Hammer
09-14-2015, 12:30 AM
Labor Day Weekend- Dining reviews
I am going to break down my reviews by day, as it will help in telling the story about our Sunday evening adventure ;) ! I forgot to mention in my trip report, but my sister and I were celebrating our birthdays during this trip, as my birthday was in the middle of August and Cheryl’s birthday is the middle of September and we thought it would be fun if we did a combined celebration this year.
Friday evening- Tokyo Dining
As we were both arriving around 6:00 and were taking Magical Express, we did not want to make dining reservations prior to our arrival as there were too many factors out of our control that could cause us to miss the reservation. My sister and I managed to be on the same ME bus (I flew in from Philadelphia and she flew out of Newark), so we checked the app to see what was available in World Showcase. Epcot had Extra Magic hours so there were later ADRs available. We decided to try Tokyo Dining. Cheryl and I love sushi, but we never ate here when Mom was with us as she didn’t like sushi and even if she did, she couldn’t eat it due to having an organ transplant (raw fish is a :nono: ). We ordered the Tuna Tataki with white truffle oil as an appetizer to share which was delicious. We both ordered the Ginza for dinner, which was shrimp, scallop and vegetable tempura, nigiri, and California roll. It was served with Sunomono, Noodle Salad and Sukiyaki Beef Rice. Everything was delicious. I appreciated that the tempura was cooked just right (sometimes it cooks a little too long and the seafood is overcooked) and the sukiyaki beef rice was the right consistency so that it was easy to eat with chopsticks. We were too full to have dessert and honestly nothing really interested us (not a fan of green tea in desserts). Great dining experience and we will return in the future.
Saturday morning- Breakfast- Roaring Fork
I got a croissant which was tasty and my sister got the breakfast sandwich. Cheryl said the egg wasn’t good, but the croissant and bacon were fine. There is a decent selection of hot food for breakfast here. You can get Bananas Foster Waffles, Strawberry Waffles or Chocolate Lovers Waffles; Pancakes with bacon; platter with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, pancakes and a biscuit; and a vegetable breakfast flatbread and oatmeal. Also available were yogurt parfaits; cereal, fruit, various breakfast pastries and packaged Greek yogurt with fruit. We like Greek yogurt, but not with fruit (granola or almonds and honey). When we normally have a car, we make a run to the grocery store to get yogurt, the juice we like, and coffee to make in the room. It was fine, though, for a short trip.
Lunch- Harambe Market- Animal Kingdom
Dinner tonight was at Ohana, so we knew we did not want to eat much for lunch, but knew we should eat something. As we decided after breakfast to go ride Everest (thank you single rider line), we thought why not try the new counter service in AK. We ordered the beef gyro flatbread sandwich and the ribs, with both of us trying each other’s dishes. Both dishes were really good! I would have like a little more yogurt sauce on the flatbread sandwich, but I will remember to ask for extra next time. The meals were accompanied by margaritas from Dawa Bar. We definitely will be eating here on a future trip.
Dinner- Ohana
Since we made decision to go to WDW at the beginning of August, I was surprised when we were looking at the app on a Saturday night and there was a 6:40 reservation for 2 at Ohana available. It had been years since I ate there and Cheryl didn’t remember eating there (though she did eat there around 15 years ago) so we took the ADR. We were seated about 5 minutes after checking in. We passed on the pineapple coconut bread, but tried everything else. Only things which was just “okay” to us were the noodles (a bit light on flavor) but we got seconds of everything else. Steak was cooked just the way we liked it (medium rare) and was very tender. Chicken was so good we felt it didn’t need any sauce added. We were pretty full so only tried a small taste of the bread pudding, but it was really good. This was the first place where they brought out anything for our birthdays (2 cupcakes) but we could only take a bite as we didn’t have any room left.
Sunday- Breakfast- The Wave
When we got up, we decided we wanted a sit down breakfast today. We hadn’t tried the Wave and we liked many of the menu choices when we reviewed it on the app. Boated over to the Contemporary and were immediately seated. We both decided to have the breakfast buffet. Some of the options were very good, some were just mediocre. The eggs Benedict was quite good. The yolk was actually a little runny, the way my sister likes it. That is not common for eggs Benedict on buffets as the eggs tend to become overcooked. The grits with bacon and cheese were really delicious. Biscuits with sausage gravy was good, but not anything memorable. The Mickey waffles were a little dry, but a dipping cup of syrup solved that problem. The frittata was pretty tasteless. Smoked salmon was average. The buffet was decent, but it isn’t going to surpass Grand Floridian Café as our favorite WDW breakfast.
