#GettingChunky - A Nov 2019 F&W Dining Report! NEW 6/2 THE END our Last Day of Eating!

[pkondz]

Following along.

 

[Minniedoc]

I love your TRs! Just what we all need now, especially those of us who go several times a year!

Thank you so much and keep em comin!

 

[kastoney]

Got my forky and I'm ready to eat!!!!

We had a late dinner at McCoy's Bar and Grill which is in the lobby and is open until pretty late. I recommend it if you are staying there or have an extended time in the airport. For a hotel restaurant it's quite good and they have sushi which is what we opted for that night.

We've eaten here a few times too and have really enjoyed it. Much better than anything you can get behind security.

We had an early event that day...a 10am Cheese seminar! Why not start the day off with some wine and cheese, right?

RIGHT Looks like a great event. We are hopefully doing F&W in November and I really want to try some of the events. Just not sure we can take the kiddo to any

The popcorn was fine, I prefer salty to sweet popcorn but really I just wanted the apple! It's really cute and sits in my room right now. I think the cider was light and refreshing and a little tart.

They could have put the star wars pop corn in here and I would have gotten that apple. So cute

I got the Fuzzy Tantaun because I liked it the last time. I didn't get the numbing feeling last time but I definitely got it today!

If we ever go back again this is definitely what I will get. I so ordered wrong when we were there

It's a fun place to check out for first timers and to stop for a libation but I wouldn't make this a destination that I'd make another ADR for. It would be more fun to just casually stroll in and out when visiting GE.

I could not agree more. Why the place isn't 4 times the size and you can just pop in for a drink is beyond me. They really did a great job on the land but this is the one major flaw in my book

Love the ears!!!

YUM!!!!!!! Get those veggies out of there and pretty sure I could exist for life on this platter alone. I like you wouldn't care for the meats much so we don't do Ohana but if I could just order this I would be all over it

We had a great first day at Disney! Can't wait for tomorrow when we go to one of our favorite food and wine events, the French Family Meal at Monsieur Paul. Stay tuned!

You all really packed in a lot in one day. Gives me all the Disney feels....

 

[MyGoofy26]

I know it’s only 9AM but I skipped dinner last night, haven’t had breakfast yet, and want to dive headfirst into that Ohana appetizer platter and not come up til it’s empty. That’s normal, right?

I’m with you—I’ll take some stuff from the skewers, but that platter is the star of the show for me.

I’m sitting on two reservations right now for our trip while we figure out the park plans for the week—Saturday at 3:45 and Friday at 7:45–and I’m half tempted to actually plan to eat there both nights.

 

[Magical_Suitcase]

You two are so cute! I can say that since I am an old person. We are allowed to speak our minds.

it's a huge amount of food and we need to get our money's worth lol.

My motto for sure, you paid for it, get your money's worth (as long as you are not depriving others, which in this case, you are not.)

We started with the pineapple-coconut bread:

Looks good but I have never tried it.

the appetizer platter:
Pork Dumplings tossed in Garlic-Ginger Sauce served with Peanut and Sweet-n-Sour Sauces, Honey-Coriander Chicken Wings, Teriyaki Noodles, and Stir-fried Vegetables.

This could be my entire meal. No need for anything after the appetizer.

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Wow, what an awesome first day! I could so totally start drinking wine and eating cheese at 10:00 a.m. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[franandaj]

On this trip we ate/drank at:
'Ohana
Monsieur Paul
Takumi Tei
Oga's Cantina
Ale 'n Compass
Satuli Canteen
had two F&W Events: Cheese Seminar and Tailgate Tasting
and ate lots of snacks from F&W and all around the World!

Sounds like a great line up of places to eat!

we choose to stay at the Hyatt MCO which we book using a free night certificate we get from our Hyatt credit card. They just renovated the entire hotel and it's really nice now. We were upgraded to a mini suite which had a little sitting area and the room had 2 TVs!

Nice! I liked the one time we stayed there before our cruise.

We started with some drinks. Steve got a glass of cabernet and I got an old-fashioned.

I don't know why, but the only beverages I can drink when eating sushi are water or sake.

We had an amazing server and chit-chatted with him all night. He found out it was our anniversary a week before and gifted us with champagne and some cheesecake even though we didn't order dessert. So sweet.

That was really sweet of him!

