Celebrating a 21st Birthday Around the World. A DxDDP Review. Update 08/22 'Ohana

[MissKIA]

By the way, I figured out how to edit some of the pictures that were too big in size to upload. I had to crop them down which is why some of them are such extreme close ups. If you want to see the breakfast picture that I had missed from BOG it's now there for you to see!

 

[Candycane83]

After leaving finally making if off 7DMT we stopped in at Gaston's Tavern to get a Le Fou's Brew to share. Carly went in to get it and what do you know, they gave it to her for free since she was the cast members first customer of the day and she was celebrating her birthday! Unfortunately I did not think to take a picture of this. This was the first of many times she was given extras for her birthday. The pixie dust was definitely alive and well this trip!


I thought I would also mention that we brought along with us some brita water bottles. These worked out great. We were able to go to any quick service and ask for a cup of free ice water. We just dumped them into our bottles and we had free filtered water! It worked out great (when we remembered to bring them with us of course!).
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After making our way through new Fantasyland and Frontierland, we headed over to our 1pm ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. Carly and I have both had dinner here in the past and loved it, so this time we thought we would try the lunch. I had to try the much talked about Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake of course!

For our starters my Mom and I both had:
Sweet Corn Fritters $7.00
with House-made Pepper Jelly

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These were tasty! I had to stop myself from eating them all since I knew I still had a lot more food coming! The pepper jelly was almost more like a sweet salsa. It was very fresh and full of chunks of peppers.

Carly ordered:

Today's Soup Kettle $6.50
Which today was chicken (or was it turkey?) noodle soup

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As you can see from the picture this was a very hearty soup! She loved it, but also didn't eat too much of it as she knew what was coming. This alone would have been plenty to have for lunch.

For my entree I had:
Freedom Pasta with Sautéed Shrimp $23.00
Pasta, Artichokes, Mushrooms, and Tomatoes tossed in a Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

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This was DELICIOUS! It was exactly I had hoped it would be. I'm not usually a huge fan of creamy sauces but this wasn't too heavy. The shrimp were huge and there were plenty of them. I really enjoyed this!

Carly ordered:
Pilgrims' Feast $19.00
Traditional Roast Turkey served with Herb Bread Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, and a Garden Vegetable

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I knew she would order this since she LOVES turkey and stuffing. She was not disappointed at all. They only negative thing she had to say was that they only put gravy on the top piece of meat so there was none left for the lower pieces. It didn't end up being a big deal since I don't think she ate any more than the first piece, but if you have a big appetite you might want to ask for extra gravy.

My Mom ordered:
Colony Salad $16.00
Grilled Chicken, Washington Apples, Sweet Pecans, Applewood-smoked Cheddar, Dried Cranberries tossed with Field Greens in a Honey-Shallot Vinaigrette

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I thought about ordering it, but I prefer salads with more of a spring mix or spinach base rather than just iceberg lettuce as this appeared to be. Still it was a great salad and my Mom thoroughly enjoyed it!

Last but definitely not least, to no one's surprise, for dessert all 3 of us ordered:
Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake $7.50
Vanilla Cake with a Gooey Toffee Filling, Caramel Sauce, and Vanilla Ice Cream

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This lived up to the hype and we all enjoyed it. To be fair, I'm not sure if I would order it on my next visit ONLY because all of the desserts at LTT looked wonderful. Too many great choices!

Would I return! YES!

Duh! Obviously!! This was one of my favourite meals of the trip. (See I told you it wasn't all negative )

Up next - Jiko!

Great review!! Makes me want to visit LTT again! DH and I went there 4 years ago and loved the dessert we wanted to try other places this time though, LOL

 

[vettegirl]

Great LTT review, I really need to get myself over there and try all this deliciousness for myself.

 

[alohamom]

great so far-following along!

 

[ariane37]

Sorry you weren't a fan of BOG breakfast. It appears they've changed the menu a bit since we were there in January. Have to take a look-not because I want to go back, just because I like to stay up on these things lol!
Great review of LTT We're eating lunch there on our last day in Nov. Definitely getting the Ooey Gooey cake, and the corn fritters and your pasta dish both look like dishes and I'd enjoy. plan to get on ME REALLY full!

