If It Sinks, We Drinks: Spring 2018 Dining Report *Complete 7/29 Les Halles & Via Napoli

[Hettie]

Day 2 – April 25
Well, it WAS a peaceful area…​

I set my alarm for 7:00 am but there was no need because that’s what time Asher woke us up every day, which was an appropriate time for us to get ready and be at rope drop on park mornings. This morning we got ready very quickly for an earlier start for our PPO Garden Grill breakfast, which was at 8:25 but we wanted to be at the IG entrance closer to 8:00 in order to have a leisurely stroll through a mostly empty World Showcase. When we stepped outside we were surprised that the air felt chilly. The humidity was low and temperatures were in the 60s early in the mornings, which made for awesome weather for park touring the majority of our trip.

Security and tapstiles were a breeze and we were on our way.



I love doing PPO breakfasts in order to walk through empty parks. Without the sensory blocks from the crowds, you can notice all the small details, hear the area music clearly, and take it all in. I love seeing the landscape CMs finishing up their morning work, it’s such a peaceful way to see the parks.



We checked in for our breakfast right on time and I requested a booth on the lower level. After just a short wait we were seated. Our server came by right away to get our drink order and returned very quickly with our coffees, POG juice, and water for Asher (he only drinks water- by choice!).

The characters started coming by right away, we got to see Chip, Dale, and Mickey before we even had any food, which I liked because then we could focus on eating a bit more. I love how you can place your child in the booth so that their back is to the direction the characters approach from, which keeps them more focused on food, less anxious and impatient, and pleasantly surprised when they do show up. The interaction was great and the biggest hit of the morning was Pluto. He snuck around the corner and stuck his nose right in Asher’s face which kept him giggling the whole time Pluto was there giving plenty of hugs.



Getting back to the food, here is the massive cinnamon roll and some lovely looking fruit:



The fruit was nice and fresh, Asher enjoyed the fact that there were plenty of strawberries, grapes, and blueberries. We barely made a dent in the cinnamon roll, but it was fresh and warm.

While we were working on the fruit and cinnamon roll, our platter was delivered:



Sorry a scoop of eggs is missing and a waffle, but I remembered just in time to snap the photo. Everything here was fresh and tasty, I had a small amount of everything with the Nutella sauce and salsa applied when warranted (forgot to photograph those). Chad also had everything, but mostly attempted to founder on tots. Asher liked the sausage and fruit, I managed to shovel a few bites of eggs into his mouth as well. I have a very strange child who refused to even taste the cinnamon roll, tots, or Mickey waffle. Oh well, at least he got more protein and fiber that way.

Overall, we loved this breakfast. The food was tasty and fresh, the characters were fantastic, and the atmosphere was more relaxing than a typical character meal. I was a little surprised that Asher even loved seeing the scenes from Living with the Land as we rotated by, I thought that might be a little over his head, but he enjoyed it and was excited to go on the ride when we left.

Day 2 to be continued…

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I'm in!! Looks like you hit some great spots and I'm looking forward to following along. I can imagine that the initial accidents were very stressful -- glad they were fleeting and likely due to excitement. You totally scored on your Beach Club view!! Totally agree with you on what a dream the International Gateway entrance is and am pretty worried about how the Skyliner will impact that. Love the social media / reality contrast... so true! Totally agree with you and your husband that pina colada anything always feels like I'm drinking suntan lotion. Interesting how our mind can "trick" us like that. Sorry Choza wasn't entirely relaxing but your snacks look good. I love the guac at Frontera so will have to try this if I can't get a table in La Cava. Breakfast at Garden Grill looks great!!

 

[kastoney]

I'm here!!!! What a great trip so far. So glad you all are getting good weather. You deserve it after your last trip. How did you like Beach Club? We're staying there on our next trip

I can't believe how big Asher is getting. What a cutie! I remember those 3 year old just potty trained days myself. I didn't want to take Casey until she was potty trained because changing diapers and Disney was not something I wanted to deal with. So when we finally took her I was so crazy about her having an accident I swear I made her go in every bathroom we ever passed. So you know I had more than a few bathroom arguments myself.

Loving all your F&G food, especially all the drinks of course Can't wait to check out the new Mexican cart. Those margaritas look awesome.

So glad to hear you loved Garden Grill. We went there a few trips back and are due for a return.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Joining in! I'm guessing you stopped in Warner Robins/Macon based off your timing! We used to live in Macon & had visited the Cracker Barrel a few times if its there.

