Dining Review - September/October 2023

[Eastern]

Real Life Update - Can we make Pineapple Bread Pudding?
We always have family over for Christmas Eve as well as other nights around the holidays. Scott enjoys cooking and baking so goes all out for the holidays.

This year we were chatting about desserts and the different things to bake and we started talking about trying to re-create the Pineapple Bread pudding from O’Hana/Tambu Lounge. Even though it wasn’t as good during this trip as it was in the past, we wanted to try the one that we always talk about and compare others to. If we’re going to try something new, we don’t want the first attempt to be for company so we’ll usually do a practice one for us to try.

We searched the internet for a recipe, found a few, printed them out, picked an evening and started to make it. We realized we were missing some of the ingredients for the caramel sauce so improvised with the Ghirardelli squirt one we had in the refrigerator. We made sure to have vanilla ice cream on hand. The first attempt was pretty good, but the caramel sauce didn’t work. The glass pan we used wasn’t right since even after we took it out of the oven it held the heat and dried it out a bit. We each had a piece and talked about what to do differently for the next batch. We put the leftovers in the refrigerator and continued to pick on it and it was better after it was cold.

Below is the first attempt:
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Ready to try again for guests we realized we couldn’t find the recipe we printed. Back to the internet and we’re looking and couldn’t find the same one. So we used a different one. We also had the ingredients to make the caramel sauce this time. Instead of the glass pan we had metal disposable pans to use. We got the bread pudding together and into the oven; it’s surprisingly easy. We started to make the caramel sauce, following the instructions, and burnt it; it wasn’t edible. So we tried again and the second attempt came out good. We learned that if you put the caramel in the refrigerator it separates and gets hard so you need to microwave it to warm it up and stir it when ready to serve it.
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Burnt Caramel that we tossed:
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Better caramel that we used:
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Finished product:
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Another angle:
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We were so excited that we got rave reviews for our Pineapple Bread pudding from guests. Even those that originally said they don’t like bread pudding gave it a try to humor us and then asked for more.

We have also made this with good results: we eat it until it's gone! The 'Ohana wings copycat recipe also works well.

But I am still waiting for Scott's meatball recipe!

 

[Noreen411]

We have also made this with good results: we eat it until it's gone! The 'Ohana wings copycat recipe also works well.

But I am still waiting for Scott's meatball recipe!

Hi. We did that too - kept eating it, it’s so good. I don’t want to make it too often since I want it to still be special. I may suggest the wings to Scott; I don’t like chicken wings (the whole food looking like it did alive and being on a bone quirk).

I don’t think Scott could tell me the meatball recipe; he just wings it each time and they always come out great. He made meatballs with his mother as a kid and still loves doing it.

 

[Noreen411]

Saturday 10/7/23
We left about 6:30 am to continue our drive home. We were home about 2:15pm. It was nice to get home relatively early. We started some of the after vacation stuff and made sure to spend extra time with the kitties.

Not wanting the vacation feeling to end we went out to dinner at Biagio’s, a casual Italian restaurant maybe 30 minutes from our house. We always enjoy meals at Biagio’s and usually sit at the bar where we know the bartenders and it’s always a good time.

I had a White Sangria and Scott had a Martini. They make a great white sangria here.


The bread is really good too. Warm, toasty, crispy.


The fried calamari is perfect as always. Not too greasy, well cooked. And the dipping sauces, mild for me and spicy for Scott.


Scott had the Shrimp, Scallop, and Calamari: Sautéed fresh spinach, sundried tomato, garlic and olive oil, linguine. Scott enjoys this dish, but it’s a huge portion so much of it came home for dinner the next day.


I had the Pappardelle Bolognese: Tuscan style bolognese, fresh ricotta. I wanted to try something different from my usual choices here. This was good but also a huge portion and much of it came home for dinner the next day.


We didn’t get dessert at Biagio’s; instead once back home, we enjoyed the crème brûlée from California Grill that we brought home from Florida. This was still delicious even after making the ride back to New Jersey.

