Let them eat steak (and maybe some cake too) Nov. 9 -14, 2011 COMPLETE

[jabead]

Hello Everyone! In just three days we will be leaving for a short trip to the World. DS (age 15) will be coming along with DH and me, so he chose many of the restaurants where we will be eating. And since he is a huge steak lover, our dining schedule includes three steak houses! On our last family trip in March 2010 he ate steak at least seven times during our seven day trip (at Narcoosee's, Le Cellier, Chefs de France, Coral Reef, San Angel Inn, Teppan Edo, and Kona Cafe). And which of these was his favorite? Surprisingly it was at Coral Reef! Since that trip I have tried the steak at many of the Signature restaurants and believe Yachtsman to be the best. However, I have never been to Shula's (which many here believe to be the best), so this trip we will be doing our own little steak challenge. So check back in later this month to find out our results and to find out if eating too much steak can be a mis-steak.

Here are our dining plans:

NOV. 9

Lunch at San Angel Inn - COMPLETE


Dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse - COMPLETE



NOV. 10

Breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery - COMPLETE


Lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue - COMPLETE


Lunch at Food & Wine Festival Booths - COMPLETE


Dinner at Via Napoli -COMPLETE



NOV. 11

Skipped breakfast (only had coffee from the Belle Vue Lounge)

Lunch at 50s Primetime Cafe - COMPLETE


A Quick Visit to the Food & Wine Festival - COMPLETE


Dinner at Shula's - COMPLETE



NOV. 12

Breakfast #1 at Sunshine Seasons - COMPLETE


Breakfast #2 at the Food & Wine Festival Booths - COMPLETE


Late Lunch at Le Cellier - COMPLETE


Dinner at Rose & Crown - COMPLETE



NOV. 13

Breakfast at Kona Cafe - COMPLETE


Lunch at the F & W Fest Booths (Part I)- COMPLETE

Lunch at the F & W Fest Booths (Part II) - COMPLETE


Dinner at California Grill - COMPLETE


NOV. 14

Cupcake from the Boardwalk Bakery for Breakfast - COMPLETE


Lunch at Coral Reef - COMPLETE


Sweet Treats from Karamell Kuche and Boulangerie Patisserie - COMPLETE


Dinner to go from Boardwalk Bakery - COMPLETE



Results of Our Disney Steak Challenge - Part I

Results of Our Disney Steak Challenge - Part II


FINAL THOUGHTS

[pumba]

sounds like your son is my kind of restauarant picker......I love meat too...Hope you have a great time

[Tracerr00]

My DD12 would love your ADRs!! She is a huge steak fan as well. I can't wait to hear your reviews!

[LuvLuvLuv]

We're on the same schedule I swear!!!

We'll be there Nov 9-15!! We may pass you on the 9th! We'll be at F/W while you're at San Angel!!

I can't wait for you to try Shula's!! We're going there on the 13th!

Have fun!!!

[GoofySon'sMom]

I'm in! My DS15 would pick the same places as yours! Although he would probably rather go with Artist Point over Coral Reef!

[MickeyNicki]

Have a wonderful trip, I wish I was going too! Love the BWI and you have to go to Kouzzina for breakfast, its a total must if you are staying so close and please have the bakalava french toast...OMG it was incredible!

[TigerKat]

Signing on, have a great trip!!!!

[jenandjuice]

Can't wait to hear all the reviews, enjoy your trip!!

[jabead]

Originally Posted by pumba

sounds like your son is my kind of restauarant picker......I love meat too...Hope you have a great time

Yep, DS is all about the meat. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Tracerr00

My DD12 would love your ADRs!! She is a huge steak fan as well. I can't wait to hear your reviews!

Welcome! It won't be long now...this time tomorrow DS will be eating his first steak of many at YSH.

Originally Posted by LuvLuvLuv

We're on the same schedule I swear!!!