Glad the accidents got better after the initial excitement was addressed.

Nice snacks around the Flower & Garden Festival! I'm with you on the Gose (that salty sour in a beer is just weird!)

Garden Grill seems like a success! That environment seems very nice for meeting characters without feeling you will miss them if you go to the Buffet!

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Great report so far! Looking forward to more

 

[Hettie]

I'm in!! Looks like you hit some great spots and I'm looking forward to following along.

We did hit some good ones that were new to us, thanks for joining in.

I'm here!!!! What a great trip so far. So glad you all are getting good weather. You deserve it after your last trip. How did you like Beach Club? We're staying there on our next trip

I can't believe how big Asher is getting. What a cutie! I remember those 3 year old just potty trained days myself. I didn't want to take Casey until she was potty trained because changing diapers and Disney was not something I wanted to deal with. So when we finally took her I was so crazy about her having an accident I swear I made her go in every bathroom we ever passed. So you know I had more than a few bathroom arguments myself.

Loving all your F&G food, especially all the drinks of course Can't wait to check out the new Mexican cart. Those margaritas look awesome.

Thanks for joining in! The weather was the absolute best we have ever experienced for a WDW vacation, I guess we were due a solid on that issue. We absolutely loved Beach Club for the location, you just can't beat the access to Epcot and so many resorts for dining. Asher loved digging in the sand at Stormalong Bay, but Chad and I found it a bit cumbersome for getting to the bar/QS and the restrooms. Hopefully Casey will enjoy playing in a different spot that allows you to set up camp in a more convenient location. It wasn't our favorite pool and we found ourselves wanting to have more park time than pool time this trip.

Asher hit one of those growth spurts in which he grew taller but stayed the same weight, so it made him look more like a little boy than a toddler. I think diapers were easier than the bathroom shenanigans we experienced though! At least we didn't have to rush out of restaurants for urgent diaper changes. Instead we would just spend 15 minutes in the restroom trying to convince the kid to go. Jeez.

The margaritas were quite good with the bonus of not having to wait in line at La Cava. Worth a try for sure.

Joining in! I'm guessing you stopped in Warner Robins/Macon based off your timing! We used to live in Macon & had visited the Cracker Barrel a few times if its there.

Glad the accidents got better after the initial excitement was addressed.

Nice snacks around the Flower & Garden Festival! I'm with you on the Gose (that salty sour in a beer is just weird!)

Garden Grill seems like a success! That environment seems very nice for meeting characters without feeling you will miss them if you go to the Buffet!

Yes, we have found Warner Robins to be our best place to stop, the Macon by-pass doesn't have enough hotels and Valdosta is too far for the first day. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel back in Knoxville, TN, which is usually about right for lunch as well.

I wasn't a fan of the gose, not sure I'd ever had that style before, but now I know. I am a pale ale drinker.

Great report so far! Looking forward to more

Thanks! Glad you're here!

 

[Hettie]

Day 2 continued:

We spent some time with Nemo & Friends, tried to look at the butterfly house but it was packed with people, and stopped for a futile attempt to locate that awesome Orange Bird passholder mug that has apparently been sold out since March. We headed to WS and picked up a Spike scavenger hunt map for Asher because I hoped it would be fun for him while we enjoyed some F&G booths.

We needed to have lunch on the early side to ensure a reasonable nap time for Asher since he was long overdue having skipped it the previous two days. We were still feeling pretty full from breakfast and decided to have a snacky lunch from F&G booths. We made it back to France and wanted to try this drink from the Fleur de Lys booth that is so loved by so many:


La Vie en Rose Frozen Slushy: Grey Goose Orange, St. Germain Liqueur, White and Red Cranberry Juice – $10.75

This was light and refreshing, fruity and tart. It’s a bit too sweet for me but in that small portion I can deal.

While I took photos of my drink, the boys were having fun with precarious stunts:



We continued around and I picked up something on my “must-try” list from the Taste of Marrakesh booth:


Fried Cauliflower with Capers, Garlic Parsley and Chili Ranch Sauce – $5

When I was a little girl, my mom would sometimes take me to this local “dairy-freeze” type place that served burgers, fries, etc. too. They had the best fried cauliflower and we usually got that and fried mushrooms to go with our burgers. I hadn’t had fried cauliflower in ages and this version did not disappoint! It was excellent! The breading was crispy and had a good amount of spice that paired perfectly with the dipping sauce and capers. I gobbled it up all by myself and it would have been a repeat for me if there weren’t so many other things I wanted to try.

