A Post Open-Heart Surgery/Anniversary Dining Report!!! FINISHED! (and we are FULL!)

[lblume91]

Great reviews!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Thanks for sharing!!

Glad you are enjoying reading!

Hey! Glad to see you back with more reviews!

Hi! Glad you're enjoying them - only a few more to go though!

Great reviews and your slipper dessert looks wonderful

Thanks for the tip on the GF serving this dessert, I might have to start dropping hints to DH

Thanks!! Hahaha the slipper dessert is a wonderful treat! It was even more special that I ended up forgetting and being totally surprised

I'm glad to see you are back with the reviews! Your reviews make me laugh and smile.

Thanks! I'm glad you are enjoying them!!

Great reviews; love all the detail. You guys are hilarious! And you had me at Napoleon. I also cannot bring myself to order anything else at the Boulangerie. Have you tried the Napoleon from Starring Rolls in DHS? Also superb.

Thank you!! I haven't tried the Napoleon there (I actually haven't even been to Starring Rolls ) - I feel that as soon as I would walk in, I'd be tempted by the apparently ginormous cupcakes .

Great reviews!!

Thank you!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Today Wingnut and I will be writing our review of breakfast at Boma together, passing the laptop back and forth. Because I like jazzing things up with color, Wingnut will be writing in purple and I will be writing in green. Let's go eat!

Hola! I have returned (in technicolor) to write this joint review of Boma's breakfast. Before I begin though, I have to mention the wonderful service we received. As you may have assumed, due to my beautiful Stringbean's food allergies, we once again had to speak with the chef before hitting the buffet. And once again we had an amazing chef come and walk us through the entire buffet and even made Stringbean a special plate.
But I digress (or digest, either way )... so now I hand it back to Stringbean...

We had been definitely looking forward to our breakfast at Boma, anticipating a few different items on the usual breakfast buffet. I had also heard rumor of goat cheese scrambled eggs, and was pretty confident those would end up making an appearance on my plate.

Getting to AKL is a little bit of a pain, but this morning our bus driver very kindly told us to stay on the bus after he dropped people off at AK, then we had our own chariot to breakfast. It was a very much appreciated gesture, and we were able to eat yummy food even earlier than we'd anticipated .

There is one part of this meal that was absolutely to die for... The goat cheese scrambled eggs. These are undoubtably the best eggs I have ever had. Although there were a bevy of dining highlights to mention, these take the cake. Little bites of cheesy wonderfullness.
Also, this was my first experience with quinoa, which I have always been curious about. It was quite tasty, although slightly watery, but when coupled with a heaping tablespoon of brown sugar... wow. I was about to go on, but Stingbean just shouted "STOP TAKING EVERYTHING," which prompted me to delete my paragraph and tell all of you about it

He was taking all the memorable items! I had stop him before my paragraph turned into "all 7 of the items he described above were good, yes."

Ok. The goat cheese scrambled eggs. They were ridiculously good, and I am not ashamed to admit I had two large helpings of them. Also, the quinoa was awesome (although I found it perfectly sweet without any extra sugar).

Backtracking slightly, when we first sat down, we were offered glasses of frunch, Boma's house juice. I was pretty sure that I was going to want my usual morning orange juice, and our server reassured me that that was alright, but I REALLY should try the frunch.

Alright.

Wingnut got two glasses of frunch. I got my orange juice.

I know a lot of people enjoy the juice, but it is far too sweet for my taste. Also another notable buffet item was the African Fruit Salad, which was chunks of oranges, melons, grapes, and other fruits in a mix of sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream. We weren't surprised when this was delicious.

As Wingnut mentioned earlier, the chef did make me a special treat aside from the goodies on the buffet. The pancakes and French toast are cooked together, and so to avoid cross-contamination, she made me a special batch of pancakes.



Look, they're animal-shaped!! (And a stray goat cheese egg that got away.) These were very nice pancakes, especially good with some of the fruit from the buffet.

Before I continue with my passage, I want to point out the length of my previous passage, which was cut short and i was yelled at for, and then look at the novella that comes after... Just wanted to point that out.

