“Les poissons, les poissons!” A vegetarian and a carnivore EAT! *30/4 COMPLETE!!*

[Libby_Darling]

Bubba Gumps Shrimp Company

We had originally planned to go to Bob Marley’s Taste of Freedom this evening but when we got to Citywalk we noticed the whole restaurant, plus several others, was completely cordoned off! When I asked a lady why she said there was a convention and it would be open as normal at 10pm. 10pm!! It was 8pm at this point and we were starving!! We quickly decided to switch our Bob Marley’s night with our Bubba Gumps night. It took a while for this to sink in for me but once it did, OMG I was so excited for this restaurant!! I’d literally been drooling over the menu for an entire year!! We headed over and after getting momentarily waylaid in the giftshop where I bought a t-shirt that I don’t remember buying, we headed into the restaurant where we were seated straightaway in a BOOTH! Opposite a TV showing…you guessed it, Forrest Gump!! We both loooove this movie and were quoting it to each other all night haha.

Awesome sign, you flip it to read “STOP FORREST STOP” if you want anything from your server hehehehe

Drinks menu was a pingpong bat! Awesome!!

Hilair table scrawls

We immediately spotted a flyer showing special Halloween cocktails so of course we ordered them. We noticed that they came with gummy snakes so Ben asked for his without as they have geletin in and our awesome server bought them out in a separate pot which was cute, he asked Ben if he was vegetarian because he was too so that was good.

The cocktails were fabulous! HUGE though, we got to keep the glasses

Halloween-face

Now, in a totally crazy move we then decided to share an appetizer. Share? SHARE!!?? I blame the alcohol! However it was a good idea because the portions were crazybig!! We shared the spinach and artichoke dip (hey, didn’t we have that for lunch!?) because we were becoming slightly obsessed with it.

The dip was brought out after a few minutes and we made short work of it.

See!?

Then it was time to make a decision on our mains. I was deliberating between the ‘I’m Stuffed Shrimp” which I was always planning to get, and a new contender, “Shrimpers Paridise” which I had taken a liking to on a whim. I saw sense though and chose the “I’m Stuffed Shrimp” - Large Shrimp with Crab Stuffing, baked in Garlic Butter, and topped with Monterey Jack Cheese. Served with Jasmine Rice.

THIS WAS AMAZING!! This was one of the nicest things I’ve ever eaten. The garlic butter surrounding the dish was just incredible and the crab stuffing in the shrimp was really flavourful and tasty, when I started to get full I was just dousing the crabmeat in the garlic butter haha

Benj went for the one and only veggie option, the Mushroom burger. Kinda boring I know but he does love a good mushroom burger and he said this one was exceptional, I have to say that I agree with that judging by how awesome it looks in the photos! Fresh avocado and salad is always a good addition to a burger in my opinion!

Dessert was once again out of the question sadly so we paid the bill ($40 ish not including our drinks so not bad at all as we shared a starter) and headed to pick up our clean, new souviner glasses (a nice touch we felt!)

We spent the rest of the evening exploring CityWalk a bit more til we thought we were going to keel over and pass out due to tiredness, in fact I actually fell sound asleep on the boat back to HRH which is pretty impressive!!

The Verdict

An amazing restaurant, really good fun! We loved the theming, the cute little touches like the sign and the drinks menu and our server was great fun. Most importantly though, the food was AMAZING and really not a bad price we felt, especially compared with similarly themed Disney restaurants.

Gotta be a 5!!

 

[dixonsontour]

Looks great

You don't often see reviews of the character breakfast at Universal - agree $15 is a great price.

 

[Linda67]

Ooh lots of lovely updates to read

Thanks for the review of the IOA breakfast, I've never seen one before

Bubba Gumps looks delicious

Having just come back from Disneyland Paris where it was costing 13 Euros for one cocktail ($17) $26 for two sounds like a bargain!

 

[scottishgirl1]

Hi, really enjoying reading these and looking forward to the next instalment.

Would agree about Confisco Grille being great for kids, weve been twice now and the kids had a great time with Thing 1 & 2, especially when they encouraged the kids to start throwing the sugar sachets around the place

 

[NMAmy]

Libby--thank you for the wonderful reviews! You two are adorable and I'm loving your report.

