The Food Was Not Undelicious: May 25-June 1, 2007!! Completed - Post #794

[DisneyLaura]

I am officially a fan of anything called "Chaka-Laka".




That should be your new tag.

Thanks to the mention of the words "Cheese Plate", I may now have to look into Jiko, too!

I second this too.

 

[whogirl'smom]

Don't let them make you feel bad, Brenda, about your missing leg--I know you're just doing the Hollywood red carpet pose!!

I loved the review of Jiko! I had never really considered it as somewhere we'd like to eat, but those scallops are to die for! I'm with everybody else about the lavender ice cream ! It's been mentioned in different menus on here and I just didn't get it, so thanks for the heads up!

 

[C.Marie]

I can't fault you for loving the Chaka-Laka but I find that I'm more a fan of the Boom-Chaka-Laka

 

[jeminni]

And Now for Non-Restaurant Related Food of a Fun and Celebratory Nature...

As many of you have realized by now, Jason and I were celebrating our 8th wedding anniversary during this trip to WDW. Jason had also just had his birthday on May 10th, so we were also marking that. I've always wanted to check-in to a Disney hotel and find some kind of special surprise waiting...after years of trips and hints I finally figured out that I needed to take things into my own hands.

Jay and I don't usually do much on birthdays any longer, but I really wanted to do something kind of fun for him and give him a little surprise. I must give a huge shout-out to Fairy Tale Bride who was a great help when I called the WDW Florist to place my order.

***Thanks for all your help, Lindsey!!!***

To celebrate Jason's birthday I ordered Mickey's Happy Surprise Cake which is made with about 24 Mickey candy bars (Almond, Milk Chocolate, and Dark Chocolate Bars) - the "inside" of the cake is filled with other treats...pretzels, gummies, peanut butter cups...all stuff that comes from Goofy's Candy Company.

I also wanted some balloons delivered with it, which does cost extra but I thought it would look a lot more fun that way.


Jason and his birthday surprise

What do you mean I can only have one???

Being the selfish person I am, I also ordered something for us to celebrate the anniversary. I opted for the Gourmet Extravaganza, which typically comes with a bottle of Rosa Regale, Mickey toasting flutes, a Mickey cutting board and cheese spreader, and all kinds of yummy gourmet treats finished off with a single red rose in a bud vase. I paid extra to replace the Regale with a bottle of Iron Horse Fairy Tale Cuvee - when celebrating an anniversary I want champagne, thank you very much! Our gourmet treats included Lindt chocolates, dipping pretzels, sausage, crackers, champagne mustard, cheese, key lime cookies, and cashews.

Happy Anniversary!

Don't ask me how much this cost...

Mickey cutting board and cheese spreader...so cute!

How about a drink?

There were actually a couple of surprises that happened during the week but I'm going to leave those for the days that they occurred on. Since these two items were delivered on Friday evening it made sense to post them together, especially since I was responsible for them. I was not responsible for the others...so I'm going to make you wait for them so that you can enjoy the surprise, too!

Thanks again for reading!

I just started this food report brenda and of course it's great. I love the anniversary surprise. My DH surprised me like that May 22 when we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary down in Virginia Beach. He had roses, champagne, flutes,candy and a gift certificate for breakfast delivered to our jacuzzi suite on the beach. Gotta love romantics .



Keep up the good work on the report, can't wait to read more.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Saturday, May 26th - Duck a la' Bagel and Cheese Glorious Cheese!

We picked up some bottled water, Pelligrino, Cranberry juice, milk, mini-bagels, pre-packaged cantaloupe and honeydew melon, and a group of green bananas that refused to ripen no matter what we did with them during the week.

Put 'em in a paper bag for a day: still green.

Leave 'em on the sink while we're showering in the hope that the steam and warmth will do something: still green...and definitely damp.

Set 'em outside on the patio for a bit while we nap: still green; and now they're an exotic pleasure destination for adventurous love bugs.

Chuck 'em in the trash and vow never to buy bananas in Florida again: still eff-ing green.

I'm not kidding...by Thursday these stupid bananas were still as hard and green as they were when we bought them a week earlier; I don't get it. What gives with the Incredible Hulk Bananas in Florida???