Oh, please.

So, as I was saying... other honorable mentions definitely include the carved meats and the assorted pastries. The ham was very tasty, possibly the best ham I had on site next to Kona, and the pastries were quite good. There was definitely a good variety of everything along the buffet, and I am definitely looking forward to our next trip.

Done already?



What does that even mean?

When we were sufficiently full of tasty breakfast items, our server brought us out a dessert for our anniversary, "1 strawberry for each year together," she explained.



This was a very sweet gesture, and we enjoyed our anniversary treat .

Time to go to Animal Kingdom (and not just the bus stops this time )!!!

 

[emmysmommy]

I love your dining review...just read all 7 pages!

I love the dual perspective Boma review - sounds like it was two thumbs up! The chefs at Boma are very impressive with their alternatives for your food allergies. I've been to Boma but not tried the quinoa - glad you give it a seal of approval... maybe next time.

 

[cymbaldiva]

Stilling loving your reviews!!!!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I love your dining review...just read all 7 pages!

I love the dual perspective Boma review - sounds like it was two thumbs up! The chefs at Boma are very impressive with their alternatives for your food allergies. I've been to Boma but not tried the quinoa - glad you give it a seal of approval... maybe next time.

Thank you!!! Boma is absolutely the best restaurant I've been to at Disney when it comes to food allergies (but all of the chefs I've encountered have been wonderful). I'd never had quinoa before (just always thought it was a cool word ), and really enjoyed it! Definitely worth a try!

Stilling loving your reviews!!!!

Thank you!! Only a few more to go, I wish I had more restaurants to write about to keep the Disney vacation in my mind a bit longer!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

While in the vicinity of AK, Wingnut and I decided to give it a visit. I know a lot of people love this park, but for us, we can take it or leave it. We rode the Safari, got lost coming off the Safari (does anyone else get immeasurably confused navigating AK?), looped around towards Everest, and saw Finding Nemo (Wingnut: meh; Stringbean: still has "Go With the Flow" stuck in her head). I had been interested in seeing FOTLK, but the next show wasn't for a bit of time, so we decided to just go back to "home base," AKA Epcot. (Yes, we really did call Epcot home base a few times.)

(Another factor in us doing pretty much the bare minimum in AK was that Wingnut was pushing me in a wheelchair, as he was in the other three parks. However, every single path in AK is impossibly on a vertical incline (pretty much). I had read that this was done as part of the design to have park guests slow down and appreciate the nature around them. This just served to make our trekking around AK much more difficult and unpleasant (you'd think downhill would then be a relief for poor Wingnut, but then he had to work just as hard to not send me crashing into meandering park guests).)

But we're here for the food. And it is coming, I promise!

So we arrived at home base, and had another episode of "Stringbean is hungry, Wingnut is not". After practically completing a triathlon in AK, I didn't want to make Wingnut do any extra wheelchair finagling, and suggested we just stop at La Cantina for a quick bite. (What probably would have been a better idea from the start was to to straight from AK back to YC, and just go to Beaches & Cream again, and not trek through Epcot.)

(I apologize for not having any food pics for this chapter (segment?), as soon as we grabbed a table, another couple asked if they could share the space with us, and I felt odd photographing my tacos and chips in front of strangers.) So here's a Photopass (wrong day, right park), to jazz this up a little:



I had the beef tacos, which were served on little corn tortillas, along with a healthy serving of tortilla chips. By the utensils, there were also two dispensers with the same salsas as in La Hacienda next door. The tacos were good, definitely on the teeny side, but enough to hold me over for a small lunch. The meal came with a bunch of chips, which did fill it out a bit. Also along with my meal (CS credit on DDxP) came a choice of dessert, a churro or popsicle. I chose the coconut popsicle, which was a nice treat with lots of little coconut bits inside. They did offer to hold the popsicle for me so it wouldn't melt while I ate, but I chose to take it with me then.

