Category Archives: Disney Dining Reviews

Disney World Restaurant Review: Narcoossee’s

Posted on by

It’s finally the weekend!  And you know what that means…Saturday’s With Nick!  I love when Nick does reviews of restaurants I’ve reviewed so I can compare our experiences.  I also love when Nick reviews a Walt Disney World restaurant I’ve not yet tried, or in the case of today’s installment, tried so long ago (25 1/2 years to be exact) that I cannot recall much of anything about our meal – other than we enjoyed it, the service was good, and we ate something with alligator in it.  We are going to give Narcoossee’s another try and have an ADR (advance dining reservation) booked for late December.  I’ll be curious to see if things are as good as we remember and if our experience is similar to Nick and Barbie’s.  I’ll tell you this – If scallops are still on the menu, I’m going to order them!

Disney World Restaurant Review:  Narcoossee’s

by: Nick

Since becoming a blogger, I travel differently, keeping an eye out for interesting topics to write about.
Blogging also influences dining choices at restaurants. I usually try to choose different items than Barbie, so I have at least 2 menu selections to review.  This doesn’t always work out. When we visited the Yak and Yeti Restaurant at Disney’s Animal Kingdom on our trip in October of last year, we both ordered the Chicken Lo Mein. But at least I had other photos from previous trips to write about.
What I’m getting to is this, the review of Narcoossee’s is going to be slim in the food review portion, because we both ordered the exact same thing, and as this was our first visit, there’s nothing else to fall back on.  Also, I apologize for how dark the photos are, the lighting in the evening at Narcoossee’s is pretty intimate.

Narcoossee’s is located on the shores of Seven Seas Lagoon, at the end of the Grand Floridian transportation boat dock.

We gave our names at the podium, and were handed a pager. We decided to have a look at the menu, so headed for the bar area.

On the way, we passed the open kitchen and the wonderful staff. Be sure to say hello!

 
I was impressed with the beer menu, not overwhelming but a nice selection.
 

We asked the bartender for a food suggestion, and he said his favorite was the scallops.

As I perused the beer list, our pager went off. As we were being brought to our table, Barbie spotted a man wearing a vest covered in Disney pins. She approached him, and they spoke at length. He came over to introduce himself and his wife. They were locals, and they also suggested the scallops, as well as the calamari.

If you time it right, and have a table facing Cinderella Castle, you can see Wishes at the Magic Kingdom. I made our advanced dining reservation at 180 days out for 8:00 pm, thinking the fireworks would be at either 8:00 or 9:00 pm. They were at 10:00 pm that evening, and while I could have changed our ADR, we both agreed that was rather late for dinner.

The menu is somewhat limited.

As our bread was being set on the table, we asked our server for an entree suggestion, and weren’t really surprised when she said the scallops.

The bread was very crunchy with a soft center, almost a sourdough. I love butter with salt, and this was course, better yet!

We shared the  Crispy Rhoade Island Calamari with pepperoncini-olive relish and tomato coulis appetizer.

I thought it was very light and crispy yet tender, not chewy. The relish was just the right kick, and the tomato coulis was the perfect acidic addition. Barbie thought they were the best Calamari she’d ever had! With a salad, this could easily be an economical choice for an entrée.

For dinner, we both ordered the Pan-seared Georges Bank Day Boat Scallops with Trofie pasta with Sultana raisins, Marcona almonds, young string beans and herb creme with wild mushrooms, lemon-thyme-mustard au jus and arugula.

We both agreed these were the best scallops we’d ever had. They were perfectly prepared, and as good as they were, the pasta and mushrooms in the lemon-thyme-mustard au jus was even better. Shhhh, if you listen carefully, you can hear my stomach growling now as I write this!

We would have loved dessert, but were too full!

There is no doubt we will return to Narcoossee’s in the future, and we will try to choose different food selections, but it won’t be easy!

Be sure to follow Nick and Barbie on all their adventures (so you won’t miss a thing)!  You can find Disney Musings on your favorite social media sites:  Disney Musings Blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, On Instagram, On Pinterest.

 

 

 

Disney Dining – Beaches and Cream’s Kitchen Sink

Posted on by

If you have a sweet tooth, this post is for you!  Today, Nick’s wife Barbie shares their experience at Beaches and Cream (located between Disney’s Beach Club and Yacht Club resorts).  Barbie, Nick and their friends conquered The Kitchen Sink – the craziest ice cream sundae in the World!!!  (See the complete Beaches and Cream Soda Shop menu here.)

Disney Dining – Beaches and Cream’s Kitchen Sink

Imagine going into a restaurant and ordering a Kitchen Sink, and you really get the kitchen sink! Despite the fact that it was freezing cold and January, that’s what my husband and I did with our friends, Kandi and John. The lights in the restaurant dimmed, you could hear the crowd hush and people started clapping and ta dah! This is what was delivered to our table!

