Crystal Palace July 6, 2008
We werent expecting to eat here today. DH was working at MK from 9-4 and DD and I were going to go visit him for a minute and then head on in and hit up some rides. We got to the park around 11, found DH, chatted for a minute, and then headed over to Cosmic Rays to grab some lunch.
**Side note: Im going to review Cosmic Rays again at some point because I didnt take any pictures. FTR, DD had the chicken nuggets with chips and grapes. I had the turkey bacon wrap with chips. This is our normal spot for lunch in the MK, however, I had never had the wrap before. It was huge and had a ton of turkey and so much bacon it was falling out the end of the wrap. It also has lettuce and chopped tomato. The chips were fresh, but needed a little more salt. Obviously I would go here again, considering we hit it up at least once a month. I think next time Im going to go with the ribs or the chicken. If anyone has a preference, let me know! Being a libra, I can never make up my mind. LOL!
Right as we were finishing lunch, DH called to tell us that he had the option to cut out early. He ran home, changed, and joined us in the park for the rest of the day. While we were waiting for him, next to the CP, I wondered if they might have any ADRs left for the day. I called and we had the option of 4:55 or 9:05. I grabbed the 4:55, DH showed up and we were off to hit up some more rides.
We arrived at the CP at 4:40 and put our name in. The porch had people sitting and waiting, but they were moving in and calling names quickly. Our pager went off right at 4:55 and we got sat by the window on the opposite side of the buffet. Our server came and took our drink order right away and we were off to get the grub!
First off--- DD preparing to eat!
I got salad stuff first!
Starting off on the bottom right, Peel & Eat Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce, Edamame Salad, Mediterranean Pasta Salad, Romaine and Bleu Cheese Salad, Tomato and Mozz salad, and in the middle is a Southwestern Salad.
The Peel & Eat shrimp were good, but very small. They were a lot of work, for not so much shrimp. But, I like to play with my food, so its no biggie to me. The Edamame Salad was very good with nice textures between the bok choy, carrots, and firm edamame. It was dressed in a light soy, which I could have had a little more of. The Medi pasta salad was very good. It had olives and feta cheese mixed in with it. Anything with Feta is good to me! The Bleu cheese salad and tomato and mozz salad are just what they say
.but both were very fresh and just what I wanted on a hot day! Finally, the Southwest Salad was a mix of black beans, corn, cilantro, and I could also taste cumin. I could have thrown some chunked chicken in that salad and just eaten it. Overall, the salads were awesome. I could have just kept eating that bar and forgotten the hot stuff. Here is DHs salad plate:
Basically the same stuff, except he went for the Tropical Slaw. DH is a connoisseur of all things slaw. He really is obsessed with the stuff. I was surprised, actually, when he shoved a bite in my mouth and said Do you taste pineapple? I wasnt aware the slaw was tropical, but it surprisingly went together very well and DH was happy!
I didnt get a pic of DDs food during all this, because shes well, boring! She attacked the kids bar for nuggets and mac and cheese, then went back for pizza. Sigh
how I wish I could get her to try different things. I did, however get her to eat a slice of the carved turkey. Shes good with meatsas long as their plain. She still hasnt learned to like any kind of sauce except for alfredo!
Onto the mains
I only got a pic of my food (this was before I decided to start reviewing again
.so, Ill work on more in the future). My plate:
Garlic mashed potatoes with au jus OMGosh these were good! They were very heavy on the garlic, but thats how I like it. I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel though for the au jus. When I went up the second time, they were still out of au jus on both sides and it didnt look like they were in any hurry to replace it, which sucks because it is really good!
Broccoli tossed with puri puri and topped with key lime ponzu to be honest, I didnt taste puri puri or key lime
.all I tasted was steamed broccoli, which is fine with me. Dont expect any bold flavors with this dish.
Slow roasted adobo pork Now I must say that I am a crazy person when it comes to pernil. My co-workers make it all the time and bring it in. I was surprised how good it was. Very moist and tender and the hint of adobo flavor.
Thai Curry mussels this was the only thing I was slightly disappointed in. The curry was very mild (Im used to British curries that have massive flavor and can knock your socks off ) and sweet and the mussels were rather small. I would go ahead and try them though, but heres a hintput them on a separate dish from the rest of your food or the curry sauce will attack everything else on your plate. I ended up eating yellow tinged potatoes!
Fire roasted prime rib What can you say about prime rib? It was cooked perfectly Medium, was tender and very moist. If I had an expandable stomach I would have gone back and loaded up on a big plate of prime rib and more mashed taters covered in au jus
but no more au jus, so I settled and had a bite of DDs ice cream and called it a done deal. I was totally stuffed.
FTR, buffets arent my thing. DH, DD, and myself really cannot eat enough to get our moneys worth, but I would go back to CP just because the food was really good and the character interaction was entertaining.
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