Dining at the House of Mouse

[liamsaunt]

I am at Disney for a pre-Christmas vacation with some of my family.  I thought I'd add some photos of our dining experiences here.  We are not dining off site due to time constraints and we are not on the "Disney Dining Plan" because we stay in a house rather than on Disney property.  I did not see a thread that seemed obvious to link to but mods please merge if i am mistaken.  This is going to be out of order, based on when I have time to post.  The parks are crowded and we (my niece and nephew)  have lots of plans.  Also I am here with six others so there will be lots of pictures, but not of everything because I only take photos of things near me at the table.

 

Last night we ate at Todd English's BlueZoo.  I am from Boston and so have eaten at some of his other restaurants.  The menu is fish heavy which is my preference.  A couple of cocktails--on the left is a bee's knees, the right is a mescal based margarita.  

 

 

Tuna tartare with miso "caviar" and sriracha "snow".  My niece liked it

 

 

Flatbread,  my nephew's choice. He has an anaphylactic allergy to crustaceans, and Disney is great with allergies

 

 

tempura haricot verts

 

 

and shake and bake fries (we did not end up eating these but they are in the fridge for a snack)

 

 

grouper with modified low country flavors (shrimp omitted)

 

 

Miso glazed nero 

 

 

salad with jamon iberico

 

 

A dessert for my niece and nephew to share, chocolate bread pudding with a Star Wars theme

 

 

Because they told the waiter we had been at the Star Wars fireworks earlier.

 

[liamsaunt]

The day prior we were at EPCOT and went to my nephew's favorite restaurant on Disney property: The Rose and Crown Pub in the UK pavilion.  It is one of the only places where he can eat fish and chips.  His allergy is so severe that he can't even eat potatoes that have been fried in the same oil as any crustaceans.  The menu at this place is crustacean free, so he can happily chow down on fish and chips here.

 

Cheese plate

 

 

smoked salmon

 

 

scotch egg

 

 

fish and chips and mushy peas

 

 

sticky toffee pudding

 

 

trifle.  

 

 

 

 

[liamsaunt]

Here are some things from the Animal Kingdom.  From Harambe Market, chicken tikka masala with black eyed pea salad and rice

 

 

Not great, but better than your typical burger and french fry theme park offering.  I liked the salad.  We also got a borewat sausage in curry batter with papaya salad

 

 

Later that afternoon we stopped by Nomad Lounge for a cocktail.  This is a quiet and peaceful oasis that I don't think many people know about.  That won't last long, as it is on the walkway to Avatar Land which is scheduled to open this summer.

 

 

That night we had dinner at Jiko at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Bread service (after it had already been attacked by my niece and nephew)

 

 

Taste of Africa, with double hummus and no papaya sambal as it had shrimp paste in it.  We ordered two of these for the table and they got devoured.

 

 

 

Iguaday tibs in brik: filo parcels stuffed with mushroom and curry with curry flavors

 

 

Flatbread with chicken and coconut

 

 

A salad

 

 

Scallops with pork belly

 

 

Macaroni and cheese with truffles

 

 

Elk

 

 

Koki corn with mushrooms, avocado and greens

 

 

Malva pudding

 

 

Complimentary chocolate snow cookies

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by liamsaunt
extra pictures (log)

[liamsaunt]

Snacking around EPCOT

 

A bratwurst with paprika chips from the Germany pavilion

 

 

A cheese plate from the Prost! booth

 

 

A chicken schwarma plate from the Morocco pavilion

 

 

A cheese toast from the France pavilion

 

 

Various desserts all from the France pavilion.  Bunche de Noel

 

 

Chocolate tart

 

 

Eclair

 

 

Chocolate mousse

 

 

Napoleon

 

 

Kir royales

 

 

A few things from that evening's Sparkling Dessert Party

 

 

 

 

[liamsaunt]

This post covers what I always refer to as "sad food day," or in other words, food from the Magic Kingdom.  It is really hard for me to find anything to eat at the Magic Kingdom.  I usually just pack a granola bar or some nuts in my bag.  Junk food warning.  Pretzel with fake cheese sauce

 

 

Corn dog bites

 

 

Funnel cakes

 

 

Turkey sandwich on cranberry bread

 

 

Cinnamon glazed almonds

 

 

We took a break from the parks in the afternoon and headed over to the Polynesian resort for drinks at Trader Sam's Grog Grotto

 

 

And an early dinner at the Kona Cafe. Disappointing sushi

 

 

 

Potstickers

 

 

Pork buns

 

 

Noodles

 

 

Togarashi spiced tuna

 

 

Fruit and chocolate fondue

 

 

Disappointing food day but the fireworks were nice

 

 

 

[liamsaunt]

We also had dinner at the Flying Fish at Disney's Boardwalk Hotel.  This was my favorite meal.

