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Figment!
11-12-2012, 04:55 PM
Rumours of My Fictitiousness Have Been Slightly Exaggerated
Figment!'s ICOT 15 Dining Reviews
Part Two

Day 3

Lunch: Flame Tree BBQ – Disney’s Animal Kingdom

As the crowds built in the real-life rainforest that is the Animal Kingdom, I decided to take a break here for lunch. I decided on the ½ BBQ chicken and the key lime mousse. The chicken came in the location's signature spices and sauce and was also served with baked beans and coleslaw. I am not typically a fan of baked beans, but as these did not look; runny I decided to give them a try—and I found them to be quite tasty. The chicken and the coleslaw were also both good. The key lime mousse was a good crisp, citrusy treat to cap off the hearty meal.

Snack: Ice Cream Cart –Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Although they are now available at other parks, I still get a chocolate covered frozen banana only when visiting this park. Given the extra humidity of this foliage friendly park, the tropical treat is a nice combination of cool and sweet that’s not quite as messy as ice cream.

Dinner: Kouzzina – Disney’s Boardwalk

After reading rave reviews about this location and loving Mediterranean food, I knew this had to be a must do for me this trip. After hanging out in the Boardwalk Inn lobby for a few minutes and admiring the carousel sculptures, I headed downstairs to the restaurant. I arrived about 15 minutes early and was asked to wait in the lobby area. After an about 10 minute wait I was seated right next to the open kitchen, I definitely lucked out with my view and took it all in during my meal. Aside from the samplers, I was a little surprised to find the offerings not what I would exactly consider Mediterranean or Greek fair. I ended up going with the wood-fired steak, as I couldn’t recall ever having steak prepared this way and it certainly sounded authentic given the flames shooting out of the kitchen every few minutes. As I waited for the steak I enjoyed the unique treat of a selection of olives being served with the restaurant standard bread (it also came with olive oil for dipping, but I did not partake in that option). The steak was very good and cooked to my request (medium). For dessert, I quickly choose the very Mediterranean Baklava. The flaky, layered pastry was very good. My server here was very attentive and pleasant. Overall, this was a very good meal and I will definitely plan to dine here again.

Day 4

Lunch: Columbia Habour House- Magic Kingdom

Ate lunch here as part of the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. Went with the staple of chicken nuggets and fries. Not much to say about the meal here, other than the private dining area was interesting to dine in and provided a great view of Big Thunder Mountain and the passing Liberty Bell.

Snack: Aloha Isle- Magic Kingdom

With the INTERCOT gang in-tow, I went with the classic pineapple frozen treat. Most of my fellow INTERCOTee’s seemed split between the Dole Whip Float and the original Dole Whip. As we were leaving the line there were a few lamenting about not noticing the chocolate swirl option, but I think all enjoyed their tropical treat.

Dinner: Kona Café & Tambu Lounge-Disney’s Polynesian Resort

After not being able to get a reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern with the INTERCOT gang, I hopped the monorail over to affectionately dubbed “Poly”. While waiting for my table, I snagged a seat at the bar in the Tambu Lounge. Possibly still on my pineapple kick from earlier, I went with the Lapu Lapu. As I finished by rum fueled concoction, my table was ready. I was seated by the railing near the second floor walkway. The other Guests passing by in proximity didn’t make it the most private location, however; it came with a nice view of the lobby apex and the central crag. While deciding on an entrée I had to constrain myself from completing filling up on the delicious Hawaiian bread. I settled on the duck. While it was not the best duck I have ever had, it was still good. To enjoy my tropical surroundings, I settled on the banana and chocolate creme brulee. The dessert was tasty, although the consistency was not as thick as I am used to with a good creme brulee. My server here was extremely attentive and very friendly.

Snack: Gaston’s Tavern – Magic Kingdom

After journeying under the sea with some fellow INTERCOTee’s, I tried the Lefou's Brew at the nearby Gaston’s Tavern. The specialty beverage was tasty, although I missed the advertised roasted marshmallow flavor in the foam topping. I was assured by our MCP that the flavoring was there, so I will have to trust our cyborg leader on that.

Day 5

Breakfast: The Salon-The Seas Pavilion-Epcot

After journeying down a conspicuously long hallway, I joined our gathering of 100 INTERCOTee’s in the private Salon in the Seas Pavilion. The buffet here offered everything as advertised, including the podcast infamous tater barrels. I was impressed at how quickly the buffet items were being replenished, in the time I was passing through the line the fruit salad and bacon were both replenished—obviously the two most important breakfast foods. I made a plate of fruit, scrambled eggs and bacon … okay so there may have been more bacon than the other two. The company was a highlight here, although the views were also amazing. There were five large windows stretching from the buffet area to the end of the seating area overlooking one of the main tanks in the pavilion. In addition to the many fish, rays, and a few sharks one of the neatest inhabitants were the sea turtles. We also saw some scuba-cast in the tank presumably giving the aquatic inhabitants their breakfast.

