Here we go again! Dining review October 9-13

We stopped in front of where I think has the best margaritas for our first official photo.

I've walked by Boardwalk Joe's at least 200 times and have never tried anything there. I never would have guessed that their margaritas were special. I'll need to try one (or two) next trip.
 
The Zebratini- Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur, Frangelico, Amarula, and a shot of Espresso in a Chocolate Zebra-striped Martini Glass. All I have to say is WOW! If you've never had one of these, do yourself a favor and get one. Preferably one for yourself.
The Zebratini sounds like my kind of dessert!
 
Next was Canada. We order the filet which was cooked nicely but had the same problem as the striped bass tostada. No seasoning (salt) which is very unusual in Disney.
We often think the food at the festival booths is under salted. I try to remember to bring some salt packets with me :)
 
I've walked by Boardwalk Joe's at least 200 times and have never tried anything there. I never would have guessed that their margaritas were special. I'll need to try one (or two) next trip.
I only get the margarita that is on the rocks. I don't like frozen but I do like flavors. The one I get is Patron Disney Select Anejo Margarita- Barrel Select Patron Anejo Tequila, Cointreau, and Sweet-and-Sour. Here is a picture of the margarita and jalapeno pretzel from a previous trip.
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The Zebratini sounds like my kind of dessert!
It was delicious! I think I am going to be sticking to getting one of these whenever I see them on the menu for my dessert too!

We often think the food at the festival booths is under salted. I try to remember to bring some salt packets with me :)
We've never experienced that at the past festivals but this one we did. Great idea about the salt packets. I'll be bringing some next time!
 


The rain was over quickly so we made our way to Flavors from Fire for the smoked corned beef served with crispy potatoes, cheese curds, pickled onions, and beer cheese fondue. AAHHH how we love these!
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Um yum, this looks and sounds delicious. Great way to start F&W

We were seated quickly and started off with our favorite wine. It is a nice, bold, very smooth red wine. Highly recommended.
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I don't think we've had that one. Will definitely have to try it

We started with an appetizer that we never got before, the North African Spiced Scallops- Herb Chermoula, Curried Feta Crumbles. They were delicious! The curried feta was so good. DH is not a huge fan of curry but he agreed that it was delicious. The scallops were cooked perfectly, melting in our mouths.
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I've always wanted to try these but for some reason something else ends up calling my name. Glad to hear they are delicious

he bread and dipping oil was good but I have enjoyed their other breads more and I found this one to be too filling. We only had a small amount so we would not fill up before our entrees.
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Sorry the bread wasn't as good as in the past. Know that can be disappointed. But I do appreciate that Jiko changes it up fairly often. Haven't had this bread though

So did you all love this? Its our fav mac n cheese ever

Close up of the tartine
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This looks like the perfect morning snack. I love goat cheese so I'd be all over this.

Everything was amazing! The seafood salad was our favorite. The prosciutto was melt in your mouth delicious. By this time we had plenty to drink so we actually don't remember too much about the dessert.
We've yet to try Tutto Gusto and you have me seriously questioning why. Everything you had looks right up our alley.

We took a Lyft over to The Grand Floridian for our dinner at Narccoossee's.
Sorry to hear dinner was a bit chaotic but glad to hear the food was good. You all got my 2 favorite dishes there. I can never decide which I want so lucky you got the best of both worlds.
 
We ordered Prosciutto di Parma, Insalata di Mare - shrimp, squid, octopus, lemon, extra virgin olive oil, and Mozzarella. I ordered Italy's Best wine flight
These both look so good!! I def want to try Tutto this weekend!

Definitely try both! If you have any questions about Jiko, let me know. It is such a fantastic restaurant. The atmosphere, service, and food are top notch. We are not picky eaters at all so that might be a factor but one of our daughters is a SUPER picky eater and even she loves it!
I have a reservation for Jiko for Valentine's Day. It is for all 4 of us, DH and myself and our two girls. Hopefully I will keep it!
 