 

Salad with figs and jamon iberico

 

 

cheese plate

 

 

Tuna with compressed watermelon

 

 

Pork belly with quail egg

 

 

Scallops with grits and romanesco sauce

 

 

Grouper with baby vegetables

 

 

[Paul Bacino]

Awesome!!!!

[scubadoo97]

Agreed it all looks wonderful

[liamsaunt]

So here we are back at the Mouse House.  I asked my niece and nephew where they wanted to go for spring break, and here is where they picked.  Today is day four and my feet are already killing me.  I've been taking pictures of some of the food we have been eating. Day one we had dinner in the Magic Kingdom at the Jungle Navigation Company Skipper Canteem.  Parents everywhere will rejoice that you can now get beer and wine with your meals in the Magic Kingdom. Shockingly I stuck to iced tea.  Not sure why. Salad and falafel

 

 

Steak salad

 

 

Tastes Like Chicken

 

 

Perkins Thai noodles

 

 

everything was pretty good.  Our expectations are low in a theme park setting. It was nice to get off our feet for a while.

 

The next night we enjoyed a leisurely and delicious meal at the California Grill in Disney's Contemporary Resort.  Drinks

 

Artichoke and truffle flatbread

 

 

 

Pear and prosciutto flatbread

 

 

Margarita fkatbread

 

 

Caesar salad

 

 

Brown butter parsnip soup

 

 

Short rib with green mango kimchi

 

 

Filet with potato-leek galette

 

 

Scallops

 

 

Swordfish

 

 

Cheese plate

 

 

Pear tart

 

 

Churros

 

 

After dinner you can go out on the roof deck to watch fireworks

 

[Smokeydoke]

That looks lovely. Hope you are enjoying your time.

[liamsaunt]

Another lovely meal at Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Amuse bouche--some kind of short rib thing.

 

 

Rolls with fennel butter

 

 

Taste of Africa: various breads with dipping sauces.  Last night's were mango chutney, raita with zhoug, a spicy charmoula, and hummus

 

 

Iguaday tibs in brik (filo purses stuffed with spinach and mushrooms with curried apples)

 

 

Piri piri chicken flatbread

 

 

Leek, chili, olive and goat cheese flatbread

 

 

Waygu strip loin with bootie mac and cheese

 

 

Short ribs with potato puree

 

 

Maize crusted halibut with tomato butter sauce, lentils and vegetables

 

 

Elk

 

 

Only my nephew had room for dessert.  Milktarte

 

 

Pre-dinner cocktails at the Nomad Lounge

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by liamsaunt
add photo (log)

[blue_dolphin]

@liamsaunt -  your beautiful photography makes every dish looks its best but this stuff looks amazing!  Thanks for sharing!

[liamsaunt]

I am back in Disney for a quick pre-Thanksgiving trip.  This time it is just my husband and I.  It looks like I never finished reporting on the last time we were down with my family--I have over 100 more food photos from that trip that I never posted here but they are old now, so who cares about those.  We are taking a break from the parks so husband can watch the Patriots game, so i will amuse myself by looking at food photos.

 

We arrived Thursday evening, and proceeded directly to the Magic Kingdom for the Christmas party.  My husband had flown in from Milan late the night before, and was pretty jet lagged, so we left early and missed the parade, but did manage to see the fireworks and have dinner.  We ate at Jungle Navigation Company Skipper Canteen.  We shared an appetizer of pan de queijo, which was served with a cilantro and fresh cheese sauce.  They were very tasty, but as you can see from the picture, the portion was way too large.  What are two people going to do with nine breads?

 

 

I ordered a rice noodle dish with head on shrimp, tofu and vegetables in a spicy sambal sauce.  It did have some heat which was nice.  

 

 

Unfortunately husband's dinner picture did not come out, which is too bad because it was a delicious pan-seared golden tilefish with greens, cassava cake, and a mango-habanero sauce.  No dessert. Fireworks shot

 

 

Our first full days in the parks coincided with the last two days of Disney's annual Food and Wine festival.  We've done this before in a group and it is usually pretty fun.  This year, with only two days and two people, we were unable to sample most of the booths.  We got to eight split between Friday and Saturday, and skipped 41.  A cheese and wine sampler: left to right, gorgonzola with a cranberry chutney and crisp bread (chutney overwhelmed the cheese), and a chardonnay from Sonoma.  The next cheese was supposed to come with aged balsamic and cippolini onions, but we got olives.  Fine, I like olives.  The wine was an Oregon rose.  And finally Italico with apricot chutney pared with a California Petite Syrah

 

 

Next, a black pepper boursin soufflé.  I did not notice the fig jam in the menu description, and so was disappointed when it was not savory.  My fault.

 

 

 

Charcuterie in a cone from the Spain booth.

 

 

Spicy hummus fries with tzatziki and chipotle sauces from the Morocco booth.  This was my favorite of the dishes we tried. 