 Here’s a listing of what this amazing dessert includes:
(thank you to disneyparks.com for this thorough breakdown) 

  • fudge topping, warmed
  • butterscotch topping, warmed
  •  peanut butter topping, warmed
  • 1 medium banana, sliced in 1/2 –inch slices
  • 1 cinnamon spice cupcake, quartered
  • 1 angel food cupcake, quartered
  • 2 4-oz. scoops vanilla ice cream
  • 2 4-oz. scoops chocolate ice cream
  • 2 4-oz. scoops strawberry ice cream
  • 1 4-oz. scoop mint chocolate chip ice cream
  • 1 4-oz. scoop coffee ice cream
  • 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup
  •  marshmallow crème
  •  strawberry topping
  •  pineapple topping
  • 1 14-oz can dairy whipped topping
  • 1 brownie, quartered
  • 1 regular-sized (2 ounce) candy bar, quartered
  • 4 chocolate cookies (oreos-basically) with cream filling
  • 1 tablespoon sliced toasted almonds
  • 1 tablespoon dark and white chocolate shavings
  • 1 tablespoon chocolate cookies with cream filling, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon chopped jellied orange slice
  • 1 tablespoon milk chocolate chip morsels
  • 1 tablespoon peanut butter chip morsels
  • 1 tablespoon chocolate sprinkles
  • 1 tablespoon rainbow sprinkles
  • 1/2 cup drained maraschino cherries
Barbie, Kandi, John, Nick

Look at us, we didn’t know what we were getting into! We couldn’t stop laughing once we saw what this was, and it was ours! The question now, could we finish it off? It’s a long list of ingredients, too many to ponder on for any length of time…so did we finish it, and was it any good? Well, the consensus was that it was an fun and awesome dessert, that definitely needs to be shared with good friends; and yes, we absolutely were able to finish it off, and almost wound up licking the sink clean!!

Don’t get the wrong idea, we’re not done yet in this pic!

For more adventures with Barbie and Nick, follow Disney Musings on social media:  Disney Musings Blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, On Instagram, On Pinterest.

 

Breakfast at Cape May Café in the Beach Club

Posted on by

Enchanted Tiki TalkAgain!  Can you believe how lucky we are?  Last week, we had an awesome planning post by Keith from the Enchanted Tiki Talk Podcast and today, I’m super stoked to bring you a post by my friend Sean who also happens to be a host in the Tiki Hut!  Sean’s bringing us a great restaurant review – those of you who love character meals will love this post! (For lots more Disney fun, be sure to follow Sean and Enchanted Tiki Talk on Twitter and Like Enchanted Tiki Talk on Facebook, if you haven’t already, please give the podcast a listen – Sean, Keith, and Alan do a great show and score awesome interviews!)

Breakfast at Cape May Café in the Beach Club

By Sean from Enchanted Tiki Talk Podcast

There are several good character breakfast buffets at Walt Disney, but one of my favorites is at Cape May Café in the Beach Club resort.

My wife Sharon and I have grown to love Cape May Café. Not only is the resort a great place to visit but Cape May Café is much quieter than Chef Mickey’s. Granted Mickey doesn’t make an appearance here but you do get Goofy, Donald and Minnie Mouse. But you also get them in their swimming suits which is a nice touch. Disney certainly plays up the beach atmosphere at the resort which adds to the charm of your breakfast there.

Now Cape May Café is smaller and a little less rowdy in my opinion. The food selection is a bit smaller as well but they still serve all the basics like, pancakes, eggs and Mickey Waffles among other things.  The staff was always attentive and we never felt like we needed to get out of there for the next guest to sit. We also like to book the later times for character breakfasts just because it usually is a little less crazy.

The thing that we really have come to love is the character experiences. The last few times we have gone we have noticed that the characters spent a little more time with the kids. Just as an example Goofy drew his name on my sons paper mat on the table and then Minnie Mouse came for pictures with my son and then noticed my daughter sleeping in the stroller. Next Minnie wanted a photo-shoot covering her mouth with 1 finger showing us that we need to be quiet with a sleeping baby there.  Then you have Donald who stole my hat. You would think after Mickey’s Philharmagic he would have learned his lesson. Sean's Cape May Cafe Review 1

In many ways I felt it was more of an intimate experience with the characters. I think some of that comes into play because it does feel smaller and there isn’t ever a rush to get to the Magic Kingdom.  It is just less chaotic overall and that’s what I love about eating there.

I know lots of people prefer to eat in the parks or feel like they don’t want to stray too far from the parks, but just taking time to explore the Beach Club Resort is worth the trip. Just as an example take a look at Stormalong Bay which is the pool that is shared by the Beach and Yacht Club. It has a sandy bottom and probably one of the best water slides on property.  As a non-resort guest you probably can’t explore the pool area but maybe if you ask nicely they might let you have a look.