We'll be there Nov 9-15!! We may pass you on the 9th! We'll be at F/W while you're at San Angel!!

I can't wait for you to try Shula's!! We're going there on the 13th!

Have fun!!!

Hi Deena! Congrats and Best Wishes on your Disney Wedding. I hope it is perfectly magical.

Tomorrow can't come soon enough, are you all packed yet? I've barely started so I really need to tear myself away from my laptop and get my butt in gear.

Originally Posted by GoofySon'sMom

I'm in! My DS15 would pick the same places as yours! Although he would probably rather go with Artist Point over Coral Reef!

Welcome and I totally agree with your son.

Originally Posted by MickeyNicki

Have a wonderful trip, I wish I was going too! Love the BWI and you have to go to Kouzzina for breakfast, its a total must if you are staying so close and please have the bakalava french toast...OMG it was incredible!

Thanks Nicki! After reading your Kouzzina review, I am determined to get my DH and DS out of bed early and down there to breakfast at least one morning of our trip.

Originally Posted by TigerKat

Signing on, have a great trip!!!!

Originally Posted by jenandjuice

Can't wait to hear all the reviews, enjoy your trip!!

Welcome and thank you to you both!

[SimplyGoofy]

I'm in! I loved your last review, so I can't wait to read this one!

[jabead]

We are back to the real world. Had a great trip...just wish it could have been longer. We stuck to my original dining plans with only a few changes, which I updated in my first post. Sadly we didn't get to Beaches & Cream or breakfast at Kouzzina. Oh well, maybe next time??? DS got his new IPhone 4S the day before we left for our trip and was anxious to try out the camera on it, so didn't put up too much of a stink about taking pictures of our food. He is really busy right now trying to catch up at school, but I'm hoping this weekend he will have time to download the pictures off his phone so that I can begin our reviews. Oh, and speaking of our reviews, I have a few surprises in store for you regarding the results of our steak challenge.

[AshClan]

Sounds awesome. Can't wait for the report and the results!!!

[jabead]

Originally Posted by SimplyGoofy

I'm in! I loved your last review, so I can't wait to read this one!

Originally Posted by AshClan

Sounds awesome. Can't wait for the report and the results!!!

Thanks for joining in! I'll have the San Angel Inn review up shortly.

[jabead]

DAY 1 - ARRIVAL DAY

BACKGROUND: San Angel Inn has long been a family favorite. It was the restaurant where DH and I had our very first Disney meal on our first trip to Disney World in 1984. When we began taking family trips to Disney World in 2000, our three kids fell in love with SAI and almost every trip at least one of them would request that we eat here. I would have to say though that we were drawn more to the lovely atmosphere of SAI than to its food. Don’t get me wrong…the food was fine, but by no means was it anything special. Just the usual tacos, nachos, combo platters, and frozen margaritas that you can get at your hometown Mexican restaurant. However we noticed a change (for the better) in the menu and the food during our family trip in March 2010. All seven of us were quite happy with our food and the service we received was very good as well. We all agreed that it was one of the top three table service meals (of at least a dozen) that we had on that trip…outranking much more popular restaurants like Le Cellier, Chefs de France, Tutto Italia, etc., etc. Then came the experience which DH and I had here during our 25th anniversary trip in Nov. 2010. Although the food was still good, the service we received was terrible. So bad that I decided to skip it on my next trip to the World, in May 2011. Which brings us to this trip, where most of our dining choices were dictated by the limited likes and abundant dislikes of our 15 year old son. Since his last experience (in March 2010) at SAI was great, he of course placed it near the top of his Dining Wish List for this trip. Initially I tried to talk him out of it, but I soon gave in and scheduled lunch at San Angel Inn for our first meal of the trip. So, was it a great way to start off our trip??? Read my review to find out.



