dmslush
<font color="navy">If you don't let your dog poop
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2000
I did my best to try to keep up with everything from our recent trip to post a dining report. On this trip:
Me 34 year old mom
SO 45
DD 15
Ratings:
1 being worst, 5 being to die for LOL
12/19/06: Boma
We drove to WDW from TN so we were worn out when we got there LOL. We stayed at AKL and our first meal was dinner at Boma. Our ADR was for 5pm. We were starving so we went down just a few minutes before hand. The restaurant, it appears, doesn't open until 5pm. We checked in at the podium and got our flashy little pager thingy. There were a TON of people already there, but we were one of the first families called back. I think maybe two families had gone in ahead of us. Our server was Maureen. She took us through the buffet and explained everything to us, and showed us things that may have changed since our last trip. She actually loaded up a sample plate of items that she thought we might enjoy. It was like our own private little tour! We had a mixture of everything. She said something about the Zebra Domes had changed, but I didn't notice anything different about them. The Hummus was fabulous as usual. They had Durban Flank Steak and it was also very good. This is one of our favorite restaurants and it did not disappoint!
X5
12/20/06 (this was a huge eating day LOL)
Breakfast: Crystal Palace: We had a 9:05am ADR for Crystal Palace. I am always early for everything, we arrived at about 8:20am. The park was not open yet, but they allowed us in even though our ADR was still quite a ways off. We got some great pictures of the castle. This was your typical breakfast fare that you get at any of the breakfast buffets. The waffles were very good, the bacon was thin and crispy (just like we like it) and the eggs were yummy. The best part was the breakfast lasagna. It was a very, very good, but quite sweet also. Micheal Todd was our waiter, he was johnny on the spot. Character interaction was very good, except Eeyore didn't make it around to our table. That was okay, we have been there several times before, and I would rather him take his time with the little ones who haven't seen him before!
X4
Lunch: Pinocchio Village Haus. We stopped in here for lunch. It was a pleasant surprise food wise. The restaurant in itself.. well, the we had to clean off a table for ourselves. The staff just seemed to hit or miss the messes that people made. One chair that I started to sit in was full of coke that someone had spilled. DD had a pepperoni pizza, she said that it was really good. SO had the Antipasto salad, which he enjoyed. I had the Turkey and Bacon Panini, and it was great, although HUGE. That sandwich is enough for two people to share easily. We also had the cannoli for dessert. I didn't care for it, it was filled with Chocolate Chips, and I am not a chocolate Chip fan. I've never eaten a Cannoli before, so maybe it was perfectly fine, just not something I would normally eat. So, I am not including that in my scoring:
Food: X 3 1/2
Restaurant Cleanliness: X2
Dinner: Biergarten: SO picked this restaurant out. You are seated family style, which means that you will be placed at a table with another family. I have no problem with this, except that the father in the other family did not seem to happy with this seating. He looked at us right off the bad and said, "We had three other people that were supposed to join us, but they canceled at the last minute." The family then did not speak to us the rest of the meal. Although the father grumbled constantly about there not being a dinner show while he was eating. I felt very uncomfortable with the whole situation. I don't know what everyone else had to eat, dd and I did not enjoy the food except for the bavarian cheesecake. SO, on the other hand ate a ton of food and loved it all. So, it is just different tastes.
SO gives this food X5
12/21/06:
Breakfast: Ohana: This was our MVMCP day so we were taking it easy. We had never had an opportunity to eat at Ohana before and thought this would be a great day. Our ADR was for 8:20, we were taken back about 10 minutes early. They do ask you if you have any allergies at the podium. DD and I are both allergic to Mango. Our server, David, came out to talk to us about the allergy. He said that he was not allowed to leave any food or fruit on the table until the Chef came out and talked to us. He did leave drinks for us. It took a few minutes for the Chef to come out, but he was very polite. He assured us that nothing was prepared with Mango and told us to enjoy our meal. David brought out fruit and danishes that were very good. DD does not eat much breakfast foods, so I always worry about finding her something to eat at these meals. She enjoyed the fruit, said it was very fresh. He then brought out the skillet. It had Eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausages and biscuits. It was a huge amount of food!! He offered to bring us more as we were nearing the bottom of the skillet. SO and I didn't want anything else, but dd wanted more potato wedges. She really enjoyed those. The character interaction was great! Stitch was a hoot and made this slurping sound to make it appear that he had licked dd's head. We had a blast at this breakfast and look forward to going back. Our table view was directly in front of the castle.