Overall the food was good, a nice little lunch. The portions would probably not satisfy a very hungry diner, but were good enough for me. I liked having the choice of the popsicle for dessert, it was a unique treat from most of the other CS restaurants.

Next up, our trip is winding down to a close ...last dinner of the trip: Kouzzina!

 

[bluejasmine]

I enjoyed your reviews so much! Everything looked so delish! It amazes me how much they can still do with food when you have allergies! Your trip sounds amazing!

 

[Linda67]

Thanks for the latest installment

 

[sophie832]

Just getting caught up on the reviews you posted while we were on our second WDW trip. We did dinner at Narcoosee's and breakfast at Boma on this trip, so I particularly enjoyed seeing those reviews. Very jealous of your slipper dessert! DH and I kind of wish we would've done some signature dining on our Dec. anniversary trip, since it seems like those restaurants really go all-out for special occasions. Oh well...we will save it for a later anniversary.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I enjoyed your reviews so much! Everything looked so delish! It amazes me how much they can still do with food when you have allergies! Your trip sounds amazing!

Thank you!!! Disney really is fabulous with food allergies, they're incredibly accommodating!

Thanks for the latest installment

Thanks for reading!

Just getting caught up on the reviews you posted while we were on our second WDW trip. We did dinner at Narcoosee's and breakfast at Boma on this trip, so I particularly enjoyed seeing those reviews. Very jealous of your slipper dessert! DH and I kind of wish we would've done some signature dining on our Dec. anniversary trip, since it seems like those restaurants really go all-out for special occasions. Oh well...we will save it for a later anniversary.

We really enjoyed our experiences at the signature dining restaurants, they did seem to go the extra mile to make sure we had a great meal! I'm enjoying reading your reviews from the second trip! (how fun to go twice in a row!)

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

For our last dinner of the trip , Wingnut and I decided to go to Kouzzina. We had been there before and had really enjoyed it, plus there was the added appeal of dining in the vicinity of the YC and not having to finagle with Disney transportation.

We arrived a little early for our reservation, which happened to be just as the restaurant opened. We sat on the Boardwalk, watching the ducks bob around the boat dock, the happy vacationers ambling around, and our now-beloved YC across the lake.

(The last night of vacation stinks, doesn't it? All you want is for it to be a few days prior so you can just be starting your trip all over again.)

So while we were sitting outside Kouzzina, the staff all came out in front of the restaurant, circled up, and did a little cheer for Cat Cora and Kouzzina . It was a fun way for everyone to get into the spirit and fun of the restaurant (without being really over-the-top or cheesy).

We went inside, and were promptly seated. I then promptly decided to have a drink, upon hearing the words "sparkling" "wine" and "sangria".



Delicious! (For the record, I was given the option of red, white, or sparkling wine for the sangria. I'm a fan of white, and sparkles just seemed even more vacation-y )

We were dining here just a few days after Kouzzina reopened after a refurb. Some things we noticed were small screens in the lobby with pictures of Cat, and a few new menu items.

One new part of the dinner the restaurant added was an olive oil service along with the bread. They provided two types of olive oil, each with a slightly different flavor.



One was a kalamata olive oil, and one was...something Wingnut and I both forget. We liked both, but preferred the kalamata olive one, as it had a bit of a bolder flavor. (I asked the woman walking around with both and asking diners their opinions as we were leaving which one that most people preferred, and she said it was the kalamata olive one, overwhelmingly.) The olive oils were accompanied by a little dish of olives (just to ensure I would use the word "olive" a few more times in this review, I'm sure).

For his appetizer, Wingnut had the saganaki, which he was happy to see on the menu.



He says "it was really good... I've had several saganaki's, and this was the best of the lot. With the capers adding some saltiness and the bread a little crunch, it really was tasty."

I decided to have the Kouzinna spreads.



There are 6 options to choose from (you can pick 3). I went with the Chickpea Hummus (very good), Skordalia (not my favorite, but was still good), and the Whipped Feta with Peppers (I picked this more for Wingnut, he enjoyed it, I thought it was alright). The other options are Harissa Yogurt, Eggplant Spread, or Tzatziki. This was accompanied by some pita, olives, and peppers.

