
08-17-2012, 06:36 PM
Thanks for sharing. I miss Sci Fi since last time we went DS was scared of the dark room so we had to forgo. It has always been a favorite of ours.

faline
08-17-2012, 07:24 PM
We went to Sci-Fi on our last trip. We hadn't been there in a while and it was a last-minute decision to go as we were seated as a walk-in after waiting approximately 10-15 minutes for a table - I mean, car. We enjoyed watching the campy movies and old drive-in ads but I must say our meal must have not been very memorable a I can't remember what either one of us ate there.

It's been a while since we ate at Big River Grille. The last time we dined there, we went for dinner and, for the most part, it was a pleasant surprise. We were seated by windows through which you could see the beer vats. One of them was overflowing to the point that we were reminded of the old, old sci-movie "The Blob" (guess there's a tie-in to the Sci-Fi there!! Beside that, I do recall that our food was good and our waiter attentive. The other thing that I recall was that the portion sizes were quite large.

Have never been to Tokyo Dining.