Dining Wars: Drinking's Edge - An August 2018 Dining Report - Updated 2/18: Completed

Jaleo is a Spanish tapas restaurant from world renowned Chef Jose Andres that is due to open in Disney Springs next year.

Tapas meals are my favourite. Yum. This is exciting that it's coming to DS. Hopefully other parts of the country too.

The shrimp were amazing, but I may have loved dipping bread in the sauce even more.

Bread and sauce are my nemesis. Looks amazing.

but fry them up and toss them in smokey and slightly tart mojo sauce and these were next level. The actual sprouts were crunchy and burnt - which is how I like them

OK now you have sold me, I may have to make a special trip just to try this place. You know, for research purposes now that I'm a travel agent. I say that about everything I want to try lol. The more burnt and crispy the better. Except when I try to make them at home and set off all the smoke detectors.
 
She looks adorable! And that good looks fabulous!

We are actually heading to DC area this weekend, but have a feeling we will be eating mostly bad hote food o_O
 


First - Casey SHOULD be enamored of herself. She is an amazing child. And that dress!!!!! BTW - I do a production of Christmas Carol every year. While it may not be the Ford's theatre version, you and family can always come hang in St. Louis and see a show. And Casey and I can run wild at City Museum!!!
 
Wow, Jaleo dishes look so delicious! I will run there when it opens in DS and Andi will like it, she loves Spanish food and Tapas! The shrimp and sausage look so yummy!

Casey is sure cute in her Christmas Dress, we have a production of the Christmas Carol at the Guthrie In Minneapolis that is a must every year!
 
Holy cow Kari, what an amazing meal. I had no idea Jaleo was coming to DS, but you can bet when it does that we will be there!!!! I love tapas!!!!

Casey looks ADORABLE!!!! Where did you find that dress?????

What an awesome evening!!!!
 


How cool! I haven't been there in eons. And certainly not to see A Christmas Carol!
I hadn't been in forever either. My parents always took me when I was a kid and I was just waiting for Casey to be old enough to enjoy it. It was still a little over her head but she loved it anyway and left wanting to know if she could be in the show next year :-)

Tapas meals are my favourite. Yum. This is exciting that it's coming to DS. Hopefully other parts of the country too.
Mine too! They have a couple of DC locations and one in Vegas, but I think this is the only other one. Definitely shouldn't be missed.

OK now you have sold me, I may have to make a special trip just to try this place. You know, for research purposes now that I'm a travel agent. I say that about everything I want to try lol. The more burnt and crispy the better. Except when I try to make them at home and set off all the smoke detectors.
I think research is definitely in order. You need to know what you are telling your clients to eat. Its only fair :P

I'm so with you on the burnt things. Especially veggies. The more charred the happier I am.

She looks adorable! And that good looks fabulous!

We are actually heading to DC area this weekend, but have a feeling we will be eating mostly bad hote food o_O
Thanks! Awesome to hear you will be here. What is bringing you to town?

Everything you ordered looked amazing and how cute is Casey?! What a fun night :)
It was a great night. Perfect way to kick off the Christmas season.

I can see why! Oh my gosh, she's such a gem.
We're certainly lucky to have her!

First - Casey SHOULD be enamored of herself. She is an amazing child. And that dress!!!!! BTW - I do a production of Christmas Carol every year. While it may not be the Ford's theatre version, you and family can always come hang in St. Louis and see a show. And Casey and I can run wild at City Museum!!!
She is an amazing child, though I may be slightly biased :-)

I don't think I realized you were in St. Louis. I go there all the time for work, though I've never been to the City Museum. I'll have to check that out.

Wow, Jaleo dishes look so delicious! I will run there when it opens in DS and Andi will like it, she loves Spanish food and Tapas! The shrimp and sausage look so yummy!

Casey is sure cute in her Christmas Dress, we have a production of the Christmas Carol at the Guthrie In Minneapolis that is a must every year!
You and Andi would love it!!! Nothing better than small, yummy dishes!!

Enjoy your Christmas Carol. This was the first time taking Casey to see it and she loved it. It was one of my favorite Christmas traditions as a kid, so looking forward to sharing it with her.

Holy cow Kari, what an amazing meal. I had no idea Jaleo was coming to DS, but you can bet when it does that we will be there!!!! I love tapas!!!!

Casey looks ADORABLE!!!! Where did you find that dress?????

What an awesome evening!!!!
The meal was amazing. I'm pretty sure the DS location is opening sometime early next year. I haven't heard a lot of fanfare for it, but it will be a DS game changer for sure!!

