Dessert before Dinner: a trifecta of dining reports? Update 9/22 LTT COMPLETE!

[kastoney]

all I could think about were my proms in the early 1900's and I realized not only how old he is but how old I am

If you're proms were in the early 1900's then old is an understatement

Now these my friends were small little rolls of love with kisses of dips to go with them I easily could have eaten them all myself except I had an entree coming and everyone else wanted to try these. Ricky and Chris split one, Steve had 1.5 and the rest were all me!

I've been thinking about trying Ale and Compass just to have these rolls. After your review I think we'll take a hard pass but these do look great.

I ordered this because it kind of reminded me of the pasta dish I love at Narcoossee's, and while I didn't expect it to be THAT good I expected it to have SOME taste- which it did not. The chicken tasted grilled but that was all I could taste. Seriously the sauce and everything else was like watery and just blah. I was so disappointed! We were going from pretty awesome apps to pretty uninspiring entrees.

For something that really does look good I cannot believe how bad it was

Like the apps this, according to them, was delicious with lots of cheesiness as well as great lobster flavor.

So apparently they can make appetizers and sides, but not entrees. Seems like a good restaurant model

Maybe it's the whole resort I don't know, but the idea of taking the 10 minute walk to the food court was not appealing. We settled for the soda machine and no dessert and confirmed how much we prefer deluxe resorts that have everything under one roof like my beloved WL

I'm so with you!!! Even with the Poly the separate buildings are not good for a rain storm. I'm trying to figure out where to request for CB so we don't encounter similar issues.

 

[Cloe Colton]

The size of SSR is definitely my fear! I am totally saving that one for when we have a rental car lol

Ale & Compass sounds like a bust, I can't stand when everything is flavorless!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

@Jenny Sanders son is doing the program for the 2nd time as we speak!

Why yes he is!!!!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

That's Steve's go-to Moscow Mule and my Schofferhofer which if you've never tried, is extremely refreshing!

Wow, this is surprising...LOL!!!

Bottom line we were not fans of Ale and Compass

This is disappointing. We really liked when Ale and Compass was Captain's Grill. It was a hidden gem of sorts...

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Ale and Compass sounds like it has been hit or miss since it opened.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

That's disappointing about Ale and Compass, though those rolls do look awesome!

 

[disneyAndi14]

The food all looked so good in the pictures, sorry that was not the case! I tried those Parker rolls and the bacon jam, the night we were suppose to go on our Illuminations Cruise and I loved that combo!

We are going to stay at OKW in January because of the price and 2 queen beds but I know it is so huge and spread out. I needed to keep the cost down and we want to try all resorts and we haven’t done OKW or SSR yet. I rented points for such an awesome price. I hope we like it!

 

[Tracy161]

Parker House Rolls and Spreads

YUM! Given what I know was coming in the form of your entrees... maybe you should have just ordered TWO of those as your dinner! (and of course I mean two orders, not two rolls... that would be for amateurs )

We were going from pretty awesome apps to pretty uninspiring entrees.

Ugh! What a huge disappointment! I really had my expectations high after reading about your apps

So apparently they can make appetizers and sides, but not entrees. Seems like a good restaurant model

Yeah... I'm just as confused as Kari

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Thanks everyone for following along! I'm really excited to finally be doing this, so let's get started!

Trifecta Trip #1 (but really #2): January 2019
​

So going with leaving our November family trip to the end, I am now taking you aaaaaaalllll the way back to January; MLK weekend to be exact. I can't quite remember how this trip came about except that sometime before Xmas, Steve suggested we go. And who am I to say no? MLK weekend worked best for my mom to watch the kids, and our initial dates were Sun. -Wed. However due to a beautiful snowstorm in the Tri-State area, about 3 days before we left we added Sat. night!

