3 trips in 40 days: LET'S EAT! (tandem reviews): FLYING FISH CAFE! [updated 7/3/13]

[princess aleya]

Garden View Team Room Part 2



after the delicious onion tart, i finished my sandwiches while sipping my bubbly & tea. emme at this point had given up & finally surrendered to sleep. she was happily snoozing away inside of the jogging stroller while rachel & i continued our tea party.



btw, this meal is a complete carb fest. it helps that you are walking a lot around the parks but it's a whole bunch of carbs in one meal.



but onwards to more carbs....we move onto the scone & tart course.

i chose the scone & strawberry tart with the strawberry preserve.

the scone was pretty light and fluffy. it wasn't as dense as a biscuit but not as light as a croissant. i tried the strawberry preserve & it tasted like strawberry jam. rachel was loving her lemon preserve so i had to ask for a side of lemon preserve.

Lemon preserve


the lemon preserve was very very very yummy. it had the right amount of tartness to it. it was scrumptious with the scone. i recommend it over the strawberry preserve.

Lemon preserve



the strawberry tart was pretty lackluster. i wished i could have gotten an onion tart instead. man, that onion tart was so dang good!

at this point of the meal, i'm not going to lie....i really wanted some meat. it was so much white carbs & i don't have much of a sweet tooth. it was a lot of sweet things & i prefer savory. i think that's why i enjoyed the pate, onion tart & the sammies so much. next time, i think i will get the gentlemen's plate as there's more savory items on there.

but i digress....



and then riley brings out this:

normally, i think you only get 2 choices total per meal. however, since we had to wait so long, we got 2 of everything. i thought she said 1 of each but she gives us 2 of everything. and when i mean everything, it really was 2 of everything on that plate. not that i'm complaining but it was just so much sweet....i wanted some bacon or a burger by this point.

two of EVERYTHING.



not to mention, we also got this:

and this:

we got the strawberries & cream and the english trifle. more sweet!


the presentation was beautiful but it was just so much sweetness in one sitting. did i mention that i wanted some bacon at this point??



i think my favorite was this:

the swan was so pretty & filled with the lemon taste that i loved in the preserve. it wasn't overly sweet & the pastry was light. it was my kind of dessert. i felt kind of bad biting the face off the swan but it had to be done.

the tea room accepts TIW:

all in all, despite our extra long wait, the tea experience was definitely worth it. i had a really great time having a real tea party with emme & it was really nice to have an adult to talk to as well. rachel was the perfect tea companion! i loved our table & we had a spectacular view.

it was such a nice reprieve from the park. during super hot summer days, this would be the ideal place to have a late nosh especially since they keep the place so cold. it's the perfect place to catch up and just relax with friends & loved ones.

i just wished they had some sort of bacon goodness added to the menu.

OMG the tea looks amazaing. I have always wanted to try it. I had to laugh at your review, I'm the exact same way. I love more savory foods opposed to a lot of sweets. I would prefer a burger of a dessert any day..

 

[emmebear]

updated 6/1/13



COSMIC RAYS, WISHES DESSERT PARTY & THE RIVERSIDE MILL



after our tea party, rachel & i embarked upon our monorail pub crawl. i will start the review after this wishes post. after a successful pub crawl, we headed back to the park.

i've done wishes before but emme became sick over the course of our vacation so she didn't enjoy wishes which meant, i didn't enjoy wishes either. rachel treated the both of us to wishes & that was so nice of her!

however, i had eaten so many sweets at the tea party prior that i wasn't sure if i would enjoy the desserts that were offered. not only that, i'm not a desserts person in general. but i was grateful to be able to have a seat & not fight the crowds to watch the fireworks. people turn into maniacs during parades & festivals. it's even worse when you have a stroller as some people are just plain rude. i was happy to be able to sit down!

before heading that way, emme & i made a pit stop here:

emme said she was hungry & they have mashed potatoes. emme is a pretty picky eater. we don't eat much american food at home so eating at the parks can be a nightmare sometimes. thank goodness for mashed potatoes.