Casey is indeed adorable. Just like Gia :-) I don't know where her dress came from. My Mom bought it for her last year and we were lucky we could get a second year from it.
 
Hey we've been to Ford's Theatre! And the museum too and the inn across the street where Lincoln actually died. Fun times :thumbsup2
She just looks adorable in her dress; wonder if I can guilt my boys into dressing all fancy for me :laughing:
 
I hadn't been in forever either. My parents always took me when I was a kid and I was just waiting for Casey to be old enough to enjoy it. It was still a little over her head but she loved it anyway and left wanting to know if she could be in the show next year :-)
Tell her she has a whole DisCrew who'd LOVE to see her perform!
 
Not a "real" update, but we went to see a Christmas Carol at Fords Theater last night and had dinner at the Jaleo in DC so I thought I'd give you all a preview of the deliciousness that awaits in Disney Springs.
I don't really keep up with what new restaurants will be added, but this place sounds awesome! I can't wait to try it one day. I haven't been to the DC area since I was a teenager, so the one in Disney Springs will probably have to do.
 
We are taking the girls to ICE at the Gaylord national hotel, depending on weather and motivation we may leave the hotel.
Awesome, have fun! Good news is I hear they have pretty good food there. We've been to a few of the restaurants in the harbor area and have done the Gaylord at Christmas time but haven't done ice. May try and do it after Christmas sometime.

Hey we've been to Ford's Theatre! And the museum too and the inn across the street where Lincoln actually died. Fun times :thumbsup2
She just looks adorable in her dress; wonder if I can guilt my boys into dressing all fancy for me :laughing:
Awesome! We did the museum quickly before the show started but I don't think I've been to the inn. At intermission at the show Casey wanted to know when Abraham Lincoln was going to be in the play :P

Tell her she has a whole DisCrew who'd LOVE to see her perform!
:thumbsup2

You come to St. Louis??? We should get together when you are here. Fun times!!!
I'll PM you next time I'm headed that way which will probably be January or February. About a third of my workforce is out there so I try and get out once a quarter. I almost always stay at the Hyatt at the Arch so I can eat at Ruth Chris :-)

I don't really keep up with what new restaurants will be added, but this place sounds awesome! I can't wait to try it one day. I haven't been to the DC area since I was a teenager, so the one in Disney Springs will probably have to do.
Funny restaurant news is about the only Disney info I keep up with :-) From what I know you like to eat you'll definitely love it!!!!
 
Episode VIII: A Very Merry Half Birthday

After leaving MGM we finally got our room text and went to check out our new digs at the Beach Club. I had always wanted to stay here and was so excited. Until I saw this...


My only request was for a balcony and a balcony this was not. I went down to the front desk to see what they could do, while these two were exhausted by me and my room requests.


The front desk clerk told me she only had one balcony left which I promptly jumped all over. Jason and Casey met me there and we were met by this beautiful view.


And then this one....

And the piece de resistance ....


Needless to say I was shocked to see they would even put someone in this room, but knowing it was the only balcony available we decided to suck it up.

With thunderstorms rolling in that evening we decided to stick close to the hotel and got a last minute ADR at one of my favorites, Flying Fish. Not only is the food good, but I think this is the most beautiful restaurant in Disney World.


After an alcohol free day, you know some adult beverages were calling our names. Jason got a Hickory Mellowed Gin and Tonic which I neglected to get a photo of and I got a cucumber and vodka drink that doesn't appear to be on the menu anymore.

Whatever this was it was very refreshing and hit the vodka spot!

We of course got some bread to start with which at Flying Fish is unique in that it has seaweed in the bread and a sea salt butter.

I didn't love this the first time we had it, but I found the seaweed flavor tampered down and now it added a slight mineral flavor that went great with the salty butter. And who am I to not love a carb?

Speaking of carbs for appetizers we started with the Crispy Oysters with Flying Fish Roe and Lotus Root.

I love, love, love me an oyster and these did not disappoint. They were large, briny oysters fried up to perfection that paired great with the lotus root and other veggies.


We also got the Snow Crab Croquettes with Remoulade and Micro Greens.

These unfortunately were a bit of a fail. They had red and green peppers in the croquettes, which ended up making them taste "cheap" and reminiscent of generic seafood topping. Jason likened them to some sort of crab imperial he got at Captain D's when he was a kid. Thankfully for us all Jason's palette is more refined now. But I'm gonna guess that Captain D's was not the flavor profile they were going for.

For entrees Jason got the Savory Shrimp Pasta with
Saffron Tomato Sauce and Garden Herbs.