Ok, I haven't read this entire post yet cuz I just had to stop and question you about the banana situation. First of all, do you have a picture of said bananas? By your description it almost sounds like you bought plantains. Ever had plantains before? Not that I'm questioning your gastronomiic experience, I'm just sayin'. That's just weird that after several days they didn't ripen. Plaintains in their green state take quite a while to start to turn yellow. They can be eaten green by slicing then seasoning them with garlic and salt and frying them. If you wait for them to ripen you can also fry them sans garlic and salt and they carmelize and are oh so yummy! Now you got me craving plantains.

 

[rentayenta]

Now when DH asks who the %@*& is Brenda? I can respond: the one legged girl who shows her girls for ice cream.



I didn't notice the one leggedness either! :

 

[Cass]

ohhh jiko made me soooooo home sick for Animal Kingdom Lodge, my favourite hotel. I am having pangs of homesick pain here.

Love your pretty dress with the pink ribbon as the sash, so girly glad your sneaker feet didn't show though. lol

 

[burly]

I'm just curious..well about the one leg...but mostly..Did you ask someone to come into your room to take a pic of you two? Did you have a tripod and if so...great job. Yummy pictures..thank you. KIM

 

[__disneygirl]

Hi Brenda! Happy Belated Anniversary! Loving your report so far... I definitely want to check out your other ones! Great job. You've made me really want to try Raglan Road, when before I really never considered it. Everything sounds wonderful so far, can't wait to read more!

 

[A fat english gent]

Now when DH asks who the %@*& is Brenda? I can respond: the one legged girl who shows her girls for ice cream.

I didn't notice the one leggedness either! :

Am guessing the ice cream man much prefers to see Brenda "coming out" to buy ice cream than Jason when he turns into their street and also may go along way in explaining why the said man comes on the hour every hour in thier street too....

 

[laurabelle]

Hey Brenda! I wandered over here from the Restaurant Board V&A thread you posted on and found your amazing DR thread! I *only* got to page 7, and just had to respond... I also have IBD (UC for me ) a post cancer gift, and although I don't get long remissions, I do enjoy them! And yeah, I could totally accidentally walk into the men's room, I may have already, but I have an awful memory... I overthink my trip planning, including restaurants. I was embarrassed to learn that Disney actually keeps track of your ADRs and cancellations, so sometimes I book with my home phone, sometimes with my celly #... just to throw them off.

I'm leaving next week for WDW, and am totally psyched about the trip but it's the trip after that, my dreamy magical supercalifragilistic surprise (my kids don't know it yet) pixie dust extravaganza that is filling my thoughts. We'll be celebrating our 18th anniversary, and we're some of those lucky ducks that were sent a blizzard of pixie dust and upgraded from Pop to a 1BR at SSR during Free Dining! After many, many trips, my hubby has seen the light and we now have our very first APs and a DDE card to go with it. I love love love the surprise treats you ordered from Disney, I think I must surprise hubby with that champagne basket! Oh yes, and I have procured our very first, but hopefully not last, ressie to Victoria & Albert's... I had booked dinner at the Turf Club at 8:30 for our first night since we fly in at 7:00, but I'm seriously rethinking it (not really your fault, it doesn't take much!) and might just have to switch to Raglan Road...

Nice to meet you, glad I found your thread! Looking forward to reading more!

 

[kikigirl]

Chaka-Laka?! That almost made me spit out my soy milk. Jiko sounds interesting...just as long as I can get something relatively plain, which doesn't involve steak because I can't eat that. I definitely know the parental units would like it.

Thanks so much Brenda!

Kiki

 

[ncseric]

Pan Roasted Jumbo Scallops with golden brown mealie pap and spicy tomato-onion Chaka-Laka.

I keep thinking of the movie Stripes where the recruits are going to the parade, singing:

BOOM SHAKALAKALAKA, BOOM SHAKALAKALAKA

That's the fact, Jack!

The steak and mac and cheese looks really good, despite the fact that it's not overly African.

 

[kathymc]

Enjoying your reports - and thanks so much for posting the picture of the sampler at Raglan Road. We had it after a great meal and everything was so delish! It was our favorite dessert all week.