X 5 for everything associated with this meal!
Dinner: Restaurant Marrakesh: This meal was kind of disappointing. We were seated quickly but then had to wait a minimum of 10 minutes before the server ever came to our table. He then came and said he was swamped and would be back in a few minutes! The restaurant was only about half filled, I didn't see him waiting on any other tables. It was very strange. He asked us right off the bat if we were on the dining plan, we told him that we were. He wanted out order for our appetizers and entree right then. SO wanted a cup of their specialty coffee, we were told that we would have to pay for it as it was not on the dining plan, no problem. However, he was not offered anything else to drink, nor was his coffee ever refilled. For Appetizers, I ordered the Chicken Bastilla, SO ordered the Seafood Bastilla, and dd ordered the Jasmina Salad. All were okay, nothing special, nothing bad. For our entree, I ordered the Chicken Kebabs, SO ordered the Seafood Platter, and dd ordered the Lemon Chicken. DD did not care for her chicken. She said that it tasted different than the last time she had it, but couldn't put her finger on what was different about it. SO and my meal was okay. For dessert, SO and I had the Moroccan Symphony and dd had the Marrakesh Delight. Dessert for all of us was very good. When the bill came, there were two separate checks, one on the dining plan, and one for the coffee. The server included at 18% gratuity on the coffee. I thought this was might presumptuous of him. His service was horrible at best. None of us received any refills at all, and he seemed terribly bored with everything.
Food X3 1/2
Service:Youseff.. run if he is your waiter!
12/22/06
Dinner Mama Melrose: Server was Kimberly, she was pretty good.. much better than Youseff LOL. For our appetizers, I ordered Bruschetta which I loved. This was extremely good. SO ordered Calamari. He said it was great, I have only had it once and didn't like it, so we will take his word for it. DD had a caesar salad, which she enjoyed. For our entree, I had the Sirloin.. it wasn't that great. It had a funny flavor to it. I also ordered it well done, there was part of it that was mooing LOL. DD had the chicken Parmesan, she enjoyed it. SO had the Fra Diavolo, he also said it was just okay. For desert, they had the Gelato, which they said was very good. I had the Hazelnut Cheesecake, which.. like the rest of my meal, was just okay.
Food X 3
12/23/06
Dinner: Jiko: This was our grown up Date Night. DD met a friend and spent the evening touring AKL, while SO and I dined at Jiko. I tell you, if you have not tried this restaurant, please do. It is fabulous. For appetizers, SO and I ordered the Kenyan Coffee BBQ Chicken Flatbread and the Taste of Africa. Both were outstanding. The sauce on the chicken and flatbread is not what you would imagine when you think of BBQ sauce. It is very rich and with just a hint of coffee flavor. The mixture of apples, chicken and sauce is outstanding. The taste of africa consists of different dips and breads. Many of these can be tried at Boma if you are interested. For our entrees, SO had the Durban Shrimp Curry. He loved it. I had the Filet Mignon with Macaroni and Cheese because I have heard so much about it on these boards. It was perfect. I like my steaks well done. I usually don't order them out anywhere, because it seams that (such as Mama Melrose) parts of it will be well done and parts will not. The waitress asked it I minded if the chef butterflied it, I told her that I didn't mind at all. It was perfect, it was moist, flavorful, a delight to eat. Enough cannot be said about the Mac and Cheese. I would love to find this recipe!! It is not what you would imagine Mac and Cheese to taste like!! For dessert we both had the Jiko Dream Pyramid. It was a white chocolate mousse with roasted banana and pineapple. It was very good, but different. The pineapple was overpowering at times.
