"Wait, we get free refills?!" A Dec. 2013 dining review! update 6/30 TiW

[librarygeek]

Welcome to the dining review for my December 2013 trip! I went with my husband and our friend from Norway, who was visiting Disney World for the first time. We'd been to the US once before, but there were still plenty of things he was very surprised about here. One of those is the title for this review... he expressed sheer amazement every time a waiter or waitress brought him another soda without even asking! It's not standard over there but we're so used to it here, and he was so surprised, that it was very humorous.

We had four full days and one half day to spend in the World from Dec. 11-Dec 15th!

Where we Ate:

Earl of Sandwich
Shutters
Be Our Guest (lunch)
Liberty Tree Tavern
Sunshine Seasons
Akershus
Yak and Yeti CS
Rainforest Cafe
ABC Commissary
The Hollywood Brown Derby
Tables in Wonderland Analysis

About Us



I'm Becky, 25 years old, and the big Disney fanatic. In terms of food, I love seafood and pasta, and chocolatey desserts! DH is 24 years old and he's also a foodie like me. We share similar interests in food - he loves seafood as well, but he also really likes a good steak or meat dish. He likes to try unusual things and enjoys items like duck. He is not a chocolate person though and will usually choose a non-chocolate dessert. Martin, 24 years old, is my penpal from Norway. I don't know much about his food interests except that he wasn't too picky and open to trying new things!

I also have a TR I just started if you're interested! http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=50568393

First food review to come soon!

 

[bbak3030]

Sounds like fun, I'm in!

 

[librarygeek]

Sounds like fun, I'm in!

Welcome aboard! It should be a fun ride!

 

[CanadianPaco]

Great line up!! I'm in!

 

[ashleykay81]

Excited to hear your reviews!

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

How fun to get to visit WDW with your penpal! Can't wait to read your dining reviews.

 

[librarygeek]

Great line up!! I'm in!

Welcome, glad to have you!

Excited to hear your reviews!

Welcome! I'm excited to share them with you!

How fun to get to visit WDW with your penpal! Can't wait to read your dining reviews.

It really worked out perfectly - I had my AP so it was the perfect excuse to go back down to the World one more time in 2013!

 

[librarygeek]

Earl of Sandwich

I guess I should preface this by saying that this was actually the Earl of Sandwich in the Philadelphia airport, not the one in Downtown Disney. But still, the Earl of Sandwich is the Earl of Sandwich, right??

And what was most important to me was the fact that although this one had a limited menu, they still had my favorite sandwich! The Full Montagu (roast beef, turkey, cheddar, swiss, mustard sauce, roma tomatoes, and lettuce):



Delicious as always, I give it a 9 out of 10. The perfect way to start our trip and kill some time while waiting for our delayed flight! The only bummer is that the sandwiches are more expensive here than at Disney, so that's really saying something!

DH got the Earl's Club on whole wheat bread (roast turkey, bacon, swiss, club sauce, tomatoes, and lettuce):



He gave his sandwich an 8 out of 10. I think he's being silly, but he insists it tastes better at Disney

Overall we give this location an 8.5 out of 10. The one at Disney scores higher because the sandwiches are cheaper and they have a larger variety! I also really like the caprese sandwich they have, but it wasn't at the Philly airport location. But still, an Earl of Sandwich is an Earl of Sandwich, and as far as airport food goes I'd definitely pick this over almost anything else!

Full Montagu - $7.49
Earl's Club - $7.39
1 20 oz Diet Pepsi - $1.89

Tax - $1.34

Total: $18.11

 

[vettegirl]

Isn't EOS great! I have never eaten at the one is WDW or DL but do like them here in San Antonio.

 

[WildGinger]

Joining in! The sandwiches look so good!

 

[librarygeek]

Isn't EOS great! I have never eaten at the one is WDW or DL but do like them here in San Antonio.

It's so great! I hope they build EOS in even more places - I think the only one we have anywhere around here is the one at the airport.

Joining in! The sandwiches look so good!

They were great, you definitely can't beat an EOS sandwich!

 

[librarygeek]

Shutters

Due to the fact that I want to try every Disney restaurant, and we were staying at Caribbean Beach Resort, I figured this was the perfect time to try out Shutters. I hadn't heard much about it, but food with a tropical/Caribbean twist sounded appealing!

Due to our flight being a bit late we were there past our reservation time, but the place was pretty dead and they had no problem seating us. We were originally a party of three, but because we were delayed my friend that I was meeting up with decided to eat before we got there, so it was just me and DH. We started off with drinks. It had been a long day, we'd left the gloomy winter behind, and we wanted something tropical!

DH went with the Pina Colava, which he thoroughly enjoyed:



I had the Captain banana (spiced rum with coconut and pineapple juice, mixed in with some Crème de Banana):



Yum! This was absolutely delicious. I love banana flavored things and this was just perfect. And the glass was so pretty too!

They also started us out with some rolls and salted butter:



For his meal, DH got the Caribbean Braised Boneless Beef Short Ribs (slow cooked in a light curry sauce, mashed yucca and yukon gold potatoes):



He said it was fine, but it didn't surprise him in an way or really impress him. He gave it a 7 out of 10.

I had the Pan Seared Chili Rubbed Mahi Mahi Escabeche (With Jasmine Rice and Cilantro Lime Aioli):



This was also just fine. There was nothing really remarkable about it, and the flavors didn't do much to stand out or impress me. It also wasn't very filling - which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you want, but at the time I was very hungry! I'd give it a 6.5 out of 10.

