Adventures in Dining—spring break style

[Mzpalmtree]

Please bear with me as I haven’t done any dining reviews previously but I wanted to give a run down of what we experienced on our recently completed trip—with pictures . My group consisted of myself, my daughter, and my husband. We love dining out at Disney and always have such a hard time pairing down our choices on our trips . I’m sure many of you can relate!
First up—Homecomin’ brunch!


We did brunch around noon on our arrival day. We had never been to Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ before and don’t often go to DS since many of our trips are short weekenders, but with this trip being longer we decided to venture out of our comfort zone a bit. It did not disappoint! Check in was in person (as opposed to the app) and went smoothly although a long line formed shortly after we checked in. We were seated on their patio which was shady and relaxing. I also had a lovely mimosa which probably added to the overall relaxing feel of brunch. We shared the Church Lady Deviled Eggs, Housemade Donuts, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Hallelujah Biscuit. All were outstanding. The donuts were warm and both a little salty and sweet in a good way. The chicken in the biscuit dish was juicy and delicious and the grits that came with it were like fluffy, cheesy heavenly clouds of tastiness. The breading on the tomatoes was light and they were well textured. Everything was just so good. We did order a bowl of fruit just to feel better about ourselves but I think it felt neglected . Next time we will just give in and realize there’s no making healthy choices here but it sure was good!!! The service was amazing as well. We are already talking about scheduling it on a future trip!

I’ll add our next adventure tomorrow...

 

[mickey916]

Great start!

 

[kastoney]

Thanks for sharing. I'm having a serious case of Disney food withdrawals and a little Homecoming brunch brightened the morning right up.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

Great start!

Thanks for sharing. I'm having a serious case of Disney food withdrawals and a little Homecoming brunch brightened the morning right up.

Thank you both!

 

[CalSea12]

Following along we will start our trip this Friday!

And I am just starting my dining report now

 

[Mzpalmtree]

Nomad lounge up next!
We found ourselves at AK many days after two when park hopping opened up. Afternoons/evenings were very pleasant compared to other parks and Expedition Everest is one of our favorite rides and had a consistently low wait so it just made sense. We visited Nomad Lounge at least three times. Getting on the waitlist on MDE was easy but the wait time was often not consistent with what was posted. Twice we were given an estimate of 50ish minutes and were called back while on the safari—once only 10 mins after getting on the list. They only give you 10 minutes to get back which can be a bit of a challenge even when you are not on the safari. Nevertheless, Nomad remains a favorite for us.
Our first visit my husband had the Sinaloa Sangria (“refreshing”), I had the Hightower Rocks (delicious if a tad sweet), and my daughter had the Hibiscus Henna (good but very sweet).
We shared the Tiffins bread service which was a new one for us. It was quite different from other bread service we had tried but good. The dips it came with were delicious. Our favorite of the breads was the soft one that I believe may have had dates. We also ordered the Yucca fries. They come as a side for the sliders but my husband is obsessed with them and gets them by themselves every time we go . He actually stole one out of the bowl before we could take the photo. They are like big steak fries with a bit more texture. On this visit we were seated at a table indoors. It was pleasant but we kind of wished we could have been outdoors on the patio.

Our next trip, we did successfully get a table on the patio. We watched the boats float by with the characters and enjoyed a Charcuterie board. It had more of that yummy soft bread, some delicious meats and cheeses, etc. My favorite was the venison sausage. The goat cheese had a Parmesan texture and taste and was my favorite of the cheeses. Notice the basket of yucca fries in the background . This time my husband ordered the Snow Leopard Salvation (very ginger-y and refreshing—not too sweet), I ordered the Boto-Rita (a little strong for me and I realized I strongly prefer the taste of tequila to mezcal), and my daughter ordered the Zingiber Fizzie (refreshing with strong ginger flavors but also citrus and not too sweet). I switched drinks with my husband and we were both happy.
The third time we went we were with a larger group of friends and didn’t get any pictures. We mostly did repeats of the previous two trips. I got the Hightower Rocks, my husband got the Boto-Rita and my daughter got the Zingiber Fizzie. We ordered another Charcuterie and bread service and it was all consistently delicious. We were seated outside after about an hour wait. All of our trips we had the same lovely server named Jamal. Great and pleasant service. We love Nomad Lounge for relaxing park breaks.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

Following along we will start our trip this Friday!