 

[Criickette]

Yumm...LTT looks delicious! I am definitely going to see about a reservation for that one.

Sorry to hear about BOG. I Have been waiting for a review of the waffle, doughnut, or french toast...bit pricey for what they are but hey, it's the Beast's castle.

 

[auntfrannie]

Hmmm. I usually get the salad but your pasta looks really good! I'll have to give it a try next time.

 

[fallonkendra]

That's too bad that you were disappointed in the skillet at Whispering Canyon, it's on our list for our next trip, and our ADR window opens in two days...now you're making me second guess myself since nothing else is really jumping out to me from the menu!

We really enjoyed our breakfast at BOG, but I went for the Croissant Doughnut which was really sweet, I couldn't even come close to finishing it. It was tasty though!

Now I'm thinking I need to add Liberty Tree Tavern to my ADR list... that turkey dinner your daughter had looks amazing...

 

[ALEXandFAB]

I had to try the much talked about Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake of course!

The Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake is the main reason we have a LTT ADR for our upcoming trip. There will be NO DIET for me while at WDW!

 

[MissKIA]

Great review!! Makes me want to visit LTT again! DH and I went there 4 years ago and loved the dessert we wanted to try other places this time though, LOL

It is definitely on our list for our next visit!

Great LTT review, I really need to get myself over there and try all this deliciousness for myself.

You should, I don't think you will regret it!

great so far-following along!

Thank you!

Sorry you weren't a fan of BOG breakfast. It appears they've changed the menu a bit since we were there in January. Have to take a look-not because I want to go back, just because I like to stay up on these things lol!
Great review of LTT We're eating lunch there on our last day in Nov. Definitely getting the Ooey Gooey cake, and the corn fritters and your pasta dish both look like dishes and I'd enjoy. plan to get on ME REALLY full!

It is a lot of food for sure. I think I only ate about half of everything and I was stuffed.

Yumm...LTT looks delicious! I am definitely going to see about a reservation for that one.

Sorry to hear about BOG. I Have been waiting for a review of the waffle, doughnut, or french toast...bit pricey for what they are but hey, it's the Beast's castle.

Hard to mess up Waffles, doughnuts and french toast!

Hmmm. I usually get the salad but your pasta looks really good! I'll have to give it a try next time.

The salad tempted me, cause I love cranberries and candied walnuts in my salad, but the pasta just called out to me on that particular day. I did not regret it! I still would like to try the salad though.

That's too bad that you were disappointed in the skillet at Whispering Canyon, it's on our list for our next trip, and our ADR window opens in two days...now you're making me second guess myself since nothing else is really jumping out to me from the menu!

We really enjoyed our breakfast at BOG, but I went for the Croissant Doughnut which was really sweet, I couldn't even come close to finishing it. It was tasty though!

Now I'm thinking I need to add Liberty Tree Tavern to my ADR list... that turkey dinner your daughter had looks amazing...

I wouldn't take what I have to say too seriously on my opinion of what I ate. There are a lot of dishes that are raved about here that I did not enjoy at all. I know I'm going to get some flack later on in my review. If you think you will enjoy something give it a try! I don't regret trying these things, I just know to try something different next time!

The Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake is the main reason we have a LTT ADR for our upcoming trip. There will be NO DIET for me while at WDW!

OMG I don't even want to talk about the calories I ate on this trip.

 

[MissKIA]

Jiko!

One nice thing about staying at AKL was we could just walk downstairs to Jiko after our day at MK. I don't know about all of you but after a day in the parks, the last thing I was to do is walk... anywhere!

We only waited a couple of minutes (we never waited anywhere more than maybe 15 minutes... amazing right?) before we were seated. You really need to READ the menu here rather than just scan across names of dishes. A lot of the dishes sound very exotic, but once you read what they actually are they aren't nearly as different as one might think. We had an excellent server who was very helpful in suggesting items we might like to try.