 

 

An Impossible burger slider.  We waited longer for this than any other food item we tried. It was very popular.  I liked the wasabi cream it was sauced with but the burger itself tasted grainy.  Husband liked it more than me,  I was done after one bite, he managed a few more.

 

 

Loaded mac and cheese with Neuske's pepper bacon and leeks.  It was hot yesterday so a bite of this was more than enough.  Husband enjoyed it.  

 

 

Striped bass tostada with cabbage slaw and tomatillo sauce.  The slaw and tostada were good but the fish was overcooked

 

 

Crab cake with avocado cream and cabbage slaw.  Neither of us liked this much.  The crab was fine, it just was not too exciting

 

 

Peri peri shrimp from the South Africa booth.  A bit salty

 

Edited November 24, 2019 by liamsaunt (log)

[liamsaunt]

Friday was my husband's birthday.  We decided to try a new restaurant in the Japan pavilion at EPCOT, Takumi Tei.  I had seen photos of the sushi online, and it looked gorgeous.  Of course, by the time we dined there, the menu had changed.  Sigh.  But first, we started the day with breakfast from the France pavilion.  Husband had a ham, gruyere, and butter baguette

 

 

I ordered a bacon and gruyere roll.  Both of these were huge.  I managed about 1/3 of my roll.  Husband came close to finishing his sandwich despite initially complaining that it was too big.

 

 

To work off all of that cheese and get an appetite for dinner, we walked a LOT.  I had 32,000 steps on my fitbit by dinner time.  We both ordered the same cocktail, which I forget the name of.  It had gin, sake, lychee etc.

 

 

 

Amuse of pickled daikon radish and watermelon rind

 

 

Husband started with hama no kani: ponzu crab, toasted crab, tomato, watermelon radish tsukemono, leek gel, sesame pollen, plum wine

 

 

I had the agedashi tofu: fried silken tofu, tentsuyu, brown butter black rice, shimeji mushroom, daikon tsukemono, carrot ginger puree, crispy lotus root

 

 

We both felt these potions were too large.  I would have been happy with one tofu square, one pile of rice, etc. instead of three.  The flavors were good but neither of us finished these.  

 

Next, we shared a platter of termari sushi.  There was uni, yellowtail, tuna, salmon, and fatty tuna--two pieces of each.

 

 

The "fatty tuna" was escolar which we both strongly disliked.  The others were good.  The uni was nice and creamy and I really liked the yuzu gel on the side of the plate.

 

Main courses.  I ordered the ochazuke: misoyaki sea bass, karikari sushi, shirasu, tsuekemono, toasted nori, shimeji mushroom, and ocha dashi broth.  This was delicious.  I wish I had skipped an appetizer so I could have finished this.  I did manage most of it.

 

 

Husband ordered the ushikai no shukakku--cattleman's harvest: Japanese A-5 Waygu ribeye, potato, lotus root, baby shiitake mushroom, cippolini onion, arima sansho pepper reduction.    He said it was excellent.

 

 

We were too full for dessert even though it was his birthday.  We watched the fireworks from the Japan pavilion after dinner.

 

 

[gfweb]

Food looks good, but I’m put off by cardboard plates and plastic glasses. 

Unless  it’s a food truck or a ball park, I want china  and metal utensils. 

[liamsaunt]

11 hours ago, gfweb said:

Food looks good, but I’m put off by cardboard plates and plastic glasses. 

Unless  it’s a food truck or a ball park, I want china  and metal utensils. 

 

Most of the time real dishes are used.  It is the festival food--the food and wine posted recently, and the flower and garden earlier--that are served on paper.  There's no practical way to use china at the festivals.  The booths are very tiny--big enough for two or so people inside, and the food is generally eaten while standing up and/or walking.  Disney does have a robust recycling program.  That said, I have always thought it would be a money maker for them to sell commemorative reusable flatware and wine cups (something like a metal corksicle).  When I remember, I bring wooden flatware from home to use as I have quite a bit leftover from when I was doing chemotherapy, but I forgot this trip.

 

We came down mostly to see Star Wars Land.  The land has a bar that is built to look like the cantina.  We stopped in twice.  The atmosphere is pretty funky

 

 

Our first reservation was in the morning, so we opted for non alcoholic drinks. The cantina does not really have food, it is just drinks.  Mine, on the left, was OK.  It had a mix of fruit juices and boba balls.  There was dry ice (I think) in the bottom of the cup that made the balls bounce around inside the glass.  Four different people came up and asked if they could take a video of my drink haha.

 

My husband's drink was the blue milk, and it was DISGUSTING!  It tasted like bubble gum.  I let him share mine out of sympathy.  Cool atmosphere, bad blue milk!

 

 

 

We had dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby.  Cocktails--mine was called the Fabulous Marines, but I forget what was in it (I started taking pictures of the cocktail descriptions after this meal). 