I had a rough idea of plans with only 2 ADR's made. We were staying at Beach Club on my discount but couldn't get it for our added night, which meant one night at a new-to-us resort, All-Star Movies. The added night also meant the opportunity for another sit down dinner since we were landing around 1:30! I made an ADR for a new-to-us restaurant to go with our new-to-us resort, so after dropping our bags in our room we bussed to Disney Springs for some quick shopping and a 5:00 reservation here:

View attachment 384677

Thanks google! I'd wanted to try this place but Steve never seemed interested, although when I mentioned it to him for this trip he said no way, he'd have been fine eating here before Communication is key to a marriage, ladies and gentlemen!
We were super hungry so we checked in at 4:30 hoping they'd seat us early, at which point we found out they don't seat until 5? There were quite a few tables already occupied so not sure how much they bribed the waitstaff or if they had been sitting there for a few hours after eating lunch, but as we sat at the bar tons of other parties came in and nobody was sat until 5:00 on the dot.

While we waited we had our first drinks of the trip:

View attachment 384674

I don't think the girl in the pic is having as good a time waiting as we were! Here's what we got:

Sake Sangria
sake, light white wine, plum wine, asian pears, apple, plum, tangerine juice
and
Mango Matcha Punch
ketel one vodka, green tea and lychee

The sangria was mine if you aren't sure And it was so good! The plum wine gave it a real different taste from regular sangria plus I love apple in sangria, so this was a hit. Steve also enjoyed his drink, especially that cute little lychee in there. At first he thought it was an onion-call us old or naive or whatever but neither of us knew what lychee actually looked like lol.

As I said, pretty much right at 5 on the dot we were brought to our table. This restaurant is huge and gorgeous:

View attachment 384678

We were seated right by the kitchen and it was neat watching all the food be prepared and go out:

View attachment 384679

We had pretty much decided we were going to do a bunch of apps because there were so many we wanted to try, so order apps we did! But first, soup for me:

Miso Soup
miso broth, silken tofu

View attachment 384683

Nice and simple however I enjoy Miso soup. This was delicious! It was your typical Miso soup but with a stronger, kind of sharp taste if that makes sense. It warmed me up well for all the dishes to follow....................

Pork Dumplings
pork, napa cabbage, scallion

View attachment 384684

These come with 2 different dipping sauces. And, like a good dining reporter, I have completely forgotten what they are. One has more soy sauce and the other is a bit spicy, I liked that one the best. These were perfect and we debated ordering more but thankfull decided to wait until we had a few more dishes!

Just as I got my own soup Steve got an app just for him:

Shrimp Tempura
asparagus, spicy mayo with choice of white or brown rice

View attachment 384685

He begged me to try this because he was in heaven but I don't do fish of any kind so that was a hard no. The folks next to us also got this and seemed to enjoy it just as much as Steve, who debated getting another order but thankfully decided to wait. We had a few more foods to go!
What was nice is that they spaced out bringing us the different dishes. My soup was first and I wasn't quite done when the dumplings and sushi came, but that was fine. And after that we got like 2 dishes at a time, would finish, and get our next go 'round a little bit after. It made it easy to eat-digest-repeat
Next came what I like to call the epitemy of wonderfullness: Morimoto ribs:

Morimoto Spare Ribs
half-rack of pork ribs, cilantro, hoisin sweet chili glaze

View attachment 384881

So this clearly isn't a half rack but I can't seem to find the dish under apps or small plates on the current menu?? I'm hoping the Disney website menu is just plain WRONG because it would not be RIGHT to remove these in any way! I do not eat ribs. I never really liked them, I don't like getting messy when I eat. I just never got into them. However hearing so much about the ribs here and since Steve likes them I wanted to give them a try, and it's probably the best decision I've made since having kids!!! You cannot go here and not get ribs; I guess if you're a vegetarian I'll forgive you. These are fall of the bone, tender as all get out, spiced incredibly delicious meats. That chili glaze They aren't spicy so no worries if you don't like that; not sure exactly what the hairyness is but it doesn't matter. I will also say there is no heavy cilantro taste and if there was I'd know; I'm one of those who tastes dish soap when I eat cilantro. For the 3rd time we were wishing we had more of something!
While we didn't have more ribs heading our way we did have more food:

Kanikama Rangoon - 3 pcs
krab meat and cream cheese spring roll, apricot sweet chili sauce

