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Category Archives: Good Eats
New A La Carte Dinner Menu at Makahiki at Aulani
Guests at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa, head to Makahiki for breakfast and dinner, where the buffet stretches with dozens of global tastes. At breakfast, you can have all-American eggs and toast, or a taste of the islands with miso soup with dried seaweed and pickled vegetables. The dinner buffet is equally interesting, from fresh seafood to roast chicken, fried noodles, nishime (Japanese vegetable stew) and roasted veggies.
The new a la carte dinner menu is a nice combo of tastes, from a classic Caesar salad to pork and vegetable spring rolls and a simple shrimp cocktail for starters. Entrée standouts include amazing island-style barbecue pork ribs, a half-pound Angus bacon cheeseburger, and country fried chicken with mashed potatoes. You still can get a curry bowl with chicken and steamed white rice, or teriyaki-grilled salmon with Japanese noodles, but most of the dinner choices are more mainstream, such as bow-tie pasta with veggies and creamy basil pesto or a rib-eye steak with roasted red potatoes and creamed spinach.
Kids get a choice of cheese or pepperoni pizzas, pasta or chicken. And for sweet endings, sip a cup of Kona press pot coffee and eat a New York-style cheesecake with fruit sauce, Hawaiian chocolate cake or apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Sit back, relax…ahhhh, that’s vacation.
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Disney’s Art of Animation Resort Features Landscape of Flavors Food Court
“Better-for-you” options at five mini shops serving breakfast, lunch and dinner is the theme of the Landscape of Flavors food court at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. The new restaurant will be adjacent to the lobby.
“The idea is that you customize your choices,” says Chef Ed Wronski, Director, Food & Beverage Concept Development, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “From burgers to pasta, salads, ethnic flavors, omelets, even parfaits and gelatos, everything is made fresh as you order.”
There’s a big focus on beverages, too. Fresh fruit smoothies are made to order, as well as lemonade and pomegranate limeade. Organic teas, beer (including gluten free), wine, coffee and juices also will be stocked. Half bottles of wine are paired with cuisine from the food shops.
Menu highlights:
- Create a salad at the Soup-Salad-Sandwich Shop, including a caprese sandwich with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes on focaccia, or a Buffalo-style turkey sandwich with arugula and a blue cheese-Buffalo sauce-mayo spread. Both served with house-made potato chips.
- The World Flavors Shop adds Indian-African flair to breakfast, with scrambled eggs, tandoor potatoes, Portuguese sausage, slab bacon and a mini-naan; or a veggie flatbread sandwich on naan with cauliflower, spinach and paneer. Lunch and dinner is a choice of tandoori chicken or shrimp, Mongolian beef with vegetables, mahi mahi, Portuguese sausage or roasted acorn squash served with sides and naan bread.
- The Pizza Shop features make-your-own pasta, cheese and pepperoni pizzas and meatballs on ciabatta bread. Room delivery is an option, too.
- The Burger Shop includes a breakfast burger with chicken breakfast sausage, cheese and scrambled eggs on a multi-grain bun, and a steak-and-eggs breakfast burger with a burger topped with fried eggs, cheese and bacon. Besides the traditional burgers, lunch and dinner includes a surf and surf burger with crab cake and fried popcorn shrimp, and a pastrami cheeseburger topped with pepper jack cheese and a slice of fried green tomato.
- The “grab ‘n go” Market Shop offers drinks, yogurt, bagels, pastries, gourmet cupcakes, cookies and gelato.
The food court is part of the Disney Dining Plan.
Related articles
- Top Five Hollywood Studios Eats. (everythingwdisneyworld.com)
- New Menu Details! Landscape of Flavors at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort (disneyfoodblog.com)
5 Often Overlooked Quick Service Restaurants
Often overlooked these Quick Service restaurants are a hidden gem at the Walt Disney World Theme park!
There are two different types of dining at Disney World: table service and quick service. Table service restaurants are dining destinations that offer either buffets or served meals with appetizers, main courses, desserts, and service.