I located Chad and Asher shopping in Mitsukoshi and we decided there was a perfect option at the Hanami booth in Japan for our lunch:


Teriyaki Salmon with Furikake Seasoned Brown Rice – $6.75

We picked up two of these and shared between the three of us. The flavors were spot-on and it reminded me of dishes I had in Japan. The sauce is a bit sweeter than what you would find in Japan, but it’s probably more pleasing to American palates. I especially loved the furikake rice and it tasted like a basic furikake seasoning which usually has dried fish, seaweed, and sesame seeds.

It’s a good thing the food was enjoyable, because a relaxing lunch it was NOT. We went up to that wonderful peaceful area in the Japan pavilion and found a nice table with an umbrella. Asher proceeded to act like a jerk the entire time and of course there was another bathroom battle. After that we were very ready to get him back to the room for a proper nap. He passed out immediately when we got there.

Day 2 dinner up next…

 

[ammmk6]

Following along!

 

[ml sumner]

Following and enjoying so far!

 

[dnllmz]

One day I'm going to try one of these.

I love the Epcot resort area. The BC is on our list of places that we would love to stay at. Maybe next year. We did stay at the Boardwalk in November/Dec and loved the area.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Nice snacky lunch at the festival!

Hopefully the nap helped the attitude for the rest of your day!

 

[TinkTank01]

Day 2 continued:

We spent some time with Nemo & Friends, tried to look at the butterfly house but it was packed with people, and stopped for a futile attempt to locate that awesome Orange Bird passholder mug that has apparently been sold out since March. We headed to WS and picked up a Spike scavenger hunt map for Asher because I hoped it would be fun for him while we enjoyed some F&G booths.

We needed to have lunch on the early side to ensure a reasonable nap time for Asher since was long overdue having skipped it the previous two days. We were still feeling pretty full for breakfast and decided to have a snacky lunch from F&G booths. We made it back to France and wanted to try this drink from the Fleur de Lys booth that is so loved by so many:

View attachment 321156 View attachment 321158
La Vie en Rose Frozen Slushy: Grey Goose Orange, St. Germain Liqueur, White and Red Cranberry Juice – $10.75

This was light and refreshing, fruity and tart. It’s a bit too sweet for me but in that small portion I can deal.

While I took photos of my drink, the boys were having fun with precarious stunts:

View attachment 321154

We continued around and I picked up something on my “must-try” list from the Taste of Marrakesh booth:

View attachment 321153
Fried Cauliflower with Capers, Garlic Parsley and Chili Ranch Sauce – $5

When I was a little girl, my mom would sometimes take me to this local “dairy-freeze” type place that served burgers, fries, etc. too. They had the best fried cauliflower and we usually got that and fried mushrooms to go with our burgers. I hadn’t had fried cauliflower in ages and this version did not disappoint! It was excellent! The breading was crispy and had a good amount of spice that paired perfectly with the dipping sauce and capers. I gobbled it up all by myself and it would have been a repeat for me if there weren’t so many other things I wanted to try.

I located Chad and Asher shopping in Mitsukoshi and we decided there was a perfect option at the Hanami booth in Japan for our lunch:

View attachment 321155
Teriyaki Salmon with Furikake Seasoned Brown Rice – $6.75

We picked up two of these and shared between the three of us. The flavors were spot-on and it reminded me of dishes I had in Japan. The sauce is a bit sweeter than what you would find in Japan, but it’s probably more pleasing to American palates. I especially loved the furikake rice and it tasted like a basic furikake seasoning which usually has dried fish, seaweed, and sesame seeds.

It’s a good thing the food was enjoyable, because a relaxing lunch it was NOT. We went up to that wonderful peaceful area in the Japan pavilion and found a nice table with an umbrella. Asher proceeded to act like a jerk the entire time and of course there was another bathroom battle. After that we were very ready to get him back to the room for a proper nap. He passed out immediately when we got there.

Day 2 dinner up next…

Mmmmm! Loving the looks of the La Vie en Rose slushy! We’ll be there i a little over a week. CANNOT WAIT!

 

[Hettie]

Following along!

Welcome!

Following and enjoying so far!

Glad you're enjoying!

One day I'm going to try one of these.

I love the Epcot resort area. The BC is on our list of places that we would love to stay at. Maybe next year. We did stay at the Boardwalk in November/Dec and loved the area.