View attachment 384882

Although I don't eat seafood I do normally like crab rangoons, but these were a bit too "krab-y" for me. I guess I'm more of a Crab girl than a Krab girl........but the outside was nice and crispy, the inside smooth, the apricot sweet chili sauce delicious.
We were getting close to the full side but powered on with another round of drinks and our final dish:

Lettuce Wraps
chicken, water chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms

View attachment 384886

I know, this looks a little sad compared to our other dishes. I enjoy lettuce wraps which is why I wanted these. They were good, and I may have enjoyed them more if it was our first dish. However compared to all other dishes we had these were the......least interesting? They were standard lettuce wraps, flavor was ok but nothing different or out of this world. Not bad by any means but I will order those ribs, soup, and dumplings before I get these again.
Whew, we were full! This was such a wonderful way to start our short trip!
We rolled out of there and grabbed a bus to Old Key West, to grab a bus to HS where we were doing DAH. I kind of wanted to go back to Morimoto last week on our trip but that one was even shorter and it didn't fit in, but we will be back! This was so much more than I expected which is always a nice surprise

I hope you guys love my gigantor pictures If you're new to my reports let me tell you they won't get much smaller, regardless of how much I re-size my pics are always larger than life............

I LOVE the big pictures! Please keep them big. I don't see well, and often have to use a magnifying glass, so they are perfect for me.
What a beautiful family you have. Handsome boys and good-looking parents.

 

[Lesley Wake]

Just to give you another example of how great our first day was going, when they put the plate down Chris said "I call dibs on the sprinkle cookie" and it took Ricky all of 15 seconds to grab the sprinkle cookie and take a gigantor bite out of it. That went over well and really led to a wonderful family lunch.

Oh boy! That sounds like something Lauren and I would have done to each other (and actually probably did do)

My pictures from our dinner are much much better; where on the BW did we eat?

I’m going to guess Boardwalk Pizza?

Bottom line we were not fans of Ale and Compass even though we really liked 2 of the apps and the mac and cheese; the entrees were just too disappointing. I thought maybe it would be a new option for us but sadly I think not.

Our Thanksgiving trip was not off to the best start between missing out on park time, Ricky not feeling good and a crappy dinner, but luckily the next day was better

That’s too bad about Ale and Compass. Maybe you can stop in the lounge in the future though, they have the same appetizer/small plates!

 

[ariane37]

This is disappointing. We really liked when Ale and Compass was Captain's Grill. It was a hidden gem of sorts...

I was trying to remember the former name! Chris and I went there for breakfast once when it was Capt Grill and really enjoyed the buffet but soon after it closed for renovations. Definitely would have gone back if it stayed CG

Ale and Compass sounds like it has been hit or miss since it opened.

Yup pretty much what I hear, the menu just sounds promising and I wanted something non-signature on the BW for our first night.

That's disappointing about Ale and Compass, though those rolls do look awesome!

The rolls and other apps were great! I'd love to have the rolls again but not at the expense of my dinner lol

tried those Parker rolls and the bacon jam, the night we were suppose to go on our Illuminations Cruise and I loved that combo!

Nice! We all went back to WL and hung at Territory Lounge but I like the idea of getting the rolls if we're in the BW area and need a lounge That's one I haven't visited!

We are going to stay at OKW in January because of the price and 2 queen beds but I know it is so huge and spread out. I needed to keep the cost down and we want to try all resorts and we haven’t done OKW or SSR yet. I rented points for such an awesome price. I hope we like it!

The points for OKW and SSR are so low/inexpensive ( in Disney math terms lol) that it's like you can't pass it up! We stayed at OKW years ago when Steve could still trade his timeshare points with DVC and then we rented points for SSR years ago too for next to nothing - in Disney dollars of course I know @fallonkendra loves OKW and we really liked it when we stayed.

. maybe you should have just ordered TWO of those as your dinner! (and of course I mean two orders, not two rolls... that would be for amateurs )

TWO rolls? What am I, skinny

I LOVE the big pictures! Please keep them big. I don't see well, and often have to use a magnifying glass, so they are perfect for me.

Ha Ha no problem! Even if I wanted to shrink them all apparently I don't know how.......but I hear you on being blind. Just got new, stronger contacts for my deteriorating eyes and need stronger readers to see my phone AND the Dis!