For starters, My Mom and Carly both ordered:
Grilled Wild Boar Tenderloin $19.oo
Mealie Pap, Chakalaka, Truffle Oil, and Micro Cilantro



In this picture this looks like a full meal. It wasn't nearly as big as it looks. (which is fine obviously as it's an appetizer. Just an FYI)

They both raved about this. I tried a bite and thought it was very good as well. I was not jealous at all though because I ordered:

Inguday Tibs in Brik $10.00
Mushroom, Spinach, and Cheese in crispy Tunisian Filo with Apples and Curry Vinaigrette


This was amazing! The apple slaw on the side really added a nice crunchiness and sweetness to the dish. If I go back to Jiko, I will 100% order this again.
I ate everything on my plate. Which was a good thing since for my entree I ordered:

Garam Masala-spiced Sea Scallops $41.00
Warm Applewood Bacon and Spinach Salad, and Fennel-Carolina Gold Pilau



I was not very hungry when we arrived after the big lunch we had a LTT that afternoon, so I figured I would branch out and order something that I wouldn't ordinarily order. I like to try new things and figured this would be a good time to do it. If I didn't like then, then it wasn't a big deal since I wasn't really hungry anyway.

Well, I didn't really care for these. I like scallops. They aren't my favourite but I like them. I thought the spices that they put on the sounded interesting, but they didn't really have a lot of flavour. And they were mushy. I don't know if I've been eating scallops that aren't prepared properly in the past, but are they supposed to be mushy?

Anyway, no harm done. I did enjoy the spinach on the plate. Next time though I would get what Carly ordered. I had been thinking about getting that anyway, but since she decided to order it, I thought I would give the scallops a try.

Carly ordered:
Botswana-style Seswaa Beef Short Rib $48.00
Cassava-Potato Purée, Sambal, and Mushrooms



This was delicious! Lucky for me she was willing to share it with my since I didn't like my scallops. The server had told us that this was spicy, but we didn't find it spicy at all. It tasty and was very tender so no need for a knife at all.

My Mom was kind of in the same mood as me. Not really hungry so ordered something she might not normally order. She had:

Halibut? $45.00
Vegetables of the Moment and Tomato-Butter Sauce

The reason for the question mark is that this doesn't seem to be on the menu anymore. They have a grouper listed that has the same accompaniments, so I'm assuming that it must be similar just with a different fish. Maybe I am wrong and it was actually grouper, but I am sure it was halibut! Anyway...



She said this was okay. I tried a bite and agreed with her. It was fine, but once again not a lot of flavour. Those of you who are scared to try out Jiko because it sounds to spicy and exotic, it really isn't at all.

For dessert I had:

Malva Pudding $13.00
Amarula Crème, Wild Amarena Cherries, Toasted Meringue, and Brandied Cherry Ice Cream



This was actually quite good! I was a little unsure about what dessert to order since none of them really appealed to me but I really enjoyed what I ate of this. It was basically like a bread pudding, so if you like bread pudding, (which I do) this is the dessert for you!

Carly and My Mom both ordered:

Ghanaian Chocolate and Kenyan Coffee Pot de Crème $11.00
Almond Crème with Almond Crunch and Raspberries



This was very chocolaty! If you love chocolate this is your dessert. I would say it's sort of a cross between a mousse and a pudding. It was good!

They also brought out Carly a dessert for her birthday which was a mini version of:

Granadilla Melktert
Passion Fruit, Orange-Cardamom Custard, Coconut Crémeux, and Bubble Sugar



That was very cute and it was super nice of them to bring it out! I reluctantly tried a bite (I despise passion fruit!) and it was actually good. I love all of the other ingredients and I didn't taste any passion fruit at all... that is until I tried one of those little yellow orangy dots on the plate. Whoomp there is is! So if you, like me, don't like passion fruit, just avoid those little dots and you are good to go! Anyway, it wasn't FOR ME, and Carly enjoyed it so that's all that really matters.

Would I return? YES

I would return, I would just get a different entree next time.

Up Next: Tusker House!

 

[ariane37]

Your appetizer at Jiko looks so good! DH and I have gone back and forth as to whether we want to eat here, even booking dinner in January when we stayed at AKL but then switching to Sanaa. I read so many good reviews, and some things on the menu sound interesting like your app, but then when it comes down to it I'm just not sure I'd fully enjoy it I know it's not a big deal if you like some parts and not others as you did, so maybe I'll have to rethink and give it a try at some point. It is my goal to try every TS restaurant so occasionally that means branching out and trying things I'm not sure I'll like!