It is such a wonderful location. We haven't stayed at BW yet, but I'm sure we will eventually.

Nice snacky lunch at the festival!

Hopefully the nap helped the attitude for the rest of your day!

The nap was so necessary, he can't skip two days in a row without us paying dearly for it.

Mmmmm! Loving the looks of the La Vie en Rose slushy! We’ll be there i a little over a week. CANNOT WAIT!

That slushy will be great for hot temperatures. Enjoy!

 

[Tygerlilly]

Following along! He's an absolute cutie! I love that beans and rice are such an easy meal for toddlers (mine loves it too). The seafood sounded so good and that pink slushy looks amazing.

Our first trip last year was with our (then) 23 month old and 6 month old girls. We're planning another trip for next spring when they will be 3 and 2!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I never knew Mexico had that little place with margaritas and food! That is definitely on my must do list in November!

 

[iheartbelle87]

Following along! You are hilarious and Asher is too cute!

I don’t think anyone wants to read a dining report with the word bathroom in the title, am I right?

I’m sure we looked incredibly attractive stuffing beef into our pieholes with our grubby fingers (but we did wash hands first).

you are cracking me up!

This was an excellent beer flight, I particularly enjoyed both the Saison and White Ale and Chad preferred the Amber Ale. The white ale had some light fruity flavors that were nice for summer weather. They were all very drinkable and I wish I had gotten one of these beers again, I hope I can find them at my local stores.

MMMM these sound delicous!

 

[Hettie]

Day 2 dinner:

After Asher’s long rejuvenating nap, we discussed dinner plans and decided to stay around Beach/Yacht Club since we hadn’t had a chance to explore yet and felt like a relaxing evening. I checked out ADR availability and we had our pick of restaurants since it was still fairly early. Chad gave Yachtsman Steakhouse the thumbs-down because he wasn’t in the mood for steak—BOOO!! He was craving “an assortment of appetizers with seafood and shellfish” and I’m like “Umm…then there’s one obvious choice,” so we booked Cape May Café for dinner.

We got ready and walked around checking everything out for awhile before our dinner check-in time. This was the one evening I bothered to put on makeup and cute shoes, so we had some photo shoots to document because I was fairly certain it would be the only time.



That's the best you'll see me look the rest of this report, I just get more tired and bedraggled each day. On our departure day, a retail CM even commented, "You look exhausted..." Great. Thanks.

We looked around in the Beach Club Marketplace and found a hat for Asher and some swim trunks for Chad. Asher got to see the huge pirate ship at Stormalong Bay for the first time and it took much pleading and promising to pry him away from it. By that time, we needed to check in for dinner and we headed over to do so, sat in the waiting area for about 10 minutes, then were seated. I seem to remember misbehavior and tension while we were waiting, but I’ll not linger on that memory since it’s already fuzzy and best forgotten.

Cape May is definitely loud and packed for dinner. I was expecting that and had warned Chad since we hadn’t been in many years and he had forgotten. We were seated at a booth, which I always prefer, and our server eventually made it over to take our drink order. He was slow to get to us the entire meal, it seemed like he was a bit overwhelmed, but he was nice.

They have a fairly generic wine list there and I ordered the pinot grigio, which was “Helfrich” according to my receipt. It was okay, not something I would seek out again, but drinkable. Chad’s drink of choice is usually a rum cocktail and this evening he went with a Dark & Stormy, otherwise known as a Moscow Mule with rum, in this case he chose Myers as he generally prefers an amber or dark rum. He said it was made well and he enjoyed it (and a second). I decided to wait for my second glass until we got back to the room.

On to the food…I didn’t take any photos of the buffet area because it was a complete MADHOUSE. If this restaurant gets a renovation soon, I seriously hope they consider remodeling the buffet area because it is impossible. There are no lines and there’s not enough room to stand and wait for someone to move if you need to access a dish. Even though there is no organization system, if you slip in to get what you want, you will inevitably get dirty looks or huffs from those on either side who think you’re breaking some sort of rule- IT’S A FREE FOR ALL, THERE ARE NO RULES!!! It’s also loud, like cacophony loud. And everyone is running around looking confused carrying multiple plates stacked high with crab legs and peel-n-eat shrimp. This is not a relaxing dining experience. I knew that going in and I took one for the team so Chad could stuff himself with shellfish. It’s a good thing the food is good, because the experience is a bit of a nightmare to me.