What a beautiful family you have. Handsome boys and good-looking parents.

Oh thank you so much!

Oh boy! That sounds like something Lauren and I would have done to each other (and actually probably did do)

lol my sister and I too! In fact we'd probably still do it........

’m going to guess Boardwalk Pizza?

That’s too bad about Ale and Compass. Maybe you can stop in the lounge in the future though, they have the same appetizer/small plates!

I would definitely go to the lounge - love so many lounges! And we really enjoyed the apps. We have an Italian restaurant here by us that unfortunately is similar; apps and desserts are awesome but the entrees always leave something to be desired and I don't know why.

 

[kittylady1972]

That's awesome, I wish one of my boys was interested in the program. @Jenny Sanders son is doing the program for the 2nd time as we speak!
I plan on going at least twice in 2021 since both myself and MK are turning 50 so I'll be there in February and then in October and if I have it my way, more than that lol.

So since I know the MK will celebrate it's 50th well into March 2022 and that's when I'll also turn 5-0, I was planning to celebrate my BIG birthday there as well!

 

[jdd]

So since I know the MK will celebrate it's 50th well into March 2022 and that's when I'll also turn 5-0, I was planning to celebrate my BIG birthday there as well!

I HIGHLY recommend this. Spent my 50th at the Magic Kingdom in 2017 and it was the best decision ever. I don't think I stopped smiling all day

 

[ariane37]

So since I know the MK will celebrate it's 50th well into March 2022 and that's when I'll also turn 5-0, I was planning to celebrate my BIG birthday there as well!

I HIGHLY recommend this. Spent my 50th at the Magic Kingdom in 2017 and it was the best decision ever. I don't think I stopped smiling all day

I think its doubly cool that the MK AND me are both turning 50 the same year

 

[FSU Girl]

I'm trying to catch up on all your dining reports. I just got back from my honeymoon to Europe. Thanksgiving at Disney is so fun! I have a hotel booked for this year, but I'm waiting to see how crazy the Star Wars crowds are going to be before I commit to going or not.

such a cute family photo! It's all about the mama here

Smoked Turkey & Brie Cheese Sandwich - Sliced Smoked Turkey, Brie Cheese Spread and Fresh Arugula with a Chambord-Cranberry Mayonnaise

This sounds really good, and I like that you took a picture of the board since there are a few other items on there that sound good. I haven't been over to that hotel so never eaten here, but it seems like a great option.

those rolls look delicious, I'm not sure if I'd like the butters that go with it or not. Tomorrow is actually our Thanksgiving ADR day and we are staying at Yacht Club so I might book a meal here for convenience.

Well now I read the reviews of your main dishes and I'm reconsidering booking here. I'm like your son, I love filet that cuts like butter and hate tough steak. Your pasta dish looks good, it's a shame it didn't taste it.

 

[ariane37]

Sorry it's been awhile since I've updated! Things are pretty busy here, yesterday we visited another college for Ricky. This time Seton Hall in NJ and he liked it; now it's #2 out of 3 on his list. Tomorrow we're returning to his #1 choice Quinnipiac in CT. Steve couldn't get off work yesterday so my mom came with us which was really nice!

Thursday I booked DAH at HS for our July trip. This will be the 2nd time for Steve and I but the first for the boys and I know Ricky will enjoy it. Chris? Well, he's Chris.

Trifecta trip #3 (but really #1)
Happy Thanksgiving 2018!
​

Now that arrival day was over we were ready for things to NOT go wrong! That included nobody not feeling good and no bad meals. We started with some Artist's Palette breakfast of which I have no pictures and then headed to the MK for Mickey's 90th birthday as it was 11/17 so we got the cool buttons


OK FYI the picture wasn't sideways when I brought it over from my files but this is the 2nd time this has happened since the board upgrades so no idea what's happening? Anyway, after this we got some PP pictures taken on Main St. and much to my surprise (probably not yours as I've posted this already) this happened:



And we went about our merry way! We did have a good time at the MK as Ricky was feeling much better and the crowds were not bad at all for a few days before Thanksgiving. We ate lunch at CHH but I have no proof; I think Steve took the pictures with his phone and since I waited so long to do this report I never got them from him and he lost his phone about a month ago Therefore let's move on...........to dinner! Since this IS a dining report, right?

