Reading about peoples meals is Tight! Sep 27-Oct 5th Completed

[angelmav]

Another shout out to Ryan George for those that are confused by my title. And for those that don't know what a Ryan George is, My Daughter and I love watching his Pitch Meetings on YouTube, so if you have a moment, and want a chuckle, check him out.

I am writing a concurrent TR with this, so if you just can't get enough of all my witty repartee, please check that out as well. I will go ahead and be extra helpful and put that link right here...

https://www.disboards.com/threads/super-inconvenient-barely-entertaining.3773824/
I made A LOT of bad calls about our meals. I made A LOT of bad assumptions about my families preferences. As a result, my original plans went up in flames. So many things got moved around or flat out dropped. We had one of the best meals I have ever had in the US and a couple of the worst. I'll bet you won't be able to guess from the list of places we ate at which those turned out to be.

Also, it turns out, just because I want to stuff myself silly on a breakfast buffet, my family is not on board with that and will want lunch or at least a snack. Late Dinners better be light, and being able to stay at the resort and grab a meal whenever is an absolute must! I feel like slapping myself for not planning better, and Disney locking you in so far in advance often didn't help, but it all worked out, sort of, in the end. I will do things much different in the future though.

So, here is the list of places we visited that I will be covering. I'm also including the two restaurants at Shades of Green, which might be frustrating for those who can't dine there, but for those that do, I had a hard time finding anything out about Garden Grill or Mangino's that was current, so, both will be covered in depth.

Kona Cafe (Lunch)
Tusker House (Breakfast)
Tiffins (Dinner)
Garden Grill (Breakfast(s))
Raglan Road (Breakfast)
Mangino's (Dinner(s))
Sanaa (Lunch)
Hollywood Brown Derby (Dinner)
Be Our Guest (Lunch)
Narcoossees (Dinner)
Food and Wine Festival (snacks)
Orlando Premium Outlets (snacks/lunch)
Sunshine Seasons (snacks)

Plus I'm sure a few extra's along the way!

I was more excited for the food than any other aspect of the trip, and a few of the changes I had to make still leave me a little bit sad, but all will be explained in the Dining Review!

 

[MikeNamez]

Nice post. Easy to read, barely an inconvenience.

 

[angelmav]

So, we kicked off our Disney dining adventures with Kona Cafe. Why did we pick this as our first meal of the trip? A couple of reasons. First, we were staying across the street at Shades of Green. This made it a somewhat logical choice. Second, my DW has intolerances to Gluten, Dairy and Eggs, which made the thought of a Sushi based lunch pretty appealing. My DD has also started to like Sushi, so double win. I don't eat the stuff, but figured that I would get whatever. Third, Shades of Green has pretty much no dining options at lunch that fit this criteria.

Now, I had read/seen some pretty poor reviews of this place of late, but I figured it would serve the purpose for what we were trying to get out of it.

Let me start off by saying this was not a good meal. In fact, I went a few days thinking it would be the worst meal of the trip. Unfortunately I would be proven wrong not once, but twice.

For starters they bring out what I can best describe as cheap knock off Kings Hawaiian Bread rolls with some nondescript butter. These were slightly hard and barely had any flavor of anything. I'm sorry Kona, but just use the store bought if this is the best you can manage. I didn't get too many pictures at this meal, as my wife was about to murder me before we got here (which will be in my next installment of my award winning TR!) I was about to snap a picture of her Rainbow Roll, and she immediately knocked everything about so I couldn't capture the moment, as such, didn't risk a bread picture, but they were underwhelming. They brought my wife an inedible allergy friendly bread roll that must have been laying around the kitchen somewhere. It was not a hit. They also had a store brand allergy friendly butter they brought, but with nothing worth putting it on, went unused.

My wife found the Rainbow Roll (too chunky and pretentous). She was shocked at the $24 price and didn't think they rolled a sushi roll worth anywhere near that. In fact, she said she prefers the $8 Salmon roll she gets at Whole Foods. Also, they gave no information about anything we were ordering, in general, the service was pretty sub-par.

My daughter had the Kids Sushi. I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand, it was an incredibly large amount of food for $10. Way too much. On the other, the sushi was mostly filler. It just looked impressive. There were really no quality ingredients in it, and I had no idea what we would be getting ahead of time to even guess. She also had a side of potatoes and green beans. Only later would we figure out to keep a side open for dessert. Not that the servers would have informed us of that here.

Look Ma, chicken tender sushi!

My DD barely made a dent in all of that.

As for me, I decided to go with an iced tea, and a starter to get the ball rolling. Since everyone was supposedly starving, I ordered the Pork Wings for the table.

Yeah...don't do it.

