Jersey Week Dining Review!

[Chrisypoo]

We're just back from a 7 day trip to WDW on the Dining Plan. I have to say, it's a LOT of food!!

So for the review...we have me and my 10 year old son. For the sake of the plan, he's considered an adult. I was glad for this, there's no way he would have eaten from the old kid's menu, let alone the new "improved" version that they've come out with.



Day One
We flew in early and were at our resort (AKL) before lunch. Since we were leaving home so early (4am!) I planned lunch in the food court and dinner at Boma, that way we could take it easy our first day.

Lunch---The Mara---I had the African Stew in a bread bowl with cheesecake for desert. I absolutely loved the stew...it was slightly sweet, and tasted like it had a little coconut milk in it, maybe a little curry as well. The bread was good as well, I only ate the lid, but it had a nice light texture and a garlicy taste. The serving size doesn't look big, but considering you can eat the bowl, it really was. The cheesecake came with a little container of strawberry topping...the cheesecake was good, the topping was better My son had a personal cheese pizza and also asked for fries...and apparently you can get that as a side with pizza and have it still covered under the dining plan. He said it was good (both the pizza and the fries), and he had a Butterfinger for desert.
Snacks---Goofy Candy Company in DTD. We went to do a little shopping in DTD...my son wanted to get some Lego's and I wanted to add to my Mr. Potato Head collection On the way back to the bus, we went by the Goofy candy company. I got a large bag of the party mix, a design-your-own marshmallow stick (dipped in milk chocolate and coated in crushed Reese's peanut butter cups), a design-your-own rice crispy treat (dipped in dark chocolate, coated in crushed Reese's and drizzled with white chocolate), and a sugar tube. YUM!!! Even if you're not on the DP, the make your own treats are such a good deal...the rice crispy treat was HUGE and it was only $3.

Dinner ---Boma. I was a bit apprehensive going to a TS on the DP because of some people reporting bad service, but we didn't find that anywhere. Our server, Seth, was just great...explained the main items on the buffet and gave some suggestions on what he thought was a good choice. He was very prompt with refils and taking away plates, and was very friendly.
The food...the prime rib was excellent, as was the bobotie (which I'd never had before). They had salmon with some sort of vegetables with a tamarind sauce on top---YUM!!! I've had the nut crusted salmon there before and thought that was good, this was way better. I was dissapointed that they didn't have my favorite soup, the coconut curry chicken so I tried the crab soup instead...it was good, a nice crab flavor, but I didn't love it. I tried a couple of the salads including the watermelon rind---oogie! That was not a good taste in my mouth! The deserts were excellent...the fruit tart with blueberries on top was my fav, as it had a nice light flavor.
My son had the fish (which he liked), meatballs, fries and mac & cheese from the kid's section. He went back for seconds on the mac & cheese so he really liked that. He tried the milk tart (was NOT happy about that one!), flourless brownie, some chocolate banana tart and chocolate chip cookies. The chocolate banana tart was not a hit to say the least...I tried a bit as well and didn't like it, but then I don't like banana flavored stuff, so I'm not really a fair judge.

Up next...day 2 at ABC Commisary and Garden Grill

 

[Chrisypoo]

Day 2 begins nice and early at MGM and ends at Epcot.

Lunch -- ABC Commissary. I had the fish and chips, which was good, and the chocolate mousse for desert (good but not great). One thing that was weird, is I got some of the malt vinegar for my chips and when I poured the packets into one of the little cups (like you use for ketchup), the vinegar was goey...it poured out like honey. I had no idea vinegar could do that (and I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to) so I decided to eat the fries with ketchup instead. My son had the cheeseburger and fries with the caramel flan. He said the burger and fries were good, but one bit of the flan was enough for him! I tried it and I thought it was better than the mousse that I ordered.

Snack -- Gertie's. We shared a chocolate waffle cone...chocolate and ice cream, what's not to love

Dinner -- Garden Grill. We had never been here before and I was excited about a character meal (though my son wasn't). We started off with a baby greens salad with sweet potato chips and a raspberry vinagrette dressing...very good! The sweet potato chips were a nice change to the regular croutons. Our server, Chris, was very nice and brought out a kid's platter along with the adult platter for my son even though he's considered an adult and we didn't ask for it. My son really like the mac & cheese, fries, catfish and the prime rib. I thought the mashed potatoes were excellent, as was the catfish. The roasted vegetables were very good, too, I especially like the butternut squash as it's not something you normally see. Chris brought out the kid's make your own cupcake for my son, which was a big hit...that was something that he talked about for the rest of our stay. I had the vanilla bread pudding with the Bailey's mousse/whipped cream stuff on top...oh MY! That mousse made the desert...I could have had a bowl of it and been a very happy lady!!

