Food & Wine, HHN 30, & More (Sep 2021 Reviews from Disney & Universal) Completed 12/18

[Raeven]

Amorette's

So when we were in Disney Springs I couldn't resist getting this petit cake from Amorette's:

Haunted Mansion Petit Cake
Chocolate and vanilla chiffon cakes, with chocolate brownie, and diplomat cream sprinkled with candy-coated chocolate pieces and chocolate chips



This cake was really cool looking, so enjoy it from every angle.

Although I did carry it around DS & put it in the fridge for over a day before I ate it so if it looks a little beat up I think that's why.



I ended up trying this on my second to last day, and you could say I ate it for breakfast. Because I did.





Overall my opinion is that it wasn't worth the $22 I spent on it. Esp because you could buy an entire cake for 6 people at the QS for only a little bit more, but it was also too much cake for just me. I like the little dome cakes and think those are the perfect size for one person, but I think I'd actually have to split this one with someone else if I wanted to finish it. Also all of the cool outside you see is fondant which I ended up peeling back to try the actual cake. The actual cake was pretty meh tasting, and tasted mostly like a basic chocolate cake. If they still have this available I wouldn't recommend it, but the outside of it was really cool.

Food & Wine Pt 2

Later that day I got on a bus to Epcot so I could try a few more food items at Food & Wine before meeting up with Alyssa and Zack in Magic Kingdom.

First up I got the truffle mac from the Mac & Eats booth. I was super excited when they opened this booth early because I don't think I've ever come across a truffle mac I didn't like.



Truffle Macaroni and Cheese
with Herbed Panko



This one was perfect. Super creamy, cheesy, and a nice crunch from the breadcrumbs. This was probably my favorite thing I tried at the festival.

At the Mexico booth I also grabbed the:

Taco de Ribeye
Shaved Ribeye, Red Onions, and Poblano Peppers on a Corn Tortilla with Ranchera Salsa, Cotija Cheese, and Chives



This was okay. Not super flavorful, and a little boring. I could've done without it, but it wasn't horrible. I also don't really like the shells they use.

And of course the...

Capirotada de Chocolate
Abuelita Chocolate Bread Pudding served with a Chocolate Crème Anglaise



This was super decadent and flavorful, and seemed like a pretty big portion. It tasted like chocolate and cinnamon. The chocolate cream sauce was really good, and the bread pudding was really moist.

Casey's Corner

And finally we rounded out the night with a trip to Casey's because most of the other QS places appeared to be already closing, and it was close to firework time. There weren't any tables left so enjoy these pictures of us sitting on the ground.

Zack and Alyssa got the delicious Corn Dog Nuggets & fries:



While I got the Chili Cheese Fries:



I'm sure you all know what those taste like so I don't really have to review it, but sometimes a simple QS chili cheese fry really hits the spot. ​

 

[KathyM2]

The actual cake was pretty meh tasting, and tasted mostly like a basic chocolate cake. If they still have this available I wouldn't recommend it, but the outside of it was really cool.

Sorry the actual cake was disappointing...the outside did look very cool. It's too bad they don't put more effort into the cake itself...but...I guess people get them the their looks anyway!

but sometimes a simple QS chili cheese fry really hits the spot.

Yummm for sure!! I think that's one of the best things from Casey's.

 

[Raeven]

Sorry the actual cake was disappointing...the outside did look very cool. It's too bad they don't put more effort into the cake itself...but...I guess people get them the their looks anyway!

Sadly, I think that's how a lot of their cakes are.

Yummm for sure!! I think that's one of the best things from Casey's.

​

 

[Raeven]

Amatista Cookhouse

So we had a lunch reservation at 4pm this day, but I was a little hungry beforehand. (When I rescheduled things due to my flight change it was really hard to get another reservation for Toothsome). After I arrived at Sapphire Falls it was a weird time where it was too late for breakfast, but I didn't want a full meal before we went to Toothsome so I headed to the QS to grab something. But the QS in Sapphire Falls mostly had chips and candy bars, so I made a reservation at Amatista Cookhouse for about 10 mins in the future.

I didn't really want to dine alone at a TS, but I figured Amatista is usually pretty empty, and I could just grab an appetizer. When I got there, there was only about two other tables, but I had the absolute worse dining experience of the whole trip so I can't say it made me feel too good about solo dining.

I do not know if it was because I was a single person, or because I only ordered an appetizer, but my waitress was incredibly rude. Any pleasantry she had to say like "enjoy your meal" came out like she was being forced to say them, she kept calling me "honey" in an incredibly condescending tone, and often didn't wait for me to finish talking or saying things like "thank you" before she pulled the menu away or snapped "you're welcome" back.

I got the:

QUESO FUNDIDO
Mexican chorizo sausage, artichoke, mozzarella and provolone cheeses, roasted poblano and blue corn tortilla chips.



This was actually really good! I'd wanted to try this for awhile, but we weren't too impressed last time we ate here so I hadn't had the chance. I don't think I'll be back anytime soon, but it was delicious.

The minute my dip had been delivered the waitress said "you're done, right?" and basically threw the check at me. (And then waited like 20 mins after I was done to come back for it).