We stayed in the park a good portion of the day, returning to SSR with enough time to change before dinner over on the BW. We cleaned up somewhat nice and the boys were kind enough to take a pic with their old momma:



They did say I look like a molester with my hands on their knees but at least I have photo evidence to remember them by when they leave the house and refuse to visit me. We were eating again at what is my favorite Italian restaurant on property, Il Mulino!

I don't remember what Steve had to drink but I had the really nice Moscato d'Asti they have:



And here's the non picked at picture of the Amouse Bouche they give you ( Iove saying that) of a cold eggplant salad and some Italian MEATS:



I let Steve have some of the eggplant but otherwise I pretty much eat it all myself, it's divine, not too sweet at all which it can sometimes be in this form.
Ricky's appetite was back pretty much to normal so he got an app:

Insalata Caesar
The Classic Il Mulino Caeser Salad


Nothing out of the ordinary but he likes his Caesar salads and he said the dressing on this was creamy and had lots of seasoning. He actually just said "it tastes like herbs or something" so I take that as seasoning lol. You can see they didn't skimp on the dressing!

Steve got an app we'd tried before:
Arancini di Carne
Italian Rice Balls stuffed with House-made Bolognese over Spicy Marinara Sauce

​

Little side note, I do not like the font color choices now Most of them suck.
These are *almost* as good as the old arancini from Citricos and while I haven't had the new version there, @pepperandchips has convinced me that there is no way the new version is better than these. In other words these are very good. The sauce as described is a bit spicy but not as spicy as a fra diavolo sauce would be; if I hadn't amoused myself so much with the eggplant I would have gotten an order of these also.

Our final app was Chris's :

Calamari Fritti
Lightly Fried Calamari with a Spicy Marinara Sauce


I don't eat this - EVER - but Chris ate every piece and had gotten it on our first family visit so I assume it's good! I know he doesn't like when it's soggy so I would say this wasn't soggy?

By this point I was pretty much dying watching everyone eating their apps so I was super stoked when my entree arrived. It happened to be the only entree I've gotten there on all 3 of our trips:

Rigatoni con Funghi
Rigatoni with Wild Mushrooms, Spicy Cherry Peppers, Garlic and Truffle Oil


Is that a beautiful plate of pasta or what? It tastes as perfect as it looks too! You can't see too many of the spicy cherry peppers but they're there and they're spicy! I don't really eat the mushrooms (hi Kari @kastoney look what I found!) but I do like the taste they bring to the sauce, just not their actual consistency. Every part of this dish is perfection and writing this up is making me think we shall return here in July or Sept.......

Last time we came Chris got a pizza and then refused to eat it because there was too much cornmeal on the bottom. This time he went with the same thing that Ricky got:

Pollo Parmigiana
Pounded, Breaded Chicken Breast served with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Italian Cheese

​

This is HUGE if you can't tell. HUGE. RIcky had this the first time we went and it's delicious; pounded so thin like it should be. And of course it comes with that fried tail.........just kidding lol. Ricky loved it again, Chris complained while eating almost the whole thing so take that for what it's worth lol.


CONTINUED IN NEXT POST!

 

[Tracy161]

This time Seton Hall in NJ and he liked it

Yay! I went to graduate school for a year at Seton Hall back in 2006 and loved it! I lived in Newark at the time... didn't so much love that part

Chris? Well, he's Chris.

I so enjoy your "Chris descriptions"

Your dress is gorgeous!

if I hadn't amoused myself so much with the eggplant I would have gotten an order of these also.

I see what you did there

Is that a beautiful plate of pasta or what?

Chris complained while eating almost the whole thing so take that for what it's worth lol.

Consider it noted

 

[ariane37]

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

So far everything had been absolutely delicious as always! So next we come to Steve's entree. Not Steve's shrimp but shrimp nonetheless:

Gamberi Francese
Jumbo Shrimp Egg Battered and Sautéed served with White Wine Lemon Sauce


They definitely look Jumbo! Here's the absolute only negative to the meal: Steve said these had no taste I was so disappointed for him! Chris tried one and agreed. Steve ended up eating some of my pasta and a little of Chris's chicken. He did eat all of his shrimp but was let down with the lack of taste and overload on batter.