Wingnut then moved on to the Kouzzina Trio, which includes Greek Lasagna, a Lamb Burger, and Cinnamon-stewed Chicken.



He says: "The lamb burger is the highlight, it has a nice spice to it and is very tender and juicy. The pastitsio is very creamy and cheesy, but was my least favorite of the three - although thats not saying it is not delicious. (Lets see how many more tripple negatives i can get into a sentence here ) The chicken with orzo was really good, but very cinnamon-y. It is a very different flavor than anything I had ever tried, but for fan of cinamon, it was definitely a must-try."

I decided to have the Wood-Grilled NY Strip Steak.



I had had this dish last year, when it was served with the flank steak instead (but with the same accompaniments). I enjoyed it a lot more the previous trip, this time the steak wasn't as much to my liking, and the herb salsa seemed incredibly salty (but Wingnut thought it tasted alright to him - I may have also been feeling finicky after a bit of disappointment with the dish). What was one of my favorite meals of the trip before definitely did not measure up this time, I really think that the flank steak was a much better fit for this dish.

Oh well, on to dessert!

I was hopeful that I would be able to have the Loukoumades (Greek-style doughnuts), but sadly for Stringbean, those were cinnamon dusted. Undeterred by spices, Wingnut decided to have them



Unfortunately, it was Wingnut's point in the meal to be disappointed. "The dipping sauces were nice, not too sweet, nice flavor. However, the donuts were just puffs with no real flavor or substance, and deflated when you bit into them."

Foiled from my original plan, but not discouraged, I chose the chocolate budino cake.



This was very good, it was a fairly typical molten chocolate cake, but was allergen-free, so that earns a from me. The whipped cream a nice fresh accompaniment, but I could have used about 5 times as much as they provided (and I don't use whipped cream with abandon).

So, Kouzzina. While we did have a very nice meal, it did have its ups and downs, a little more so than our previous experience. The food is very good, and is a nice and different type of meal from a lot of the other places around WDW. And I do love being in the Boardwalk area, it's a nice excuse to meander around there.

Up next, BOO OUR LAST DAY (they should make a smilie that's sadly clinging to the castle for such days.)

 

[cymbaldiva]

Thanks for the Kouzzina review ~ because of your comments I checked out the menu and it does sound interesting...I think I'll give it a try!

That said - I have really enjoyed y'alls entire dining report....sad that it's almost done....

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Thanks for the Kouzzina review ~ because of your comments I checked out the menu and it does sound interesting...I think I'll give it a try!

That said - I have really enjoyed y'alls entire dining report....sad that it's almost done....

Thank you!! I'm sad it's almost done too !! Hope you enjoy Kouzzina if you give it a try!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

They totally need a last day smiley clinging to the castle. You should create one!

Thanks for the Kouzzina review. I can't say it's at the top of my list to try but I do love the Boardwalk area so you never know!

Thanks again for sharing all of your reviews!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Writing the last review of this trip feels almost as if the vacation is ending again. I see the Magical Express bus rounding the corner...

But we're not there yet, still more Disney meals to be had!

The morning of check-out, Wingnut and I decided to go back to the Captain's Grille and have their buffet breakfast again. We had really enjoyed it here before (page 3, post #43 - I have no idea how to link to there, if someone does please let me know! - OH I JUST FIGURED IT OUT ). We had pretty much the same assortment as before, and I remembered to take a picture of my lovely lovely Mickey waffle this time:



Wingnut and I then (surprise, surprise) meandered around Epcot. We puttered around Future World, I bought a Figment t-shirt, we learned Club Cool doesn't open until 11.

After a lap around the World Showcase, it was then time for our lunch at Rose & Crown.



My lovable Wingnut .

I am a big fan of potato soups, and decided to have a bowl of their potato and leek soup. Wingnut, to my surprise, joined me (I had thought he'd go for the cheese plate).



The soup was really fantastic, especially on a cool rainy morning. Wingnut described it as "excellent," and is now rhapsodizing about the "sweet, nutty tang" of a leek. It was rich and warm, and the cheddar biscuit it was accompanied by was very good too.