Mashed potatoes



after getting our potatoes, we made our way to the tomorrowland terrace.

we made our way to the buffet & there was so much food that i wasn't going to eat. i was still thinking about bacon since leaving tea & really contemplated getting some food & bringing it back inside the dessert party. but i chose this:

the fruit was the most appetizing of the bunch for me. emme had some ice cream & milk.


she also made a new friend:

it was really cute to watch them interact with each other.


finally, it was time for wishes! despite the great view, everyone still crowded around the railing. i felt peer pressure to get up & stand against the railing as well....so we stood against the railing. my lens is pretty much ruined after plummeting off the bed & it was really struggling all weekend.

here is what wishes looks like on a lens that only half works:

the heart is one of my favorite moments during wishes.

my lens in freak out mode!

after spending some more time at MK, we headed back to POR & i decided that i wanted some pasta. emme wanted a yogurt (another food item she will eat).


Port Orleans: The Riverside Mill

Create your own pasta: Spaghetti w/ alfredo sauce, chicken, peas, spinach & broccoli sadly, there's no bacon option.

it was a pretty large portion. emme ate the broccoli & pasta. rachel had 2 bites of pasta & she ended up with 2 suspect pieces of chicken. i devoured the rest of the pasta & added some crushed red pepper to the dish. it was pretty satisfying after all the desserts we had today. yeah, it was more carbs but it was probably the closest i got to something savory after the tea party & dessert party.



up next, MONORAIL PUB CRAWL!!

 

[emmysmommy]

Our messy table! With two iphones, two DSLRs, 2 Vera Bradley backpacks, plus 1 child we had a lot of stuff!

Ha! But I do spy 2 empty champagne flutes!!

Your tea looks so fabulous that I went ahead and booked it in August. I couldn't wait for December!

When we did the Wishes dessert party last summer I liked the cannoli but the crème brulee disappointed me. I don't recall it being the pistachio version back then. They had an apple pie thing that looked awesome but it was gooey and not as good as it looked. That's the problem.... all the desserts look good.

I look forward to hearing about your monorail bar crawl.

 

[emmebear]

updated 6/2/13


MONORAIL PUB CRAWL!



while planning this trip together, i thought it would be a really awesome idea to partake in a monorail "pub" crawl. we were spending the day at MK & since they do not serve alcohol at BOG during lunch, our only option to partake in tasty alcohol beverages was at the resorts along the monorail. hence, the monorail pub crawl was conceived!



our first stop was here:

HELLO GRAND FLORIDIAN!

we both had the "grand tea" during our tea @ the grand floridian. the best part of the tea? you get a glass of delicious bubbly with your meal. this would be drink #1 during our monorail pub crawl.

i love strawberries with champagne! needless to say, i enjoyed this glass of bubbly immensely.



our next stop was the contemporary resort.

HELLO CONTEMPORARY RESORT!

rachel ordered this:

Forever young

she photographs so well!





and i ordered this:

Tanqueray gin & tonic w/ lime

i was in a gin kind of mood. the drink was super strong. our bartender was really funny.

the best part of sitting at the bar? everyone is your friend. there was a couple doing the exact same thing we were. there was also an older man we spotted at each of the 3 "pubs" we were at....drinking like us. it made me feel less of a degenerate.

TIW is accepted at the outer rim.

after saying goodbye to the outer rim & the contemporary, we made our way to the last stop of the pub crawl.


HELLO POLYNESIAN RESORT!

in case you were wondering, emme is passed out sleeping & snoring inside of the jogging stroller.



rachel ordered this:

Island Sky



and i ordered this:

Skyy Vodka Dirty Martini

the skewers at every restaurant is different! my drink was VERY stiff. it was almost undrinkable. ALMOST. it had a lot of vodka & not enough dirty to it but i'm not complaining. it just elevated my mood even more.