My DH is British and you remind me a bit of one of his nieces. She comes to visit us every year and she's obsessed with American food, too. Her favorite thing here in the States is ranch dressing. Your photo of the brown paper bag just made me laugh.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Great reviews! I love your rating system.
We were fortunate enough to be able to spend 8 night at the Hard Rock and visit Universal/ SeaWorld/ Discovery Cove back in 2010 and we had a great time. We are all huge Potter fans (the kids and I talked DH into reading the books before the trip and he has converted!) and WWOHP was amazing! We all gave Bubba Gump 2 thumbs up; glad you liked it.

Looking forward to more!

 

[chocolateMinnie]

Loving reviews of your food at Universal - we are confirmed disney addicts and have never ventured to Universal but you are tempting me.............

 

[mamaboogie]

Great reviews!

We are staying 2 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel in July - so seeing your photos makes me doubly excited!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[JoJo66]

Wow Libby, amazing review

We flew with BA a couple of years ago and have to agree the food is very good ( I also like airplane food !!!!)

Shame you didn't enjoy Miller Ale House. We've only ate at the LBV location and always had a good meal.

Loved the look of your food at Bubba Gumps Yum Yum !!!

Looking forward to reading more

 

[jedijill]

Great reviews. I was in Orlando at the same time and survived the monsoon as well...I've never seen so much rain.

Jill in CO

 

[*sarah*]

Great reviews!! You and Ben are so cute together! So happy to hear Bubba Gump got such a good review, I want to go there so bad one day. And I just LOVE the Ariel grading system. She is my absolute favorite.

 

[Libby_Darling]

Looks great

You don't often see reviews of the character breakfast at Universal - agree $15 is a great price.

Thank you! Yep it was a bargain!! I love your reviews btw, so pleased you're reading mine

Ooh lots of lovely updates to read

Thanks for the review of the IOA breakfast, I've never seen one before

Bubba Gumps looks delicious

Having just come back from Disneyland Paris where it was costing 13 Euros for one cocktail ($17) $26 for two sounds like a bargain!

I know, I don't think the IOA breakfast is that widely known about to be honest although it was busy when we went.

Bubba Gumps was soooooo insanely good!! I've heard rumours they're opening one in Leicester Square...that would literally change my life!!

Ahhh I hear ya on the DLP prices, we are going in March for a week and I'm SO EXCITED but I know the cocktails are going to be crazy as they were last time, I'm seriously budgeting for them though as I can't possibly go without!!

Hi, really enjoying reading these and looking forward to the next instalment.

Would agree about Confisco Grille being great for kids, weve been twice now and the kids had a great time with Thing 1 & 2, especially when they encouraged the kids to start throwing the sugar sachets around the place

Hellooo Glad you're enjoying my reviews!

Awww bless, yeah Thing 1 and 2 were very naughty when we went too!! Great fun

Libby--thank you for the wonderful reviews! You two are adorable and I'm loving your report.

My DH is British and you remind me a bit of one of his nieces. She comes to visit us every year and she's obsessed with American food, too. Her favorite thing here in the States is ranch dressing. Your photo of the brown paper bag just made me laugh.

Can't wait to read more!

Aww thank you and you're welcome, I'm really enjoying them!

Mmm ranch dressing is GOOD! It's sad how obsessed I am with American food, we literally spent 2 hours in the grocery bit of Walmart because I was getting so excited over all the different products!!! I wish I had family in the US I could visit every year, booooo

 

[Libby_Darling]

Great reviews! I love your rating system.
We were fortunate enough to be able to spend 8 night at the Hard Rock and visit Universal/ SeaWorld/ Discovery Cove back in 2010 and we had a great time. We are all huge Potter fans (the kids and I talked DH into reading the books before the trip and he has converted!) and WWOHP was amazing! We all gave Bubba Gump 2 thumbs up; glad you liked it.

Looking forward to more!

Helloooo! Glad you're enjoying! Wowwww 8 nights at HRH would be like the dream!!! Think we're def gonna try and go for 2 or 3 nights next time I also loved WWOHP, haven't they done a great job? Could have spent so long just wandering around there! And yep, Bubba Gumps is just the best!!!

More reviews coming right up!!

Loving reviews of your food at Universal - we are confirmed disney addicts and have never ventured to Universal but you are tempting me.............

