MuppetGuySF
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2009
Jiko - the Cooking Place... or the Spilling Place... or the Chatting Place... or the Disappearing Place. Regardless - the Pretty Awesome Place!
Our long first day was starting to come to a close. We spent the afternoon exploring Animal Kingdom - from Dinosaur to the Nemo show - and decided around 5 or 6 that we were exhausted, so we headed back to the hotel. A quick sidebar about the Animal Kingdom Lodge: it's beautiful! I'm sad to admit that I didn't ever really explore the place - all those afternoons later in the trip that we "headed back early" turned into Langbein passed out in the room while Evinrude explored. Oh well!
But back to Jiko. Our reservation was for 8:50 and we arrived right on time. We were asked to wait in the very-small bar area while our table was prepared, and in under 5 minutes we were brought to our table. The table was nice - right on the window overlooking the walkway to the pool. The restaurant itself was fairly empty (to make a sweeping generalization, the two credit restaurants we went too were never full) - probably less than 10 tables full. I guess that's a typical Sunday night during that time of year? We had imagined that because it's vacation, it would be full every night. Our waitress (who shall remain nameless, (geez, Langbein, you make it sound like Voldemort was our server) for reasons you'll see as you keep reading) came over, introduced herself, and was incredibly friendly. She brought us our delicious diet cokes fairly quickly and had some tasty bread, as well.
I'm not sure what the different types of bread were... but they were good! The butter that came with it (was it macadamia butter?) (I'm pretty sure that it wasn't macadamia...but maybe...I AM sure that it was SOME kind of special butter) took it to the next level. YUM!
Our waitress came back, we asked a few questions, and it was off on that great adventure called ordering. Evinrude started with the mussels.
The menu called it: Prince Edward Island Mussels with White Wine Cream, Roasted Garlic, Dill and Cinnamon Raisin Baguette
The mussels were a little bit of a detour for me. I've had mussels before, but it's definitely not a go-to dish for me. But, Voldemort suggested them saying they were amazing, so I gave them a shot. And she wasn't kidding! Maybe the best appetizer of the trip...wowza! The mussels were cooked perfectly, but it was really the white wine cream sauce that was to DIE for. In fact, after I finished the mussels, I had our server bring me a spoon, and I finished the sauce like it was soup. I know, I know...how uncouth am I?!?!? I would hands down order this dish again. It was rich in flavors, the baguette croutons were really good. Just a super dish, and yet again, a HUGE portion. Yum!
I tried the mussels and thought they were AMAZING! DELICIOUS!
I ordered the barbecue chicken flatbread.
Barbecue Chicken Flatbread - Served with grilled onion, apple, African barbecue sauce, and four cheeses
I thought the flatbread was pretty delicious. It was a huge serving - once again - but I managed to get it all down. The apple provided a nice crisp refreshing aftertaste to the barbecue chicken and cheese combination. I'd order this again. I'd probably order the mussels that Evinrude got first, though! I tried the flat bread and just thought it was fine. Didn't knock my socks off.
Oh - I should mention that I asked our waitress to help pair some wines to my courses. I don't remember the pairings, but here's a picture of the glass she brought with my appetizer. She was pretty good at these pairings - she admitted that in her spare time she was a sommelier. I really enjoyed my wines!
The comment earlier about not naming her comes a little bit from my not being able to remember the pairings. We asked, near the end of the meal, if she'd bring us a copy of the menu for us to take with us. She was happy to do so, and said she'd write the pairings on it so we remembered. She disappeared for about 20 minutes, came back without a menu, and said she'd be back in a minute with it. Another long absence went by and again she came back without a menu to help another table. At that point, we gave up, told her it was fine, not a big deal, and got up to leave. As we walked out, we easily asked the hostess for a menu and she happily obliged - just sans pairings. To be fair to the waitress, she did tell us several times throughout the meal that she was a terrible waitress. In general, we thought she was fantastic, so we kept saying that we didn't believe her. Maybe she was being honest!
Evinrude got a cocktail with his appetizer.
It was basically a cosmo, but it had some name like "Wandering through a South African Village on a moderately warm summer night". It was delish.
Evinrude ordered the roasted Lamb loin. It's described as Roasted Lamb Loin with Herbed Couscous, Figs, Sun-dried Cherries, and Red Curry Sauce.