Tambu Lounge also accepts TIW.

the sad part about tambu lounge is that i really wanted an order of the wings that 'ohana serves. it never fails that when i have a few adult beverages, i want to nibble. but unfortunately, you cannot order the wings that 'ohana serves at dinner. how sad. i was really sad.



the monorail pub crawl was a smashing success! emme had perfect timing as she awoke as we were finishing up our drinks from tambu lounge. the monorail pub crawl should become a tradition for everyone i think. i really enjoyed it. the next time i participate, i'm going to order a new drink at each place.



afterwards, we headed back to magic kingdom and it was dusk! i love this time at the park. here are a few pictures:

my favorite!

WE SURVIVED MONORAIL PUB CRAWL APRIL 2013!!

 

[rachel09985]

Ha! But I do spy 2 empty champagne flutes!!

Your tea looks so fabulous that I went ahead and booked it in August. I couldn't wait for December!

When we did the Wishes dessert party last summer I liked the cannoli but the crème brulee disappointed me. I don't recall it being the pistachio version back then. They had an apple pie thing that looked awesome but it was gooey and not as good as it looked. That's the problem.... all the desserts look good.

I look forward to hearing about your monorail bar crawl.

I think they switched from regular creme brulee back to pistachio creme brulee! I love the pistachio and it tastes just like the tony's version!

I am so excited to the tea again!

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Whenever people talk about a monorail crawl, it always sounds like so much fun. Plus, there are so many options on the monorail loop, so you can change it up every time! Glad to hear it was a success (aside from being unable to order the wings from 'Ohana)

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I'm definitely going to make an ADR for afternoon tea. We go next August and DD will be 8. I know she will just LOVE this. I think I'll take a pretty dress for her and make it a fancy deal.

Great reviews!

 

[rachel09985]

When we first started planning our trip one of us brought up the monorail pub crawl as a joke, but then it stuck, and we planned it and were excited for it!

Luckily Emme fell asleep during our pub crawl so she wouldn't be bored!

Our first drink was the Ste Michele sparkling wine from the Grand Floridian Tea.



It was definitely crisp and refreshing!

Our next stop was the Outer Rim outside of Chef Mickey's.



I ordered the Forever Young.





It was delicious! Definitely my favorite drink from the standard drink menu that you find on property everywhere. I love the muddled blueberries. It was tart and sweet and I could taste the liquor. It was awesome. I will definitely be ordering this in July.

Our next stop was the Tambu lounge.



We had to wait forever for our server to come. I don't think he saw us so I called him over by his name because I could see his name tag. I don't think he appreciated that very much.

I ordered the island sunset.





It was good but I could not taste any alcohol in it. It was more like a smoothie, plus it filled me up too much. I should just have gotten the Lapu Lapu.



We realllly wanted postickers( at least I wanted potstickers, maybe Patty wanted wings, haha)from Ohana but they wouldn't serve them to us. He said we could pop over to the Kona Sushi Bar and order there but those postickers aren't the same as Ohana. Where was that disney magic?? Haha, just kidding.

Anyways, we had a great monorail pub crawl. We will definitely be doing this again on another trip. I wish we would have had a real drink at the GF at Mizner's Lounge but we will have to do that next time. Next time we should end at a dinner reservation for Be Our Guest and that will complete our monorail pub crawl!

 

[rachel09985]

Up next is a new place for me : Sanaa



Watch out for the hidden mickey.



The restaurant wasn't too busy at lunch. We came from Animal Kingdom, so it was a short drive.

We got sat at a nice table that overlooked the savannah!



First a little background about me and this type of food. I literally have only had Indian/African a couple times in my life. I really like it but I don't eat it ever. I was excited to try this place because I don't get to try new cuisines at home. So therefore, all of this is coming from someone who doesn't eat this type of food! So bare with my reviews!

I started with the Mango Malawi margarita. This was good but I didn't enjoy the paper straw with this. It wasn't anything different from a standard mango margarita. I thought the tangerine liqueur would make it special but it wasn't that special. It filled me up too!