I know I had a small order, but since there was nothing else going on in the restaurant I'm not sure why that waitress had such a problem waiting on me. I always hear so many people say they have great experiences dining solo, but I have to say having this happen basically confirmed how I thought I'd be treated dining solo, and made me glad I'd cancelled my other TS reservations after Josh left.

Toothsome Chocolate Emporium

At 4pm it was time for Toothsome! I think it was just the time of the day, but it actually wasn't too busy for once. We had a lovely waitress here (although she did seem concerned we weren't sharing our milkshakes with Zack ).

Alyssa got the Hazelnut shake, and I went with my usual Strawberry Cheesecake:



They did change the toppings slightly. The chocolate covered strawberry was no longer there, and the piece of cheesecake was smaller and tasted slightly different. But the shake remained the same, and was delicious as always.

Because I'd just had the dip I settled on the the Avocado Bruschetta:



This was one of my favorite dishes in past years, but it looks like they changed this too. They removed the fried avocado from the top, and there's a lot of onion in the dish now. I wasn't really a fan of the changes.

Alyssa got the Mushroom Risotta, and Zack got the Chicken Alfredo which I didn't take any pictures of, but I believe they both enjoyed. I'm glad we got a trip to Toothsome in on this trip, and even if my food wasn't the best; the shakes were still delicious.

HHN Snacks Pt 2

Later on we also had a few snacks at HHN. I was going to make it a separate post, but we didn't have that many so I'll just add it on here.

We grabbed some of the Cookie Dough Bites at the Tribute Store:



Zack got the Red Velvet (which he agreed with me didn't taste like red velvet and I don't think he liked it too much), Alyssa got the Chocolate Peanut Butter (which she enjoyed), and I got the Chocolate one.



As expected the Chocolate was very chocolate-y.

We also grabbed a last Twisted Tater. We went with this years favorite the Sour Cream & Chive again.



These were much more lightly seasoned than the last ones were got, and we weren't as impressed with them. But it was nice to have some time to sit and talk on our last night while we ate them.

And in the interest of making this a complete DTR. I did get a breakfast sandwich at the airport, but I didn't take any pictures. For some reason I chose to go to Jersey Mike's again, which much like our last trip was the longest line I'd waited in the whole trip. It was a fine sandwich, but probably not worth the amount of time I waited for it. Also people were ordering tuna subs at 6 am, which is disgusting in my opinion.

I hope you enjoyed following along on the dining for this trip!
I'll be posting a wrap up next week! ​

 

[KathyM2]

I always hear so many people say they have great experiences dining solo, but I have to say having this happen basically confirmed how I thought I'd be treated dining solo, and made me glad I'd cancelled my other TS reservations after Josh left.

I hear you on this. Not a fan of solo TS dining either. But hopefully this bad experience was a one off and will be different if you try again.

 

[Raeven]

Wrap Up aka The Best & Worst Food of Our Trip

We'll start with...


The Best Meal of the Trip Overall


Bice

I had so many good meals this trip, but as always Bice took the top spot!



Worst Overall Meal: The food at the Arepas truck was probably the worst food-wise, but Amatista Cookhouse was definitely my worse overall experience.

Best Fries: The Daily Poutine & Food & Wine





I don't think that's a surprising one since I say that every time, but the poutine at Food & Wine was also amazing.

Best Appetizer: The nachos at NBC Grill



Best Dessert: Banana Chocolate Gooey Cake at Mythos & The Chocolate Bread Pudding at Food & Wine





(I'm not forgetting the many amazing snacks at HHN, that's going to have it's own category).

Best HHN Snacks:

1. S'mores fries (& Twisted taters of course)
2. The Bride of Frankenstein cake
3. The Jalopeno Grilled Cheese from the Hill House booth
4. Leatherface Cherry Pie
5. Cookie Dough Bites from the Tribute Store

But honestly everything I had was good, and they had so many amazing snacks this year!



Best F&W Snacks:

1. Truffle mac & cheese
2. Braised beef Poutine
3. Chocolate Bread Pudding


Best Service: The Palm & Bice

Worst Service: Amatista Cookhouse

Most surprising (in a good way): NBC Grill

After our meal there last time I wasn't expecting to have such a good meal, but it ended up being one of my favorites.



Other dishes that impressed me: The Truffle Gnocchi at The Palm, Spinach Ricotta Ravioli at Mythos, & the Fried Chicken Sandwich at Homecomin'


So that wraps up this DTR!

It was amazing to be back at HHN & be able to see friends. This trip was great, but I do wish Josh got to stay longer. I think there would've been more TS dining if that were the case, but I do think we still got to a lot of dining we wanted to do. For the most part almost all of our meals were amazing, and I don't feel like we missed anything major.

I don't have a PTR going right now because I don't think we'll be back to Disney/Universal before next HHN, but maybe I'll start one later in 2022! ​

 

[KathyM2]

Thanks for sharing!! It's been fun living (and eating) vicariously!

 

[kastoney]

I missed the last couple of updates so playing catch up. First that cake from Amorette's looks amazing. I'm with you on the cost for those tiny little cakes, but that Haunted Mansion theme looks amazing. Second, sorry you had such a bad experience dining solo. Sounds like your experience was more based upon that server vs. being solo but still, very rude and unnecessary. I travel a lot for work (or at least used to pre-covid) and have to eat alone when I do. I usually eat at bars so not sure if that makes a difference or not.

Thanks as always for sharing all your food adventures.