Actually it was your last report that changed my mind about Raglan Road - Your report sounded so good and so much fun! we had an awesome meal (and loved the beer samplers) and great night. A similar thing happened to us. We checked in thinking we would have a 20-30 min wait and they wanted to take us right away. We said we would like to wait alittle so we would be there when the music started and we wanted to see the band. She said - ok because the seat we have you at was off in a side room and said just wait a few minutes. About 20 minutes later we're beeped they say, you the one that wanted to see the band? Yup - thats us and they proceeded to sit us front and center. Not to take over your trip report but check us out!

We were afraid it would be too loud (especially for my parents) but it was great! Looking forward to more reviews and photos.

 

[MRussell]

Hi Brenda,
I have been reading one of your other reports and realized I was missing your food report!! How can I work when I have so much catching up to do???

I'm looking forward to all of the reviews. I may be changing some of my ADR's for December after reading yours.

Martha

 

[oybolshoi]

Since the boys wanted to go swimming first, this was one of the first things I noticed, and continued to feel weird about the whole time we were there. The fancy folk dressed up for Jiko probably didn't want to see flabby, wet me in a swim suit trying to get back to my room! And our Boma night wait was very crowded and confused...

I'm sure you didn't have anything to worry about but we did see some rather interesting things while we were having dinner. Nothing that made us want to blow chunks, but interesting nonetheless.

I do think it's a poor design. Our reservation was for 7PM - the bar at Jiko was full, the bar at Victoria Falls was full, all the available seating in the hallway between Jiko and Boma was full - there was nothing to do but stand and wait and get jostled and pushed and stepped on (only once, but ouch!).

But now that I think about it... there's not much room to wait upstairs at California Grill nor was there much space at Artist Point... space just seems to be at a premium. Oh well, could have been worse, but it was definitely noticeable.

The dinner sounds awesome! My DH also loves the spicy stuff, and I like it well enough. Your steak looked like it was to die for... Mmmm, steak.

Thanks for sharing!

I think I'd like to try it once more in the hopes that I feel a little better on the second try (I defy you DWDJx!!). The steak was very tasty.

Thanks for reading!

Hmnm maybe i will rethink Jiko? thanks for the update. Lovin your trippie. and all the pics. Kim

Thanks for reading Kim! It took me a while to warm up to the idea of trying Jiko, but I think there's a lot to choose from and based on our experience the food and service were quite good.

My, don't you scrub up well

Awww, thanks.

From one TTG to another, I am thanking you for showing me that it is possible for a gastronomically-challenged World goer (i.e. fussy eater ) to enjoy places like Jiko. It's somewhere that I would have never considered, choosing to stick to 'safe' restaurants. Who know, maybe one day I'll be cured and branch out. Your reviews are certainly helping to sway me in that direction.

I have to be honest, Joh; it took a long time for me to decide on Jiko. I looked at their menu over at All Ears and I read a ton of reviews but what finally swayed me was the recommendation of a couple we met last fall during the Food and Wine Festival. Their two favorite restaurants were Jiko and California Grill - they seemed to know what they were talking about with CG so we thought we'd roll the dice this time on Jiko.

And...sometimes I just have to do something nice for Jay's tastebuds. As long as there is something on the menu I can eat (cheese...bread...steak) then I'm happy to go so that he can try something new. And this time it was really worth it.

By the way, where is poor Plankton - are you starving him of late

Plankton did not join us for many...or any now that I think about it, meals. He will have a starring roll in my actual trip report, however. And I can tell you that his new favorite resort is the Polynesian.

I'm dumb enough to walk in heels. You get brownie points for that. I'd rather have the $62 you "owe" me.

Lori, I never would have suspected you of being impractical!!

To quote Mr. Burns, "I owe you a coke."

It really is that fabulous of a resort. I loved AKL before I joined DVC, and I am glad I have the option to stay there on points in the future, too.

We were really impressed with the resort and have talked about using our DVC points there some day in the future. To our way of thinking, a stay there would mean a more relaxed trip...not so much hustle and bustle to and from the parks because of the length of time it takes to get anywhere from the AKL. It seemed like all we heard from people were complaints about how long the wait times were for buses to go anywhere. But then again...it seems like you hear that no matter which resort you end up staying at.