He enjoyed the huge shrimp in here and loved the saffron and tomato flavor, but you'll note there wasn't actually a lot of pasta going on here and he definitely needed more.

Casey and I shared the Hokkaido Scallops with Antebellum Grits, Sweet Corn, and Peppadew Emulsion

They took my "sharing" literally and split the plate so you are only seeing half of what this should be. That said, the scallops were expertly prepared and while they could have been hotter they went perfectly with the buttery grits. This was definitely one of my favorite entrees of the trip.

To go with our entrees Jason and I split a bottle of Sancerre, which is a French Sauvignon Blanc that pairs wonderfully with seafood.


Having a little bit left in us and it literally pouring outside we decided to stay for dessert and chose the Cocoa Breach.

This is a new take on the old school chocolate lava cake with Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake and Warm Ganache. The presentation is impeccable as our server pours the hot ganache on the cake and it folds into itself revealing a mousse like substance inside. And the taste was out of this world. Warm, rich, dense, but lightened by the hazelnut flavor, cookie crumbs and ice cream. It was amazing and we didn't even have to share it with Casey because....

Our great waiter was kind enough to bring Casey a "half birthday" ice cream.

Her day was made.

Captain D's crab aside we very much enjoyed our visit to Flying Fish. Of course I'm a sucker for all things seafood, but their food is expertly prepared and served in an absolutely gorgeous restaurant. We'll definitely be back! With our Tables in Wonderland card we saved $42.45.

Unfortunately the rain wasn't letting up for the evening so we had to give up our Slinky Dog FP, but we got a gorgeous view instead.


I stopped and picked up some wine in the Beach Club Marketplace and we enjoyed a relaxing evening on our "beautiful" balcony.

Tell me you didn't know that was gonna have to happen!

Up next, we catch a breakfast wave...
 
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Wow the views from your room with the scaffolding is crazy. When I stayed there it was a little tiny Juliette balcony with a giant hornets nest on the roof, which they never did anything about. I feel like when they built this place they didn't think people would actually want balcony rooms. Your food at Flying Fish looked great, although the portion sizes look a little small. I have reservations there for our March trip, but I'm trying to decide if we should keep them or try the new Artist Point character dining instead. Everything you described here though sounds delicious and my parents ate there before the wedding and loved it so I might keep it.
 
Awesome, have fun! Good news is I hear they have pretty good food there. We've been to a few of the restaurants in the harbor area and have done the Gaylord at Christmas time but haven't done ice. May try and do it after Christmas sometime.

That is good news! We have a few reservations which we may end up keeping or canceling.... we will see how the days go...

Needless to say I was shocked to see they would even put someone in this room, but knowing it was the only balcony available we decided to suck it up.
. I mean do they not know this is dangerous, especially after a few cocktails?

Also love flying fish, haven’t been in a while but loved it last time!

d enough to bring Casey a "half birthday" ice cream.

Her day was made.

Love! I feel like we should all celebrate half brirdays more! And by celebrate I mean an excuse to eat cake!

I stopped and picked up some wine in the Beach Club Marketplace and we enjoyed a relaxing evening on our "beautiful" balcony.

Tell me you didn't know that was gonna have to happen

And here we go! To my earlier point!
 
Oh why couldn’t you have posted the crab balls before my trip ;)

That balcony is a bit of a fail with the view - it does look quite large though! I see why you like Boardwalk so much better.

Your meal looks lovely and I almost got that same wine but when my husband said no bottle - I just went with what was listed as the pairing and got wine by the glass.

What a wonderful sunset!
 

She got about a million complements on her dress and was of course quite enamored with herself :-)
So, cute! Love the dress.

And the piece de resistance ....


Needless to say I was shocked to see they would even put someone in this room, but knowing it was the only balcony available we decided to suck it up.
Oh man. Just keep looking the other way...

b302e04c-517a-445c-b344-a208c56079ac.jpg
That's better...


He enjoyed the huge shrimp in here and loved the saffron and tomato flavor, but you'll note there wasn't actually a lot of pasta going on here and he definitely needed more.
This looks delish but kind of small...


They took my "sharing" literally and split the plate so you are only seeing half of what this should be.
Thanks goodness that is the split version! I was going to say, 2 scallops for both of you, yikes.

I stopped and picked up some wine in the Beach Club Marketplace and we enjoyed a relaxing evening on our "beautiful" balcony.
That wasn't your actual balcony right?
 
My balcony! Oh how I miss it. We bonded big time during Sean's and my September '17 trip. Of course I did not have the pleasure of a face full of scaffolding to deal with. What a bummer!

Oh yeah and Flying Fish looked yummy, especially that dessert!
 

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