Malawi Mango Margarita - frozen blend of Tequila, Van der Hum Tangerine Liqueur, Mango Puree and freshly squeezed Lime Juice $9.75



Next we ordered the trio of dips. The breads we ordered were naan, spiced naan, and onion kulcha. The dips were Cucumber Raita, Tamarind Chutney, and coriander chutney.





I really loved the spiced naan! It had a spicy kick and I love spicy things. Both naans were thinner than I thought, but delicious. The onion kulcha was thinner and had onions in between the bread. All breads were delicious with my favorite being the spiced naan.

Out of the dips I liked the cucumber raita the best. The coriander chutney was good as well. The tamarind chutney was nasty! It tasted like black licorice. I hated it. The cucumber raita was nice and cool, like a tzatziki sauce. I don't really remember much about the coriander chutney just that I liked it.

For my entree I ordered the slow cooked in gravy with the spicy durban chicken and the shrimp in green curry sauce with the basmati rice.

Spicy Durban chicken



Shrimp in green curry sauce



First the good:

I loved the spicy durban chicken. It did have a nice spice and the taste was great. I loved it.

Then the bad:

I hated the shrimp in green curry sauce. It was horrible. The green sauce was like a thick custardy sauce that wasn't remotely spicy. I tried the sauce with the rice but it was so bad that I just picked the shrimp out and ate them. They were nice and big shrimp! I wish I would have got spicy durban shrimp and chicken!

This friend came to our window to say hello!



For my dessert I ordered the trio with the tropical fruit kulfi and two orders of chai cream. I really thought I would love the chai cream so much.





Unfortunately this didn't really do anything for me. I liked the flavor of the chai cream but it wasn't the consistency I thought it would be. I thought it would be like creme brulee but it was more like chipotle sour cream consistency. A little too thin. The tropical fruit kulfi wasn't great either. It was just a little square of ice cream with fruit sauce on the top. Dessert bust!

All in all I loved the spicy durban chicken and the spiced naan, very much! It wasn't my favorite disney restaurant, but I want to go back and try more things! I loved the atmosphere and the trying something new aspect.

I am very glad I tried it here and I still crave those two things I liked!

Few pics of the gorgeous restaurant

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

We hated Sanaa the first time we tried it but blamed it on our being new to that type of food, not the qualify of the restaurant. We tried it again the following trip and LOVED our meal. So much so that it is one of the few repeat restaurants we are hitting in August!

I didn't care for the Durban chicken and I don't eat shrimp so I can't comment on that. But we loved the short ribs and butter chicken. I dream of the butter chicken!

And we did love the chai cream! I can't wait to go back ....

 

[Linda67]

Ooh I had a lot to catch up on

Great photos as always!

One place I've never tried is the Outer Rim Lounge, is it noisy in there? I didn't know if the noise from Chef Mickey's carried into it?

Your drinks look wonderful - we love to head to the Tambu Lounge in particular

Sorry you didn't love the Chai Cream, I thought it was delicious

 

[rachel09985]

We hated Sanaa the first time we tried it but blamed it on our being new to that type of food, not the qualify of the restaurant. We tried it again the following trip and LOVED our meal. So much so that it is one of the few repeat restaurants we are hitting in August!

I didn't care for the Durban chicken and I don't eat shrimp so I can't comment on that. But we loved the short ribs and butter chicken. I dream of the butter chicken!

And we did love the chai cream! I can't wait to go back ....

I know, everyone loves the chai cream! I had high hopes for it. Maybe I was expecting too much. I would like to try the butter chicken next time.

Ooh I had a lot to catch up on

Great photos as always!

One place I've never tried is the Outer Rim Lounge, is it noisy in there? I didn't know if the noise from Chef Mickey's carried into it?

Your drinks look wonderful - we love to head to the Tambu Lounge in particular

Sorry you didn't love the Chai Cream, I thought it was delicious

Outer Rim wasn't too loud. It was pretty packed in there but I don't remember it being noisy. In fact, Miss Emme slept the whole time in there!