There's a bar inside Jiko, too. It's much nicer to wait inside than in the staging area between restaurants. Unless the bar is claustrophically crowded.

Yep, we saw the bar and it was full-up. It looked like a pretty cool place to hang out, but awfully small.

And many of my friends and I who have discussed AKL have mentioned the view while dining. One friend morbidly suggested it would be like picking a lobster out of a tank. "I'll have that wildebeest, medium-rare, please." (Well, he phrased it differently, but I had the lobster analogy run through my own sicko mind.)

Too funny. But...since they don't serve giraffe and wildebeest on the menu I'm not sure why it would bother anyone. And why would it be any worse than eating at Coral Reef with that massive aquarium along the back wall of the dining room?

I agree about the filet w/mac and cheese. The steak was good, but the mac didn't live up to what I expected. It was good, but it didn't knock my socks off. It's wildly popular, though. Captain Adventure's meal looked like it was served with a fire extinguisher.

The steak was excellent and so was the wine sauce (a surprisingly light sauce all things considered) but I was a little disappointed in the mac and cheese after so many people raved about it. Too rich and too sticky - I think I would have been happier with mashed potatoes.

And yes, his dinner was verrrrrrrry spicy.

YES!! BOOM Chaka-Laka! Or maybe it was meant for Chaka Khan. My mind went on the same bus tour as your mind there.

I was actually thinking about Stripes when I first saw it on the menu, but I admit that later I thought about Chaka Khan when I was writing this up!

I've shared the cheese plate there a few years ago. It was tasty! Next time, get yourself some cheese!

Duly noted! That's one reason why I'd like to go back.

Now about your dessert:


I'm so with you on that lavender thing, sister! I did a Sweet Sunday
(the first year it was offered) with Keegan Gerhard as the celebrity chef.
He made one of his desserts with lavender, and all I thought when I tasted
it was, "I just ate perfume."

I think it could work if it's done really subtly, but the problem is that lavender is too strong and it ends up overpowering the dish. And I think you nailed it - I don't want to eat perfume. Love the color, love the scent, hate the taste.

Here's an idea...how about alcohol infused vanilla ice cream? Amarula might have worked and it would have been a nice ethnic touch. Amaretto would have been good, too.

I am surprised I didn't see you having a bit of the Amarula cream liqueur. Next time put THAT in your coffee.

If I had been feeling better I'd have been all over the amarula. Oh well, there's always the next visit.

 

[WDW Fan]

Both your meals from JIKO looked delicious Brenda! I've always been a little shy about the menu at Jiko's myself since I suffer from IBS but I guess there are things I could try. The scallops look delicious and are one of my favorite things to order out!

 

[oybolshoi]

You look lovely! Even if you only have one leg!

That's what I get for not making a comment about that picture in the review!

I do believe the table service in the new DVC building will have a view if the savannah. I read that somewhere around here....

That would be very cool - I'll have to go do some poking around to see what kind of information I can find.

Well, I never! Who in there right mind would drink Pellegrino with a lemon. Tres Trashy!

Depends on the restaurant I suppose... later in the week at another signature restaurant we were given lemon with our Pelligrino... We ignored it.

Loved the review! We ate there when it first opened a couple of years ago. We have not been back since. Not our thing. But glad that you enjoyed it!!

Glad you enjoyed the review, even if my missing leg proved to be something of a distraction.

(Sorry to laugh B, but THAT was funny!!)

Nancy, if you can't laugh at me who can you laugh at? Besides, this thread is all about having some fun so I don't mind.

You both looking smashing! It brings back memories of our honeymoon and our dinner at V&A. We stayed at CBR and took the bus to MK then tramped it over to the monorail and over to the GF, all while I was dressed in my pretty salmon colored chiffon dress and DH was in long slacks, button up shirt, and suit coat. He did have the sense to take off the suit coat during transport. I was dumb enough to wear the high heels. And all of this was in the hot humid July weather!!! Wish we called a taxi...

Jiko looks scrumptious. Someday we'll get there!

