Welcome back to Day 4 of Eat the World and thank you all so much for reading and for your kind comments.
At this point, just as Jason and I were really beginning to get into our vacation groove, my parents arrived. This was not unexpected, but we weren't sure how they would respond to our, how shall I say this...somewhat unorthodox vacation methodology.
To encourage them to actually eat food without harrumphing at the menu prices we talked them into purchasing the Dining Plan, which was also a first for us since DVC members have just been allowed to participate in this program since April of this year. I'm not convinced that for Jason and me the dining plan is the best value because of the unstructured way that we tend to approach most of our vacation dining, but it did have its good points and certainly was responsible for some good eats that we might not have otherwise had.
More about the
DDP later....
Today is Saturday, October 21 and we are moving over to the BCV...the park hoppers are burning a hole in our pockets and we want to check in early so that we can start using the plan credits.
Breakfast for the day did not warrant any pictures...we each had a blueberry muffin purchased from Goofy's the night before and we washed it down with a whole lot of Dasani to try to flush the woozie-boozies from our systems.
We managed to get over to BCV with all of our luggage and complete the check-in process for all four of us by 10:30AM (my parents didn't arrive until later in the day but I was trying to make things easier for them) - no surprise but the room wasn't ready.
It was another very hot day. And we couldn't leave my backpack with bell services because all our money, tickets, electronics, and all my drugs were in it. Originally we wanted to try Sci-Fi for lunch - we were both looking forward to trying a $10 milkshake (remember the scene in Pulp Fiction when Vincent Vega asks what a $5 milkshake tastes like; he then tastes it and says, "That's a pretty good f------- milkshake!") Well, we were all ready for our Pulp Fiction spoof at Sci-Fi but that backpack was heavy and we decided it was best not to stray too far from the Beach Club. We wandered over to the Boardwalk where the line for the Bakery stretched out the door and halfway across the walkway towards the lake. Then we saw the sign outside of Seashore Sweets advertising their gourmet coffee. An iced coffee beverage sounded good to us, but for some reason the place didn't open until 1PM. Are Jay and I the only ones confused by this? Don't most people want coffee in the morning hours?
OK - next try...ESPN Club for that yummy tuna pita. D'OH! They're not open yet. Looks like we're headed to Epcot - sure hope there's an open locker left at the International Gateway.
By the time we made it through security and found a locker it was after 11AM and the world showcase was just opening. In our experience late morning and early afternoon have always been the best times for eating around the world - smaller crowds always make this a more enjoyable experience.
Did I mention that it was hot? I just can't bring myself to eat when it's really hot like this and when I'm trying to shake off alcohol from the prior evening's indulgences. Jason has a stronger stomach than I do and at one point in our wanderings he stopped at the South Africa booth to order the Durban Spiced Chicken on Sugarcane with a sample of Beyond Sauvignon Blanc.
I let him eat most of this. The chicken wasn't bad but I wasn't in the mood for hot and spicy just then - I was castigating myself for not packing our swimwear in my backpack so that we could be waiting for our room to be ready while sucking down cool frosty drinks at the pool. Oh well, we must soldier on. The little white square that the chicken was served with was some type of terribly tasteless cornbread - my guess is that it was designed to soak up the hot and spicy. I thought it looked like a pre-moistened postage stamp sponge.
The wine, by the way, was quite good. But I still liked my bottle of Dasani better at this point.
Our next stop was Japan. I had read many reviews that raved about the Kaki Gori stand and it struck me, and about thirty other people, that this was a fine day to see what the fuss was all about.
Well the fuss was right! It's a snowcone and we chose the rainbow which was orange tangerine, strawberry, and honeydew melon. For $2.25 this was a great value - it was big enough for Jason and me to share while we cooled off in a shady outdoor seating area near Teppanyaki, and it tasted really good. Some snowcones are watered down and tasteless but this baby was bursting with sugary flavorfulness (is that a word?).
After this we decided to head back to the hotel and try Beaches and Cream...not a smart move on a hot Saturday afternoon. There was a 45-minute wait for a table and since it was already 1:30PM we didn't want to do much damage because we had 6:30 PM ressies at Rose and Crown. So, we ended up at the BeachClub marketplace...and our first attempt at using the DDP. There is much confusion in the happiest place on earth when it comes to DDP - information appears to change on an hourly basis depending on who you speak with. We decided to keep things simple and split a CS credit - ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, picked up a bag of chips, some bottled water and an apple. The sandwich was not fresh - ever buy a sandwich out of an airport vending machine that gets serviced once a week? That was this sandwich. The hot options and the salads were being prepared as they were ordered, but here again I ran into the same problem I had at AP - I didn't want hot food and salad is a no-no. And can't someone please explain this sudden irrational WDW prejudice against tuna fish sandwiches???
I was inspired once again, much to Jason's annoyance, to break into song:
Where have all the tuna gone?
Long time swimming
Where have all the tuna gone?
They taste so good.