Oooohhh you have to try Universal at least once! I bet you'll love it!! It's got a lot more 'big' rides if that makes sense, more rollercoasters and thrills I don't think we'd be able to do Florida without at least a day or so at Universal...but I would NEVER do Florida without Disney!!!

Great reviews!

We are staying 2 nights at the Hard Rock Hotel in July - so seeing your photos makes me doubly excited!

Can't wait to read more!

Oooh exciting, I'm so jealous though!! Hope you have a wonderful time and really enjoy Hard Rock!!

Wow Libby, amazing review

We flew with BA a couple of years ago and have to agree the food is very good ( I also like airplane food !!!!)

Shame you didn't enjoy Miller Ale House. We've only ate at the LBV location and always had a good meal.

Loved the look of your food at Bubba Gumps Yum Yum !!!

Looking forward to reading more

Hi Jo aahhhh another airplane food fan hehe!

I was gutted about Millers, was soooo looking forward to it. Perhaps we will try the LBV location in the future too

Hope you enjoy the rest!

 

[Libby_Darling]

Great reviews. I was in Orlando at the same time and survived the monsoon as well...I've never seen so much rain.

Jill in CO

OMG I know!! It was so crazy!! Actual monsoon. Not what I had in mind at all when I was planning our holiday!! I think we were just unlucky with the weather in general because it was also unseasonably cold on our last few days hope it didn't ruin your holiday too much

Great reviews!! You and Ben are so cute together! So happy to hear Bubba Gump got such a good review, I want to go there so bad one day. And I just LOVE the Ariel grading system. She is my absolute favorite.

Aww thanks hun Ariels the absolute best isn't she!! Hope you get to go to Bubbas one day! Enjoy the reviews

 

[Libby_Darling]

10/10/11

First things first, the morning after the night before…

Lot of money right there!

Sadly we had to check out of HRH this morning as we were only there one night We tidied up, packed our bags and went downstairs to check-out, leaving our bag once again. We then spent some time exploring the hotel a bit more and taking some final photos and videos. We both absolutely loved this hotel and I would really like to stay a bit longer next time!

We hadn’t bothered with the WWOHP early entry this morning as we had a really late night and wanted to recooporate a bit – neither of us was remotely hungover either which was a huge bonus! We headed to US around 8.45 and took some globe photos as it wasn’t very busy.

Once in the park we realized we were starving and although we had to get to RRR quickly we didn’t want to double back on ourselves so we headed into Boulangerie Patisserie for croissants, yum!! I chose a ham, egg and cheese which came really nicely presented on a plate with strawberries and melon, cute!

Oopsy couldn’t wait!!

Ben got a ham-less croissant and we also got a bottle of water to share. Ben ate all of his but I wanted to save mine, why? Because I didn’t want to vom on RRR!!! I wrapped it sercurely in a napkin and put it in a locker while we rode

Rip Ride Rockit was amazing amazing amazing (even though due to extreme indecisiveness I didn’t choose a song in time so just got the lame generic music they put on if you miss the time limit!!) and I’m gutted we only got to go on once, it was just so busy! Once exiting I grabbed my croissant and we went over to a bench near Monsters Café so I could eat it. It was really nice and the fruit was very refreshing!

Gotta be done!

The Verdict

Really nice, filling breakfast, can’t be beaten! Price was reasonable too if I remember correctly!

 

[Libby_Darling]

KidZone Pizza Company

We spent a very enjoyable morning doing looaaads of rides and making the most of our passes. We then realized that in order to catch the Terminator show which was one of the only things we had left, we’d need to eat lunch quite quickly and then head over for the last showing of the day. Only problem was, we couldn’t decide what to eat! And we couldn’t seem to find any CS places nearby that weren’t crazy busy!! We stumbled on a pizza place down by E.T and seeing as we hadn’t had pizza in like a day we were game!! I ordered a pepperoni and Ben got cheese and we shared a bottle of water.

Pizza place menu

The queue here was SLOOOWWWWWWWWW!! So, so slow. I was getting so panicky because I didn’t want us to miss Terminator Eventually our pizzas were ready and we quickly scoffed them sat on a little table.

Even though I ate the pizza at throat scalding speed it was absolutely delicious and despite the slow service I was so impressed that they cooked it right in front of you and it was only a counter service. Seriously, it was amazing. Ben wasn’t quite as generous with his compliments but he said it was “Okay.” Having already suffered 2nd degree burns on my lips and throat I decided to fold the rest over into a calzone type situation and take it for the walk to Terminator.