We woke up the next day which was our sons first day (yay!) and headed to HS for our ToT FP. We walked around Star Wars Land for a little bit. It was very crowded. The land is amazing! We are not super Star Wars fans but the detail that was put into it is awesome. We left HS and headed to EP for more F&W.
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Our first booth was France. We got the escargot croissant with garlic and parsley. This is one of our favorites every time!
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The next booth was Brazil where we got the Brazilian cheese bread, crispy pork bread, and a frozen caipirinha. We enjoyed all of these. The cheese bread is my favorite.
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Hop's and Barley was our next stop. We got the lobster roll and the second best dessert at the festival, the carrot cake. The carrot cake is served warm which makes it so much better.
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Our last stop before we headed into the Mexican Tequila lunch was the Mexico booth. We got the shredded pork belly taco. We all enjoyed it. We waited for a few minutes inside the Mexican pavillion and then headed over to La Hacienda to check in for our lunch!
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Um yum, this looks and sounds delicious. Great way to start F&W

It is! We could not wait to get to the festival this year to get it again.

I don't think we've had that one. Will definitely have to try it

It is a very good wine. It is the only one we get when we are at Jiko.

I've always wanted to try these but for some reason something else ends up calling my name. Glad to hear they are delicious

Me too. But now that my favorites have been taken off the menu, it wasn't hard to pick these.

Sorry the bread wasn't as good as in the past. Know that can be disappointed. But I do appreciate that Jiko changes it up fairly often. Haven't had this bread though

It was no big deal. We definitely go there for other things besides the bread.

So did you all love this? Its our fav mac n cheese ever

YES! It was so good! We will definitely be ordering a side of this no matter what we order at Jiko.

This looks like the perfect morning snack. I love goat cheese so I'd be all over this.

Me too. It was perfect for a quick breakfast.

We've yet to try Tutto Gusto and you have me seriously questioning why. Everything you had looks right up our alley.

Tutto is our new favorite spot. Sorry La Cava!

Sorry to hear dinner was a bit chaotic but glad to hear the food was good. You all got my 2 favorite dishes there. I can never decide which I want so lucky you got the best of both worlds.

Ya we will give it another try. We really enjoyed our food so I feel like we have to go again without the chaos.
 
These both look so good!! I def want to try Tutto this weekend!

It's our new favorite! It bumped La Cava down to #2.

I have a reservation for Jiko for Valentine's Day. It is for all 4 of us, DH and myself and our two girls. Hopefully I will keep it!

I hope you do!

I was just looking at the different options for these dinners/lunches! Can't wait to hear how you liked it.
We can't wait to go back next year. I might even book it twice!
 
We checked into La Hacienda for the Mexican Tequila Lunch. We were sooo excited to try this F&W event. We had been talking about it non stop before our trip. We are not tequila drinkers at home other than in a margarita but when we are in Disney and go to La Cava we like to be adventurous.

We were greeted at check in with a margarita which was delicious. We were walked to our table which was set up beautifully. It was set for four so we assumed someone else would be joining us but no one ever came. The presenter, Hilda Castillo, Tequila Ambassador, was fantastic. She explained so much about the tequila making process. My son was wondering how he could pursue this career. 🤣 She explained to us how to really drink tequila. Not the way we would in a tequila bar. You sip it, swish it in your mouth for four seconds, swallow it and then blow out through your mouth. I will say that this technique made it much more enjoyable to drink. Or maybe I was buying it because she's an expert but either way it worked!! There were four different tequilas, one for each course. We were also given a palate cleanser of vodka! During the meal, Hilda got the diners involved. She called for some people to come up and she had grasshoppers to enjoy. DH and DS went up to get some and brought me back some. Salty and crunchy is all I can say to describe them. She also asked for a volunteer to go up and show everyone how you would drink tequila at a bar. She picked me! The whole afternoon was a ton of fun and I would highly recommend this event.

Welcome margarita
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Palate cleanser- vodka
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Menu
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Swordfish Ceviche- this was amazing. We really enjoyed this dish. Everything was so fresh.
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Huarache de Hongos=MUSHROOMS. So, this was just ok. I am not a huge mushroom fan but I can eat them once in a while depending on how they are prepared. DH and DS do like mushrooms so they enjoyed that part of the dish fine. The flavors of the dish were good but the overload of mushrooms was a texture thing for me. The red masa huarache was not good. It was very hard to cut and not worth the effort. So this course was disappointing.
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Beef tenderloin- the tenderloin was delicious. It was cooked medium-rare to rare which is how we eat our meat at home so we were pleased with how it was cooked
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Chocolate cheesecake- This was of course the best part of the meal. We all couldn't stop talking about it for the rest of the trip.
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Wow, you guys know how to do WDW for sure! That first day at Epcot looked epic, and what goes better with a jalapeno pretzel than a margarita?! The tequila lunch looks like it was a lot of fun. Can't wait to hear more! :)
 
Wow, you guys know how to do WDW for sure! That first day at Epcot looked epic, and what goes better with a jalapeno pretzel than a margarita?! The tequila lunch looks like it was a lot of fun. Can't wait to hear more! :)

Thanks! We really had a blast! We always say we are going to pace ourselves but never do!
 