The TTC is such a quick walk from the Poly so we often walk there instead of taking the monorail and transferring.

We do that too, way better than taking the monorail all the way around.

at each place setting there was the wine and cheese already set up.

Nice! That looks yummy!

on each plate there was honeycomb

I love ❤ honeycomb. I have some in my pantry. I should make a cheese plate one night during this quarantine.

At DHS and we headed straight to...Oga's Cantina!

I think I with you and sort of over this one.

Steve got himself a Jet Juice - Maker's Mark Bourbon, Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur, Cedilla Açaí Liqueur, White Grape Juice, and Lemon Juice,

Never had that one, not a real Bourbon drinker, and Chile Liqueur might put me out.

Chunkydust had a The Outer Rim - Patrón Silver Tequila, Cedilla Açaí Liqueur, Lime Juice, Pure Cane Sugar, with Black Salt and Exotic Fruit Purée. Steve and I also shared one as a second drink and it was really good, probably another favorite from Oga's.

I had this one and it good, but the stuff on top was a little weird for me.

It's a fun place to check out for first timers and to stop for a libation but I wouldn't make this a destination that I'd make another ADR for.

This! I totally agree, then again, I have an Oga's review coming up in my next Bonus Feature.

I really spend the majority of the time eating potstickers and noodles and really don't care for the meats that much. Steve loves it through! We try not to eat so much during the day when we come here since it's a huge amount of food and we need to get our money's worth lol.

You would like our "Polynesian Dinner" as well!

Then we had the salad, which in recent years has gotten healthier. I don't mind as I actually like dark greens and dried cranberries although there doesnt' seem to be anything tropical about them.

That doesn't look anything like the salad that I remember!

Andy my favorite part, the appetizer platter:

Last time I was there, the noodles and veggies were served separate from the pot stickers and wings. I remember when the potstickers and wings were on separate plates and I think there was a third appetizer.

I used to love this so much! Now I can just manage a few bites before it just gets too filling and too sweet. Must be that my tastes have changed with age, LOL. But still, those first few bites are delicious!

Oh, I had no problem finishing the thing with Fran helping out. We almost had a competition!

Can't wait for tomorrow when we go to one of our favorite food and wine events, the French Family Meal at Monsieur Paul. Stay tuned!

Oh MY! That's one of my favorite as well!

 

[Mich123]

Yum! I'm dreaming of Disney and looking forward to your report!

 

[Mom2m&k]

So excited to read your report! I’m following you on instagram and I have to say your home cooked meals look amazing! Okay can I ask how do you take magic express the next morning?

 

[DaisyNY]

Following along...it's a great distraction from reminding me we should be in WDW right now! Fingers crossed our rescheduled October 2020 trip works out...

 

[bcwife76]

Yum yum yum, a trippie devoted to food?? I'M IN!!!

Your Epcot ears are freakin' adorable!

Alright I'm salivating already

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Hi Su-Lynn! Just found this and am following along.

 

[Steppesister]

Subbed in.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Day 2: Sunday November 10

We had a good rest the night before and we were ready to get the day rolling! We slept in a little and then walked over to the TTC to head on the monorail to Epcot.

I wanted a bite to eat, and knowing we'd have a huge meal later at Monsieur Paul, we decided to share something healthy at Sunshine Seasons.

Broccoli and Egg-White Soufflé with Multigrain Croissant and Fruit

I am actually a fan of multigrain breads and pastries, I like stuff with texture and so I really enjoyed the croissant and all the various grains in it. The egg white souffle was actually pretty good, it's like an omelette but in bundt cake form, LOL. I'd get this gain if I didn't want to eat a huge meal for breakfast.

Our first FP+ was for Figment so we went to ride that.

And then we took at trip to the DVC lounge as we were exiting the dump shop. We had a bit of time before our next FP+ so we spent some time just lounging.

We fueled with some k-cup coffees and got some snacks.

Our next FP was for LWTL, Steve's favorite ride, LOL.

I love how they have different displays during each season and how it corresponds to each festival.
Obviously this is Fall

After LWTL we made our way over to Monsieur Paul and checked in for the French Family Meal Traditions, an exclusive event for the Food & Wine Festival. We did this in 2017 as well and LOVED it. In fact, we saw a couple whom we sat with last time doing the same meal on the same weekend two years before. You can read about that meal here. We waved and said hi and we totally remembered each other!!