I think the biggest thing for me here is that it’s a great idea to get out of the parks and explore the resorts a little more.  You can certainly kill a few hours exploring the Epcot area resorts especially at night. But for something a little different take a look at Cape May Café for breakfast. Oh did I tell you that at night it’s a seafood buffet with all the crab legs you can eat! Well now you know. Only thing is it’s not a character meal but did I mention all you can eat Crab Legs!!!

Have you tried Cape May Café?  Where is your favorite character dining experience at Walt Disney World?

 

Disney Dining – Flo’s V8 Café at Disney California Adventure

Posted on by

Saturdays With Nick!  For this week’s installment, I choked back some very unbecoming jealousy over Nick and his wife, Barbie, having visited Disneyland in 2013 to bring you an awesome dining review.  I’ve dreamed of going to Disneyland forever, but every time I mention it to Raymond, he makes some dire statement about California being the “onramp to the apocalypse” (if it’s not shaking, it’s burning or there’s a horrific mudslides or epic drought).

Never one to give up on a dream, I’ve devised a plan for possible 2017 implementation (we’ve already planned our 2016 Disney vacations) which would get me, finally to Disneyland.  I’m going to propose we visit Aulani (Disney’s Vacation Club property in Hawaii) and stop on the way there for a couple of days at Disneyland.  I’m pretty sure I can make this happen…I’ll keep you posted.  In the meantime, we’ll just have to look back on Nick and Barbie’s adventures….

Disney Dining – Flo’s V8 Café at Disney California Adventure

A few days ago, I shared a video from Flo’s V8 Cafe at Disney California Adventure. Today, I’d like to share a more thorough review of the food.

I’d read that the food was good, but I had no idea just how good!
Let’s start with our first lunch.
This was literally the first place we stopped on our visit to Cars Land, as it was near lunchtime, and we were very hungry.

Upon entering, we were handed a menu by a cast member.

There are also displays of the menu choices in a case in front of the order station/ registers.

And, if that weren’t enough, they are also clearly displayed over the food counter.

I ordered the Pork Loin with Coca Cola BBQ Sauce. For sides I got the Roasted Corn Medley and cole slaw, for $11.49.
First off, several of my favorite words are in the entree name “Pork”, “Coca Cola”, and “BBQ”.
And this did not disappoint!  In fact, I honestly think Disney should be bottling and selling this sauce. It is excellent! I loved my meal.

Barbie ordered the kids Macaroni and Cheese meal, with a bag of carrots and a bag of apples. When asked if she would like the souvenir Lightning McQueen Racer, she said “No”.
I immediately said “Yes she does!” It’s awesome! The mac and cheese was very good too.

This cost $11.99.
We also got a strawberry milkshake, $4.29, and a chocolate milkshake in a souvenir cup for $9.59. Both were creamy without being too hard to drink through the straw. We also split an Apple Cheddar “Pie-O-Rama” for $4.99, also delicious.
We sat in a wonderfully themed dining room overlooking the Radiator Springs Racers attraction.
There is also ample outdoor seating.
So, how much did we like the food here?
We ate 3 more meals at Flo’s!
I’m running out of adjectives, so before I go any further, and this is going to sound like hyperbole, but I’m being honest, we loved everything we had, which was just about the entire menu by the end of our 5 day trip.
We shared a breakfast with my wife’s cousin, Jill, and Jill’s husband, Zach.
American Breakfast with scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon and a biscuit for $7.99, and the Chicken Tamale Breakfast with chicken tamale, scrambled eggs, salsa verde and pico de gallo – $7.99
On another night, my wife had the Citrus Turkey Breast with Old Fashioned Turkey Gravy– $11.49 , with mashed potatoes and the corn medley.

I had the NY Strip Loin with Home-Style Beef Gravy – $11.99, with potatoes and cole slaw.

For dessert we split a Chocolate Mudd pie. Wow, is that rich!
At night, the neon makes Flo’s extra lovely!
We also had lunch with new friends, Tips From the Disney Diva writer, The D’land Diva, and her family, and tried the kids meal sandwiches. I suggest asking for gravy on the side, as they were a bit dry without, but the gravy makes them delicious! We split the Seasonal Fruit Pie, which was pear and cherry.
I really can’t recommend a meal (or 3) at Flo’s V8 Cafe more, so stop in if you need a fill up!
 
You can read all about Nick, Barbie, and their passion for all things (and places) Disney:
Disney Musings Blog / Disney Musings on Twitter / Disney Musings on Instagram / Disney Musings on Facebook

 

Have you been to Disneyland?  What was your favorite dining experience?