I thought this dish was really delicious. The lamb was cooked perfectly and was very flavorful, and not gamey like I can sometimes find lamb to be. It was very tender and I really enjoyed every bite. I especially loved the couscous. I have become a big fan of fruit in things like salads and rice lately, and this was just perfect. The sweetness of the figs and cherries with the savory lamb and couscous was just a great pairing. The red curry sauce was very unobtrusive. I am NOT at all a curry fan, but somehow this was not offensive. As you can probably tell, I didn't eat much of it, but I don't think it was the highlight of the dish. The lamb and couscous was perfect just as it was. I would definitely recommend this dish without reservation.
I ordered the short ribs, described as Barbecue Beef Short Ribs with Roasted Yukon Gold Potato Salad and Onion-Garlic Sauce. I substituted the potato salad out for the Goat Cheese Mashed Potatotes.
I'm going to start with those goat cheese mashed potatoes. They were out of this world DELICIOUS! If I could have mashed potatoes that tasted like that every day... I would change my diet to include ONLY mashed potatoes. Mmm... I'm craving them now, just writing about them and looking at the picture. The short ribs, on the other hand, were not as good. They tasted fine, but were really fatty and difficult to cut. Not my favorite dish. I didn't finish them.
Another waitress story: she brought out my second pairing, along with one to go with Evinrude's main course. As she was getting read to pour, she completed dropped a bottle of wine and almost the entire bottle spilled on the floor by our table. She didn't seem fazed, cleaned it up, and brought out a new bottle.
On to the desserts. By this time I was pretty full. A full three course lunch, along with this large dinner was having its effect on my stomach and I debated (for only a second) whether a dessert was in my future. Have no fear... it was!
Evinrude ordered the Pistachio Creme Brulee - With a Chocolate Layered Bottom.
OK, this was seriously yummy. I usually never quite understand the big to-do with Creme Bulee, but let me tell you this was just delicious...seriously delicious!!! You can see how excited I was to try it. I ate part of it without taking a pic, and then tried to reposition the biscotti to hide the missing portion. hee hee! The creme was just perfectly flavored, and having the chocolate on the bottom was just awesome. Even if you don't normally love Creme Brulee per se, I would highly recommend this dish. It was light but delectable!
I also ordered some AMAZING vanilla tea. If you've never had vanilla tea before I highly recommend giving it a shot. It's yummy and flavorful, but not too rich. A nice companion to the Creme Brulee.
I decided to try something different than my norm (and hopefully lighter) and went with the House-Made Meyer Lemon Curd - Served with pomegranate and blueberry compote, white chocolate biscotti, and sour cream ice cream.
(If you're playing food detective, you'll not that Langbein ALSO couldn't keep himself from trying his dessert pre-pic...see the dirty spoon? see it?) This curd dish was pretty good. I'm not a huge lemon fan, but really wanted something light, and this was it. I didn't make it through the whole thing (I told you - I was REALLY full!), but it was a nice refreshing way to end my meal. A bit too sweet for my taste, but overall pretty good.
In general, we really enjoyed Jiko. It wasn't the best meal of the trip, at least for me, but definitely was "up there" as a good one. The food, overall, was very tasty, and the service was fairly good (with the exception of the end disappearing acts). By the time we left, there were only one or two other tables left, so it felt like we were closing the place. I don't remember exact times, but I seem to remember that we finished our desserts by 10:30ish, but didn't end up actually walking out until well after 11. That's a long time for a waitress to disappear! Despite that, I really liked our waitress... and I'm not one to usually let something like that slide. She was personable and friendly, and that's what did it for me. And hey - we were on vacation... no rush, right?
I thought this was a great meal. And I really enjoyed the restaurant; the decor is really attractive. In retrospect, and you may think this is odd, I didn't love the ambience mainly because the place was practically empty. I mean I like a quiet meal and all, but part of what's fun about eating out, in particular at WDW, is being part of an experience. I love people watching and tray watching....seeing what other people are eating which we just didn't experience. Granted we were eating really late, but by halfway through our meal there was only like 3 or 4 other tables occupied. Just felt odd and a little deserted. I dunno, just my gut reaction.
I forgot that we were going to post financial info so here goes: Our total bill (not counting booze and tip) came to: 127.74 (this of course was all covered under the dining plan - 2 credits). Our alcohol plus tax was 53.53 and our tip was 34, so our total OOP was 87.53.