Dinner- Supposed to be tapas eaten at MK lounges, ended up at Trattoria al Forno
The evening started off as planned. We went to Territory Lounge where we each had a glass of wine and the Pinot Gris cheese fondue. Cindy (AgentC) was also staying at Wilderness Lodge and we finally had a chance to meet and the 3 of us chatted for a while. After we finished and said our goodbyes, Cheryl and I headed to the Grand Floridian to have appetizers at Mizner’s (we took a cab). Did not realize that the Mizner’s refurb was still going on (found out later it would be back to normal on Labor Day) until we walked in and we thought we had made a wrong turn and entered a Marriot Courtyard! I have nothing against Courtyards, but not what I was to see at WDW’s flagship resort. So, we decide we will get seats in the lounge at Citricos. We go a table without any problem. Getting service, however, was another story. The place was packed and they had 2 servers for the bar tables. These servers basically ignored any table with less than 4 people. We made new friends with Scott and Michael who were staying at the Grand Floridian for their one year anniversary and were also being ignored. Scott had moved to Orlando from NYC where he had been the manager of the Sondheim Theater, so we chatted a lot about NYC and Disney. The guys got a bottle of champagne from the bartender for the 4 of us to drink and we toasted their anniversary and Mom (she would have had a great time talking with these guys!). Meanwhile, no one came to ask us if we wanted anything! After we finished the champagne, Cheryl and I decided to see what the wait was like at Trader Sam’s and the guys were going to see about getting an ADR for Citricos. The guys had heard it was a 2 hour wait at Trader Sam’s, but we decided we would check anyway in hopes the wait time had shortened. When we arrived at Trader Sam’s, the person at the check in desk said it was an hour to even get into the bar. The thing is, it was not that crowded inside there. We were told that we were welcome to go out on the terrace. One problem; it had been raining all night! So, we decided we weren’t going to wait and tried to decide where we were going next. Pulled out the trusty MDE app to see about restaurant availability as we were really hungry. Decided the Trattoria al Forno sounded good to us. Got into a cab and headed to the Boardwalk.
Were seated pretty quickly at Trattoria. For appetizers, Cheryl had the Caprese salad and I had the soup of the day, which was an “Italian wedding” style soup with crumbled sausage. My sister, who has homemade mozzarella often living next to Hoboken and NYC, deemed the mozzarella to be excellent. Cheryl had Semolina Tagliatelle alla Carbonara for her entree, which she said tasted fine but it didn’t bowl her over. My entrée, Slow-cooked Lamb Shank - with soft polenta, was the definitive entrée winner. The meat was so tender and flavorful! We were full and did not have room to order to dessert, but our waiter brought us out individual dessert cups of strawberry basil sorbetto as birthday dessert perfect light dessert to finish a nice dinner. I am glad we tried Trattoria and we will most likely return on a future trip.
I am going to break down my reviews by day, as it will help in telling the story about our Sunday evening adventure ;) ! I forgot to mention in my trip report, but my sister and I were celebrating our birthdays during this trip, as my birthday was in the middle of August and Cheryl’s birthday is the middle of September and we thought it would be fun if we did a combined celebration this year.
Friday evening- Tokyo Dining
As we were both arriving around 6:00 and were taking Magical Express, we did not want to make dining reservations prior to our arrival as there were too many factors out of our control that could cause us to miss the reservation. My sister and I managed to be on the same ME bus (I flew in from Philadelphia and she flew out of Newark), so we checked the app to see what was available in World Showcase. Epcot had Extra Magic hours so there were later ADRs available. We decided to try Tokyo Dining. Cheryl and I love sushi, but we never ate here when Mom was with us as she didn’t like sushi and even if she did, she couldn’t eat it due to having an organ transplant (raw fish is a :nono: ). We ordered the Tuna Tataki with white truffle oil as an appetizer to share which was delicious. We both ordered the Ginza for dinner, which was shrimp, scallop and vegetable tempura, nigiri, and California roll. It was served with Sunomono, Noodle Salad and Sukiyaki Beef Rice. Everything was delicious. I appreciated that the tempura was cooked just right (sometimes it cooks a little too long and the seafood is overcooked) and the sukiyaki beef rice was the right consistency so that it was easy to eat with chopsticks. We were too full to have dessert and honestly nothing really interested us (not a fan of green tea in desserts). Great dining experience and we will return in the future.
Saturday morning- Breakfast- Roaring Fork
I got a croissant which was tasty and my sister got the breakfast sandwich. Cheryl said the egg wasn’t good, but the croissant and bacon were fine. There is a decent selection of hot food for breakfast here. You can get Bananas Foster Waffles, Strawberry Waffles or Chocolate Lovers Waffles; Pancakes with bacon; platter with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, pancakes and a biscuit; and a vegetable breakfast flatbread and oatmeal. Also available were yogurt parfaits; cereal, fruit, various breakfast pastries and packaged Greek yogurt with fruit. We like Greek yogurt, but not with fruit (granola or almonds and honey). When we normally have a car, we make a run to the grocery store to get yogurt, the juice we like, and coffee to make in the room. It was fine, though, for a short trip.