 

[Eastern]

Saturday 10/7/23
We left about 6:30 am to continue our drive home. We were home about 2:15pm. It was nice to get home relatively early. We started some of the after vacation stuff and made sure to spend extra time with the kitties.

Not wanting the vacation feeling to end we went out to dinner at Biagio’s, a casual Italian restaurant maybe 30 minutes from our house. We always enjoy meals at Biagio’s and usually sit at the bar where we know the bartenders and it’s always a good time.

I had a White Sangria and Scott had a Martini. They make a great white sangria here.
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The bread is really good too. Warm, toasty, crispy.
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The fried calamari is perfect as always. Not too greasy, well cooked. And the dipping sauces, mild for me and spicy for Scott.
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Scott had the Shrimp, Scallop, and Calamari: Sautéed fresh spinach, sundried tomato, garlic and olive oil, linguine. Scott enjoys this dish, but it’s a huge portion so much of it came home for dinner the next day.
View attachment 825245

I had the Pappardelle Bolognese: Tuscan style bolognese, fresh ricotta. I wanted to try something different from my usual choices here. This was good but also a huge portion and much of it came home for dinner the next day.
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We didn’t get dessert at Biagio’s; instead once back home, we enjoyed the crème brûlée from California Grill that we brought home from Florida. This was still delicious even after making the ride back to New Jersey.
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I've been to Biagio's, it's good!

 

[Noreen411]

Random Thoughts and some ranking
While we made reservations 60 days out for each night other than the first night we arrived, we made a lot of changes to our dining plans as we went. I booked dinners for 13 nights starting Saturday 9/23 (we arrived Friday 9/22) through and including Thursday 10/5. I booked 1 breakfast reservation. I checked back to what I originally booked compared to where we actually ate and the only ones that we kept as originally booked were: Rodeo Roundup (9/25), Shika Sai (9/28), Sebastian’s Bistro (10/1), Topolino’s Terrace Breakfast (10/2), Trattoria Al Forno (10/2), Yachtsman Steakhouse (10/3), and California Grill (10/5). All the other meals we cancelled the original reservations and booked new ones as we went; availability would change constantly. A few of the meals we walked in without reservations. I wanted to compare to what I originally booked more as a reminder not to stress if I can’t get certain reservations when I’m looking 60 days out since availability changes and we can make changes on the fly. This worked well for us. I don’t think I would go without booking dinner reservations in advance but knowing I can change them as we go makes it less stressful.

As we were driving home we started talking about the different meals we had and ranking them. There were some surprises. We had a little notebook with us in the car and I started making lists (I know a bit old fashioned but it was fun).

When we thought about the restaurants we enjoyed the most we came up with these as our top ranked 3:
1: California Grill
2: Yachtsman Steakhouse
3: Trattoria Al Forno

We started with the various desserts since who doesn’t like dessert. Our top ranked desserts:
1: Crème Brûlée from California Grill
2: Pumpkin Cheesecake from Saltgrass Steakhouse
3: Chocolate Souffle from Shula’s
4: Bread Pudding from Sebastian’s Bistro

Our top ranked appetizers:
1: Fried Calamari from Space 220
2: Octopus from Topolino’s Terrace
3: Pizza from California Grill
4: Shrimp Cocktail from Yachtsman Steakhouse
5: Scallops from Shula’s

Our top ranked entrees:
1: Unagi Don from Shika Sai
2: Filet from Topolino’s Terrace
3: Short Rib from Yachtsman Steakhouse

We have to rank the top Mac & Cheese since that’s Scott’s favorite side dish.
He ranked the Shrimp & Andouille Mac & Cheese from the Boathouse his favorite of the trip
Since I am not a huge Mac & cheese fan in general, my vote goes to Shula’s Mac & cheese since that’s really the only one I enjoy

