Tag Archives: Disney Dining Reviews

Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Starring Rolls Cafe

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Baked Goods in Starring Rolls CafeOne of the most fun things to do while on vacation at Walt Disney World is eat!  There are so many choices, so many foods!  Snack food kiosks, counter service restaurants, sit-down table service dining, dinner shows…this list goes on and on!  If you visit Walt Disney World, it’s hard not to fall in love with certain foods and eateries that you’ll want to visit again and again.  One of those special places for our family is the Starring Rolls Café in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  I know!  You’re thinking – that’s just a little bakery, there are so many WAY better places to eat than that.  I’d have to disagree.Starring Rolls Bakery Goods

The reason we love Starring Rolls so much is that it fills a very specific niche in our dining lineup.  It’s the one place I can think of where we will eat two or three times in a single WDW vacation.  Here’s why:  We love to hit Hollywood Studios early in the morning and get right to our favorite rides and attractions.  I’ve mentioned before that we bring packaged breakfast foods from home so we don’t have to make time to eat while we get an early start on a busy park day.  We get up and GO!  So, at the Studios, once we’ve hit Toy Story Midway Mania, Tower of Terror, and Rock’n’ Roller Coaster, Bagels / Starring rols Cafewe can sort of slow down a bit before moving on.  We usually realize that our portable breakfast has long worn off by then and we need a little something to tide us over until lunch – THAT is what makes Starring Rolls perfect!  Centrally located at the beginning of Sunset Blvd., this little bakery/café offers us just exactly what we need – when and where we want it!

Bagels (and cream cheese), Danish, cinnamon rolls, sandwiches, sushi, fruit, cheese, yogurt, cupcakes – Starring Rolls is Darth Vader Cupcakes / Starring Rolls Cafelike a bakery and deli combined.  Big snack, small meal, breakfast, brunch, lunch, dessert – this place has got what you’re looking for and the food is very good!  Coffee, juice, water, tea, wine and soft drinks are all available to accompany your treat of choice.  The cafe’s outdoor seating area offers plenty of shade.  The cupcakes at Starring Rolls are a very popular treat for good reason.  One of the most popular is the Butterfinger Cupcake, but the Red Velvet is also excellent!  During the Studios’ Star Wars Weekends, the Yoda and Darth Vader cupcakes are a big hit!

To me, great counter service restaurants are not the Studios’ strong point.  Starring Rolls allows our family to catch a tasty and filling brunch Yoda Yum! / Starring Rolls Cafe(or Second Breakfast if you’re a Hobbit fan) while saving room for a more substantial dining experience later in the day.

Are you a Starring Rolls fan?  What’s your favorite thing to order there?

Starring Rolls Shaded Seating

Disney Dining – Flying Fish Cafe

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Flying Fish Cafe Menu CoverI’d heard great things about Disney’s Boardwalk (especially the Flying Fish Cafe) for a long time.  I can’t believe it took me so long to finally get there!  The Boardwalk is fantastic!  And the Flying Fish is on par with (or better than) any signature dining experience we’ve had at Walt Disney World.

We took a bus to the Boardwalk from (I think) Magic Kingdom – Old Key West to Magic Kingdom, Magic Kingdom to Boardwalk.  I know we could have actually taken a bus to Epcot, walked through Epcot, exited through the International Gateway and walked on to the Boardwalk – we wanted to be…uhm….fresher than we would have been had we walked all that way.DSCN3950

We dressed a little nicer for the Flying Fish having heard it was similar to places like Jiko or California Grill.  Arriving early enough to check out the Boardwalk area, we were delighted!  Street performers, shops, refreshment stands – there was a lot to enjoy.  We had time to watch a juggling mime and explore a couple of shops before checking in at Flying Fish.  After inquiring about waiting in the bar, we were directed to another place entirely, ensured our flashing buzzer would work at a distance.  We found the Belle Vue Lounge iDisney's Flying Fish Cafe Interiornside a different entrance at the top of a staircase – laid back, relaxed, cool and comfortable…the perfect place to enjoy a pre-dinner beer.  We had just enough time to order and pay the tab – we took the beers with us back downstairs and down the walkway to the Flying Fish when our buzzer went off.

We were seated by a very friendly hostess who informed us that our server would be Bob.  Bob sounds like such a regular name…he is, however, an extraordinary server.  Bob was fantastic from the first moment he arrived at our table to the moment we left the building…he made our dinner at the Flying Fish into something amazing!

Bob explained that the menu is customized weekly based on the freshest ingredients available –Flying Fish Cafe Artisanal Cheeses he made recommendations and described various options and daily specials in a way that made us certain of one fact:  If an old boot were on the menu, Bob would make you want to order it!  We started with appetizers.  Having heard great things about the Artisanal Cheeses, we ordered that to share.  This consisted of five tasting portions of cheeses and accompaniments – cheeses included “Cowgirl Creamery’s Red Hawk”, “Beehive Cheese Creamery ‘SeaHive'”, “Lamb Chopper”, “Midnight Moon Goat Cheese”, and “Flora Nelle”.  Accompaniments included Fig and Almond Torta, Raisins on the Vine, Honeycomb, and a Spiced Spring Melon, Sweet Onion, Golden Raisin and Mandarinquat Chutney.  If you like cheeses and trying new flavor combinations, we highly recommend this delicious and exotic plate of goodness!  Soups, salads, Flying Fish Cafe Menuand other appetizers like calamari, crab cakes, mussels, and vegetarian sushi were also available.

For entrees, Joseph and I decided the Chef’s Special – Thunder Fish (delicious!).  Raymond ordered the Idaho Potato-wrapped Red Snapper and Megan had the Oak-grilled Maine Sea Scallops.  We are a family of seafood lovers, but if your family is not, there are other (non-seafood) options.  When we were there, the menu included Lamb Chops and New York Strip.  Salmon, tuna, and pasta with shrimp were also on the menu. Flying Fish Dinner at the Boardwalk

Normally, we skip dessert in favor of appetizers (we end up too full!) and occasionally pick up something sweet later in the evening.  We were having such an exceptionally good time at the Flying Fish Café, that we lingered as long as we could.  We ordered hot tea and coffee after our meal and Raymond and I split a dessert called “Sinful Dark Chocolate Delice Creation” which had a description so unique we felt we had to try it – “Amaretto-laced Chocolate Mousse, Brownie Torta, Thai Chili-laced Caramel Sauce, Candied Bacon and Dark Chocolate Sorbet”.  Sounds like a LOT going on there, but the flavors blended SO well together and the bacon, welllll – who doesn’t like bacon?  Megan and Joseph had spotted a shop on the Boardwalk earlier that had a Flying Fish Cafe Chocolate Desserthuge candy selection and opted for something there for dessert.

Waddling happily to catch a bus for the return trip to Old Key West, Raymond and I made plans to visit the Flying Fish again.  Megan and Joseph headed back out to the parks to enjoy some more rides.  It was a GREAT evening.

Have you eaten at the Flying Fish Café?  If a meal there is in your plans – ask for Bob!