Meanwhile, quick service restaurants are set up like cafeterias offering quick, but tasty, menus where you pretty much serve yourself. However, quick service restaurants are not to be underestimated. Disney carries their use of theme, storyline, and design into these dining locations too; and some of the menus at counter service locations are incredibly delicious and a far cry from your standard theme park fare of simply burgers and fries!
1. Columbia Harbour House - This quick service location can be found in Liberty Square at the Magic Kingdom and it offers a great menu and setting. Columbia Harbour House has a New England, nautical theme set in the colonial period with dark woods, brass accents, anchors, and items from old ships decorating the walls. You will also find cupboards filled with dishes and fireplaces with odds and ends on the mantle and more in the dining areas, making you feel as if you stepped backed in time into real early America! Also, many don’t realize that this restaurant has a second floor. It’s rarely crowded there, dim and cool, and has windows overlooking the park and a great restroom. It’s a great place to escape the crowds! However, the seafood inspired menu here is the real star. At Columbia Harbor House, you can feast on a vegetarian sandwich, tuna, fried fish or shrimp, salads, and delicious Clam Chowder!
2. Sunshine Seasons – This quick service location can be found on the first floor of The Land pavilion at Epcot! Here you can dine right in the middle of all the action taking place in The Land with Soarin’ and Living with the Land right next door! The food at Sunshine Seasons is very unique in comparison to other quick service locations as some of it is actually grown inside The Land pavilion and it is the only place in Epcot’s Future World that serves breakfast! It’s also some of the best quick service food you can find in all of WDW, and a great place for those looking for a healthy meal. Sunshine Seasons offers different stations, each with their own menu. Some of the selections offered here would be Sweet and Sour Chicken, Rotisserie Chicken, a Flatbread sandwich, Strawberry Shortcake, and Soarin’ inspired Creme Brulee! Also be sure to look above to see four hot air balloons representing each season hanging from the ceiling.
3. Captain Cook’s Snack Company - Located at Disney’s Polynesian Resort, Captain Cook’s is a favorite quick service location among many guests. The breakfast menu offers standard breakfast fare, along with the famous Polynesian Tonga Toast, banana stuffed French Toast. For lunch or dinner, try to choose between a pork sandwich, stir-fry noodles, turkey club, chicken caesar salad, and a variety of flatbreads. In addition to being open 24 hours, this is also the only other place, besides Aloha Isle in Adventureland, where you can get a Dole Whip!
4. Riverside’s Mill -Port Orleans Riverside’s food court is one of the best! Here there are different stations to choose from, whether you are in the mood for sandwiches, salads, pizza, meat, or burgers. What makes this dining destination great is the setting and the Create-Your-Own-Pasta bar. Here you get to choose your own ingredients and the servings are huge! The food court is located in what appears to be an old mill with a huge waterwheel just outside. The high ceilings and variety of seating make this place appear huge! Plus, there are plenty of windows to let in light and provide a view of the waterwheel and the Sassagoula River; and the wooden beams, and relaxed, country atmosphere make it comfortable and charming!
5. Gasparilla Grill and Games – Located at the Grand Floridian, this quick service location offers a budget friendly, but yet tasty, menu for Grand Floridian guests or visitors and is open 24 hours. This dining location is both a mini food court and an arcade; but don’t let that stop you from giving it a shot. This Grand Floridian restaurant continues the resort’s light and airy decor, providing adults a pleasant place to eat and talk and kids a place to play! The menu here is also exceptional with a fabulous Caesar salad, the Grand Floridian Club Sandwich, stir fry, vegetarian lasagna, roast beef, and more!
So what is your favorite quick service restaurant at Walt Disney World? Did any of ours make your list?