Regardless, we still loved our meal and loved it enough to get some dessert! Ricky, while feeling better, had had his limit now so passed as did Chris because he was grumpy over not having the best meal of his life. Steve got this for dessert:

Cheesecake Italiano
Italian Style Cheesecake served with Whipped Cream and Zabaglione


I prefer my cheesecake NY style but Steve was very happy with this; I will say the whipped cream and zabaglione were velvety smooth!
Since the above isn't my cup of tea I ordered this:

Torta di Cioccolati
Flourless Chocolate Cake served with Whipped Cream and Zabaglione



Funny, I used to think "flourless" would make it taste bad so I stayed away from flourless desserts. Then a couple years ago Steve got a flourless chocolate cake somewhere in Disney and it was the best, so when I see it I get it! This didn't disappoint.

We finished our delicious and 99% super tasty meal and went outside where we Minnie Van'd it once again back to SSR. But our nigh wasn't over! For the boys it was as Ricky was tired and Chris lazy, but Steve and I were going to DS to check out the Xmas Tree Trail. Even though we were there for Thanksgiving in 2015 and 2016 this would be our first time seeing it. I'm not going to post pictures of the trees since we're half way to the 2019 trail, but there were some fun signs along the way:

By the 101 Dalmations Tree:



By the Villains Tree - turn your computers sidways guys lol





Love how they included the gets-no-love Country Bears! Then this one promoting travel agencies so of course I had to take the picture by the Peter Pan tree:



Again I apologize for the sideways look but I have no idea and no time to figure out what's wrong and how to fix it!

I enjoyed the trail; I knew the trees weren't big so I expected that. Some looked really neat and others underdone and it was longer than I thought it would be. After we were done we finally did something I've been wanting to do but always forget about; headed to Goofy's Candy Company so I could make my own rice krispie treat!!



It was dipped in dark chocolate, rolled in peanut butter chips and drizzled with white chocolate I waited till we were back in the room to try it and right away knew it wouldn't be my last time making my own treat #newemojilove Ricky stole the rest after my few bites since he was now hungry and our room was 3000 feet from any food; Chris snacked on something else we got him at Goofy's:



They were now making specialty cotton candy there so we texted him and asked him what flavor he wanted and he picked fruit punch which he enjoyed.

That was our night! Dinner was 100% better than the previous night at Ale and Compass and it was a really nice, relaxed night walking around DS by ourselves. I was glad Ricky had felt better too and was hoping it continued into the next day when we ventured off property to play and eat over on the DARK SIDE..................

 

[ariane37]

I'm trying to catch up on all your dining reports. I just got back from my honeymoon to Europe.

Hi and and congratulations on your wedding!! I hope you had an amazing time in Europe!!! I'm glad you're here catching up!

such a cute family photo! It's all about the mama here

Ha thanks, you're right and it doesn't happen very often lol

Well now I read the reviews of your main dishes and I'm reconsidering booking here.

Sorry about that! But yeah I have to say I'd stay away from there even though others have had good experiences. Too many other great places to try!

ay! I went to graduate school for a year at Seton Hall back in 2006 and loved it! I lived in Newark at the time... didn't so much love that part

Cool! And yeah I understand about Newark kind of wish you still live there though because you'd be a lot closer to me!

Your dress is gorgeous!

I actually just pulled it out of the summer clothes bin and now have to see if it still fits................

 

[disneyAndi14]

I just got home from moving Andi into her new “home” at college, she loves it where she is, I am so happy for her. The house is a typical college house, she will be living with 3 other girls. She works full time in Eau Claire so I don’t get to see her much

I’m glad Ricky was feeling better, your food looks very good on this night, to bad Steve’s shrimp wasn’t up to par! I would believe him because he knows shrimp!

How far from home are the colleges Ricky is looking at? Andi is just under 3 hours from here so not bad. Jack is about 5 hours away! My Jack just graduated with his Masters in Biotechnology, yay, so proud of him!!