REVIEW: Flying Fish (Part I of II)
SUMMARY: Still a great meal, but where are the plastic lobsters?
This also was a mid-week dinner ADR for a party of 5 (3 adults, 2 children) at the very early dinner time of 5:45 p.m. The whole day felt a bit rushed, between an early a.m. arrival at WDW, getting checked into our room and beginning to unpack, and now an early dinner. As often happens, there was a method to my ADR madness the ever present possibility of an adults night out, which means that the girls had to stay on schedule somewhat, so no late night excursions for them on this short trip. Turns out that we finally obtained enough information to set our schedule late last week, and we eventually stayed in after dinner this night. I had called WDW dining a few days before, and there were no later ADRs available at FF for this night. Nothing until after 8:00 p.m. They were all booked up.
We arrived at 5:40 p.m., and checked in at the podium. The place was empty, but we were told to wait for just a minute. Maybe stood there for 1 or 2 minutes, then we were shown to our table, which was all the way in the back. Guess they wanted us out of the way or something. By our best guess, we were the 6th table seated that early. My bewilderment from previous reviews is sustained, where I find it strange that even with an ADR, and a relatively empty restaurant, we usually wait to be seated. But as always, its no biggie. We were seated against the back wall of the restaurant, 5 of us at a table for 6, which I appreciated after our too tiny table at Il Mulino a few nights before.
Our server was Martha, and we had good service for the entire evening. I dont recall if she went over the specials of the day, but I had pretty much made up my mind beforehand, which is probably why I cant recall any specials. Also contributing to that memory lapse would be my 2 (or was it 3) pre leaving the room drinks I had before we arrived.
I ordered my pre-dinner drink here, one dirty martini, and others in our group followed suit with their own selection, then we went ahead and put in an order for the cheese plate and the calamari.
The cheese plate was a requirement for me, because I had thus far this trip failed to find a cheese plate worthy of wearing the Globex Corporation stamp of approval. After the pitiful cheese plate at Bistro de Paris, I was overdue. I had heard great things about this calamari, but on 2 of our last 3 visits here, they were out. And I dont know what has possessed me to suddenly try all of this cheese, but the trend started in 2007, and I havent shook the habit yet for 2008 (maybe they make a patch for those of us trying to quit??). Martha was good enough to let me keep the cheese menu at the table, so I could use it to reference the plate when it came out. Good show Martha! Just as I remembered it from our last visit here, the cheese plate was absolutely wonderful, and gets its own section below
(note: portions of our show, not affecting the outcome, have been omitted for the sake of time and possibly to avoid too much utter (or should I say udder) boredom for the audience):
Degustation of Flying Fish Artisanal Cheeses
Five Tasting Portions and Accompaniments:
Honey Comb, Raisins on the Vine, Spanish Membrillo $15.00
Ms. Applebys Cheshire Cheshires flavor is unique because of the salt deposits where the cows graze and its loose crumbly texture comes from the curds being broken by hand. Aged 6 to 20 months this cheese has a sweet caramel-butter smell with notes of straw and bright acidity.
My take: The Applebys of Shrewsbury make a good cheese with good flavor, but the texture was too dry for my liking. It was almost like eating a great tasting candle wax.
St. Marcellin this soft-ripened disk of sweet pasteurized cows milk has a rind-less crust and an unparalleled silky texture. Each disk is so creamy that it will not stand on its own so it is packed in its own terra cotta mold. Aged about one month, the flavor is comparable to a Brie de Meaux: mushroomy, truffly, and earthy with a delicate residual tang.
My take: Excellent soft cheese, very smooth, with a nice taste. Id call it a brie, but I liked the taste of this much better. It was all I could do to obey the words of my tiny chef, and Dont just hork it down.
Pecorino Toscana en Foglie Noce a pressed sheeps milk cheese from Tuscany. While aging, the wheels are wrapped in walnut leaves and rubbed daily with olive oil, imparting a tremendously satisfying flavor and a hint of black walnut.
My take: A bit dry textured also, but the flavor was okay. As I was reading the description, I kept waiting for that hint of black walnut. All I got was a hint of regular walnut. I felt like I was missing out on something special.
Queso de Murcia Al Vino smooth goats milk cheese from Spain. This cheese is washed with the local red wine, thus giving it a red rind.
My take: A great cheese, despite that pesky distracting red rind. A nice creamy taste, and smooth texture. It tasted best with the Spanish Membrillo, whatever the heck that was.
Fourme d Ambert - one of Frances oldest cheeses. Flavor is savory and nutty and is more supple and dense than most blues. The pate is creamy with a lasting taste of wine.
My take: I am still scared of blue cheeses in general, because they look like something from outer space. I was reared in the Southern cuisine world where blue = mold, and mold = bad, unless its being used to make penicillin. This one, like the others I have tried recently, was excellent, especially when eaten with the raw honeycomb. Strong on the initial bite, it mellowed out nicely afterward. I couldnt find the lasting taste of wine, or maybe I was looking for the wrong kind of wine. Who knows? But a very nice blue cheese, none the less. It was the best cheese on the plate.
This was a solid cheese plate, with nice variety, and easily the best plate on this trip. I like that the cheese plate changes here frequently, and I will definitely order it again on future visits.
The calamari was everything it has been hyped up to be. Best calamari of the trip, even better than the one we tried at Il Mulino a few night before. Lightly breaded, with mostly rings and just a few tentacles. The fragrant vegetables were a nice compliment to the calamari, but what made the dish for us was the Asian dipping sauce. Aside from the ginger, I didnt distinguish many individual ingredients in it, but the sauce was beyond delicious, Id even say addictive, and made the entire dish work. Every bit as amazing as I had heard, and will be ordered during our next visit.
I like the following picture best though....
Next: Part II
. We went to Epcot and decide to eat in Germany. It was pouring and myself, DH and three kids in tow (1 was 18 months at the time) got our food. We went to sit down and eat but all the tables were full. I don't expect anyone to just offer us thier sit because we have kids but a couple sat down while we were ordering and were not buying anything! She decides to carry on a LOUD conversation on her cell phone and ignore everyone else waiting for a table. I was livid but I couldn't do anything so we took our kids and sat under a umbrella out in the rain. (thankfully it cleared up pretty quickly). 