The Verdict

I am really tempted to give this a 5 as it really was an amazing pizza and in a moment of gushing generosity I may have even said it was “The best pizza I’ve ever eaten” which Ben hasn’t let me forget. But, I can’t excuse the slow service and the horrible feeling of having to walk really really fast in the heat (yep, it stopped raining finally!) to make the Terminator. Which, by the way, was LAME and I fell asleep in!!! Another thing Ben has not let me forget haha!! I enjoyed the pre-show bit where they interrupt that hilarious simpering woman and at this point we realized that I really enjoy rides where they start out with a scenario and it all goes wrong, i.e the old Alien ride (not so much Stitch!) Jaws, River Adventure etc etc. Love. It.

But I just found the actual show a bit dull and sitting in those comfy seats stuffed with pizza must have just tipped me over the edge and I missed pretty much the whole show, only waking up at the very end when it was all over! So I guess I can’t comment too much.

So, the Kidzone Pizza Company gets a 4

 

[Libby_Darling]

General Universal Snacks

Lemon Slushee

We got a slushee at the stall outside Men in Black. Not much to say about it really, it was tangy, cold and refreshing and although it was pretty warm in the afternoon on this day, I imagine it would practically save lives in July/August heat!

Butterbeer

After wandering round WWOHP a bit and taking in all the shops a bit more, we headed into the Hogs Head. Loved the theming in here, especially the moving hogs head and the taps!

I got a Butterbeer in a souviner glass (had to be done!)

Butterbeer ‘tache!!

I did enjoy this but it is very sweet. I think I actually preferred the ‘froth’ rather than the actual liquid,

Ben got a Hogs Head and proclaimed it ‘delicious’

We sat outside the Hogs Head enjoying the beautiful views and taking in the lively, buzzing atmosphere.

WWOHP Cakes

I didn’t buy any cakes or pastries in the WWOHP shops but I couldn’t resist taking some photos of the displays because they looked so fabulous!!

 

[Libby_Darling]

Bahama Breeze

Although we had planned to go to Bob Marley’s this night, we had both got so soaked on the water rides in IOA that we wanted to go back to Homewood and freshen up before dinner. We knew we’d be coming back to Universal later in the week so we decided to go to Bob’s then. We went to pick up our bags at HRH, got a taxi back to Homewood and showered and changed. We opted for Bahama Breeze tonight because it gets great reviews online and it was right behind our hotel! So handy!! We dressed up a little bit tonight because we had heard BB was a bit nicer than the average I-Drive restaurant

When we arrived at BB it was pretty busy inside and there was a nice buzzy atmosphere. We were led to a table all the way through the restaurant and round the back in a nice spot by a massive palm tree. It was really dark in here! But nice.

Our server was nice but a bit abrupt and our entire meal took about 50 minutes!! Super quick which actually suited us at the time as we were (as always!) pretty knackered but normally this would bother me. We just felt a bit rushed, all the food came out really quickly which was a bit annoying. You can’t really say “slow down!” though so we just got on with it. Our main courses were brought out while we were still eating our starters which REALLY irked me, I want to relax and enjoy the meal not shove it down at high speeds!!

Anyway. So our nice but abrupt server took our drinks orders and came back with them in about 0.5 seconds.

I think I had a Bahamarita and Benj had a Mojita. Both lovely!

Then I had the huge decision to make regarding my dinner. I knew I was going to get the coconut shrimp – I’d seen pictures on here and it was a no brainer. But, they offered the shrimp for starter or main!! So I had to decide if I wanted more of it for a main or less for a starter! Decisions, decisions. In the end I decided to go for the delicious sounding Lobster and Shrimp Quesadilla which was SUPER YUMMY and disappeared very quickly. It was so huge too!! Could easily have been a main course!! It had big chunks of lobster and shrimp inside which felt like such a treat. I also ate alllll of the sour cream and salsa too because they went really well with the quesadilla.

Benji ordered Creole Baked Goats Cheese which he said was delish, I tried a bit and it was lush!! If I’d been able to order 2 appetizers I would have! Greeedyyyy. The goats cheese was baked into red peppers and Ben used the pita chips to scoop out the middles. Yum!!