Lunch: Sommerfest- Germany Pavilion-Epcot

After deciding to not brave the seemingly never ending lines at the Food and Wine Festival booths, I decided to head to the land of oompah bands and bier for lunch. I got the bratwurst mit kraut and a hand rolled soft pretzel as my dessert. I snagged a table out in the courtyard and enjoyed the quaint ambience of the pavilion as I enjoyed my meal. After having spent two weeks in Germany this past spring, I was a little suspicious of the German food at an American theme park. I was pleasantly surprised at the authenticness of the meal; although it was not exactly what I had eaten along the Rhine or in the foothills of Bavaria it was reminiscent of the fare.

Snack: Karamell Kuche-Germany Pavilion-Epcot

After being drawn into the shop by the sweet aromas, I soon found myself with a challenge of choosing between a kaleidoscope of scrumptious caramel sweets. I finally settled on the caramel apple cookie as it seemed easy to eat while strolling the park. The cookie was very tasty with super sweet caramel drizzled on top being balanced by the apple bits and cookie base. The cookie was quite large and I had a bit of trouble finishing the confectionary, but still extremely tasty.

Afternoon Drink: La Cava del Tequila – Mexico Pavilion-Epcot

After 40 or so INTERCOTee’s helped Jose and Panchito find Donald, a smaller faction of us braved the purportedly hour long line for a taste of tequila. The good company helped the long line seem somewhat bearable and did give us quite a bit of time to confidently decide which cocktail we wanted to try (also time to question the notion of serving barley Mexican beer at a tequila bar). I ended up with the traditional on the rocks, if I recall some of my INTERCOTee cohorts got the blood orange frozen. As we sipped on our beverages sitting in the shadow of the pyramid outside, I believe the consensus was that we all enjoyed our selections.

Dinner: Rose and Crown Dining Room – UK Pavilion- Epcot

Again not choosing to brave the colossal kiosk lines, I departed from the Great Gary’s Column Gathering of 2012 and stopped in at my favorite local. I was seated promptly near a window overlooking World Showcase lagoon and several of the pavilions. To round-out my barnyard of meals, I tried the braised pork with mash. The pork was good, fairly juicy, but not quite as good as my other table service meals. For dessert, I went with the sticky toffee pudding having been pleasantly surprised by British puddings before. This dish was no exception and was a contender for my favorite dessert on the trip. My server here was excellent, although a little pushy for tea at the end of my meal (that wasn’t a British joke, she really tried to get me to order tea like four times).

Day 6

Breakfast: Old Port Royale Food Court-Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort

On my last morning with the mouse, I strolled across Parrot Cay (errr Caribbean Cay) and stopped in at the food court for a leisurely breakfast. I went with the Mickey Waffle combo with bacon. I had no trouble finding a seat here around 9:00 in the morning and was able to sit by the windows in the back and look out on the plaza area as I enjoyed my meal. This Disney-fied breakfast staple was an apropos and tasty way to cap off my trip.

SBETigg
11-12-2012, 07:05 PM
I wish I'd known you were at the Poly that night. You could have joined a bunch of us at 'Ohana, but perhaps you prefer Kona to 'Ohana anyway and it sounds like a good meal so... win, win. Or should I say, Lapu Lapu (maybe that really means win win, who knows?). Oh wait, we were at 'Ohana the night before. Never mind. I was at the GF for tea at that time.

January-2007
11-12-2012, 11:38 PM
Thanks for the reviews!

Christine
11-13-2012, 12:35 AM
I definitely enjoyed my "whole blender" at Cava! And the good company! It was nice meeting you, Jason!

PirateLover
11-13-2012, 03:00 AM
The lines for the Food and Wine Festival booths on Saturday were deceptive. We were gung ho on getting our stamp of completion and had to hit up 11 that day, and all in all they seemed to move very quickly. Nonetheless, it still seems like you ended up with some great food choices! And I am jealous that you got to enjoy a Lapu Lapu :papple:, which is my favorite "Disney" drink. Usually we try to stop by Tambu Lounge for one each trip, but we just didn't have the time.

Thanks for the reviews!

Figment!
11-13-2012, 07:21 PM
I definitely enjoyed my "whole blender" at Cava! And the good company! It was nice meeting you, Jason! It was great to meet you and John, too!


The lines for the Food and Wine Festival booths on Saturday were deceptive...all in all they seemed to move very quickly. Good to know, I'll keep that in mind for next time.

MississippiDisneyFreak
11-14-2012, 10:33 AM
Thanks for the reviews it sounds great