I had the Key West shrimp dish at Narcoossees too, and mine looked nothing like that! Your experience was night and day better than ours, but good to know it is not always like that.
 
We leave tomorrow morning for our adults only trip... Do you have a recommendation for an time we HAVE to try?!?

Flavors from Fire- Smoked Corned Beef served with Crispy Potatoes, Cheese Curds, Pickled Onions, and Beer-Cheese Fondue

The Cheese Studio- Maple Bourbon Cheesecake served with Maple Bourbon Cream, Caramel, and Pecan Crunch

Ireland- Guinness and Baileys Shake and Warm Chocolate Pudding

The Chocolate Studio-Twinings® Pumpkin Spice Chai Tea Frozen Cocktail with Caramel Vodka

Refreshment Port- Duck Confit Poutine served with Fig Demi Sauce and Brie Cheese Fondue

Hops and Barley-Freshly Baked Carrot Cake served with Cream Cheese Icing

Have an awesome time!
 
I had the Key West shrimp dish at Narcoossees too, and mine looked nothing like that! Your experience was night and day better than ours, but good to know it is not always like that.

We will give it another try. We did enjoy our meals and the service was fine. I don’t know if we will rush back but it’s not on our one and done list.
 
After our fantastic tequila lunch, I thought it would be a good idea to head over to La Cava to continue the Mexican theme. We waited for about five minutes and were brought to a stand-up table. We got the chips with salsa, guac, and queso. I ordered a Dragones Top Shelf. DH ordered a beer and DS ordered La Cava Negroni. Everything was delicious. We headed out to head back to the hotel but ended up making one more stop. We stopped at the Ireland booth so DS could experience the amazing Guinness and Baileys shake. He declared this his favorite item at the festival!
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Wow, that lunch looks and sounds fantastic!!!!!! Great choice of events
 
We were super excited to be trying a new restaurant for dinner tonight. I had watched a dining review of the new signature restaurant in Japan, Takumi Tei and knew I had to book it. The restaurant was beautiful. We were sat in the wood room. The service here was fantastic. Our server was unnecessarily apologetic every time she came to the table. She was always sorry for taking too long but never actually took too long. DH said it was slightly annoying but at least the service wasn't bad in any way! The table setting was very nice. I wanted to order what was included in the tasting menu except for the dessert. Since the tasting menu did not take TIW, we ordered everything a la carte. It worked out great. We were given an amuse-bouche that was Sea Bass I believe. It was really good. DH and I ordered the Nikomi Wagyu, roasted bone marrow, braised Jackman Farms wagyu short rib, Yuzu Kosho, wasabi shiso Bavaroise, Warishita. This was amazing! One of the best things we've ever eaten. I, of course, shared with DS. DS ordered miso soup and Hama no Kani, ponzu crab, toasted crab, frisee, heirloom tomato, watermelon radish Tsukemono, leek gel, sesame pollen, plum wine reduction. He enjoyed both dishes. I tried the tiny crab in his dish and was not a fan at all. Not for me. Next, we ordered the Temari Sushi which consisted of 10 pieces of chef selected sushi. All were fantastic. We all ordered the Takumi Gyuniku- Artisan Beef Japanese A-5 wagyu tenderloin, leek sauce, warishita, short rib Gyoza, roasted cippolini onion, curried potato, seasonal mushroom. This was amazing! The tenderloin was cooked to perfection! The potatoes were good and the gyoza short rib was very good. I did not eat any of the mushrooms but DH and DS said they were very good. For drinks throughout our meal DH ordered beer, I ordered Raiju, Haku Japanese vodka, spiced ginger beer, lime, and DS ordered Sakurajima, Kaiyo Japanese whiskey sour with smoked cherrywood- Sakurajima Presentation and a glass of plum wine. Our meal was fantastic and definitely one to remember. I think we will be back here someday for sure.
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