My DW was seething in anger at me at this point, and my DD had more food than she could eat, so these dry, tasteless wings were left to me to consume. Yippee. I am not sure what kind of sauce that is supposed to be, since it was just brown and flavorless. Spilled coffee maybe? The carrots did not seem to be cooked and were still hard, and the pork wing itself was super dry and flavorless. What was supposed to be candied bacon on the top just tasted like regular bacon, which when you total it up looks like two pieces cut up and spread out. These were $12, but I ate them determined to enjoy this meal gosh darn it!

Next, I had also ordered the $20 Crispy Cheddar burger. First, what a GIGANTIC ripoff this burger was. It was bland. It was lacking in anything resembling a flavor. It was super dry and it was cold. But before I could get it, they first brought me a plain kids burger with nothing on it. For some reason. This would keep happening all trip, bringing the wrong food. They took it back, and my burger/plate looked suspiciously the same, with the addition of a piece of cheese and a couple of oddly sour toppings. The fries were very cold at this point, and it took a solid 15 minutes to get the burger. Being full of bland pork wings at that point, I was just about to cancel the order when this showed up.



Don't let the looks fool you. It was dry and tasteless.

I can honestly say, this is one of the worst burgers I have ever eaten, anywhere. Also, the fries were lousy. I didn't want to ruin what was already a challenging mood, so just shut my gob and paid the $75 lunch tab. We barely made a dent in most of our food, but that went without comment.

I have also heard people complain about the atmosphere in Kona. Referring to it as 'airport cafeteria'. You should listen to those people. It was exactly like that. There was nothing, zip, zero, nada special about dining here, other than the really bad food and poor service.

Do I have anything good to say about this meal? It wasn't the worst of the trip!

A quick stop to shop and me realizing we could get a Lyft back to SoG later, and this meal was thankfully behind us.

In all, I won't ever be wasting my time at Kona again. It colored my impression of the Poly to the degree I would also cancel a planned Ohana dinner in favor of Narcoossees.

So for food, atmosphere and service, I give Kona Cafe a (3/10) and a recommendation to avoid at all costs. I mean, I guess you could use the bathroom there or ask for directions. Beyond that, no.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

And that wasn't the worst meal of the trip?? I (sort of) can't wait to hear what was!

 

[Eastern]

So, we kicked off our Disney dining adventures with Kona Cafe.

I can honestly say, this is one of the worst burgers I have ever eaten, anywhere. Also, the fries were lousy. I didn't want to ruin what was already a challenging mood, so just shut my gob and paid the $75 lunch tab. We barely made a dent in most of our food, but that went without comment.

I understand not wanting to ruin a mood but people have to start complaining. I read so many reports where people just pay the bill and leave. Take a minute to complain; even though the food quality looks like they don't care, if you complain, they at least try to appear caring. Pretty sure they would have taken it off the bill for you.

Thanks for the warning, anyway.

 

[angelmav]

Unfortunately, that meal at Kona would be surpassed, but not on our next day!

We woke up after sleeping most of a day, I think we calculated 16 hours, and hustled to get ready for our Animal Kingdom day. Now, I was pretty excited about the various character meals I had lined up, four in total. We would start with what I hoped would be the best of them, Breakfast at Tusker House! Years ago I had eaten here when it was still a QS place, so I was curious how 'Boma light' would be, but wasn't too worried. Something that did worry me though was how difficult it was to get my DD and DW going in the morning. Despite making what I thought was a late 0950am Breakfast ADR, it was all I could do to get them there within a few minutes of that time. This is an aspect I didn't really consider. You see, we home school, so they are used to a relaxed morning pace. They don't have to rush to get anywhere, and my DD eats at a glacial pace. I sort of planned for that, giving ourselves ample time on the schedule for each meal, but I hadn't accounted for their preferred morning habits. I'm the only one that has to be at a certain place at a certain time in the morning, and this became awfully evident on this trip. Also, because they don't have to, they take their time with the morning meal, preferring to spread out their nibbles as the day goes on. I completely overlooked that aspect, thinking a large morning meal would fill everyone up and we would be fine until dinner. It turns out only I got that particular memo.

So we hustled through the heat to our ADR at Tusker House, tummies grumbling (well mine) and checked in. We were then directed to wait. Boy oh boy was their a crowd. Some people without ADR's walked up and were told maaaaybe they could get them a table in about two hours. We waited about 10 minutes in the sunshine and then we were called. Now, after the day before, my DW said to just ignore the allergy stuff, she didn't want anymore of their 'attempts' at alternatives, and would decide herself what she thought was safe. Ok. This perplexed the people checking us in, and I had to start saying that person wasn't with us on the trip, which confused them even more. Though I am pretty sure they just handed me a pamphlet at TH anyway that spelled out what was ok on the buffet. Way to go all out guys...