The character interaction was very good for those who wanted it...my son, alas, was not one of those people. The characters, including Mickey, came by twice but they could tell my son wasn't very into it. So they patted his head, got a hi-5 or something similar and that was pretty much it. Except the one time Mickey came by and took my son's glow cube and balanced it on his nose...very cute.

I would definately go back to Garden Grill again...the food was great and it was neat seeing the different scenes as you revolved around.


Up next: Day 3 at Sunshine Seasons and Spoodles...

 

[TigerKat]

Enjoying your reviews, can't wait for Spoodles!!

 

[DisneyHokie]

Thanks for the reviews so far!

 

[John's Mom]

Thanks for your reviews!

 

[Chrisypoo]

Glad you all are liking the reviews...if you have any questions, just hollar!

Lunch -- Sunshine Seasons. We had been here before for a snack and a drink, but never for a meal. Both my son and I got the salmon with mashed potatoes from the Grill section. The salmon had some sort of a sauce on it, couldn't tell you what but it had a little bit of a tang to it and I really liked it. The mashed potatoes were good as well, but not as good as at Garden Grill. The portion size was good...fish was about 4x5 and there was probably close to 2 cups of mashed potatoes. I got the fruit tulip for desert...pie shell with a custard filling w/strawberries, kiwi, and blueberries on top with some sort of a glaze. It was good, but not great. I skipped the pie shell for the most part and just ate the filling and fruit. The glaze on top was a little weird...kinda thick in spots so that it looked like aspic. My son got the Japanese Chocolate cake, he thought it was good and I tried some as well (hello, it's chocolate! ) It almost tasted like there was alcohol in it, not a straight chocolate cake...it was good, not great.

Dinner -- Spoodles. We had 5:30 reservations, but showed up around 5:10 and were seated within about 5 minutes. Jo An was our server and was very nice. She recomended a Bambino Sangria as a non-alcolic drink that was available on the DP...my son passed but I did get it. It was nice and fruity, but not sicky sweet with several chunks of fruit on the rim. Drinks came with chiapatta bread and a dipping bowl of olive oil and an olive tapanade. Oh My Gosh! Dinner could have ended right there and I would have been happy. For appys, I ordered the garlic lemon shrimp and my son ordered the cheese flatbread. The shrimp were very large and very good...not very lemony or garlicy, just a nice flavor. My son though the flatbread was good, but not great. I tried a piece and I thought it was very good...it had a roasted garlic paste under the cheese and I'm a sucker for garlic!
For our entrees I ordered the Lemon Chicken with risotto, spinach and tomatoes, and my son ordered the NY strip with regular fries instead of the sweet potato steak fries. So after we ate out appys we waited...and waited...and waited. Jo Ann came by several times to say that she didn't know what was going on but would check on it. By the time we got our entrees, it was probably 30-40 minutes after we finished our appys. But the food made up for it...the chicken was very good, not too lemony at all, and the risotto was very creamy and tasty. There was a sprinkling of chopped olives and capers on top that added a nice flavor. My son's NY strip was very good, very tender. His fries...well they were fries, you can't really screw those up but they brought the sweet potato steak fries out as well and I had one and thought it was good, but no special seasonings on it.
For desert I had the vanilla bean creme brulee with fresh fruit...yum yum YUM!! Very creamy, the carmlized sugar was a nice compliment texture-wise, and the berries gave it a nice tang. There was also a chocolate dipped biscottie that I never got to taste because my son snagged it (he said it was good.) My son got the kids' make your own sundae. The presentation was great...on an artist's palette, the dish of ice cream in the middle with small bowls of toppings (cherry, chocolate sauce, sprinkles and m&m's) around the outside.
Jo Ann was very apologetic about the food taking so long so offered me a complimentary espresso or cappucino, I chose the cappucino. It was really good, better than Starbuck's.
I think this one one of the best meals on our trip, as well as the most expensive ($117). If I do the DP again, I would definately eat here at least once.

We took the boat back to Epcot and had planned to catch the bus back to AKL because I was so tired but the cappucino perked me up nicely so we walked around a little bit. I didn't try any of the foods that were being offered at the Food and Wine festival, but I couldn't resist some Honey Meade at Ireland's booth...it was very good. I would have liked to wander around some more, but there were too many "happy" (drunk) people to make me feel comfortable with having my son there.