Thanks for reading, DM! We did call a taxi for our dinner at V&A but for everything else we used Disney transportation... it's a challenge, isn't it? Especially when you're dressed nicely.

i had been wondering about the lavender ice cream. somewhere i'm considering for our april 2008 trip (spoodles maybe?) has lavender ice cream and i've never had it before. i love the scent of lavender and i have some in my garden, but i don't know about the *taste* of lavender. thanks for the warning!

I'm the same way - love lavender and have it in the garden and love it in my bath, but I don't want to eat it. Especially after having eaten it. Did that make sense?

You look hot-hot, hottie! How do you stay so svelte and eat and drink all this Shame, that Jiko wasn't more exciting, I don't think lavendar ice cream sounds appealing

Well thanks for the compliment. Honest answer - I look thinner than I really am in that picture because I was practicing my "runway" pose! Stand at an angle with one leg in front of the other... it's much more flattering because the hips are turned...unless you lose a leg!

I love your dress! Very cute! You did the right thing by wearing your tennis shoes until you got to dinner. I was stupid and wore my heels a few times when we had to walk to dinner - ouch! I won't make that mistake again!

Thanks Michelle! If I could walk gracefully in heels I might have worn them the whole way, but I'm a klutz so not only was wearing the tennies good for my feet but it was something of a life saving measure, too!

I knew you would love AKL! It's a beautiful resort, isn't it? We've stayed there three times now, and I can't wait to go back when the DVC villas are done.

Someone didn't take notes from my TR

Very pretty resort and so much to explore! As for your TR... I remember reading that, but I thought the layout of the resort was confusing the first time through and even the second time through we never found that waiting area.

On to the food! YUMMMY! I love that flatbread. It's one of my favorites. I'm sitting here, drooling right now. I'm glad you got the fillet. It's always great. I agree with you about the mac&cheese. I do like it, but I prefer tubers with my meat - mashed is the best. You have to go back to Jiko when you are feeling better to try some of the African wines. I've never had a bad one. Sorry you didn't like the dessert. That ice cream wouldn't do it for me either. Ick.

So, what's next???
-Michelle

Amen sister! Give me some mashed potatoes or even a baked one with my steak and I'm in heaven! I definitely would like to try some African whites on our next visit - I've heard those are just as good as some of the reds.

Next up - Gospel Brunch at House of Blues! Thanks for reading.

I finally made it through! Man I cannot believe how long this thread is getting. Thank you SO much for putting your update page #s in the original post!

As always, great review so far. I've eaten at Boma before but not Jiko yet and after your review, I think I'll give it a whirl!

Oh btw, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! What wonderful magic WDW provides. I love it!

Hi Jen, thanks for popping in to take a read! I can't believe how long this thread is getting either - "Wow!" is what goes through my mind every time I make it back over here.

Glad you're enjoying it so far and thanks for the anniversary wishes.

OT but I wanted to tell you that there are now 29 days from now until the HP movie comes out! My friend actually knitted a scarf for myself and for herself for us to wear to the opening and they are Griffindor colors! I'll have to PM you a pic, its awesome!

Well, now I think we're at 34 days for the book, right? Woo hoo!!!

I'd love to see the picture - it sounds great!!

Oh wow! - how lovely! I want one!

ps - glad to see Planky making an appearance earlier...I was beginning to think you'd left him at home.

I love that anniversary giftie, too. It was so sweet! And don't you worry about Plankton, Auntie Karen; he'll be making an appearance in the trippie. He got into all sorts of interesting things.

Loved your dress Brenda, even though you left your second leg behind

Thanks for the compliment on the dress. I actually bought it for the last cruise (2005) and then didn't wear it because I didn't like the way it looked on me. Still don't think it's the most flattering dress for me, but I like it so much that I decided to wear it anyway.

Love the dress you look so pretty, wise move wearing trainers, food looks good too.

Thanks Jo!

The missing leg is named "Smith".

Love the dress!! I must tell you that I've never enjoyed a dining review as much as I'm enjoying yours. We'll be going to JIKO for the first time on our next trip and I can't wait to see the Lodge for the first time.