I have to say, I wasn't super impressed with this meal. It was...ok. The restaurant was LOUD, it was a little dirty, and I didn't think it was all that conducive to character interaction. Also, I really thought you got 5 characters here, but it is just 4. Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey. Mickey for his part would drop my daughters autograph book in jam...sigh. Several of the items on the buffet were kinda wiped out, and they took their time replacing them. Also, I really thought the food was going to be more adventurous. It really wasn't. Other than Pap (which I enjoyed, and the Curried Chicken, nothing else couldn't be found at your typical hotel buffet).



They finally refilled this as we were on the way out.

Also, for whatever reason, I assumed the carving station would have more than one meat. They had a ham, which they were being pretty stingy about doling out. It was ok, I added the mustard, which is pretty similar to something we have out here called Beaver Brand mustard. It was fine, just a little underwhelming.

I sent my DW and DD off to go get theirs first and they brought the excellent POG juice, and some pretty terrible coffee. While they were off filling up their plates, I had time to take the place in, and noticed how they really were not all that concerned about the little details. Take for example this salt shaker on our table.



Mix it with the pepper, who cares?

Yes, I noticed that they didn't bother putting the salt in the correct shaker. It just seemed so...lackluster. Maybe I am just being picky, but for me, it sort of underscored the entire meal. They very much take a look, we have characters, so we really don't have to try, and you won't eat your moneys worth, so enjoy that you didn't wait in line to meet them stance.

While they were off getting their food, Goofy showed up. I was accused of looking like Wilderness explorer Russell on this day...


I am a friend to fish and fowl...



We would actually have to hang around after we had finished before he stopped by again, just so my DD could meet him.

Eventually my DW and DD returned carrying too much food, that they didn't come close to eating. After my DW sat the plates down, she went to shake out her hand that had cramped up, and knocked a bowl of fruit out of my DD hand, who thought she had done it on purpose.



Well...this is fun.

Eventually it was all explained that it was an accident, though my DD took some time to let that go. Now, this is the part of the meal that I realized only I was interested in gorging myself at breakfast, in a vain attempt at getting my monies worth. Here is what my DD had lefover. my DW plate was pretty similar.



Getting our monies worth outta that...

Again, I can't really identify anything here not available pretty much anywhere else. Bagel, ham, bacon, sausage, pancake, waffle, tater tot and salmon which might be a little harder to find, but who is eating a plate of that for breakfast. I kept imploring my DW to have something else, but neither her nor my DD were all that interested. They had a bit of fruit and juice, but were not really enjoying the food all that much. I kept having to twist off the top of the coffee pot because it was broken, as I was determined to drink it, and it would not pour otherwise. Yes, I do know how they typically work. Our server actually watched me do this at one point and never commented on it.

For my part, I was giving it the old college try. Plate #1


Go for it!


The Pap was delicious. The bacon was all overcooked. The ham slice was just that, a ham slice. there is a bit of the driest bread pudding I ever attempted to eat on there, a rock hard bisquit under that gravy, your typical mickey waffle, a couple of dry plantains, Beef Bobotie which was ok, and a piece of the curried chicken as that was all that was in the bowl at the time.

I also grabbed the table some more fruit.


In the distance, the remains of the knocked out of her hands fruit bowl...

The fruit was pretty good. It was fresh and tasty. But I never had any fruit in Florida that wasn't so a low bar to clear.

At this point, my DW and DD were done, we were still waiting on Goofy, so I went for another round.



This is not going to equal $100 plus is it?

The curried chicken was finally replenished, so I nabbed that, some more Pap, I had to ask for an extra ham slice and frankly, the guy was a little put off that I did. The chocolate raspberry bread was pretty tasty though.

As the meal came to a close, they brought the check. My DW did not do this at any other point on this trip, but for whatever reason, she grabbed the check. I think she was a little annoyed because she didn't really eat, and was shocked to see it was $105. She then demanded to know how many of these meals I had booked and why was it so much. My attempts to explain that it's "all budgeted" only resulted in her stating she would rather shop with that money and eat a sandwich. I couldn't really counter that argument. The meal itself had only been ok. The character interaction was kind of minimal, and it bordered on a hotel breakfast. It certainly didn't live up to the hype or my high expectations. Flustered, I paid, and waited on Goofy. At this point I was second guessing my meal plans for the trip. We had two misfires so far, with Tiffins hopefully coming to the rescue that night. Eventually Goofy made it back over.


Lose the hat Russell!