You are seated in tables of 6-8. If your party is less than that, you're seated with other guests, but that's why it's called the French FAMILY Meal, because you arrive as strangers and leave as friends! For both times we've been there we've sat with 2 other couples, and they were all so nice and friendly! Maybe we were lucky but almost everyone we've met at Disney events have been wonderful because we share that common bond of...Disney...and FOOD!

The menu usually changes each weekend they have the meal so if you stay for longer than a week you can potentially have a completely different meal! I would totally be down for that, LOL! You don't know what they are serving until you get there. I'm sure they can accommodate for allergies, although by how much, I am not sure.

This was our menu for today, which was completely different from what we had 2 years ago.

It sounds amazing already!

Oh and the wine is literally free-flowing. We had an aperitif, which was this rose champagne

That gentleman sitting next to Steve was a riot. He had the driest sense of humor and kept us laughing the whole time.

Our amuse-bouche was this lovely puff pastry that had goat cheese and tomato. It was delicious and a perfect little teaser!

I had barely drunk my champagne (I'm actually not a rose fan) and they had already poured the first white wine, a Macon Uchizy, I don't know what that means but it was a white wine. I'm sorry I'm not more descriptive than that with wine (I just drink it) but it paired really well with our first course:

This was an egg en "cocotte" which is a nice way of saying baked or poached eggs. It was served with an amazing truffle cream and a delicate crouton, almost like a crisp brioche. It was perfect, rich, but not overwhelming, a great start.

Oh look they have started pouring more wine. This one is a Tavel. Which was like a very light red wine, and I just found out is a rose blend. I actually liked this one, it had more flavor than a rose.

It paired very well with our main course, which was salmon, served with spinach "cream" and potatoes gratin. It was a great entree. I normally don't like cooked salmon, I much prefer raw salmon like in sushi, but this one was so delicately cooked it was just approaching raw. I don't know how they did this, it must have been a sous vide or some sort as it was the same done-ness throughout. I'd eat cooked salmon all the time if it were like this!

Having polished off our plates and somehow I never seemed to have polished off our drinks. Our server literally would fill up our glasses when we're not looking! I had to tell them to stop because I can't drink that much!

This was our cheese course which was served with a deeper red. This was a Montboissie which was a firm cows milk cheese with a bit of ash pressed in. It was so good! I have never met a cheese I didn't like. The wine was like a burgundy and shown here:

You can see I still have all my other wines, they basically don't let you finish your wine, LOL.
It's like the bottomless brunch.

And finally our dessert, this amazing Tarte Tatin, which is an apple tarte. It was nice and light but still retained that richness with the pastry.

I don't know how I got to dessert with all my wine glasses still full but oh well, LOL.
We finished everything on our plates and we were stuffed!

At the end of the meal the entire kitchen team came out to cheers and claps and shouts of "Encore!!" They totally deserved it!

As you can see, the French Family Meal has amazing food and wine. It was all paired beautifully with French wines but yet the meal is all very approachable, even if you've not had much experience with French food or wine. Throughout lunch our tablemates and us enjoyed some really fun lively conversation. We all LOVED Disney and we spent hours talking about our experiences. We really wanted to do it again this year (or another year since this year may be a bust). We exchanged email addresses and hoped to repeat this again on another date in the future.

I emailed our table mates this picture. So fun!

Oh and the service is amazing, everyone there is super friendly and genuinely seem to love working there.

This is Jean Luc, the Maitre-D (I believe he is the Maitre D), and he kept us entertained throughout the meal. When we were leaving he saw that someone was carrying a large camera and he asked f they would like to take HIS picture, LOL. Of course they obliged and I snuck in like papparazzi!

Wow what an amazing and satisfying meal. We could not eat for a while which was fine, we did a few rides including Frozen.

We walked all over Epcot, which is my favorite thing to do. We ducked in and out of the pavilions and I spent a long time inside the Future of Epcot installation at the Odyssey. I thought it was so cool!!

I managed to get a same day FP at Test Track which was awesome.

When it hit 6pm it was time for our 2nd Food and Wine event of the day, the Tailgate Tasting! It was a new to us event and it showcases cuisines from the cities that are playing against each other on Monday Night Football. That evening we happened to be there for the Seahawks (Seattle) vs the 49ers (San Francisco).