Meal X 5
Atmosphere X 5
Service X 5
12/24/06
Breakfast: Boma: We met another DISer family for breakfast at Boma as our children have become fast friends on the teen board. It was a wonderful breakfast. At home, I usually have yogurt and fruit for breakfast. I was delighted when I found yogurt on the bar with fruit and granola nearby. There is a ton of stuff to chose from at this buffet, but be aware that the omelet/egg to order lines backs up very quickly. There was no way any of us could have gotten omelets and still kept to our schedule! The frunch that is served with breakfast is also very good.
Food X 5
Dinner Chef's De France: We had this meal as part of the Candlelight Processional package. For appetizers, I had Soupe a l'oignon gratinee (French onion soup) very good! SO had Tarte a la Flamme Alsacienne (flat bread with onions and bacon), he enjoyed it. I have had it before and it is very good. DD had Tarte a la tomate et fromage de chevre (tomato and goat cheese tarte). She really enjoyed it, I did not. For our entrees, I had Cote de Porc Fermiere (pork chop and sweet potato puree). This was very good. The chop was moist and tender and the sweet potato puree was excellent. SO had Thon poelle aux olives (Tuna) I don't think he was overly impressed with it. DD had Gratin de macaroni (baked Macaroni) She was very pleased with it. For our desserts, they had Creme Brulee, I had a chocolate tarte. Both were very good. We had to ask our server for our Candlelight Processional badges. It took them quite a while to find our names on the list, and then we didn't have a time assigned to us. He was able to get it straightened out fairly quickly. I didn't like how closely they have the tables pushed together. We were at the long bench area with tables in front of it, and two chairs on the opposite side of the table from the bench. There was literally about 12 inches of space between SO (who was sitting on the bench) and the man at the next table! It is just way too crowded in the restaurant.
Food X 4
Seating at the restaurant X2
Overall thoughts. I can see where some people are beginning to think that the dining plan is 'ruining' things. The restaurants are more crowded, the servers are more rushed and the food seems to be a little less 'great' than before. We left some of our favorites feeling a little disappointed this time (Marrakesh & Chef's) and on the other hand, had great experiences at other old favorites (Boma and Jiko).We have decided that we will branch out on our next few trips and try different places. However, overall it was a great trip with the abundance of the servers really working hard for us.
Me 34 year old mom
SO 45
DD 15
Ratings:
1 being worst, 5 being to die for LOL
12/19/06: Boma
We drove to WDW from TN so we were worn out when we got there LOL. We stayed at AKL and our first meal was dinner at Boma. Our ADR was for 5pm. We were starving so we went down just a few minutes before hand. The restaurant, it appears, doesn't open until 5pm. We checked in at the podium and got our flashy little pager thingy. There were a TON of people already there, but we were one of the first families called back. I think maybe two families had gone in ahead of us. Our server was Maureen. She took us through the buffet and explained everything to us, and showed us things that may have changed since our last trip. She actually loaded up a sample plate of items that she thought we might enjoy. It was like our own private little tour! We had a mixture of everything. She said something about the Zebra Domes had changed, but I didn't notice anything different about them. The Hummus was fabulous as usual. They had Durban Flank Steak and it was also very good. This is one of our favorite restaurants and it did not disappoint!
X512/20/06 (this was a huge eating day LOL)
Breakfast: Crystal Palace: We had a 9:05am ADR for Crystal Palace. I am always early for everything, we arrived at about 8:20am. The park was not open yet, but they allowed us in even though our ADR was still quite a ways off. We got some great pictures of the castle. This was your typical breakfast fare that you get at any of the breakfast buffets. The waffles were very good, the bacon was thin and crispy (just like we like it) and the eggs were yummy. The best part was the breakfast lasagna. It was a very, very good, but quite sweet also. Micheal Todd was our waiter, he was johnny on the spot. Character interaction was very good, except Eeyore didn't make it around to our table. That was okay, we have been there several times before, and I would rather him take his time with the little ones who haven't seen him before!