With somewhat improved moods, we headed to Creature Comforts to get some drinkable coffee and that concluded breakfast at Tusker House.

As I said, the meal was middling. It was LOUD, my daughter wanted her ear muffs before it was all over, and it wasn't particularly special. It was better than the day before but pretty average. Broken Coffee decanter, no attention to detail, and they make it pretty obvious it's a character eat and great money grab. So for food, atmosphere and service I give our Tusker House Breakfast a (5/10).

This one was probably more of a let down than Kona, because my expectations were higher.

Up next, will Tiffins ride to the rescue?

 

[angelmav]

I understand not wanting to ruin a mood but people have to start complaining. I read so many reports where people just pay the bill and leave. Take a minute to complain; even though the food quality looks like they don't care, if you complain, they at least try to appear caring. Pretty sure they would have taken it off the bill for you.

Thanks for the warning, anyway.

You are very right! If you read my latest review, you will see that I sat there and put up with a broken coffee decanter, and didn't mention it. Though at our worst meals, we did complain, in one case they tried to fix it, in another, just blew us off.

But, it's vacation. I think they generally get away with it, because people want to enjoy themselves. They are not looking to be picky, or demanding. So, things that would normally get addressed don't. At our worst meal, the table behind us heard our complaints and started mocking us to the server. It was a terrible experience and I took that up the chain with Disney.

All that to say, yes, by and large, they mostly get an undeserved pass.

 

[Eastern]

As I said, the meal was middling. It was LOUD, my daughter wanted her ear muffs before it was all over, and it wasn't particularly special. It was better than the day before but pretty average. Broken Coffee decanter, no attention to detail, and they make it pretty obvious it's a character eat and great money grab. So for food, atmosphere and service I give our Tusker House Breakfast a (5/10).

This one was probably more of a let down than Kona, because my expectations were higher.

wow, I feel ya.

Never went here and I think I missed it at it's high point so don't think I will ever book.

 

[DISNEYSQUIRRELS]

@angelmav...Very much enjoying your trip & food reports.
& all the efforts you put in to showing your family a good time

 

[Monykalyn]

Yeah Kona-I've had great meals here and average meals. My favorite items not on the menu anymore. And a shame about your experience with the allergy thing! My DD has a food allergy as well and the server was excellent about it-even getting the chef to be sure.
Tusker house-I agree it is overhyped. We did the "brunch" time where you got breakfast and lunch and we were underwhelmed. Not terrible but not worth the price tag (and we were with my DD who was a CM at the time and got a 40% discount). I much prefer the 1900 Park Fare breakfast.

As for Tiffins-hope that was better!

 

[hereforthechurros]

Thanks for the in depth attention to detail in your report. Seems like you planned well and had high hopes but sadly Disney doesn’t always deliver.

We also did tusker house and while I enjoyed the food, the total for the six of us with tax and tip was closer to $500. I’m used to Disney prices but everyone else balked pretty hard. And these are people from LA and Chicago so not exactly low cost of living places. One and done for us as well.

looking forward to reading more!

 

[angelmav]

Thanks for the in depth attention to detail in your report. Seems like you planned well and had high hopes but sadly Disney doesn’t always deliver.

We also did tusker house and while I enjoyed the food, the total for the six of us with tax and tip was closer to $500. I’m used to Disney prices but everyone else balked pretty hard. And these are people from LA and Chicago so not exactly low cost of living places. One and done for us as well.

looking forward to reading more!

Yeah, we are from the Seattle area, so used to big city prices. Frankly, it wasn't the WDW prices so much, as feeling like you were getting quality in exchange for said pricing that would be the issue.

 

[angelmav]

After a full park day, we were ready for a nice sit down meal. I had already prepped my DW that our package included App, Entree, Dessert and an alcoholic drink. She doesn't usually drink, so I had given her something I wanted to try to use up that portion of the meal. Well it turns out that mixed drinks were not included, so she got a glass of red wine that she had a couple of sips from. For my part I ordered the Kungaloosh ale, which I found to be a bit disappointing, as it seemed to have several competing elements and no strong central flavor. We also had the complimentary bread service, but I was the only one at the table who enjoyed it,

I also thought the restaurant would have been...better themed? I mean, it was fine, it just seemed...understated. After reading so much about it, I was expecting a little more I guess. I also find it very odd to be led through the lounge to the dining area. What a strange configuration!

But after we ordered our drinks, everyone was in the mood for a nice meal. I should also note that my DW was actually on board with me documenting our meals at this point and was giving me her feedback and didn't mind my photo taking, lol. My DD would be giving one or two thumbs up.

For appetizers I went with the Charred Octopus. Romesco, olive tapenade, chorizo, squid ink aioli.