For main I of course got Coconut shrimp but I swapped the yellow rice for fries because I felt like being a child!

These were sooooo good BUT I was so full from the freakin appetizer-for-two quesadilla that I could only manage about 2 bites of my main which was an embarrassing waste of money. Oh well! Least I can say I tried them!! They were lovely though, really sweet, coconutty batter and perfectly cooked large shrimp.

Benji got Sun Drenched Portobello and vegetable sandwich which was yummers and he ate all of his cause he’s a good boy. It came with a side of veggie rice which he said was lovely.

We were way too full for dessert and to be honest we weren’t enthralled with the atmosphere so we just got the check. I hate to sound like a moaning myrtle cause we really aren’t fussy when it comes to restaurants and there wasn’t anything specifically wrong with BB, I think we just had really high hopes and it just didn’t quite meet them. We just felt really rushed to be honest, not something I look for when dining out. Still an enjoyable meal though and we probably would go back, I’d possibly get two appetizers though as there were soooo many I wanted to try!

The Verdict

Sorry Bahama Breeze, but you only get a

 

[Libby_Darling]

11/10/11

Florida Mall Food Court

We ate breakfast at Homewood Suites this morning before heading off to the Florida Mall to do some shopping (YAY!) We made our way to Hot Topic to pretend we were 17 again and on the way I nipped into the restrooms by the food court.

On my way back to Ben I was accosted (willingly!) by several tiny ladies offering me free samples of meat!! So cool, why don’t they do this in the UK!? I had a few samples and then walked over to Benj who said the smell of food was making him peckish and he’d seen something we had to get! As you probably have realised by now I will eat at any time so I was more than up for this. What he’d seen was a STUFFED PIZZA PIE at the Italian place so we decided to get a modest slice to share. But, when I saw how amazing they looked I said no actually get two, but the guy thought I meant garlic bread so we got one slice of pie and two garlic bread sticks. Not what we wanted but not a problem!! We also got a little pot of this AMAZING creamy garlic sauce. Ommggg I could have actually drunk it, delish!

All in all a very good lunch and I’d really recommend the pizza place if you do find yourself in the food court!! And obviously the samples!

Gotta be a 5 because the pizza was immense!!

 

[Libby_Darling]

Margaritaville Cocktails and a Corndog!

After we finished at the Florida Mall we got a taxi back to Homewood Suites to chill out a bit, have a little swim and then get ready before getting another taxi to Citywalk (very expensive taxi day, oops!!) The plan was to get some cocktails (obviously) do some of our favourite rides, get some photos in WWOHP and go to Bob Marleys Taste of Freedom for dinner. Good plan!!

First things first, alcohol. We wanted some Happy Hour margaritas baby! As the margarita bar outside Margaritaville does this offer every day, 3-5 (I think). We power walked straight to the marg bar where business was BOOMING and got a margarita for Ben and some coconutty thing for me that the woman next to me got and said it was the best thing ever, so I got it even though it wasn’t in the Happy Hour (stupid!!) And to be fair it was awesome…but a bog-standard marg would have been just as awesome and half the price!! Never mind eh

Does anyone ever go to this bar? Happy Hour! It’s amazing!! They play Jimmy Buffet on repeat, could life actually get any better!? Everyone was singing along too, “wasting awaayyy again, in Margaritaaavilllleee”

\

We chilled out on the bridge in Citywalk for a little while enjoying our drinks before heading over to Universal Studios to do some rides. We did the Simpsons ride and Jaws before heading to Men in Black (which was tragically closed so we never got to do it )

As we were about to walk over the bridge by Men in Black I realised we were about to pass the corndog stand!! The other day we were at Universal I had wanted to get one but the queue was long and loads of people were milling around so I left it. Now though, it was corndog time!!

I was a bit confused cause there was mustard and ketchup packets and I do like a bit of food with my condiments so was keen to make use of them but I wasn’t sure where to put them!? We were speed walking round to MIB and I didn’t want to sit down like a lame-o so I did the only logical thing.

Ben said it was not attractive It was soooo good though. I should have got a couple!!

The Verdict

Definitely a wedding dress!! Margaritaville Bar had cheap (delicious!) drinks, amazing atmosphere, what more could you possibly want!? And the corndog is an American classic so of course I loved it!!