X4Lunch: Pinocchio Village Haus. We stopped in here for lunch. It was a pleasant surprise food wise. The restaurant in itself.. well, the we had to clean off a table for ourselves. The staff just seemed to hit or miss the messes that people made. One chair that I started to sit in was full of coke that someone had spilled. DD had a pepperoni pizza, she said that it was really good. SO had the Antipasto salad, which he enjoyed. I had the Turkey and Bacon Panini, and it was great, although HUGE. That sandwich is enough for two people to share easily. We also had the cannoli for dessert. I didn't care for it, it was filled with Chocolate Chips, and I am not a chocolate Chip fan. I've never eaten a Cannoli before, so maybe it was perfectly fine, just not something I would normally eat. So, I am not including that in my scoring:
Food:
X 3 1/2Restaurant Cleanliness:
X2Dinner: Biergarten: SO picked this restaurant out. You are seated family style, which means that you will be placed at a table with another family. I have no problem with this, except that the father in the other family did not seem to happy with this seating. He looked at us right off the bad and said, "We had three other people that were supposed to join us, but they canceled at the last minute." The family then did not speak to us the rest of the meal. Although the father grumbled constantly about there not being a dinner show while he was eating. I felt very uncomfortable with the whole situation. I don't know what everyone else had to eat, dd and I did not enjoy the food except for the bavarian cheesecake. SO, on the other hand ate a ton of food and loved it all. So, it is just different tastes.
SO gives this food
X5 12/21/06:
Breakfast: Ohana: This was our MVMCP day so we were taking it easy. We had never had an opportunity to eat at Ohana before and thought this would be a great day. Our ADR was for 8:20, we were taken back about 10 minutes early. They do ask you if you have any allergies at the podium. DD and I are both allergic to Mango. Our server, David, came out to talk to us about the allergy. He said that he was not allowed to leave any food or fruit on the table until the Chef came out and talked to us. He did leave drinks for us. It took a few minutes for the Chef to come out, but he was very polite. He assured us that nothing was prepared with Mango and told us to enjoy our meal. David brought out fruit and danishes that were very good. DD does not eat much breakfast foods, so I always worry about finding her something to eat at these meals. She enjoyed the fruit, said it was very fresh. He then brought out the skillet. It had Eggs, potatoes, bacon, sausages and biscuits. It was a huge amount of food!! He offered to bring us more as we were nearing the bottom of the skillet. SO and I didn't want anything else, but dd wanted more potato wedges. She really enjoyed those. The character interaction was great! Stitch was a hoot and made this slurping sound to make it appear that he had licked dd's head. We had a blast at this breakfast and look forward to going back. Our table view was directly in front of the castle.
X 5 for everything associated with this meal!Dinner: Restaurant Marrakesh: This meal was kind of disappointing. We were seated quickly but then had to wait a minimum of 10 minutes before the server ever came to our table. He then came and said he was swamped and would be back in a few minutes! The restaurant was only about half filled, I didn't see him waiting on any other tables. It was very strange. He asked us right off the bat if we were on the dining plan, we told him that we were. He wanted out order for our appetizers and entree right then. SO wanted a cup of their specialty coffee, we were told that we would have to pay for it as it was not on the dining plan, no problem. However, he was not offered anything else to drink, nor was his coffee ever refilled. For Appetizers, I ordered the Chicken Bastilla, SO ordered the Seafood Bastilla, and dd ordered the Jasmina Salad. All were okay, nothing special, nothing bad. For our entree, I ordered the Chicken Kebabs, SO ordered the Seafood Platter, and dd ordered the Lemon Chicken. DD did not care for her chicken. She said that it tasted different than the last time she had it, but couldn't put her finger on what was different about it. SO and my meal was okay. For dessert, SO and I had the Moroccan Symphony and dd had the Marrakesh Delight. Dessert for all of us was very good. When the bill came, there were two separate checks, one on the dining plan, and one for the coffee. The server included at 18% gratuity on the coffee. I thought this was might presumptuous of him. His service was horrible at best. None of us received any refills at all, and he seemed terribly bored with everything.
Food
X3 1/2Service:Youseff.. run if he is your waiter!