Woah, easy there Char Char Binks!


This was tasty, but they went a little crazy charring it. In fact, parts were a little dried out. I don't normally care for chorizo, but this was a pretty good addition. The sauce is what really made the dish, but again, felt they came close to ruining it.

My DW went with the Spiced Chickpea Falafel: mint-pistachio pesto, cumin-scented garlic raita, pickled vegetables

Yum

She gave me a bite of this and I had to agree, it was very yummy, even if we were leaving money on the table ordering a less expensive app, lol.

My DD ordered the garden veg with dipping sauce.


ehhh ok.

Not much to say about this. Not sure she even had much of this.

Then we were onto our mains. I was not going to let a prepaid meal go to waste and ordered the Surf and Turf. : wagyu beef, lobster tail, purple potatoes, charred peppers, chimichurri butter, bonarda reduction.


Hmmmm doesn't look like lobster...

Yes, I was expecting a Lobster tail. You know, as is pretty much the standard for 'Surf and Turf'. I was so locked into my order, I didn't even look at the menu to see if they changed the description, because instead, I got three scallops. Look, the scallops were EXCELLENT. They were sweet, tasty, well cooked...but when you are managing expectations on a $65 dish, there is an equivalency imbalance here. The Wagyu beef was really good, nice and rich. I couldn't detect any butter on this, and in the photo the meat looks awfully dry. It was in fact delicious. Fork tender, cooked medium perfectly, it was very well done. All the veg was especially good, and I loved what they did with the potato. It was as if it was one big crisp, and it was very nice to eat actually. Was it a $65 dish though...ehhhh I'd order it again, maybe. I really did enjoy my lobster free scallops though.

My DW ordered Braised Lamb Shank: black-eyed peas, piquillo peppers, coriander chutney, spice blend.





Looks tasty...

This was not very good. The Back Eyed peas were hard, the lamb while very tender was completely bland. I kept prodding my DW to replace it, as I knew after she gave me a bite that she was not going to enjoy this. She was reluctant. We rarely send anything back anywhere, but this dish was not going to be enjoyed. At this moment our waiter Shawn stopped by and asked about our meal. My DW asked if he really wanted to know. So she proceeded to spell out the dishes shortcomings. He graciously offered to replace it, and on my recommendation, ordered what I was having. Other than a brief wait, her dish was every bit as good and lobster free as mine. She repeatedly thanked me for prodding her to replace her main, and really enjoyed it.

My DD ordered the Fresh Sustainable Fish, and a side of broccoli that I don't think we were supposed to get.

Meh.

The kids meals were pretty disappointing here. Dry fish and broccoli. My DD didn't really mind but we were not impressed.

Next it was on to dessert. For my part I ordered the Tiffins Trio. Once again, it varied from what I was expecting. According to All ears, it should have been South American chocolate ganache, whipped cheesecake, passion fruit tapioca creme. However instead of the Passion Fruit was a caramel type dessert which was actually the star of the show. My DW would NOT STOP EATING MY DESSERT! It was the best of the three, but I really enjoyed both of the other two. It was just extremely rich. I would still be feeling this meal the next day. I wish I had gotten a more accurate description of the caramel based dessert though. It was magnificent. That caramelized banana was pretty tasty too. The whipped cheesecake on the far left was fantastic, and I am not usually much of a cheesecake fan. It was decadent though. I actually had the hardest time finishing the chocolate ganache in the middle. 1. Because it was EXTREMELY rich, and 2. Because my DW kept eating the other two!


So. Much. Yum.

I also wanted coffee to go with this. They had a fancy pressed pot, that frankly, I am not sure we were charged for.


How much wound up on the table...?

Our waiter was not paying much attention and was dumping this all over the table. My DW had to alert him. It was a very good coffee, but much too strong for a late evening meal. It paired well with the desserts and was enjoyable, but we would have a better pressed pot later on.

My DW went with the South American Chocolate Ganache, caramelized banana, cocoa nib tuile, along with copious amounts of two of my desserts. The same ganache I received only larger.

Bananas not touched.

She really enjoyed this dessert. Among other peoples...

Then we had a recurring theme. Shocking us all by not ordering something chocolate, my DD ordered the Strawberry Short Cake with marshmallow fluff. Instead they brought this:

Cookies and Creme Brownie...I think?

My DD started tucking into this, giving it TWO Thumbs up, while we were wondering why we got yet another dish we didn't order. She was enjoying it, so we were going to let it go, when Shawn passed by, and stated "What is that?" We said not to worry about it, but he rushed back and also brought out the ordered dessert. My DD was waiving every thumb she had at that point. As she now had two yummy desserts that she would not come close to finishing.