And I am just starting my dining report now

I hope you have a great time on your trip! We had such a good time on ours. I was nervous because of the crowds but I really shouldn’t have been.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

Next up will be Wine Bar George lunch...

 

[CalSea12]

I hope you have a great time on your trip! We had such a good time on ours. I was nervous because of the crowds but I really shouldn’t have been.

I am quite nervous about crowds, but from what I have seen I shouldn't be. Touring Plans has great wait times.

I swear there is are two different groups going.... 1. that feels like its super crowded and 2. that think its great...I am not sure where the difference is.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

I am quite nervous about crowds, but from what I have seen I shouldn't be. Touring Plans has great wait times.

I swear there is are two different groups going.... 1. that feels like its super crowded and 2. that think its great...I am not sure where the difference is.

I think we thought it was great for a few reasons. The first is that we are usually long weekenders and typically go during holidays so we are used to crowds (even though during Covid crowds are obviously of more concern to us). Since this trip was a week long it took on a more relaxed feel and we didn’t stress about getting everything done in a day. We rope dropped and left the parks in the morning typically and then didn’t come back until afternoon or evening. We park hopped every day. Evening wait times were often quite good. We watched the wait times on touring plans and they were pretty accurate for the most part—more accurate than MDE. We also remained flexible.

 

[hereforthechurros]

The grits at Homecomin’ are criminally neglected round these parts, so glad you mentioned them!

Hard to ever go wrong at Nomad.

Cheers to the rest of your eats/drinks!

 

[allison k]

I love your reviews so far! I'm heading to the world in 3 weeks and Nomad Lounge is on our list, so it's good to see some reviews!

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more. Nomad Lounge is on my hot do list. Homecomin is delish !

 

[Mzpalmtree]

The grits at Homecomin’ are criminally neglected round these parts, so glad you mentioned them!

Hard to ever go wrong at Nomad.

Cheers to the rest of your eats/drinks!

Those grits really are what dreams are made of . Thanks!

I love your reviews so far! I'm heading to the world in 3 weeks and Nomad Lounge is on our list, so it's good to see some reviews!

Thank you! I hope you love it as much as we do!

Following along. Looking forward to reading more. Nomad Lounge is on my hot do list. Homecomin is delish !

Thanks!

 

[Mzpalmtree]

On to Wine Bar George! Originally we had brunch booked, but we really wanted to give Homecomin’ a try so when I was able to score that brunch ADR, we shifted to lunch at WBG following a morning at Animal Kingdom. Our lunch was their earliest ADR right at opening so we had to wait to check in at the time of the ADR in person. The staff was very pleasant and welcoming and we were greeted by at least three or so people before we were asked if we wanted an indoor table or if we wanted to be seated on the patio. We opted for the patio and were shown upstairs to a balcony with about 5 tables on it. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and very comfortable on the balcony but we noted for future trips that the interior space was beautiful. My husband ordered a Bells Oberon Ale which he said was excellent. I originally wanted to try some wine but had not yet had a dole whip on this trip and was tempted by their Friezling made with Riesling, Vodka, and lime dole whip...it was soooo good. I seriously need to get that again. Worth going to Disney Springs just for that and I’m not going to lie...I may have been trying to come up with excuses to go back for another, lol! For food we ordered the Burrata, Saganaki on Fire, Shishito Peppers, and Grilled Romaine. Honestly, there are so many things on their menu I would love to try—it was hard to narrow it down to just four.