Scott asked me to include his thoughts on hot dogs since he was very happy to finally have a hot dog at Disney and said his favorite was Casey’s hot dog

We ranked the various snacks/treats and each had a favorite:
Scott’s favorite was the Mickey Shaped cookie with chocolate dipped ears and chocolate drizzle from the Confectionary in Magic Kingdom
My favorite was the Raspberry pop tarts from Woody’s lunch box at Hollywood Studios

While Scott’s normal beverage didn’t vary much since he usually stuck to either a Martini or Bourbon, he didn’t rank his drinks. Since I tried various cocktails, I ranked my favorites:
1: Hoodunit Punch from Abracadabar at the Boardwalk
2: White Peach Sangria from Homecoming
3: Duck Duck Razz from the Boathouse

We enjoyed thinking through the ranking of the various meals. I think next trip maybe we won’t wait until the end and try to remember it all, but will start at least with putting things into an A, B, C list making it easier to rank.

 

[Noreen411]

I've been to Biagio's, it's good!

It’s a small world

 

[Noreen411]

Final Thoughts
This was a great trip. We really enjoy Disney.

We tried some new restaurants and still have some favorites. Some prior favorites weren’t as good as they used to be, hopefully it was just a fluke.

While I know I’ll start booking reservations 60 days in advance of our next trip, I will try not to stress if I don’t get all the restaurants I want since we can change our plans as we go.

If you have any questions or comments, please reply. I love talking about Disney.

Noreen

 

[HolRae]

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences. I have several of these on my list for next trip.

 

[Noreen411]

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and experiences. I have several of these on my list for next trip.

Thank you for your kind words. I enjoy doing this - it’s like reliving the trip.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Fantastic dining review. You all eat very similarly to how my DH and I eat - lot of drinks and appetizers and shared mains.

 

[Noreen411]

Fantastic dining review. You all eat very similarly to how my DH and I eat - lot of drinks and appetizers and shared mains.

Thank you for the kind words. Those are the best parts of the meal usually - drinks and appetizers.

 

[starousse]

Always love your food and trip reports.

 

[Noreen411]

Always love your food and trip reports.

Thank you; appreciate the kind words. I’m starting the trip report too for this vacation.

 

[Dreams&wishes]

This is fantastic thank you sooo much it's amazing how you put all the photos, the descriptions and the ranking, so so valuable. Thank you!

 

[java]

Really enjoyed all your reviews! Debating adding the Japanese restaurant to our list. I’m off to check out that menu. We have also “saved deserts” to bring back to NJ. They usually only make it to South Carolina before we dig into them.

 

[Noreen411]

This is fantastic thank you sooo much it's amazing how you put all the photos, the descriptions and the ranking, so so valuable. Thank you!

Thank you for your kind words. I enjoy doing these reports; it’s like reliving the trip. This is the first time we’ve done the ranking and it made us really think through the meals; we’ll do that again next trip too.

 

[Noreen411]

Really enjoyed all your reviews! Debating adding the Japanese restaurant to our list. I’m off to check out that menu. We have also “saved deserts” to bring back to NJ. They usually only make it to South Carolina before we dig into them.

Thank you for the kind words. We definitely had some stand out items at Shika Sai. Driving definitely makes it easier to bring back snacks. We also sometimes dip into them on the road, but Scott usually packs everything up so well, unless it’s easy to access, I don’t want to mess up his perfect packing.

 

[Coconuts]

Just read through your report...how lucky you are to have tried so many different places. Got some insight on where to look for our upcoming trip thanks!

 

[Noreen411]

Just read through your report...how lucky you are to have tried so many different places. Got some insight on where to look for our upcoming trip thanks!

Thank you. It’s fun to try some new places. We also love going back to the restaurants we know and love.

 

[Noreen411]

I wrote a trip report if you want to read about our adventures beyond the food/drinks.

I’ll post the link here in case you are interested in reading it

https://www.disboards.com/threads/trip-report-september-october-2023.3937749/

Noreen