I love the Tambu lounge as well!

 

[honeybunches]

as i was finishing packing, i almost forgot to pack my gift cards that i have been collecting over the past few weeks. to those who don't know, you can get 5% off disney gift cards at target using your target red card! i have a target debit card & i love it. it's pretty awesome. if you fill 5 prescriptions, you also get an additional 5% off coupon which could potentially save you 10% off disney gift cards. the savings are small but it's better than nothing! i'm going to add the gift cards to my room balance & charge our meals to the room as i will be applying my TIW discount to our meals.
:

You just blew my mind. I had NO idea about this! such a great tip, thank you!

I am only halfway through your thread but loved the reviews with your parents. My mom is Japanese and I have wanted to take her with us to Disney sometime, but she is so used to Asian food I didn't know if she would like Disney. This gives me hope! Your parents are so cute and Emme is a doll.

 

[emmebear]

great review rachel!

before i begin my sanaa review, just wanted to share some pictures from the parade. i am back tracking just a little but there's some food pictures in here as well.

the weather was really hot! we found our spot near the castle & i loved our spot. we parked emme's stroller with prime positioning & i ran off to main street to get her some strawberry ice cream from the plaza ice cream parlor.

the line was out the door. i can honestly say that this was the most inefficient line i've witnessed at disney. it was a complete & utter hot mess. there were 2 lines working but not enough registers. i always have a tiny bit of anxiety standing in line & then you have to make a decision to go left or right. and i always pick the wrong line...the looooong line.

maybe it's just the layout of the place but it took me over 20 minutes to get a scoop of strawberry ice cream. and of course with my luck, i had 2 pregnant women & their families in front of me ordering. so they ordered 1 of everything. HA HA!

after getting my order, i made a mad dash back to our spot. did i mention that it was obscenely hot?!


here are my favorite shots from the parade.

work it jessie!

mickey & i totally had a moment here together.

i love how the characters were tethered on.



and emme also got some great interaction from the characters!! she felt so special.

she was really afraid of the big bad wolf. he was walking towards her in this picture.

he actually touched the top of her hat which caused this face.

gosh, he's cute!

makes you wonder if he's really that happy on the inside.

and this was my favorite sequence of the parade:

emme likes to say, "captain hook is sneaky!"

we love smee. he's so misunderstood.

emme says, "oh no, the evil queen!" she genuinely was concerned when she saw the queen.

this is when the queen spots emme.



and this picture is one of my all time favorites i have taken of emme while at disney. i love everything about this picture!

this was such a cute & unplanned moment. as mentioned prior, emme was really concerned and a bit scared to see the "evil queen". she covered her eyes!

this was the same mad hatter we met at 1900 PF for breakfast.

this is the same step sister we met for a picture last year!

prince eric is rockin the wig.



i will have my review of sanaa up soon. thanks for viewing & happy eating!!

 

[honeybunches]

Awesome pics! My daughter is still scared of some of the characters, and she is 9 years old!

 

[emmebear]

Awesome pics! My daughter is still scared of some of the characters, and she is 9 years old!

Thank you!!

 

[emmebear]

updated 6/22/13


AK SNACKS + SANAA



apologies for the delay!


we headed to animal kingdom on this day. we had a few snacks along the way.

but not before we made a pit stop for rachel to trade in her vinylmation.

we got our FP for the safari & then it was time to eat & drink just a wee bit.

i got a beer from the dawa bar. this is probably my favorite place to get an alcoholic beverage in AK. i love the seats at the bar...nice & shaded...and breezy.



then we headed over to asia to grab one of the few things that emme will eat while at disney.

