As I'm typing up this update my thoughts are with those in the hurricane zone this week. Stay safe out there.
So while I got to try a lot of new things this trip there were a few things I missed out on that I wanted to do but just not enough time. Daily Poutine, Homecoming, Trader Sams, Carrot Cake Cookie, and Spirit of Aloha. But I guess it's a good excuse to get back there!
One place I definitely wanted to try was Abracadabar. The first time we ended up on that side of the lake I said to my DH YES! YES! We are here lets do this! Then I realized it was 2 and they weren't opened yet. UGH! But all was not lost as a few nights later we found ourselves over there again before our dinner at Tratoria Al Forno.
This was Wednesday around 6:30 and the tables were taken but I was able to find a couple stools along the back wall. This actually wasn't a bad spot it was tucked away on the Flying Fish side.
Here's the menu of specialty drinks.
I went for the Parlor Trick. I've been on a bourbon kick and this was perfect. I was sad there was no trick or fanfare but the drink was good. And the dark cherry on the stick amazing.
DH got the Conjurita. This one does have a trick. Starts off one color and with the wave of the magic wand(aka your straw) it changes color when poured out of the mixer. It was more striking in person. The colors look pretty similar in my pics. This first pic also gives you an idea how we were over to the side of the main bar area.
Presto chango
Along with the drinks come a little cone of curried popcorn with chickpeas. Very tasty, not a combo I would have done myself but it works.
We stayed just for one drink as we were on our way to dinner next door.
Tratoria Al Forno wasn't on my radar at all and not one of my initial ADRs but during the week we knew we wanted something in the area and figured why not give it a go.
We got a great table right next to the open kitchen.
I give everyone working in an open kitchen credit. I just think of what it would be like to have people sitting at a table next to me while I'm at work watching what I'm doing. Though any spectators watching me would be bored to tears so it's good they stick with the restaurants.
PS before I talk about our server at Tratoria I forgot to mention Brian our server at Beaches and Cream was fantastic. Super nice and great through our whole meal. So didn't want to forget that.
Back to Tratoria which brings me to Andrea our server here. She was fantastic. So nice and she was busy but was super attentive and friendly all night.
I found their prices to be very reasonable all things considered and they had a nice little menu.
For my beverage I went with a wine flight. All three were really good.
DH had a Proscecco Quartino which equals almost two glasses. I liked how they had this option for a lot of the wines. I believe it was $14 and I think that's a good deal.
As you know I love bread and I broke into this bad boy before remembering to take a picture. So this was a loaf and what you're seeing here is about half. Served with really good olive oil.
This next picture is not appetizing at all I realize now but this is my appetizer the grilled Treviso salad. One of my all time favorite salads is a charred Caesar so I had to try this. Essentially the same thing but with Treviso instead of romaine. The dressing and croutons were amazing. Treviso is a bitter leaf so maybe a bit more bitter than I'd like for an entire salad. But I still liked it.
DH opted for their soup of the day which was a mushroom soup. He really enjoyed it and it was very well seasoned. It was a little salty for my taste but I'm a light salter.
For our entrees we decided to share a pizza and a giant meatball. That's right they have a polpetta gigante!
First we went with the pretty straightforward margherita
It was ok. The cheese delicious but the rest of the pizza just ok. They had some interesting specialty pizzas with different toppings and I think that would have been better. in such a simplistic form I just didn't think it was great.
The giant meatball on the other hand was delicious. What impressed DH the most is they called it Sunday gravy which is what he grew up with, not sauce, gravy. Anyway, the sauce was great, the meatball was great, and the ricotta cannelloni delicious. I was disappointed we were sharing because I wanted the whole thing myself. But based on this and seeing a bunch of bolognese dishes ready for pick up on the counter I think the pasta is the way to go here.
Here is the dessert menu.
Feeling nostalgic still DH ordered the Zeppolis. He thought they were good "not Brooklyn pizzeria good" but good. They give you 3 sauces to dip, a berry, caramel, and ganache. He thought the caramel was the way to go.
I went with the Dark Chocolate Semolina Torta
I loved this. Very light but with lots of flavor. I love those fruit balls too. Sorry there's probably a technical term but whatever they are they are good. The greens were lost on me but cest la vie.
Also had a cappuccino. Had to give that one to Brown Derby, theirs was better, but Trattoria gave a nice little biscotti with it that was delicious.
Overall I really enjoyed this meal. And Italian isn't something we usually go for when we're there because we have a lot of good restaurants by us at home and we live close to the North End in Boston so we're pretty spoiled. But I think Trattoria did a nice job and I would go again.
Now we come to our last full day. Noooooo. The plan was San Angel for dinner and lots of Food and Wine in between.
First we decided to head to Epcot early to grab something from Les Halle's Boulangerie & Patisserie. We got there around 10 and found a shady bench while I headed in to pick something out for us. Number one, what a pretty courtyard. At this time of morning there aren't a lot of people and they have the little tables outside it's so cute. Then I walk in and I hadn't been to this new location before and it was like angels singing from above. So nice. There wasn't much of a line so I made quick choices and headed back out to meet DH.
I opted for a ham and cheese croissant as well as an almond croissant which even had some chocolate chips even better! Wow, delicious. So fresh, flaky, buttery, amazing. I wish I had done this earlier in the week. Plus, just sitting there before the crowds get crazy, it's a nice spot. AND we got to see a rope drop. I guess I didn't realize they did it in World Showcase too but they do so yeaaaah I did a rope drop!