Our (DS and I only, DH joined us the next day) plane landed at the Orlando Airport at about 11:40 a.m. We quickly made our way through the airport to catch the Magical Express bus to our resort, the Boardwalk Inn. We checked in and were happy to discover that our room was ready. After changing and doing some unpacking, we headed to Epcot…arriving at San Angel Inn at 1:40, one hour early for our 2:40 reservation for...



LUNCH AT SAN ANGEL INN


SHORT VERSION

Highlights – Chicken Tostadas, Avocado Margarita

Disappointments – Salsa served with chips

Would we Return? – Yes



LONG VERSION

I asked at the podium if we could be seated early and our request was granted with only about a 5 minute wait. The restaurant was less than half full at 1:45 and they were taking walk-ups, so I was nervous that that might be a bad sign. While we waited to be seated, I asked DS to take a picture of the Lunch Menu posted just outside the entrance to the restaurant.





The picture came out kind of blurry so in case you can not read it, here is a link to the San Angel Inn website. The menus listed on it seem to be up-to-date.

http://www.sanangelinnusa.com/menus.html



We were seated at a table for two in the center of the restaurant. Although we weren’t right up next to the water, we still had a pretty good view. I quickly noticed that they had not only changed the arrangement of the tables, but they had also added things to make the restaurant look a little more elegant…like new chairs, white tablecloths, as well as new china place settings and dark blue glassware. Here is a picture DS took while seated at our table.




New Look



And here is an old picture showing how the restaurant used to look:




Old Look






Our server soon came to our table to take our drink orders. For DS this was a Sprite but as for me, I wanted to start my trip with this...




Avocado Margarita
El Mayor premium silver Tequila, melon liqueur, fresh avocado, agave nectar and fresh lime juice, served frozen with a hibiscus Himalayan salt rim



This was as sweet and delicious as it was when I had it for the first time at La Cava de Tequila on my last trip. My favorite margarita at Disney World!


Next came the complimentary basket of nacho chips and salsa.





Now I’m pretty sure they have again changed their salsa and this time it was not a change for the better. Neither DS nor I liked it, although that didn’t stop DS from eating a lot of it. To me it tasted like a very smoky flavored barbecue sauce…BLECH! So I stuck to sipping my margarita until our appetizer arrived, which was…






Tostadas de Tinga
Pulled chicken seasoned with roasted tomato and chipotle, served on tostadas with black refried beans, green tomatillo sauce, queso fresco and sour cream




I didn’t get to have these on my last trip since they had been dropped from the La Cava menu just before our visit there and we did not dine at San Angel Inn. These were just as good as I’d remembered, maybe even better.




Next came our entrees, which for me was the same as I had had and enjoyed on my last two visits to SAI. Unlike the tostadas though, this dish was not quite as good as I had remembered it.





Pollo a las Rajas
Grilled chicken breast served with red peppers & onion cream sauce, poblano rice, and queso fresco




I think DS probably made the better choice when he ordered…





Enchiladas Verdes de Pollo
Corn tortillas filled with pulled chicken, covered with green tomatillo sauce, topped with sour cream, queso fresco and onions, served with rice and black refried beans



According to him, these were very good. I can’t confirm this though because he was starving and ate all three of the enchiladas before I had a chance to sneak a bite.


We passed on dessert, as I had hopes of getting something sweet from the caramel shop in Germany, the bakery in France, or perhaps one of the Food & Wine Festival booths. But DS had other plans for us following our lunch. Yep, we were off to Future World to ride the rides. My sweet tooth would have to wait for another day.


So all in all, this meal was a pretty good start to our trip. Good food and service, delicious margarita, and a beautiful setting. I guess San Angel Inn is back in my good graces once again.


OUR TRIP TOTALS - STEAKS 0, CAKES 0(or any other desserts, for that matter )


NEXT UP: Yachtsman Steakhouse

[archdandy]

Great review. I've always wanted to try San Angel Inn but it's just never made on to the list. The salsa does not look appetizing at all. It looks like ketchup I'm glad you had a good meal here and I can't wait to read more.