We absolutely adored the Burrata. We all agreed that it was the star of the small plates we ordered. The cheese was so soft and creamy—just melted in your mouth and the tomatoes were perfect and fresh . The Saganaki had a cool presentation at the table with the fire, but for us was a miss. I know from reading reviews that a lot of people love it but it was very tough to cut and quite chewy. We enjoyed it the least to be honest. The Shishito peppers were very good. I researched and apparently 1 in 10 peppers is supposed to be hot. I didn’t get a hot one but my husband and daughter did. My daughter thought it was a fun game to guess who would get the next hot one. The grilled romaine looked like it had a lot of dressing on it, which I do not tend to like, but the dressing wasn’t as heavy as it looked. It was slightly smoky and delicious! Our service was excellent and we were very pleased with our meal as a whole. We will definitely go back to WBG. Next time we would like to try the Mac & Cheese bites, but we are ALWAYS getting the Burrata. ALWAYS .

Next up California Grill...

 

[HolRae]

I am loving your reviews. Thanks for sharing.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I order the sliders at Nomad just to get the Yucca fries! It never occurred to me that I could just ask for a side of fries! Mind blown!! Now I can't wait to go back. And oh, that burrata at WBG is the stuff dreams are made of!!

 

[Mzpalmtree]

I order the sliders at Nomad just to get the Yucca fries! It never occurred to me that I could just ask for a side of fries! Mind blown!! Now I can't wait to go back. And oh, that burrata at WBG is the stuff dreams are made of!!

That’s how we discovered the yucca fries originally too! We don’t always want sliders but the yucca fries are my husband’s fav—he talks about them at home even. They have never given us a problem with ordering them on their own.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

California Grill!
We actually ate dinner at California Grill twice this trip. Cali Grill is a family favorite and we usually try to go once a trip or once every other trip so this was definitely a luxury to go twice. Normally we struggle to decide between getting all appetizers or doing entrees. Appetizers tend to win out but since we were going twice this time we decided to do both. The first night we had a 6:45 pm ADR and had hopes of getting a table by the window and watching the sunset around 7:30 pm. We checked in on MDE around 6:30 pm and also went to the check in desk to request a window table in the main dining room. A couple trips ago we were seated in a back room and had a lovely meal but missed those gorgeous Magic Kingdom views. This trip our request was accommodated and we were given an amazing table.



We started with their incredible bread and dipping oil. I just love that oil with the yummy tomato. I ordered the Plant City Strawberry Salad. It was so delicious and interesting. There were green strawberry slices in it that almost tasted pickled and the cornbread crumbles a nice addition. My husband had the Hearts of Romaine. He said it was a delicious, yet heavy salad. Next time he said he would ask for it with a tad less dressing and it would be perfect. My daughter had the Winter Squash soup. She said it was a heavy soup but quite good. She couldn’t eat it all and offered some to her dad. Her favorite part was the biscotti with brie that came with it—the hazelnuts were at nice touch with the soft whipped brie. We shared the goat cheese ravioli, Short Rib Wontons, and a Shrimp Tempura Roll. All were pretty much perfect. This sushi is a favorite of my daughter’s. We don’t care for nori and we both love that this roll doesn’t come with it. We finished our meal with the Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé. We didn’t get a picture of it unfortunately because we were in such a hurry to eat it . It is my absolute favorite dessert in all of WDW. I love that it’s not too sweet, the chocolate is high quality and the peanut butter ice cream with it is just heavenly. Although our server was training during our meal everything was spot on—it was like having two servers—just a perfect meal!


Our next ADR was for 5 pm. We’ve found we usually get a better table as soon as they open, so we wanted to plan our second meal for that time. We got another great table by the window. We enjoyed the bread just as much as the first time we visited . This time we ordered entrees but no appetizers. My daughter and I both ordered the Black Grouper. I had the Black Grouper a couple of years ago and loved it. My daughter had heard me rave about it and wanted to try it for herself even though she’s not much of a fish enthusiast. We both loved it this time just as much as I had the last time. The grouper was well prepared and the rice was so creamy and tasted of coconut. My husband had the Scallops and said they were absolutely amazing and cooked perfectly. We finished the meal with another chocolate soufflé which we of course did not get a picture of in our haste to eat it . Our server recommended ordering double peanut butter ice cream which was a fantastic tip! Service was top notch yet again and California Grill remains our top special meal place for our Disney trips.

 

[Isabelle12345]

Those food pics are amazing!
It really makes me want to try all those restaurants!
Thanks for sharing!