In all, it was a pretty solid meal. Was it a $269 meal? Well...No. It was part of a package, we had the lion king seats and safari. Everyone enjoyed it, but when paying that much...probably doesn't come close to justifying the food or the experience. Adding in tip, your a good bit over $300, and it certainly didn't rise to that level. All that said, we all walked away pretty happy with the experience, and my DW has no idea what the package actually cost, so unlike Breakfast, no push back on that front. Would I do it again? No. The package kind of forces your hand, and while I would eat at Tiffins again, I wouldn't need to do it as part of a package deal. So this meal wound up being an extravagant success I suppose. Though not without issues, and another mystery dish showing up at our table. So for food, atmosphere and service I give our Tiffins dinner a (7.5/10). Definitely room for improvement, but a solidly enjoyed meal nonetheless.

Up next, will the Irish Brunch at Raglan Road hit the mark or leave us wanting?

 

[angelmav]

wow, I feel ya.

Never went here and I think I missed it at it's high point so don't think I will ever book.

Maybe that was it. I often hear people complain that Disney 'dumbs down' their offerings to appeal to the masses. I suppose that could be the case at Tusker House, as it was really just an ordinary Breakfast buffet with characters in a LOUD atmosphere.

@angelmav...Very much enjoying your trip & food reports.
& all the efforts you put in to showing your family a good time

Thank you! I only wish it had all gone more to plan. But the planning and now the retelling are part of the enjoyment for me. Thank you for following along!

Yeah Kona-I've had great meals here and average meals. My favorite items not on the menu anymore. And a shame about your experience with the allergy thing! My DD has a food allergy as well and the server was excellent about it-even getting the chef to be sure.
Tusker house-I agree it is overhyped. We did the "brunch" time where you got breakfast and lunch and we were underwhelmed. Not terrible but not worth the price tag (and we were with my DD who was a CM at the time and got a 40% discount). I much prefer the 1900 Park Fare breakfast.

As for Tiffins-hope that was better!

The funny thing is, I had heard some pretty bad reviews about Kona of late, and the experience was EXACTLY like that. So I only have myself to blame for keeping that ADR. Lunch outside the parks is challenging and I didn't want to venture too far from the resort on this day. I should have gone with the Wave, most likely.

They were starting to bring out lunch items when we left (that is how long we had to wait for Goofy to make a 2nd pass), but my DW was not interested in anything else at that point. I considered 1900 P.F. and it came up as an option while we were there, but once my DW had decided we weren't spending that on B'fasts, I had to change my remaining plans anyway. But I am getting ahead of myself and there is more to come!

 

[Eastern]

This was not very good. The Back Eyed peas were hard, the lamb while very tender was completely bland. I kept prodding my DW to replace it, as I knew after she gave me a bite that she was not going to enjoy this. She was reluctant. We rarely send anything back anywhere, but this dish was not going to be enjoyed. At this moment our waiter Shawn stopped by and asked about our meal. My DW asked if he really wanted to know. So she proceeded to spell out the dishes shortcomings. He graciously offered to replace it, and on my recommendation, ordered what I was having. Other than a brief wait, her dish was every bit as good and lobster free as mine. She repeatedly thanked me for prodding her to replace her main, and really enjoyed it.

I am so glad you did this. No one on Disboards sends things back. Good job

 

[angelmav]

Now, I love a good Brunch. One of the things I kept hoping would open up but never did was the Cali Grill Brunch on this day. The two experiences probably could not be further from each other. I kept debating between Raglan Road and Homecomin' on this day, but thought there were more safer choices for my DW, and thought they might enjoy the entertainment.

Well, this was quite the wait to be seated. A good 25-30 minutes. They had the music BLARING in here. I expected it to be loud, I remember it being LOUD, but they seemed to have turned it up to 11. After a confusing and lengthy wait (they paged us then just had us stand there while other tables get sat, they then took us into a side room where we could HEAR everything, but see nothing. My DW was like, no, we want to see the show. So back we went to wait again. Ironically neither her no my DD seemed all that interested in the goings on...but I digress.

Eventually we made it in, and were placed front and center stage. Ok...that wasn't what we were trying to get, but ok. Then my DD immediately wanted her ear muffs. Before anyone could get comfortable, they came and asked my DD if she wanted to go on stage. She was a bit lost at this point, and didn't want to. Later on, after seeing other kids up there, she wanted to, but we couldn't seem to get picked again, so, so much for that. I could see she was a little disappointed, but didn't make a fuss about it.