As we were eating our friend happened to walk by and spot us, so he came and sat down since we were at a 4 top. The waitress didn't even bat an eye at another person joining us and offered to get him food or drink. About ten minutes later one of his friends also came and joined us. We had to laugh about what they might be thinking about the fact that we kept multiplying!

All in all, we weren't super impressed with Shutters. I'd give it an overall 6.5 out of 10. The drinks were good, but the food was mediocre. Maybe if I was staying at the resort and didn't have any other plans I'd eat here again, but I definitely wouldn't go out of my way.

Price breakdown:

Pina Colava - $8.50
Short Ribs - $24.99
Heineken - $6.25
Captain Banana - $8.75
Mahi Mahi - $21.99

Total after TiW discount, with tax and gratuity added on: $72.74

Total saved with TiW: $14.10

 

[wilma-bride]

Great start to your reviews. Free refills are not commonplace here in the UK either so I get your friend's surprise.

I did not know you can get whole wheat bread at EOS, is that just a thing with that particular location or does the DTD EOS offer that option too?

Looking forward to more of your reviews, particularly LTT

 

[librarygeek]

Great start to your reviews. Free refills are not commonplace here in the UK either so I get your friend's surprise.

I did not know you can get whole wheat bread at EOS, is that just a thing with that particular location or does the DTD EOS offer that option too?

Looking forward to more of your reviews, particularly LTT

Thanks! I don't know for certain about the whole wheat bread at the EOS at DTD. I would think since the one in DTD is bigger and has more stuff that they would certainly have it, but we didn't make it on this trip and haven't been in awhile!

I'm looking forward to sharing the LTT review!

 

[Linda67]

Joining in
I don't think I've ever read a Shutters review before, sounds like the food was just 'OK" but boy do those cocktails look pretty

 

[librarygeek]

Joining in
I don't think I've ever read a Shutters review before, sounds like the food was just 'OK" but boy do those cocktails look pretty

Welcome!! Yeah, the food was okay, but the cocktails were great! If I were to stay at CBR resort again I would probably want to spend a lot of time at the pool bar there

 

[sophia315]

Following along to both reports! I am also from the Philly area - where is the Earl of Sandwich located in airport - definitely will eat there before my next trip if in the terminal.

 

[librarygeek]

Following along to both reports! I am also from the Philly area - where is the Earl of Sandwich located in airport - definitely will eat there before my next trip if in the terminal.

Yay, welcome! The Earl of Sandwich at the Philly airport is in Terminal D, but I think it's actually kind of in between D and E - I know when we fly Southwest and go out of E we can get to EoS pretty easily!

 

[librarygeek]

Be Our Guest - Lunch

For lunch we went to Be Our Guest. We did the FastPass + reservation for this, and I am so glad we were able to bypass that line! It is out of control haha. We had an early reservation and went to lunch around 10:45. I had chosen the option where you pre-order your food. When we checked in they didn't have any record of our food orders, so we had to order again. It wasn't a huge deal but the boys couldn't remember what they had wanted. Luckily I had it all in my head anyway and just did all three orders

We got to choose where to sit. Since I hadn't been for lunch before, just for dinner, I hadn't seen the Rose Gallery yet so we decided to eat in there. It was very pretty, filled with Beauty and the Beast paintings on the walls and a lovely music box style statue in the middle:



DH got the Tuna Nicoise Salad (warm seared tuna steak with chilled green beans, potatoes, olives, roasted bell peppers, tomatoes, and hard poached egg):



He enjoyed it and gave it an 8 out of 10. He clearly liked it because he has chosen it again for when we eat there next week I remember him mentioning at the time that he prefers his ahi tuna a bit more raw, and this was too cooked for him, but other than that he really enjoyed it.

My penpal and I both ordered the Carved Turkey Sandwich (served on a warm baguette with Dijon mayonnaise and Pomme Frites):



This was really delicious. I'd give it a 9 out of 10. The only downside for me was that I was really hoping the french fries would be those seasoned ones like they have with the steak at dinner, but they were just regular french fries. The baguette is what really made this delicious - it was fresh with just the right balance of crunch and softness.

For dessert DH got the Strawberry Cream Cheese Cupcake (vanilla sponge cake, strawberry mousse filling, and cream cheese icing):



My penpal had the Triple Chocolate Cupcake (chocolate sponge cake, chocolate mousse filling, and choclate ganache):


Not sure what he thought of it, but as a chocolate lover I can say that it looked fantastic

I had the Tropical Fruit Cream Puff (filled with Passion fruit mousse and topped with whipped cream):



Maybe I just got a bad batch this time around. I've had this at dinner twice and it blew me away both times. However, at lunch it just wasn't very good. I mean, it was fine, but it was nothing great. The texture and consistency of the cream puff itself just fell flat - it tasted almost tough and old. This time around I would give it a 7 out of 10, but in the past I've given this same dessert a perfect score so who knows. I still really love the flavor of the filling.

They also had a really beautiful Christmas tree set up in the ballroom for the holiday, with Beauty and the Beast characters as stained glass style ornaments. So pretty!



Overall we absolutely love Be Our Guest, and I'd give our experience this time around an 8.5 out of 10. Not as good as dinner but still very good. In our opinion the food is miles better than any other counter service place in Magic Kingdom, so assuming we can get a FP+ we will definitely be back here on almost every trip!

Price Breakdown:

Tuna Nicoise Salad - $13.49
Turkey Sandwich - $11.19 x2
Soda - $2.99
Soda - $2.99
Strawberry cupcake - $3.19
Chocolate Cupcake - $3.19
Cream Puff - $3.19

Total including tax: $54.77

 

[wilma-bride]

I am so looking forward to eating at BOG next month - although that turkey sandwich looks delicious, I almost wish we were having lunch there and not dinner.