I took some really bad photos of my plates:



My first one consisted of some of those steamed shrimp I mentioned, clam strips, paella, some cheese, a kale salad of some sort, some pasta salad (that I ate before the photo-ahem), and fried shrimp. This was all pretty good, but the standout here was the steamed shrimp. I usually don’t mess with peel-n-eat as they’re messy and not usually worth it, but these were big and expertly prepared with the mud vein removed and a big slit down the back to make peeling a breeze. Their cocktail sauce was very good and tastes like it’s house made. There were also lemons and horseradish on the buffet to flavor them up to your own liking. Very nice.



My second plate consisted of some crab legs, steamed clams, mac & cheese, and pasta salad. Also a bowl of clam chowder. The pastas were a waste of time and belly space, the standouts were the shellfish, again expertly prepared. The crab legs were easy to remove from the shell and the clams were tender. The star of this show ended up being the clam chowder. It was packed with large, fresh clams, the potatoes were the perfect texture, and the seasoning was just right. Best clam chowder I’ve had in a long time.

Since they were on a roll with the shellfish I decided to have some mussels.



These were also wonderful and the sauce was delicious. I picked up a couple of boiled potatoes and a piece of bread to dip in the sauce, the bread was terrible so I used the potatoes instead.

Chad had the same dishes as me, minus the salads and sides. As a matter of fact, he only ate shellfish, paella, and clam chowder. A full bucket of crab legs mind you and two bowls of clam chowder. He wasn’t thrilled with the atmosphere either, but he got exactly the food he was craving so no complaints.

I didn’t get a photo of Asher’s plate, but he mostly ate a chicken drumstick, some cheese, and some fruit. I am so glad we did this when his meal was free because if we had paid between $26-30 for him to eat that, I might have died. It was a good dinner to fit in this trip for sure, although his behavior was not ideal, he doesn't do well with loud, chaotic restaurants.

Oh, he also ate a little vanilla cupcake from the dessert area and was very pleased with that. Here are my desserts:



That chocolate dome with Mickey ears was a flourless torte and it was great. Very dark chocolate, so dark that it had an espresso flavor or maybe there was espresso in it. I took a couple of bites and gave Chad the last bite and it was plenty. The cup was a lemon curd and I loved that as well, I am always a big fan of lemon curd and liked that this was pretty basic with a blueberry topping. The strawberry cake roll was alright, a little artificial tasting.

As we were sitting there discussing our favorite items I decided I had to go back for just a few more of these:



Totally weird way to end the meal after eating dessert, but I felt like I needed more since I only had two on my first plate. Getting our check took forever, Chad had to take the boy out to the lobby because he was so restless, then it took even longer because we had been charged for a kid's buffet and had to get the check revised. I was ready to go.

Cape May Café still knows how to cook shellfish well and they better since they do it every night. IMO, it’s worth it if you are having a major seafood craving like Chad was and can stuff yourself silly. Most of the time it’s not going to be on my dining list because of the atmosphere. I was ready to get back to the room and enjoy a glass of wine on our peaceful balcony and get to bed early so we could be at MK for rope drop the next day.

 

[Hettie]

Following along! He's an absolute cutie! I love that beans and rice are such an easy meal for toddlers (mine loves it too). The seafood sounded so good and that pink slushy looks amazing.

Our first trip last year was with our (then) 23 month old and 6 month old girls. We're planning another trip for next spring when they will be 3 and 2!

Thanks for joining! I have loved taking Asher at a variety of young ages. The challenges are different each time, but it's worth it for the amount of fun we have. I have been amazed at Asher's language development leaps during our last two trips. It really fires up those neural connections!

I never knew Mexico had that little place with margaritas and food! That is definitely on my must do list in November!

Choza just opened in the past few months, this was our first stop there. It replaced the smaller margarita stand with the frozen options, but they serve those as well. Seems like a win for everyone.

Following along! You are hilarious and Asher is too cute!



you are cracking me up!

MMMM these sound delicous!

Thanks for following! I deal with stressful situations using a healthy blend of cynicism and sarcasm. Okay, most situations. I'm glad you get my humor.

 

[Sailormoon2]

Great review so far! I just finished your previous report so it's fun to roll right into the next one. I love the Epcot resort area hotels. I love being able to walk to both IG and HS, and having the options all along the Boardwalk. I hope it turns out you enjoy it too!

 

[wilma-bride]

Late to the party but joining in. Can't beat Beach Club (or Boardwalk) for that proximity to Epcot. You are making me wish I was going back for Flower & Garden Festival next year though.