Next up...Crystal Palace breakfast, Cosmic Ray's lunch, a repeat at Boma for dinner and a stop in Hawaii for a refreshing treat.

If anyone has any questions about our meals, just let me know!
Christine

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
Thanks for your review of Spoodles. We're going in December and can't wait to try it. Anxious to hear more reviews!!!

 

[Chrisypoo]

Hi
Thanks for your review of Spoodles. We're going in December and can't wait to try it. Anxious to hear more reviews!!!

You'll love Spoodles! I can't rave about the olive tapanade dipping sauce/oil enough...I don't really care for olives and I thought it was one of the best parts of the meal.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading your reviews ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Disney owl]

Thanks for sharing

 

[Chrisypoo]

Breakfast -- Crystal Palace. Our bus from AKL took forever and we were about 10 minutes late, but it was no problem at all and we were seated within about 5 minutes of checking in. I have to say it was really cool seeing Main Street absolutely empty! Our server this morning was Pat, he wasn't very talkative but he was prompt about removing our plates once done. There were regular breakfast items, some of the standouts were the smoked salmon (yum!), the scrambled eggs with veggies (they weren't limp and overcooked at all, very good), and the orange blossom muffins. I tried the breakfast lasagna...it was very different, but not in a bad way. The honey yogurt was a yummy dip for the fresh fruit. The character interaction was good with those that we did see, though my son was still not excited about it. We were there about 45 minutes or so and only saw Eyore and Piglet, Tigger was nearby but he never came by our table. We never saw Pooh at all. That was fine for us since we were only there to eat and be in the park at rope drop, but if I had a child that really wanted to see Pooh I would have been very disappointed.

Lunch -- Cosmic Ray's. Both my son and I had the double bacon cheeseburgers with fries. I had the carrot cake for desert, my son had the chocolate cake. The burgers were HUGE and there was a ton of fries. Not the best burger I've ever had in the world, but it was very decent. Neither one of us could finish it all and saved the cakes for later since they were in a sealed container (we ended up having them for breakfast the next day, both were good.) I would have liked some toppings for my burger but apparantly the toppings are not in the same area as the condiments/utensils...I never found the toppings area.

Snack -- We stopped by Aloha Isle and I had a Pineapple Dole Whip Float after hearing how wonderful they are. WOW, talk about yum! My son had a chocolate/vanilla swirl in a cup and said that it was very good.

Dinner -- Back to Boma's. The menu was essentially the same as our earlier trip though there were some changes. The fish was nut crusted mahi mahi (very good), and in addition to the blueberry fruit tarts they had strawberry ones (very good as well). There was also a passion fruit merenque tart...I've never had passion fruit and I'm not sure if I liked it or not . It was extremly fruity, not a subtle/delicate taste. There was also a peach crumble, that was good as well, had a nice cinnamon taste to it. Can you tell I really tried the deserts this evening? In the non-desert category, I tried the Marakesh Cous Cous and I thought that was really good (I had seconds). Also the tam tam, which basically tasted like mashed sweet potatoes though not quite as sweet. Still no coconut curry chicken soup, so that was a disappointment. They did have a coconut curry seafood chowder, but I'm not fond of fish in soup so I didn't try it. Overall, the meal was very good, though I think on our next trip we won't go there twice. But since we were staying at AKL, it was very convenient.

Next time...Coral Reef and snacks from Mara

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
Thanks again for your reviews. I'm trying Boma for the first time in December and it sounds like they have a lot of veggie things. (I don't eat meat). Also looking forward to your Coral Reef review. I haven't been there in about 10 years and am going there in December also. Your reviews are great!!!

 

[Chrisypoo]

Hi
Thanks again for your reviews. I'm trying Boma for the first time in December and it sounds like they have a lot of veggie things. (I don't eat meat). Also looking forward to your Coral Reef review. I haven't been there in about 10 years and am going there in December also. Your reviews are great!!!

Glad your liking the review! Boma has a ton of vegetarian friendly stuff...several kinds of hummus (the red one is yummy...it has feta and tomatoes in it), falafal with some sort of sauce, potatoes with afritude (well seasoned & roasted), the cous cous (hot and cold salad types) and other starches. I should have put all that in my review, eh?

I've heard that the chef's there are very good about pointing out veg-friendly items. The one night when we were there, one of the chef's was walking a woman around and pointing out what she could eat off each "pod" of food.