 

[MissKIA]

Your appetizer at Jiko looks so good! DH and I have gone back and forth as to whether we want to eat here, even booking dinner in January when we stayed at AKL but then switching to Sanaa. I read so many good reviews, and some things on the menu sound interesting like your app, but then when it comes down to it I'm just not sure I'd fully enjoy it I know it's not a big deal if you like some parts and not others as you did, so maybe I'll have to rethink and give it a try at some point. It is my goal to try every TS restaurant so occasionally that means branching out and trying things I'm not sure I'll like!

The appetizers we had were amazing! I absolutely loved mine and Carly loved hers and Jiko was her favourite restaurant of the trip. I wasn't too sure how much I would enjoy it either, and I probably wouldn't have ever tried it if I hadn't read so many good reviews. Like I said in my review, it's not nearly as "weird" as it sounds.

Spoiler alert!

I preferred Jiko to Sanaa.

 

[Jerusalem Gal]

Joining in!!! Great reviews!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

Those short ribs look !

Excited to hear about Tusker House.

 

[Lisa F]

I am glad you mentioned that about the boar appetizer. I saw that pic and was thinking "WOW that is bigger than a CA Grill entree!" It may still be but it does look big in the photo. boar tenderloins must be small

 

[ckmiles]

Really enjoying your review! Your pictures are great. Cannot wait to read more!

 

[MissKIA]

Joining in!!! Great reviews!

Thank you!

Those short ribs look !

Excited to hear about Tusker House.

Those ribs were great. I wish I had ordered them. Tusker House coming up shortly!

I am glad you mentioned that about the boar appetizer. I saw that pic and was thinking "WOW that is bigger than a CA Grill entree!" It may still be but it does look big in the photo. boar tenderloins must be small

Yeah, When I saw the picture I figured I should say something cause it looks HUGE. I guess it was fairly big for an appetizer, but not nearly as big as it looks.

Really enjoying your review! Your pictures are great. Cannot wait to read more!

Thank you!

 

[MissKIA]

Tusker House

I booked our ADR for 10:45, that coveted time where you are supposed to be able to catch both breakfast and lunch as they change over. This didn't work out quite as planned unfortunately.

I'm not really a huge breakfast fan, and I was more looking forward to trying lunch offerings when they came out. I went up and picked out a few items to try while I waited for lunch!



Starting at the Mickey waffle, we have a Mickey Waffle (Obviously!), a Sausage Patty, Bacon, with a donut hole on top of it, cheese cubes, Ham with Sweet & Spicy Honey Mustard, and Sweet Potato Casserole.

The Mickey waffle was very good, it was nice a crisp just like I like them! The sausage patty was not good. I think I hate one bite and pushed it to the side. Bacon was good, the donut hole was fine and the cheese was good. I love cheese! The ham with the mustard sauce was excellent! I loved that! And the sweet potato casserole was just okay. I'm not a huge fan of sweet potato but wanted to try it. After picking at my plate for a while I went and checked to see if they had started to put out any lunch stuff, but no luck. I grabbed some banana cinnamon bread pudding with vanilla sauce since I had wanted to try some my first go, but the tray was empty. This time they had some so I brought some back to the table to try.



I really thought I would love this! It was good, but it didn't exactly make me roll my eyes back in my head like I thought it would, but it was good.

I only took a picture of Carly's Lox and Bagel concoction that she put together. This girl LOVES her red onions as you can see!



They had everything you need to make this meal. Bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onions and capers! She was a happy girl.

I tried going up again after seeing characters and there still wasn't any lunch food out and I had had enough to eat so we just left. Over all it was a good meal for a buffet (we are not really huge buffet fans).

Would I go back? PROBABLY, but I'd still like to try the lunch!

Next up Narcoossees!

 

[ariane37]

That really stinks you didn't get any of the lunch offerings at TH We've done both breakfast and lunch and enjoyed both but not at that "sweet" time when you get a little of both meals. I'm also a huge breakfast eater lol.
Looking forward to your Narcoossees review, we loved it there!