Thanks Kathy! I hope you really enjoy Jiko and the lodge will knock your socks off - it's gorgeous.

What's the name of her OTHER leg?

The other leg is named Wesson.

Great job on this review... DH tends to be more "adventerous" than I am as well, although I don't have any good medical reasons to be so chicken.

Glad you had a good time!

Thanks for reading! Everyone has different tastes - no reason to call yourself chicken. If you think your DH might like it you should take a look at Jiko's menu some day - you will probably find something "safe" just like I did.

Brenda - I am so happy you liked Jiko! It became our favourite restaurant last trip and we are DYING to go back this November. DH had the filet you bought and I was so jealous... yummo! It was also some of the best service we've ever had in ANY restaurant!

(I wasn't as enamored with the cheese plate, FWIW - too much blue cheese and stinky goat cheese.)

We did have great service at Jiko to go along with the yummy food. November, huh? Does this mean I finally will get a chance to read your dining reviews?

While I could do without the blue cheese I do like me some goat cheese.

And when I saw that picture (lovely dress, BTW), I too was wondering where your other leg went. Two possibilities crossed my mind: 1) Plankton had hatched a nefarious scheme to fuse your legs together, or 2) You were doing your KILLER flamingo impersonation!!

Thanks for the compliment on the dress. As for the picture... I love both of your ideas!!

 

[BriarRosie]

Lori, I never would have suspected you of being impractical!!

To quote Mr. Burns, "I owe you a coke."

Yes, slave to fashion and all that. I had an adventure trying to get to the EEE event at Epcot. It involved pouring rain, giving a total stranger (woman at Pop Century in her bathing suit) $20 to run to Everything Pop to buy me an umbrella (which she did, amazingly enough), walking through said rain in fancy dress and heels to the bus stop. Once we were at the outside Guest Relations at Epcot, it wasn't terrible to be in the heels. We were driven to the backstage area to World Showplace, no walking through Epcot. If I have another "nice" dress event, I have shoes with low, low heels that are easier on the feet.

We were really impressed with the resort and have talked about using our DVC points there some day in the future. To our way of thinking, a stay there would mean a more relaxed trip...not so much hustle and bustle to and from the parks because of the length of time it takes to get anywhere from the AKL. It seemed like all we heard from people were complaints about how long the wait times were for buses to go anywhere. But then again...it seems like you hear that no matter which resort you end up staying at.

I did have an intentionally "take it easy" stay at AKL a few years ago. I was treating myself to concierge, and I wanted to enjoy the resort. Friends of mine were staying there, too. Some shared with me, and the others shared another room. At one point, three of us decided to break out the Haunted Mansion Clue game that my friend bought during that trip. We sat at a table in the concierge lounge around 3pm, and we played the game for 3 hours. Of course it was nice to be able to get some tea, and later the concierge snackables they serve as appetizers. Yum. That was a relaxing weekend! [/quote]

Yep, we saw the bar and it was full-up. It looked like a pretty cool place to hang out, but awfully small.

I never knew that quiet sitting area was only an elevator ride away. I'm going to have to look for that, now. Michelle's tip was awesome.

Too funny. But...since they don't serve giraffe and wildebeest on the menu I'm not sure why it would bother anyone. And why would it be any worse than eating at Coral Reef with that massive aquarium along the back wall of the dining room?

Oooh...good point. They need a view with their dining! I thought maybe the new restaurant at the Kidani Villas will have a meal with a view.

I was actually thinking about Stripes when I first saw it on the menu, but I admit that later I thought about Chaka Khan when I was writing this up!

"Muppets Treasure Island". Miss Piggy's grand entrance. Pay attention to the chant of the natives.

Here's an idea...how about alcohol infused vanilla ice cream? Amarula might have worked and it would have been a nice ethnic touch. Amaretto would have been good, too.

Why not just pour the Amarula over the vanilla ice cream?

 

[cmp1111]

"Muppets Treasure Island". Miss Piggy's grand entrance. Pay attention to the chant of the natives.

I have been thinking this every since she wrote it, but foolishly thought no one else would remember. BOOM shakalakala.... Sorry, I'm just so excited to find someone else who knew!