Related articles
- Table Service in the Parks vs at the Resorts – Which is Better? Part 2 (chipandco.com)
- Top 10 Romantic Walt Disney World Restaurants (chipandco.com)
Top 3 Snacks at Magic Kingdom
Been awhile since lunch and too early for dinner? Snack time! There’s one thing you definitely won’t have to worry about on a Disney trip—going hungry. In fact, there are so many options, it’s often hard to choose. Some fan favorites, like the Mickey Premium Bar ice cream treats, are available pretty much anywhere on property. Other goodies can be found only at select locations. Here are our top three snack picks at Magic Kingdom:
1) This relatively new treat debuted just last year an instant crowd pleaser. It’s somewhat nutritious and very much delicious! The Nutella Waffle Sandwich can be found at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments, which is just to the left of Cinderella Castle as you enter Liberty Square from the Hub. This one’s easy to replicate at home when you need to satisfy that homesick-for-Disney longing. Other waffle “sammies” are available as well.
Nutella Waffle Sandwich
2) With over a million-and-a-half of these sold annually across Walt Disney World Resort, the Giant Smoked Turkey Leg is certainly satisfying. Each weighs about a pound-and-a-half—yes, I said a pound-and-a-half! It used to be sold as a Disney Dining snack credit, but is now charged a full Table Service credit, as it is indeed a meal of its own. You can get them at kiosks in Frontierland along the Rivers of America.
TV's Andrew Zimmern enjoys Giant Turkey Legs too!
3) And of course, the Dole Whip. You didn’t think I’d leave that one off, did you? Aloha Isle at the entrance to Adventureland is one of very few WDW locations that offer this delightfully refreshing pineapple softserve. It’s creamy and smooth, yet light and fluffy. You can also get it as a Dole Whip Float—the famous ice cream served in pineapple juice. It comes in other flavors too, but who gets those?
Dole Whip, photo courtesy Focused on the Magic
Were your favorite Magic Kingdom snacks on this list? If not, tell us what you like!
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Top 10 Romantic Walt Disney World Restaurants
Holding hands over a table in a quiet restaurant while you savor a delicious meal with the one you love…sounds perfect, right? Who wouldn’t want that while on vacation, especially since for a lot of people romance and spending time with your significant other is the main point of going on vacation in the first place!
Walt Disney World isn’t always the first place people think of when it comes to ‘romantic vacation getaways’, and what people don’t realize is they really DO cater to adults and couples as much as they do families, and when it comes to your restaurant options, there are a lot of places where you can enjoy a romantic, relaxing, quiet meal (well, relatively quiet anyway – there will most likely be families, children, and babies almost anywhere you go in WDW, it comes with the territory!)
So here are the Top Ten places to enjoy a romantic meal at Walt Disney World:
1.Hollywood Brown Derby – Located in Disney’s Hollywood Studios and modeled after the original Hollywood Brown Derby in Los Angeles, it’s classy and classic, with it’s old time-y Hollywood decor and caricatures all over the walls. It’s really like stepping back in time to vintage glamour and old movie charm, and it has great food too! Be sure to try their signature Cobb salad with grapefruit cake for dessert
2.Coral Reef – Head over to the Future World area of Epcot for some amazing seafood, and a gorgeous view of their huge aquarium, its full of beautiful aquatic life and provides a perfect backdrop for your night of romance! All the seats have great views of the fish and other creatures (the seating is tiered to allow for optimum viewing!), but if you can snag a table right next to the action then that’s even better! Try an “appetizer for two”, the lobster ravioli, and the famous Chocolate Wave dessert and you are in for an evening you AND your taste buds will enjoy!
3.Tutto Italia – Grab an outdoor cafe table at this Italian restaurant in the Italy area of the Epcot World Showcase , and do some people watching while you enjoy a leisurely meal. The setting makes you feel like you are really dining in one of Italy’s villages, and the food is authentic Italian too, dishes like fried calamari, lasagna, risotto with lobster and shrimp, plus amazing cannolis and gelato for dessert. They also serve some delicious italian cocktails, as well as some strong but delicious coffee. As far as I am concerned, nothing says ‘amore’ like an amazing Italian dinner!
4.Bistro De Paris – Above Epcot’s other French table service restaurant, Les Chef De France, sits Bistro De Paris, a quiet, intimate place for you and your significant other to experience an amzing 4 course tasting menu (with or without wine pairings), or you can order off of the a la carte menu as well – choose from seared scallops, roasted duck breast, and grilled beef ternderloin, and finish off your meal with a warm raspberry souffle. Another element that adds to the atmosphere here is the decor, which is reminiscent of early 20th century Paris, and what can be more romantic than that?