For my main course, I decided to have the fish and chips.



These were very good, but weren't really what I was in the mood for (not sure why I ordered them, possibly just revisiting my little tradition of having fish and chips in Disney). This was an absolutely HUGE portion, and the server was fairly impressed that I ate around half. Really, a lot of fish but a great fish and chips, as usual.

Wingnut decided to have the Sunday Roast.



Rather than have him dictate to me, I'm turning the keyboard over to Wingnut...

Hello all... I'm just gonna jump right into this review as this was one of my favorite meals of the trip. In my opinion, there were three meals at disney that would have sufficed as the perfect ending to the trip. Number one would have been Jiko, and for a tie at second, here and the Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast.
I had the Sunday pot roast, and it was wonderful. The beef was incredibly tender and had a very strong flavor that brings me back to my mothers pot roast as a kid (not to say she doesn't still indulge me from time to time with it, but it is less often than I would prefer ) You will notice from the picture that underneath the beef there is a heap of chopped Brussels Sprouts and opposite that is a yorksire pudding with roasted potatoes.
Now, some people are quite afraid of the sprouts, but it's my theory that they just haven't had them cooked just right. If there is anywhere to try them it's here. Quite delicious. (An alternate idea to try them is my fathers recipe, which involved bacon. Add bacon to anything and poof... it's tasty). The roasted potatoes were very standard, but tasty, and the yorkshire pudding as just a party puff, not much to it, but with the gravy was a bread/biscuit replacement...

I now hand it back to my lovely Stringbean, which means I can sit back and relax as she does all the work

Thanks love .

Of course I decided to have dessert as well. Wingnut refrained, having enjoyed too much appetizer and main course (that's what not planning ahead while eating does!).



I had the Chocolate Scotch Cake, which tasted like a pretty standard chocolate cake (no evidence of scotch on my watch.)

And then, all too soon, we returned to the real world, and stopped thinking of meals in terms of snack credits, 1 vs 2 credits, and what appetizer was included on the plan. Oh, and there is a distinct lack of Mickey sprinkles at home. Lame, I know.

Overall, my favorite meal of the trip, along with Wingnut, was Jiko. We were so excited to try this restaurant, and even more excited that our expectations were exceeded. Other favorites of the trip on my list were Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast, Boma breakfast, and Beaches and Cream. And my Grand Marnier squishee. And the Napoleon.

Always the Napoleon.





Thanks for reading everyone!!!! Wingnut and I have SO enjoyed writing these (perhaps we need to plan another Disney trip...you know, so we can write more dining reviews ).

Well, see ya real soon!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

They totally need a last day smiley clinging to the castle. You should create one!

Thanks for the Kouzzina review. I can't say it's at the top of my list to try but I do love the Boardwalk area so you never know!

Thanks again for sharing all of your reviews!

Thank you!!! Kouzzina is a great one to try, their breakfast is a nice treat if that fits in with your ADR's better. And you can easily get to Epcot or Hollywood Studios from there!

If I knew how to create a little smiley I TOTALLY would. I can see it being useful....

 

[sophie832]

Awwwww, I can't believe the review is over , but I guess all good things must come to an end. It looks like you two had a fantastic trip (if a vacation can be defined by dining experiences, which it totally can!). Really enjoyed all your reviews, so I hope there's a next time!

 

[klacey1]

Thanks for your reviews!! I loved reading them-- especially that last Rose and Crown one! That Sunday roast does look incredible!

 

[ThePrincess&TheJohn]

Have been loving your review...sad it's over (mine is almost done so I feel your pain). You are so adorable I can't stand it...love your pictures. OMG, the napoleons rock! Also, you should definitely make time for Festival of the Lion King some time b/c it is awesome! I wasn't sure about it b/c I thought it was just a retelling of the Lion King, but it had acrobats, singing, dancing, fire, and lots of other amazing visuals/sounds!

So happy you had a great trip! Good luck and get back to Disney soon