We checked in at the same event space as we had the cheese tasting the day before. We sat towards the back (again), LOL. On each seat there was an apron for each person to take home and it alternated per seat, so a couple would get one of each. If you were solo I wonder if you would get your choice in case you didn't like your team apron, haha.

This time we had a trio of beverages with the first being a chardonnay, the second, a beer, and the third a red blend. Each was paired with a food item inspired by the cities of the teams. We were also given a little leaflet with the recipes on it.

So there was a chef preparing each dish live on stage. He was very nervous and I think it was his first time on stage because he kept screwing up everything, LOL. His rice was so watery it wouldn't stick together, and the same for his seafood paste for the slider. It was funny though and he acknowledged he wasn't sure what he was doing, haha. Soon servers came by with this platter, all the food is served at once which makes it easier.

On the front you have the Seattle Seafood Slider, and on the back left you had an Asian inspired sandwich with pressed Rice-a-roni shaped into a bun, and on the top right you have dessert, which was a Raspberry goat cheese crumb cake.

It's funny as I thought I'd like the rice-a-roni thing the best as I like rice and Asian flavors but it wasn't my favorite, it was good, but I ended up liking the thing that I thought I wouldn't, the cake! It was really good! I normally don't gravitate towards the sweets, but this cake had a really nice goat cheese flavor which toned down the sweetness and gave the cake so much depth. I can't really describe it but it made a regular cupcake turn into an umami flavor bomb. The Seafood slider was also pretty good, it was like a crab cake but it had other seafood in it, I think shrimp and salmon. Overall, it was a really nice tasting and it was just the right amount of food after our heavy lunch!

Here's a better picture of the food:

It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend the tasting, even if you aren't football fans. It's reasonably priced and you get an apron to keep! Score!

We finished the night with a ride though the deep blue sea, and visited Mickey and friends at the new Character Spot which took over one part of Innoventions since their regular spot is all under construction.

My girl:

We took the monorail back to the Polynesian and I saw that HEA was going to begin soon so we walked to the water near the bungalows and watched it there. They pipe in the music and it's awesome.

We had the most amazing day at Epcot, which is my favorite park!
So many different experiences can happen in one day and I love it!

Coming up...Dinner at Takumi Tei!​

 

[TeresaNJ]

Haha, somehow I missed your first full day, and started with your second, and was like, wait, what cheese seminar? We've never done the French Family Meal Traditions, but it sounds great! Our must every F&W Festival is the Parisian Breakfast. I'm so hoping that's still a go this year. I'm anxiously waiting, like everyone else, to see how this pandemic is going to affect WDW's opening, and future operations.

 

[pkondz]

That Mr. Paul dining experience looks wonderful. I've eaten there once and thoroughly enjoyed it. I give Mr. Paul high marks.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Broccoli and Egg-White Soufflé with Multigrain Croissant and Fruit

The souffle looked good! Definitley would be something I would consider trying if I was there for breakfast!

After LWTL we made our way over to Monsieur Paul and checked in for the French Family Meal Traditions, an exclusive event for the Food & Wine Festival. We did this in 2017 as well and LOVED it. In fact, we saw a couple whom we sat with last time doing the same meal on the same weekend two years before. You can read about that meal here. We waved and said hi and we totally remembered each other!!

Your meal sounded fantatsic! All of the courses you were given looked delicious, especially the salmon!

And its great you enjoyed the couples you were paired with for the meal! Such a nice photo of all of you.

Here's a better picture of the food:

This sounded very cute as well. I like how they give away freebees!

Beautiful photo - looks like a picture on a post card!

Coming up...Dinner at Takumi Tei!

I am so excited to hear abou this!

 

[missjackiemcg]

What a perfect Epcot day!! I remember reading about this meal the last time that you did it, was it already 2 years ago!?! I'm not a wine drinker, so I'm thinking most of this meal would be lost on me, but the dishes sure looked tasty!

The Monday Night Football event sounds more my speed, LOL, but I'd just take 3 Miller Lites with my dishes

Beautiful fireworks shot at the end!!!

 

[micheleq]

Following! I love your DR and TRs ❤

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

Living vicariously through your trip report. Food is making me super hungry.