Hello again everyone! I recently went to the WDW Resort from September 23- October 3 for the Food and Wine Festival. Here are just a few food highlights from my trip! We stayed at Bay lake Tower in Disney's Contemporary Resort in a one bedroom villa. When we arrived in our room we had a nice plate of chocolates and macaroons waiting for us! The white one is designed after the WDW monorail.
Citrico's
We went to Citrico's our first day for dinner, at The Grand Floridian. The food was definitely something I recommend. We had a cheese plate appetizer, and for my entree I had braised beef short ribs. For dessert, I had key lime pie. The waitress was extremely nice and attentive. They weren't too busy that night either.
Tiffins
We also went to the new restaurant, Tiffins, at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
The entrance area has a check-in counter with beautiful carved maps behind it.
While we waited for our table, I took the chance to explore the different rooms. Each are supposed to be themed after lands at DAK.
The first area is themed after Africa and the Kilimanjaro Safari:
Then there's the room we sat in which was themed after Discovery Island.
Finally I took a look at Nomad Lounge, I believe they have a smaller menu in there.
Glass of Rose
For our appetizer we had three types of bread with dipping sauces. The breads include a papadum with dipping sauces of pomegranate olive oil, harissa yogurt, Zhou yogurt, and black eye pea hummus. I have to say the pomegranate olive oil was my favorite of the dipping sauces.
My entree was the duck, which was absolutely outstanding! It was served on parsnip puree, truffle reduction, and peach gastrique. The peach went nice with the duck, giving a little sweetness to the dish.
We also had the chermoula rubbed chicken. This was a more traditional dish, but was very good!
My dessert was a lime cheesecake. I didn't know what to expect but it was a really nice dessert, not too heavy and a nice way to top off the meal.
We also had a South American Chocolate Ganache. I'm not the biggest fan of rich chocolate but it was tasty.
The Whispering Canyon
The Whispering Canyon is a great restaurant for BBQ. But we decided to try the breakfast there. They have a skillet for the table and a traditional breakfast menu. I had the skillet myself. It included Mickey waffles, a biscuit with gravy, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and home-fries. I could have asked for more of any item. I did ask for an extra biscuit, they were very good. Plus I had a lot of extra gravy! Everything else was what you would expect. All of it was cooked perfectly.
Some Food & Wine Festival Foods
One of the main reasons we went was the for the food and wine festival. Here are a few items we tried.
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| Duck Confit with Creamy Polenta |
This was a very good dish. I love duck, and polenta. So this didn't disappoint.
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| Ricotta and Zucchini Ravioli |
This wasn't the best dish, but it's a good vegetarian option.
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| Loaded Mac & Cheese |
This is one of the best dishes at the festival. It's loaded with bacon, cheddar cheese, green onions, and peppers. I highly recommend this!
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| Beet Salad |
A pretty standard salad. I don't love beets but the goat cheese was great.
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| Lamb stew |
This was absolutely delicious! The lamb was in a sauce and it came with mashed potatoes and parsnips.
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| Seafood Fisherman's Pie |
This is a rich dish. It has fish inside and topped with mashed potatoes. The only fish I could identify was scallops.
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| Warm Chocolate Pudding with Irish Cream Liqueur Custard |
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| Beer Braised Beef with Gouda Mashed Potatoes from Belgium |
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| Belgian Waffle with Berry Compote |
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| Belgian Waffle with Chocolate Ganache |
I thought the beef and mashed potatoes were good. The waffles are the best part of Belgium, though. I preferred the berry compote to the chocolate.
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| Smoked Beef Brisket on Garlic Toast |
The US offered a great BBQ brisket on Texas toast.
The Plaza Restaurant
The Plaza is always a great restaurant for milkshakes, burgers, etc. I ordered the milkshake with free refills! I had a vanilla and a strawberry. Another member of my party had a chocolate and a vanilla. The vanilla was my favorite, I like milkshakes sweet. While the strawberry wasn't sweet enough, I'm also not the biggest chocolate ice cream fan and the same goes for milkshakes.
I also had tomato bisque, it's absolutely delicious. It's creamier than tomato soup so it's a little more rich. The croutons on top were good. For my entree I had the club sandwich, which I always like. It has ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, and tomato, on sourdough bread served with fries. After a few milkshakes, I was too stuffed for dessert.
Brown Derby Lounge
We went to the outdoor patio at the Brown Derby, which has lighter options than the restaurant inside. I had the derby sliders, which includes a cheese burger and a duck confit sandwich. The burger was great, it had bacon and gouda cheese. The duck slider had taleggio cheese and a sweet onion-orange conserve. Both were really good, I'm a big duck confit fan and this slider worked really well. It was served with chips.
We also had a cheese and charcuterie board. It included prosciutto, salami, a pate, blue cheese, romano cheese and more. Everything on it was great.
Of course when you go to The Brown Derby, you have to get their famous Cobb Salad! The lounge offers it, just like the main restaurant does! It's one of my favorites and just as fresh outside as it is inside.
Le Cellier
The restaurant in Canada at Epcot is a little pricey, but the food is outstanding! They have three types of bread. My favorite is the pretzel bread-stick. I had a bowl of their famous Canadian Cheddar Soup, I didn't get a picture of it, which goes great to dip the pretzel bread-stick in. Also not pictured is the Le Cellier Signature Poutine. This is a Classic Canadian dish. French fries with gravy and cheese curds. The gravy here is actually a red wine reduction, but it goes really well with the fries.
I had the Filet Mignon with truffle butter sauce, asparagus tomato relish and risotto. This has to be one of the best steaks. I really love the accompaniments and the truffle butter is outstanding.
Another member of my party had the Angus New York Strip. New York Strip in Canada? Who would have thought? This was good as well and it came with potato-turnip gratin, three peppercorn butter, and crispy onions.
For dessert we tried Camembert Cheesecake. It was different. Not as sweet as normal Cheesecake with cherry gelee in the middle, which I guess was a candied cherry. It's served over a honey. We also had Nanaimo Pie with chocolate-hazelnut crust, coconut custard, and creme anglaise. To be honest I don't remember much about the flavor but I wasn't too impressed. Overall the desserts weren't really a home-run, but the appetizers and main course makes up for that.
Tutto Italia
The last restaurant I'm going to review is Tutto Italia at Epcot. We started off with Antipasto which included salami, prosciutto, mushrooms, artichokes, olives, caramelized onions, mozzarella, peppers, and a cheese, I think Romano. This is a great appetizer and serves two people.
We also had Insalata di Mare as an appetizer which had things like shrimp, squid, and octopus. I'm not a big seafood fan but it was a hit with the seafood lovers at the table.
My entree was Polenta Valsugana. It has braised short ribs, meatballs, and sausage served over creamy polenta. It's a very hearty dish but very good. We also had Lasagna which is your typical dish, nothing too unique about it, but good.
And for dessert I had lemon ricotta cheesecake, which was a nice light dish after a heavy meal!
That's all for my food reviews. I really enjoy the restaurants and foods at WDW. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what to try on your next trip!
