Because my mom wasn't feeling well, I ended up doing my Flying Fish dinner solo. I was happy to try Flying Fish again while we were staying in the Epcot area, even though this place has never been one of my favorite signatures.
I was seated towards the back of the restaurant near the ferris wheel - the whimsical decor here is really cool.
I took menu pics, but for some reason my camera flash didn't capture the entire image. That's why the bottom corner of each photo is messed up.
The bottom right side dish is roasted mushrooms:
The bottom right dessert is golden apple, pecan, and blondie tart with toffee ice cream, apple cider syrup, and apple tuile:
Soon, the bread arrived with butter. I didn't take any pics of the butter since it had no sea salt on it - it was just plain butter. In addition, the bread wasn't served warm. That would've been a nice touch.
So the meal was off to a lukewarm start (literally), but I was looking forward to my appetizer choice: crispy rice-crusted Maine lobster with fragrantly spiced Florida rock shrimp and Asian vegetables, with a shellfish, coconut, ginger, and lemongrass broth.
This was an interesting dish. The breading on the lobster wasn't too heavy, and the flavors of lemongrass and cilantro really stood out. I liked the crunchy snap peas, garlic, mushrooms, and sweet shrimp. Overall, I enjoyed having lobster with Asian flavors. The broth was very pungent so I didn't need to add a lot of it - otherwise, I risked overpowering the lobster.
For my entree, I was torn between the thunder entree and the salmon, but I ended up going with the thunder entree: fragrantly spiced Key West cobia and crispy Virginia soft shell blue crab with wilted greens, roasted artichokes, confit tomatoes, and olive oil-scented Epcot neon purple eggplant with a niçoise olive, citrus and caper meunière. Unfortunately, I didn't love it. In concept, this dish sounded really great - citrus, Mediterranean flavors, crab, fish, etc. But overall, there was a lot going on. The crab tasted like an upscale chicken nugget - it didn't taste bad, but it had less crab flavor than the soft shell crab at Yachtsman. The fish was cooked nicely, and I liked the citrus addition, but everything else together was too salty for me (olive + caper + artichoke + fried food). I finished the cobia and crab, but left a lot of the veggies (I love olives, capers, and artichokes, and I almost never comment on saltiness).
Regarding service, I noticed that my server was very attentive to the tables around me, but he didn't stop at my table very much. I went for quite a long period of time without water refills, which was a problem for me because of the salty entree. Perhaps some servers think it's okay to coast once they see a TIW card on the table?
So far, the appetizer was the best part of the meal, even though the broth was a bit strong. The bread, entree, and service were not highlights of this trip. I apologize that I'm not raving about Flying Fish. It's just never blown me away, and I can't explain why. There's always something that isn't right. In the past, I've had amazing meals from start to finish at Artist Point, California Grill, Jiko, Citricos, and most recently Yachtsman. Whenever that happens at Flying Fish, I'll be happy to share my positive experience. And because I'm extremely forgiving
, I'm definitely giving Flying Fish another chance. Next time, I plan on finally trying the mussels, and also the salmon, tuna, pork or steak for an entree.
And that brings me to dessert. I went with the signature caramelized banana napoleon with crisp phyllo, banana mousse, crème caramel, exotic fruit coulis, and bitter chocolate.
Now that's what I'm talking about!
This was easily the best napoleon I've ever had, and I think it was better than the bananas and caramel dessert that's usually on the California Grill dessert menu. The phyllo was crispy, the banana mousse was creamy and tasted very much like banana, the coulis had a delicious, tangy, tropical passion fruit flavor, and the bitter chocolate went excellently with the banana flavor without being too sweet. This was the highlight of the meal for me, and I could happily get it again next time.
So while my meal at Flying Fish had some flaws, the dessert really was the saving grace. I want to love this place (especially since I see myself as a huge seafood lover), so hopefully one day it'll be towards the top of my signature list.
Yachtsman's might perk that right up!! 
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I wish we were there right now. 