Chicken Fried Rice


if you are on a dining plan, the chicken fried rice is a great use for a snack credit. emme loves this fried rice & she eats it pretty happily. she survives on rice, yogurt, macaroni & cheese & mashed potatoes while at disney.


then we got the chance to meet pocahontas. i've never seen her in all my times at disney.

emme met a friend & they were chit chatting away about their different autograph books. so cute.

emme calls her "cocohontas".

she was one of the prettiest characters i've seen at disney. and she was really into her character.



while on safari, rachel broke the news to me that a lot of the things i was seeing was fake. i was pretty bummed out by what she was telling me.

we left AK and drove to AKL for our lunch at sanaa. i loved sanaa on my first visit. indian food is one of my favorite things to eat back at home. we have really amazing indian food where i live...and with all the american food at disney, sanaa is such a treat for me. i think this is a reason that i always eat at AOA LOF and order "indian" food while i am there.

spot the hidden mickey!


we were seated by the window. what a treat! emme was asleep so it was going to be even nicer at lunch. not that i don't love my kid but sometimes just being able to eat without worrying about her is an absolute treat.

our view.

i thought this was pretty neat.


we decided to order the bread service as the appetizer. i don't know what i get this before my meal. the naan would be so amazing to dip into the sauces of the dishes. i always regret not having some naan to soak up all the flavors with my meal.

Cucumber raita, Tamarind chutney, Coriander chutney


i loved all of these dipping sauces. rachel hated the tamarind. back home, the tamarind sauce is pretty thin and it goes great with pappadam. at sanaa, it was pretty thick. the coriander chutney also had a nice kick to it. i love that sauce. the cucumber raita was also pretty thick but i love raita of any kind...so no complaints here.

yummy...bread.



here is my entree...i went vegetarian:

Spicy Peas, chickpeas and potatoes & Paneer Tikka


here are some close up shots [now you see why i wished i had waited on the bread service]:

Spicy Peas, chickpeas and potatoes

i really enjoyed this dish. it wasn't very spicy in my book but the flavors were terrific. i just wish i had more chickpeas in the dish. i also wish i had some naan to dip in the sauce.

Paneer Tikka

i was a bit disappointed in this dish because there was maybe about 5 pieces of paneer (cheese) in the dish. the main protein was the paneer so i was expecting an abundance of it....but to my dismay, there was no abundance of cheese. the sauce was pretty loose & left me wanting more naan for the sauce.

Basmati Rice

i also had a lot of issues with the basmati rice. it tasted undercooked as some of it was still hard. basmati rice in my opinion should be a bit fluffier so that the rice can soak up the sauce. the rice was a bit hard & they don't give you enough. i asked for a second bowl just so that i could smother it with my sauces.

another view of my lunch.



i also had one drink:

Stoli vodka + soda water + lime + cranberry juice

the drink was tasty!

we also had a visitor.



overall, my first visit to sanaa was better than this visit. i enjoyed my meal for the most part as it was finally something different. but like i said before, i get amazing indian food in jacksonville (believe it or not) so there was a lot to be desired in the meal. AKL is such a beautiful resort....every visit makes me long to one day stay there but i just can't shell out the $$$ to stay there.

i recommend sanaa but if you do go, order the bread service WITH your meal! don't regret it like i did. HA HA.

out of sanaa & boma dinner....if you are looking for something "different", i recommend boma in terms of variety of flavors. boma was amazing both times i've been. sanaa gets 1/2.

 

[rachel09985]

Haha i forgot about how i spilled all of the secrets on the safari! That was funny! At least the animals are real unlike jungle cruise lol!

 

[emmysmommy]

Really, there are some "fake" things on the safari? Do tell!

I was excited to read your Sanaa review as DD and I will be there in August for the first time. I still don't know what to order.

 

[emmebear]

Really, there are some "fake" things on the safari? Do tell!

I was excited to read your Sanaa review as DD and I will be there in August for the first time. I still don't know what to order.

i guess i wanted to believe that everything was real!

you will enjoy sanaa...the atmosphere is great & for the most part, the indian food is tasty. i think it's sad that you have to pay for bread service when naan is such a staple in indian cuisine (in fact, sanaa may be the only place in disney where you have to pay for bread service...i could be wrong)....but i did enjoy my two meals there.