12/22/06
Dinner Mama Melrose: Server was Kimberly, she was pretty good.. much better than Youseff LOL. For our appetizers, I ordered Bruschetta which I loved. This was extremely good. SO ordered Calamari. He said it was great, I have only had it once and didn't like it, so we will take his word for it. DD had a caesar salad, which she enjoyed. For our entree, I had the Sirloin.. it wasn't that great. It had a funny flavor to it. I also ordered it well done, there was part of it that was mooing LOL. DD had the chicken Parmesan, she enjoyed it. SO had the Fra Diavolo, he also said it was just okay. For desert, they had the Gelato, which they said was very good. I had the Hazelnut Cheesecake, which.. like the rest of my meal, was just okay.
Food
X 312/23/06
Dinner: Jiko: This was our grown up Date Night. DD met a friend and spent the evening touring AKL, while SO and I dined at Jiko. I tell you, if you have not tried this restaurant, please do. It is fabulous. For appetizers, SO and I ordered the Kenyan Coffee BBQ Chicken Flatbread and the Taste of Africa. Both were outstanding. The sauce on the chicken and flatbread is not what you would imagine when you think of BBQ sauce. It is very rich and with just a hint of coffee flavor. The mixture of apples, chicken and sauce is outstanding. The taste of africa consists of different dips and breads. Many of these can be tried at Boma if you are interested. For our entrees, SO had the Durban Shrimp Curry. He loved it. I had the Filet Mignon with Macaroni and Cheese because I have heard so much about it on these boards. It was perfect. I like my steaks well done. I usually don't order them out anywhere, because it seams that (such as Mama Melrose) parts of it will be well done and parts will not. The waitress asked it I minded if the chef butterflied it, I told her that I didn't mind at all. It was perfect, it was moist, flavorful, a delight to eat. Enough cannot be said about the Mac and Cheese. I would love to find this recipe!! It is not what you would imagine Mac and Cheese to taste like!! For dessert we both had the Jiko Dream Pyramid. It was a white chocolate mousse with roasted banana and pineapple. It was very good, but different. The pineapple was overpowering at times.
Meal
X 5Atmosphere
X 5Service
X 512/24/06
Breakfast: Boma: We met another DISer family for breakfast at Boma as our children have become fast friends on the teen board. It was a wonderful breakfast. At home, I usually have yogurt and fruit for breakfast. I was delighted when I found yogurt on the bar with fruit and granola nearby. There is a ton of stuff to chose from at this buffet, but be aware that the omelet/egg to order lines backs up very quickly. There was no way any of us could have gotten omelets and still kept to our schedule! The frunch that is served with breakfast is also very good.
Food
X 5Dinner Chef's De France: We had this meal as part of the Candlelight Processional package. For appetizers, I had Soupe a l'oignon gratinee (French onion soup) very good! SO had Tarte a la Flamme Alsacienne (flat bread with onions and bacon), he enjoyed it. I have had it before and it is very good. DD had Tarte a la tomate et fromage de chevre (tomato and goat cheese tarte). She really enjoyed it, I did not. For our entrees, I had Cote de Porc Fermiere (pork chop and sweet potato puree). This was very good. The chop was moist and tender and the sweet potato puree was excellent. SO had Thon poelle aux olives (Tuna) I don't think he was overly impressed with it. DD had Gratin de macaroni (baked Macaroni) She was very pleased with it. For our desserts, they had Creme Brulee, I had a chocolate tarte. Both were very good. We had to ask our server for our Candlelight Processional badges. It took them quite a while to find our names on the list, and then we didn't have a time assigned to us. He was able to get it straightened out fairly quickly. I didn't like how closely they have the tables pushed together. We were at the long bench area with tables in front of it, and two chairs on the opposite side of the table from the bench. There was literally about 12 inches of space between SO (who was sitting on the bench) and the man at the next table! It is just way too crowded in the restaurant.
Food
X 4Seating at the restaurant
X2Overall thoughts. I can see where some people are beginning to think that the dining plan is 'ruining' things. The restaurants are more crowded, the servers are more rushed and the food seems to be a little less 'great' than before. We left some of our favorites feeling a little disappointed this time (Marrakesh & Chef's) and on the other hand, had great experiences at other old favorites (Boma and Jiko).We have decided that we will branch out on our next few trips and try different places. However, overall it was a great trip with the abundance of the servers really working hard for us.