Lunch- Harambe Market- Animal Kingdom
Dinner tonight was at Ohana, so we knew we did not want to eat much for lunch, but knew we should eat something. As we decided after breakfast to go ride Everest (thank you single rider line), we thought why not try the new counter service in AK. We ordered the beef gyro flatbread sandwich and the ribs, with both of us trying each other’s dishes. Both dishes were really good! I would have like a little more yogurt sauce on the flatbread sandwich, but I will remember to ask for extra next time. The meals were accompanied by margaritas from Dawa Bar. We definitely will be eating here on a future trip.
Dinner- Ohana
Since we made decision to go to WDW at the beginning of August, I was surprised when we were looking at the app on a Saturday night and there was a 6:40 reservation for 2 at Ohana available. It had been years since I ate there and Cheryl didn’t remember eating there (though she did eat there around 15 years ago) so we took the ADR. We were seated about 5 minutes after checking in. We passed on the pineapple coconut bread, but tried everything else. Only things which was just “okay” to us were the noodles (a bit light on flavor) but we got seconds of everything else. Steak was cooked just the way we liked it (medium rare) and was very tender. Chicken was so good we felt it didn’t need any sauce added. We were pretty full so only tried a small taste of the bread pudding, but it was really good. This was the first place where they brought out anything for our birthdays (2 cupcakes) but we could only take a bite as we didn’t have any room left.
Sunday- Breakfast- The Wave
When we got up, we decided we wanted a sit down breakfast today. We hadn’t tried the Wave and we liked many of the menu choices when we reviewed it on the app. Boated over to the Contemporary and were immediately seated. We both decided to have the breakfast buffet. Some of the options were very good, some were just mediocre. The eggs Benedict was quite good. The yolk was actually a little runny, the way my sister likes it. That is not common for eggs Benedict on buffets as the eggs tend to become overcooked. The grits with bacon and cheese were really delicious. Biscuits with sausage gravy was good, but not anything memorable. The Mickey waffles were a little dry, but a dipping cup of syrup solved that problem. The frittata was pretty tasteless. Smoked salmon was average. The buffet was decent, but it isn’t going to surpass Grand Floridian Café as our favorite WDW breakfast.
Dinner- Supposed to be tapas eaten at MK lounges, ended up at Trattoria al Forno
The evening started off as planned. We went to Territory Lounge where we each had a glass of wine and the Pinot Gris cheese fondue. Cindy (AgentC) was also staying at Wilderness Lodge and we finally had a chance to meet and the 3 of us chatted for a while. After we finished and said our goodbyes, Cheryl and I headed to the Grand Floridian to have appetizers at Mizner’s (we took a cab). Did not realize that the Mizner’s refurb was still going on (found out later it would be back to normal on Labor Day) until we walked in and we thought we had made a wrong turn and entered a Marriot Courtyard! I have nothing against Courtyards, but not what I was to see at WDW’s flagship resort. So, we decide we will get seats in the lounge at Citricos. We go a table without any problem. Getting service, however, was another story. The place was packed and they had 2 servers for the bar tables. These servers basically ignored any table with less than 4 people. We made new friends with Scott and Michael who were staying at the Grand Floridian for their one year anniversary and were also being ignored. Scott had moved to Orlando from NYC where he had been the manager of the Sondheim Theater, so we chatted a lot about NYC and Disney. The guys got a bottle of champagne from the bartender for the 4 of us to drink and we toasted their anniversary and Mom (she would have had a great time talking with these guys!). Meanwhile, no one came to ask us if we wanted anything! After we finished the champagne, Cheryl and I decided to see what the wait was like at Trader Sam’s and the guys were going to see about getting an ADR for Citricos. The guys had heard it was a 2 hour wait at Trader Sam’s, but we decided we would check anyway in hopes the wait time had shortened. When we arrived at Trader Sam’s, the person at the check in desk said it was an hour to even get into the bar. The thing is, it was not that crowded inside there. We were told that we were welcome to go out on the terrace. One problem; it had been raining all night! So, we decided we weren’t going to wait and tried to decide where we were going next. Pulled out the trusty MDE app to see about restaurant availability as we were really hungry. Decided the Trattoria al Forno sounded good to us. Got into a cab and headed to the Boardwalk.
Were seated pretty quickly at Trattoria. For appetizers, Cheryl had the Caprese salad and I had the soup of the day, which was an “Italian wedding” style soup with crumbled sausage. My sister, who has homemade mozzarella often living next to Hoboken and NYC, deemed the mozzarella to be excellent. Cheryl had Semolina Tagliatelle alla Carbonara for her entree, which she said tasted fine but it didn’t bowl her over. My entrée, Slow-cooked Lamb Shank - with soft polenta, was the definitive entrée winner. The meat was so tender and flavorful! We were full and did not have room to order to dessert, but our waiter brought us out individual dessert cups of strawberry basil sorbetto as birthday dessert perfect light dessert to finish a nice dinner. I am glad we tried Trattoria and we will most likely return on a future trip.