Skip ahead now to dinner - we've got our 2-bedrom villa, we've had some pool time, we've cleaned up, we've greeted the parental unit, and are now en route to Epcot for dinner. Rose and Crown is a perennial favorite of ours, and my step-father was eager to give it a try - my mom was indifferent. This is a perfect instance where the dining plan was a great tool because without it my parents would never have crossed Rose & Crown's threshold.
The restaurant gods smiled down on us with such favor on this evening...read now how my mother mortally offended them and set the tone for the rest of the week....
Our ADR was for 6:30PM - like good little patrons we checked in about 15 minutes early and were given a pager. By now Epcot, specifically the world showcase, was filling up rapidly. My mom was already starting to lose her lips (this happens when she gets annoyed, which is about 95% of the time) and she showed no interest in strolling about checking out the cute little F&W booths while waiting for a table.
We didn't wait long to be seated - maybe 10 minutes - and can you feel our delight when we were led to a table on the lower patio of the restuarant...prime dining real estate for viewing Illuminations!! Share the delight with us:
Here are my parents...they don't like having their picture taken and smiling makes my mom's face hurt but they tried to pretend like they were having fun:
Maybe beer will help the situation? I ordered a pint of Boddingtons and Jason ordered 18 inches of Boddingtons and then...shock my soul if my step-dad didn't order the other 18 inches!
Hooray beer!!!
The alcohol was not covered by the DDP, but all the food you are about to see was. This meal was 1 TS credit for each of us and included an appetizer, entree, and dessert.
I ordered the fruit and cheese plate. It was very colorful and the grapes and strawberries were very good but I didn't care for any of the cheese selections which is odd because I normally love cheese. My only complaint is that our server didn't tell me what the cheeses were when she brought this course out for me. Oh well - I got to try the other appetizers on the table and there was yummy bread to eat.
Here is the bread:
And here is the fruit/cheese plate:
Jason and Jon both ordered the lamb and barley soup which was quite tasty...
And my mom ordered the prawn cocktail, which was also good (but it's hard to mess up shrimp cocktail, don't you think?).
For my entree I ordered the beef stew flavored with Guinness Stout, served with mashed potatoes, and a cheddar cheese cracker. This was very good but there was no way I could finish all of it.
Jason ordered the steak and fish which is described thusly: Grilled Steak with horseradish aioli, Harry Ramsden's Batter-fried Fish, green beans and mashed potatoes. I didn't try it but Jason licked the plate clean.
My mom ordered the grilled steak which was served with Yorkshire pudding, green beans, mashed potatoes and beef demi glace. This met with her approval.
Jon had the chicken pasty - chicken and fresh vegetables wrapped with pastry, topped with cream sauce and served with mashed potatotes and green beans.
For dessert I ordered the Bailey's Irish Cream Trifle - this was the bomb and came with lots of chocolate and if someone can find the recipe and send it to me that would be great.
Jason had the chocolate Guiness cake...I tried some of this and it was pretty darn good, too. I liked mine better because it was more of a textured dessert and it was not as heavy as the cake, but if I were forced to eat this for dessert I could suffer through it somehow.
Jason and I also ordered a coffee drink...some kind of cappucino with booze in it but I don't recall exactly what the mixture was. But it was sure good!
What? Don't look all surprised by the fact that I can't remember what was in this drink...just go to R&C and get one of your own, you won't be sorry.
Jon ordered the warm apple crumble for his dessert:
My mom ordered sticky toffee pudding and then after eating some of it paid me a great compliment: She thinks my sticky toffee pudding is better!! It's all in the sauce, baby!
Do you know what her gripe was with R&C's sticky toffee pudding? It didn't have enough sauce. Are you guys looking at the same picture that I am, because it looks to me like that little cake is swimming in a caramel-y pool of sticky goodness that could have fed all four of us. But that's my mom...she's a sauce freak.
So, dinner is over, it's growing near to time for Illuminations, there are many empty tables on the patio, and just as Jason and I are settling in for a good sit to enjoy the show my mom says, "Let's go - it's too crowded."
Huh? Whut? Have you been taking my drugs on the sly?
We tried everything we could to convince her to stay but she would have none of it, insisting that if you've seen one fireworks show you've seen them all. Jason and I explained that Illuminations is different and watching the show from this spot will be sooooo coooool but she insisted that we leave. Considering that it was just the first night of our week together we didn't feel like we could let her and Jon leave without us, and so because of her we missed Illuminations altogether that night and offended the restaurant gods by leaving. I'm still annoyed when I think of it - next time I'm going to be less polite.
We all know how hard it is to get that kind of table at R&C and when you've got it you just don't walk away from it.
As for Rose and Crown, we thoroughly enjoyed our meal. The food was excellent - their mashed potatoes were extremely tasty - and the service was very good. For Jason and I this restaurant remains on our list of Epcot favorites.
BTW - we received such great service that we did leave a tip in addition to the 18% supposedly provided with the dining plan.
Look for Day 5 soon, which will include Sweet Sundays, Hurricane Hannahs, and the Plaza Restaurant.
Thanks for stopping by!
OK, OK, just kidding...or am I?