 

 

Bread with sea salt butter

 

 

We shared an order of shrimp cocktail with fennel slaw and cucumber foam

 

 

I got a bowl of the ginger-lemon grass pho, which came with mushroom and tofu spring rolls.  I added shrimp for an upcharge.  They gave me lots of chiles and cilantro to put in the pho, which was great.  I really enjoyed this.

 

 

Husband had the duck, which came with grilled plums, marinated fennel, pea tendrils, a citrus-honey vinaigrette and a pomegranate barbecue sauce.  The duck was perfectly cooked.  He loved this dish and ate it all. 

 

 

Too full for dessert.  

 

Yesterday neither of us had much of an appetite.  We just had some small bites at Animal Kingdom.  Nomad Lounge is a nice place to stop in for a few drinks and get out of the heat.  For our first round,  husband chose a boto rita (zignum reposado mezcal, combier grapefruit liqueur, guava puree, and lime juice), and I had a spice trader classic (Heyman's Old Tom gin, Dolin vermouth blanc, lemon juice, and strawberries topped with soda water)

 

 

 

We also order a bread service to share.  This had pappadum, paratha, and spiced focaccia served with tadka, spiced coriander yogurt, and fig tapenade

 

 

We ordered a second round of drinks.  Husband had the hightower rocks (casa dragones blanco tequila, watermelon, sweet and sour, and lime juice), and I ordered the sinaloa sangria (rose, barsol quebranta pisco, and fresh fruit.  I ate most of the fruit before taking the picture haha)

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by liamsaunt
correcting autocorrect (log)

[liamsaunt]

The internet at our hotel was insanely slow, so I gave up on updating this.  Now that I am home and through Thanksgiving, I have time to post the rest.  Our hotel had Todd English's Bluezoo in it, so we stopped in a couple of times for late night snacks.  Jumbo shrimp scampi

 

 

Truffled risotto tater tots

 

 

Crab beigniets

 

 

We went back to Oga's Cantina in the evening for a glass of wine.  My white wine was blue.  Weird!

 

 

We stopped in to Satuli Canteen in Pandora for an early lunch.  Chili-garlic shrimp and noodle bowl

 

 

Chopped chicken, bean and rice bowl

 

 

We celebrated my husband's birthday at the California Grill.  The restaurant has nice sunset views

 

 

Bread served with roasted tomatoes and olive oil

 

 

Roasted tomato flatbread

 

 

Spicy kazan roll with crab, shrimp, scallops, tuna and fireball sauce

 

 

Shiso glazed tuna with pineapple brown butter shisito vinaigrette, cashews, avocado and sea cress.  The dark stuff was black rice puffs

 

 

Fonduta tortelloni with chanterelle mushrooms, black truffle, corn-saffron butter sauce

 

 

Oak fired filet of beef with aged gouda mac and cheese, spinach and onions

 

 

We were too full for dessert but the waitress brought my husband a free slice of cake.  He blew out the candle before I took the photo

 

 

Our last meal was at the Flying Fish.  Snow crab croquette with blood orange and tarragon

 

 

Jumbo shrimp with crispy serrano ham and citrus

 

 

Potato wrapped snapper with leek fondue and cassis-red wine reduction

 

 

Sardinian seafood pasta with shrimp, scallops and lobster

 

 

And that's it for this quick trip.  A couple of fireworks shots to end.  Disney does a great job with fireworks.

 

 

[kayb]

@liamsaunt, what camera/lens do you use? Your close-focus work is just gorgeous.

[liamsaunt]

21 hours ago, kayb said:

@liamsaunt, what camera/lens do you use? Your close-focus work is just gorgeous.

 

Thank you!  Most of the pictures were taken with a Canon 60D with an 18-135 mm lens.  I have had this camera for over 10 years.  My husband upgraded me to a 5D with a new lens last year, but I still prefer my old workhorse.  A couple of the photos, like the interior of the California Grill picture, were taken with an iphone 11.

 

[Porthos]

On 11/25/2019 at 6:27 AM, liamsaunt said:

We had dinner at the Hollywood Brown Derby.  Cocktails--mine was called the Fabulous Marines, but I forget what was in it (I started taking pictures of the cocktail descriptions after this meal). 

 

 

 

Absolut Pears Vodka, Patron Silver, Lime Juice, Muddled Strawberries, and Cilantro

[kayb]

4 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

 

Thank you!  Most of the pictures were taken with a Canon 60D with an 18-135 mm lens.  I have had this camera for over 10 years.  My husband upgraded me to a 5D with a new lens last year, but I still prefer my old workhorse.  A couple of the photos, like the interior of the California Grill picture, were taken with an iphone 11.

 

 

I love Canon, though right now I'm shooting Nikon, when I get it out, which isn't often. How fast is that lens?