Another exciting day was coming up tomorrow, as we went to bed dreaming about the rope drop at Epcot just a few hours away...
Our long first day was starting to come to a close. We spent the afternoon exploring Animal Kingdom - from Dinosaur to the Nemo show - and decided around 5 or 6 that we were exhausted, so we headed back to the hotel. A quick sidebar about the Animal Kingdom Lodge: it's beautiful! I'm sad to admit that I didn't ever really explore the place - all those afternoons later in the trip that we "headed back early" turned into Langbein passed out in the room while Evinrude explored. Oh well!
But back to Jiko. Our reservation was for 8:50 and we arrived right on time. We were asked to wait in the very-small bar area while our table was prepared, and in under 5 minutes we were brought to our table. The table was nice - right on the window overlooking the walkway to the pool. The restaurant itself was fairly empty (to make a sweeping generalization, the two credit restaurants we went too were never full) - probably less than 10 tables full. I guess that's a typical Sunday night during that time of year? We had imagined that because it's vacation, it would be full every night. Our waitress (who shall remain nameless, (geez, Langbein, you make it sound like Voldemort was our server) for reasons you'll see as you keep reading) came over, introduced herself, and was incredibly friendly. She brought us our delicious diet cokes fairly quickly and had some tasty bread, as well.
I'm not sure what the different types of bread were... but they were good! The butter that came with it (was it macadamia butter?) (I'm pretty sure that it wasn't macadamia...but maybe...I AM sure that it was SOME kind of special butter) took it to the next level. YUM!
Our waitress came back, we asked a few questions, and it was off on that great adventure called ordering. Evinrude started with the mussels.
The menu called it: Prince Edward Island Mussels with White Wine Cream, Roasted Garlic, Dill and Cinnamon Raisin Baguette
The mussels were a little bit of a detour for me. I've had mussels before, but it's definitely not a go-to dish for me. But, Voldemort suggested them saying they were amazing, so I gave them a shot. And she wasn't kidding! Maybe the best appetizer of the trip...wowza! The mussels were cooked perfectly, but it was really the white wine cream sauce that was to DIE for. In fact, after I finished the mussels, I had our server bring me a spoon, and I finished the sauce like it was soup. I know, I know...how uncouth am I?!?!? I would hands down order this dish again. It was rich in flavors, the baguette croutons were really good. Just a super dish, and yet again, a HUGE portion. Yum!
I tried the mussels and thought they were AMAZING! DELICIOUS!
I ordered the barbecue chicken flatbread.
Barbecue Chicken Flatbread - Served with grilled onion, apple, African barbecue sauce, and four cheeses
I thought the flatbread was pretty delicious. It was a huge serving - once again - but I managed to get it all down. The apple provided a nice crisp refreshing aftertaste to the barbecue chicken and cheese combination. I'd order this again. I'd probably order the mussels that Evinrude got first, though! I tried the flat bread and just thought it was fine. Didn't knock my socks off.
Oh - I should mention that I asked our waitress to help pair some wines to my courses. I don't remember the pairings, but here's a picture of the glass she brought with my appetizer. She was pretty good at these pairings - she admitted that in her spare time she was a sommelier. I really enjoyed my wines!
The comment earlier about not naming her comes a little bit from my not being able to remember the pairings. We asked, near the end of the meal, if she'd bring us a copy of the menu for us to take with us. She was happy to do so, and said she'd write the pairings on it so we remembered. She disappeared for about 20 minutes, came back without a menu, and said she'd be back in a minute with it. Another long absence went by and again she came back without a menu to help another table. At that point, we gave up, told her it was fine, not a big deal, and got up to leave. As we walked out, we easily asked the hostess for a menu and she happily obliged - just sans pairings. To be fair to the waitress, she did tell us several times throughout the meal that she was a terrible waitress. In general, we thought she was fantastic, so we kept saying that we didn't believe her. Maybe she was being honest!
Evinrude got a cocktail with his appetizer.
It was basically a cosmo, but it had some name like "Wandering through a South African Village on a moderately warm summer night". It was delish.
Evinrude ordered the roasted Lamb loin. It's described as Roasted Lamb Loin with Herbed Couscous, Figs, Sun-dried Cherries, and Red Curry Sauce.