We had really bad service here. You practically had to tackle our waiter to get anything. I tried ordering coffee, which apparently does not exist at Raglan Road. I had to settle for a tiny Americano in an espresso type cup. It was LOL worthy. I had planned on drinking something stronger along WITH my coffee, but this was not going to do it, so chose not to order anything alcoholic. They then brought out the soda bread and guinness reduction dipping sauce.



I thought this was pretty tasty. My DW questioned why if it was supposed to be olive oil, it was clear.

I wound up being the only one to eat the soda bread and clear oil. Whatever it was.

My DD ordered a cheeseburger.



This was not a good burger.

Almost none of this was eaten. I think she had mostly fries, but the burger looked really dry.

I had heard good things about the Gluten Free Fish and Chips, so suggested that to my DW.




My DW did not enjoy this. She said it was extremely greasy and the fries were cold. She ate a little more than half and left a bunch of fries.

So that just left me. I ordered the full Irish Breakfast.



Yeah...that's it.

There were no accompaniments or toast or anything else with this. I tried in vain to flag our waiter down for some mustard for the really bland sausage, to no avail. The potatoes were hard and cold. The best thing was the mushrooms and the tomato. But it was not much of a breakfast. The Black and White pudding was also pretty bland. It was also a surprisingly small breakfast for a platter they are charging $22 for. It must have been the quarter sized pieces of bacon?

Needless to say, Raglan Road was not a hit. They do give a 10% Military discount though, but I couldn't just show my ID, the waiter had to take it to whomever, and disappeared with it for a solid 15 minutes, just about giving me another panic attack. When he returned we thankfully put this meal behind us, and my DW was perplexed why I chose this for breakfast. I should have went with Homecomin or Wine Bar George. The people that were 'ejoying' RR that morning/afternoon were enjoying the adult beverages I noticed. The food was very lacking and the service non existent.

I do appreciate the military discount, and the entertainment (even though they could turn it down) was top notch. The food was just not very good. I don't feel I ever need to go back here.

Our day would get better in an unexpected way at an unexpected place, but this set the tone for a really bad morning/early afternoon.

So for food, atmosphere and service I give our Raglan Road brunch a (4/10). Mostly for the quality entertainment. Ok, entirely for the quality entertainment and a point for the token discount.

 

[angelmav]

That evening we would end up changing our plans and have dinner at Manginos at Shades of Green. I fondly recall thinking we missed our chance to eat here, and I really wasn't that excited about the prospect. It would turn out to be a restaurant we would visit multiple times, and, boy were we lucky to have it as a fall back! First of all, it was nice to have a sit down restaurant at our resort any time we wanted to visit, without needing an ADR. This was a real convenience. The first night we visited where when my EPCOT plans went down in a flaming pile. I really did not have high expectations for this restaurant, try as I might, there was so little information out there about it. Only people calling it mediocre and uninspiring, without much else to back any of that up. I had read recent glowing reviews about in on Facebook from Shades of Green fans, so I felt a little better about it. But still, I was looking forward to other places so much more. With that in mind we went in for an early dinner and were sat immediately. I had it in my head to have ribs here, but all of the online menus are out dated. Here is what they actually have.







They are not trying to do too much, just deliver honest and humble food at a reasonable price. They certainly hit that mark an exceeded our expectations.

They start you out with a decent baked bread and whipped butter.



I went with a couple of Yuengling's at this and, well, pretty much every meal here. At $6 per, I was quite happy to have a couple with each meal. The bread and butter were fine and always fresh. Nothing wrong with it, but just ok.

My DW was wanting to order something safe, so ordered the Grilled sauteed chicken breast minus the sauces and some steamed veg.



My DW loved everything about this dish. The chicken was grilled perfectly, and the veg was cooked just right. Nothing fancy, just a really good meal.

We also ordered simply the best calamari I have ever eaten. So light and melt in your mouth good. I am craving it right now as we speak.



I really enjoyed the chili dipping sauce with this too, though nobody else used it.

Having eaten Calamari and had beer #1 and most of a loaf of bread, I didn't feel like a large main. So I just ordered the Buffalo Wings. These were FANTASTIC, and a much bigger portion than I was expecting. It was all I could do to finish them.




These were pretty spicy and full of meat. Just the perfect Buffalo wings. About the time these arrived I had beer #2, which was a pretty nice way to pass the evening.

My DD had the Chicken tenders and fresh fruit.





These were really good, the only downside was that the kids menu is pretty limited here. The entire trip the kids meals were a little bit of a let down honestly.

I had a good laugh when the bill came and it was around $50.

It was definitely a surprise hit, and we would make it our HQ during this trip. We all miss Manginos actually. Such a quality standby. No, it is not fancy, and it would be surpassed, but it was just a solid meal, time after time. Service was very friendly and efficient as well. So for our first encounter, for food, atmosphere and service I give our Manginos dinner a very solid (8.5/10). Exceeded every expectation I had, and for once, a meal accomplished that on this trip.