So here come some Epcot eats leading up to San Angel.
First up the Victoria Sponge Cake from the Yorkshire County Fish Shop in Epcot.
I'm a huge Great Brittish Bake Off fan and they made this cake and I had never heard of it up until then. I tried making it myself and it was ok but I had nothing to compare it to.
So good. Exactly how I imagined. And I love how it comes in a little cup so in my case I took it with me to enjoy later. Which I did. YUM.
In no particular order...
Had the brat from Germany. Delicious. I actually had it earlier in the week, we had split one and I forgot to take a pic so for review purposes I had to get another one, I had to. I actually liked this one better. I know it's advertised as a hard roll but the first one was making me think is this stale or hard? This bun was a little softer so much more enjoyable.
From the Refreshment Cool Post the Spicy Hot Dog with kimchi and mustard sauce.
I LOVED this. Having a spicy dog and the kimchi it worked! It's a disaster to eat but it tasted good.
Hawaii - Kahlua pork slider. Meh. Maybe I got a bad one but the roll didn't seem fresh, the pork was just ok. I did like the pinapple chutney but it was kind of a miss for me and I was sad because I waited a long time and had really looked forward to it.
Patagonia - Empanadas
Good flavors but overdone and not enough filling in my opinion.
Here are the Belgium Waffles I thought were just ok. I just didn't think they had a lot of flavor outside of the toppings. I thought my GG Mickey waffle tasted better.
Islands of the Carribean - Quesito
Think cheese danish filling in puff pastry. I love cheese danish filling though. I mean I would probably love a cheese danish filled empanada come to think of it.
Finally, this little beauty. Warm chocolate pudding with Irish cream liquor custard. YUUUUUUM. Had this twice. So good. Chocolatey but not sickeningly sweet.
Our last dinner of the trip was at San Angel. I was so torn with this one because it really gets mixed reviews but I just love the atmosphere.
One complaint the tables for two are tiny!! with our margaritas and chips and little lamp there's no room. I digress.
Speaking of margaritas, here they are! I got the Avacado Margarita. Delicious. So smooth and creamy.
DH got the passion fruit margarita.
Chips were good, light and airy. There was a green salsa and red. Both good stuff.
For an app we shared the flavors de Chilorio - corn cakes topped with black beans and pork. I loved this. Could have been a little warmer but the flavors were great. I love corn cakes and it worked well with the toppings.
DH had Pollo A Las Rajas - Chicken onion cream sauce, poblano rice. The chicken was probably my least favorite of the plate. The breast was just ok. Everything else on the plate was delicious.
I had the Chille Relleno. Poblano pepper stuffed with pulled pork, pine nuts, topped with tomato sauce and served with rice.
I LOVED this. The whole pepper is fried so there was a breading there too that was delicious. I liked the rice too and I love when there are peas in rice so I was digging it.
We skipped dessert here. There wans't anything I had to have and we still needed to have some Mickey ice cream bars. Overall I really enjoyed our meal here. Maybe I had such low expectations I was pleasantly surprised? I'd give them another shot.
Our final meal brings us to Captains Grill. We had a 10:25 ME pick up so we made a morning ressie for the buffet. I like that they offer a lot of different memosas. I went for the radar mimosa which had raspberry purée. It was good. The only bad thing with purée's is they sink to the bottom and doesn't maintain the mix very well. But I still enjoyed it.
DH and I opted for the buffet. Here's my first plate
Bacon, sausage, egg bake thing, bread pudding, grits, potatoes, croissant.
#1. I love the bread pudding. It's like a cinnamon bread pudding and it's amazing
#2. Sausage is better than bacon
#3. Skip the egg bakes they dry out an you're better off with scrambled
#4. I like the grits but I don't get them a lot up here so they may be awful to people who get them a lot in the south but I think they tasted good
#5. I really like their potatoes
#6. Probably should have skipped the croissant after having them in France yesterday
Plate 2
Second bread pudding piece is bigger because I remembered how much I liked it. More sausage, Mickey waffle, scrambled eggs, you can see the potatoes better, and another little bit of grits above the sausage.
Mickey was overcooked so wasn't loving it. Again, GG had the best Mickey Waffles this trip.
They have even more than this at the buffer, bagels and lox, cereal, muffins, etc. so it's a good spread.
Having stayed at YC a few times this is always a good choice for us when we want a hearty breakfast but without characters or leaving our hotel. It's always fresh food and has a nice selection.
Well, I'm sad to say that's it. Thanks for reading and your kind comments. I tried to be super organized and kept receipts and was going to detail pricing but when it came time to pack I ended up with receipts all over the place and none of the ones I was looking for!
As for dining plan vs not. In some ways I wish we had it then it's prepaid and you don't even think about it. But at the same time based on our eating habits I don't think the options work well for us. Disney, if you're listening, can we get a 2 TS with snacks plan. Thanks.
Thanks everyone!
I know for sure neither of my DS's would lol! Maybe next time we do an adults only trip I'll just sneak it into our itinerary 
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I liked all of the elements separately but it never came together for me.
It sure was tasty though!
DH and I have gone there for breakfast a few times before park opening when staying at BWV and you're right, it's very peaceful and a nice park option. I would love to walk over there next month while staying at Beach Club while our boys sleep in one morning!