I thought this dish was really delicious. The lamb was cooked perfectly and was very flavorful, and not gamey like I can sometimes find lamb to be. It was very tender and I really enjoyed every bite. I especially loved the couscous. I have become a big fan of fruit in things like salads and rice lately, and this was just perfect. The sweetness of the figs and cherries with the savory lamb and couscous was just a great pairing. The red curry sauce was very unobtrusive. I am NOT at all a curry fan, but somehow this was not offensive. As you can probably tell, I didn't eat much of it, but I don't think it was the highlight of the dish. The lamb and couscous was perfect just as it was. I would definitely recommend this dish without reservation.
I ordered the short ribs, described as Barbecue Beef Short Ribs with Roasted Yukon Gold Potato Salad and Onion-Garlic Sauce. I substituted the potato salad out for the Goat Cheese Mashed Potatotes.
I'm going to start with those goat cheese mashed potatoes. They were out of this world DELICIOUS! If I could have mashed potatoes that tasted like that every day... I would change my diet to include ONLY mashed potatoes. Mmm... I'm craving them now, just writing about them and looking at the picture. The short ribs, on the other hand, were not as good. They tasted fine, but were really fatty and difficult to cut. Not my favorite dish. I didn't finish them.
Another waitress story: she brought out my second pairing, along with one to go with Evinrude's main course. As she was getting read to pour, she completed dropped a bottle of wine and almost the entire bottle spilled on the floor by our table. She didn't seem fazed, cleaned it up, and brought out a new bottle.
On to the desserts. By this time I was pretty full. A full three course lunch, along with this large dinner was having its effect on my stomach and I debated (for only a second) whether a dessert was in my future. Have no fear... it was!
Evinrude ordered the Pistachio Creme Brulee - With a Chocolate Layered Bottom.
OK, this was seriously yummy. I usually never quite understand the big to-do with Creme Bulee, but let me tell you this was just delicious...seriously delicious!!! You can see how excited I was to try it. I ate part of it without taking a pic, and then tried to reposition the biscotti to hide the missing portion. hee hee! The creme was just perfectly flavored, and having the chocolate on the bottom was just awesome. Even if you don't normally love Creme Brulee per se, I would highly recommend this dish. It was light but delectable!
I also ordered some AMAZING vanilla tea. If you've never had vanilla tea before I highly recommend giving it a shot. It's yummy and flavorful, but not too rich. A nice companion to the Creme Brulee.
I decided to try something different than my norm (and hopefully lighter) and went with the House-Made Meyer Lemon Curd - Served with pomegranate and blueberry compote, white chocolate biscotti, and sour cream ice cream.
(If you're playing food detective, you'll not that Langbein ALSO couldn't keep himself from trying his dessert pre-pic...see the dirty spoon? see it?) This curd dish was pretty good. I'm not a huge lemon fan, but really wanted something light, and this was it. I didn't make it through the whole thing (I told you - I was REALLY full!), but it was a nice refreshing way to end my meal. A bit too sweet for my taste, but overall pretty good.
In general, we really enjoyed Jiko. It wasn't the best meal of the trip, at least for me, but definitely was "up there" as a good one. The food, overall, was very tasty, and the service was fairly good (with the exception of the end disappearing acts). By the time we left, there were only one or two other tables left, so it felt like we were closing the place. I don't remember exact times, but I seem to remember that we finished our desserts by 10:30ish, but didn't end up actually walking out until well after 11. That's a long time for a waitress to disappear! Despite that, I really liked our waitress... and I'm not one to usually let something like that slide. She was personable and friendly, and that's what did it for me. And hey - we were on vacation... no rush, right?
I thought this was a great meal. And I really enjoyed the restaurant; the decor is really attractive. In retrospect, and you may think this is odd, I didn't love the ambience mainly because the place was practically empty. I mean I like a quiet meal and all, but part of what's fun about eating out, in particular at WDW, is being part of an experience. I love people watching and tray watching....seeing what other people are eating which we just didn't experience. Granted we were eating really late, but by halfway through our meal there was only like 3 or 4 other tables occupied. Just felt odd and a little deserted. I dunno, just my gut reaction.
I forgot that we were going to post financial info so here goes: Our total bill (not counting booze and tip) came to: 127.74 (this of course was all covered under the dining plan - 2 credits). Our alcohol plus tax was 53.53 and our tip was 34, so our total OOP was 87.53.
Another exciting day was coming up tomorrow, as we went to bed dreaming about the rope drop at Epcot just a few hours away...
great review!
joining in 