5.Plaza Restaurant – The < ahref=http://www.chipandco.com/planning/guide-to-disney-world/around-the-disney-world/hollywood-studios/>Magic Kingdom is a magical, amazing place full of rides, restaurants, and attractions. It is my favorite park in all of WDW, and that being said, I must admit – it isn’t exactly the most romantic place in the World. It tends to be crowded, loud, and full of screaming children (and adults!) having temper tantrums. Romance is not totally lost at the Magic Kingdom though, in fact it can be found right on Main Street, at the Plaza Restaurant, where you can grab lunch or dinner from a menu that includes mostly sandwiches and burgers. The food may not be fancy, but it is delicious (especially the Plaza Club sandwich, that’s my personal fave!), and they have some of the best ice cream at Walt Disney World – you and your love can linger over a banana split and simply enjoy each other’s company, I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon at WDW
6.Flying Fish Cafe – This restaurant serves up some amazing sushi and fish dishes, as well as a pretty good New York strip steak. The best thing about this place has to be it’s location, its located at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort, which is the most amazing place to take a post dinner stroll at night time – there are performers and lights and games and it is a beautiful setting for a romantic evening for two
7.California Grill – You definitely feel like a VIP as you ride the special elevator up to the 15th floor of Disney’s Contemporary Resort and enter the beautiful California Grill with it’s amazing views of the Magic Kingdom and Cinderella’s Castle. If you are lucky enough to get a window seat and a later dinner reservation, you will get quite the show as the fireworks show appears right in front of you! The California Grill specializes in fresh sushi, brick oven flatbread pizzas, and they have an extensive wine list too
8.Narcoossee’s – Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort is home to this restaurant serving up an amazing selection of fresh seafood (like a super creamy lobster/corn bisque, crab crusted mahi mahi, and a delicious seared grouper served over stir fry vegetables and rice), along with some unique desserts – my personal fave being the key lime creme brulee! The restaurant sits on the Seven Seas Lagoon, so you’ll want to make your dinner reservations for after dark so you can take full advantage of the breathtaking view of the nightly Wishes fireworks show from the Magic Kingdom.
9.Victoria and Albert’s – This is by far the ‘fanciest’ restaurant at Walt Disney World, and they are an 11 year recipient of the AAA Five Diamond Award, and their wine cellar is highly rated and award winning too, so when you dine at this restaurant in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort, you really are getting the best of the best. The menu is different each night and is a 6 course ‘prix fixe’ menu of contemporary American creations. Amazing dishes like Holland White AsparagusAlaskan King Salmon, Minnesota Elk Tenderloin, Hawaiian Kona Chocolate Souffle have appeared on the menu, and at over $100 a person (plus an additional $60 per person for wine pairings), this is a truly special, once in a lifetime experience, and what better place to celebrate your love with your significant other than at the best restaurant at Walt Disney World?
10.Yachtsman Steakhouse – Head over to Disney’s Yacht Club Resort for arguably the best steak on WDW property, or if you aren’t into beef, try their king salmon or free-range chicken. But seriously, the steak is what you want to try when you come to this New England themed steakhouse. Enjoy a delicious and romantic meal in this elegant restaurant, and then share a creme brulee before taking a stroll around the beautiful Yacht Club Resort.
I included a variety of restaurants from around the World on the list, and I included both 1 and 2 Table Service credit meals so you can find something that suits your budget (not sure what a Table Service Credit is? Check out this information on the Disney Dining Plan to learn more)
Parents traveling with children to WDW are not out of luck when it comes to planning a romantic dinner for 2- Childcare/Babysitting services are available at various WDW locations – reservations are required so be sure to plan ahead!
This list may include some of the most romantic spots, and there are plenty of other places to have a romantic meal at WDW (heck even a character meal can be romantic with the right person!). So what are your fave spots to grab a romantic meal while vacationing at Walt Disney World??
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