 

[angelmav]

After our surprise hit at dinner, we would have a one two punch of hits as we headed to Garden Grill for breakfast. Unlike Manginos, I had eaten here before, and was pretty ambivalent about it. I don't recall being all that impressed with Garden Grill, but in the few years between visits, they have greatly improved this breakfast buffet. For starters, they do made to order eggs, omelettes, pancakes, and gluten free allergy friendly waffles. They even did a bacon/mushroom grill up for my DW one morning. They could not have been friendlier. Both Charles and Victoria on the Omelette station were fantastic. One morning a little girl wanted hers made with American cheese, which they did not have. Charles ran off to the get the ingredient for the happy Mom/Daughter. I was super impressed with how much they cared about the experience of the guests. It made every morning here something to look forward to. They have also improved their overall offerings. The pastries were delicious, the hickory smoked bacon, was delectable, the fresh fruit was always fantastic, and they had different items on the menu every morning to keep it interesting. The only drawback was the coffee was not very good. We started asking for a pot of hot water to make an Americano out of it, which was drinkable, but eventually I would switch to tea.





You do have to order the allergy friendly waffles from the server, so we didn't know that on the first day and it took awhile to receive, so eventually we figured out to order that as soon as we sat down.





My plate...I might have overdone it. I had two plates. That Frittata and Croissant were part of the rotating things that were only on the menu that day. The bisquits and gravy were nice and the pastries at the top were delicious.

It was an absolutely fab breakfast. You can also make out we had orange and cranberry juice. When the bill came, and it was $35, we practically skipped out singing zippedy-doo-dah.

So for our first encounter for food, atmosphere and service I give our Garden Grill breakfast a very solid (8/10). They just need to improve the coffee.

 

[angelmav]

Bonus coverage!

We would venture off WDW property on this day, before returning for Dinner back at the resort and round #2 at Manginos. We headed to the Orlando Premium Outlets, and had a pretty tasty lunch at a place called Maki of Japan. It was an odd pairing of Japanese and Cajun. But it worked!



This was actually delicious. Plantains, Bourbon Chicken and Lo Mein Noodles.

I wouldn't make a special trip out here to grab lunch in the food court, but if I was in the area, I would be a regular for lunch here. I wish we had that place out here.

We also grabbed one of these each while at the outlets.




These were delicious but a little pricey I thought. $15 for two of them.


On our way back we stopped at Disney Springs, and while we didn't eat, we did take in a bit of a concert and I had a really good beer.


I asked for a suggestion and she recommended the Funky Buddha. It was really good and I quite enjoyed it.





The Funky Buddha!


We actually caught a Lyft to get back to the resort so we would have time to eat before the restaurant closed. The bus was going to be another 20 minutes or so. We went back and had another very enjoyable meal at Manginos.

I was wanting something a little lighter to go with my continued Beer drinking, so ordered a soup and salad. Our waiter convinced me to have the Honey and Lemon vinaigrette as it is the only dressing that they make in house and is really good. Well, I have to agree with him, it was delicious and perfectly balanced.



I really enjoyed this.

Given the immense heat, of course I was also wanting soup, so I ordered the French Onion.



This is my favorite kind of soup, and this one was ok. I thought the stock was a little weak.

We also ordered a side of yummy fries.





These were hot and not greasy. Perfect.

My DW once again ordered the chicken and veg and my DD shared off her plate.

The ONLY downside to meal #2 at Manginos was that literally 2 minutes before closing, a group burst in wanting to be seated! Even worse, they didn't even have their entire party with them, one of them would finally show herself a solid 15 minutes AFTER they were supposed to be closed. They were very professional and accommodating to them, but those people should be ashamed they kept the staff so late. They were breaking everything down and cleaning when they showed up. I'm sorry, at that point go to Evergreens which was open later, don't keep a restaurant open like that.

The next morning we once again had a great breakfast at Garden Grill, which I am going to share so I can catch up to my Brown Derby meal.



Bruh, you going to eat all that?



and that?






and that?



and that?????


To my horrified DW embarrassment and dismay, the answer is YES, YES, YES, YES! I might have overdone it. I have no regrets. The bread pudding and potato casserole (this mornings special additions) were both a little dry and I did not finish either. I am not a monster.

This brings me up to speed with my TR, and what will be my next installment, a truly magnificent time at The Hollywood Brown Derby.

 

[DLo]

Following along on both reports. Sorry you have already had some pretty experiences but glad you found a good place at your resort . Looking forward to reading more.