Day 1: Animal Kingdom
Satu'li Canteen Lunch!
So the flight went smoothly, grabbed our luggage, grabbed the rental, activated our APs and by 11:45 or so we were in the park. I had an 11:30-11:45 FP+ for festival of the lion king, planning to do that and safari first and then lunch at Satu'li Canteen and then FoP. Well, as you can perhaps surmise from our breakfast situation, we were both on the verge of HANGRY when we got to AK so we decided to head straight to Satu'li Canteen rather than trying to run to FotLK and get there before noon. That turned out to be a good decision.
Now remember, I am the girl who completely avoids QS restaurants. In 2014 it was hell on earth trying to manage my whirling child in a series of long lines then balancing a tray trying to look for a table that wasn't too dirty while managing the whirling child simultaneously. In 2016 we didn't do a single QS because it was so stressful and exhausting. But this was our first foray into QS with the new magic of mobile ordering.
I tend to figure out in advance what I'm going to order at a given place (because I'm like that, nothing related to the surgery!) and really struggled over what to order here. I considered the kid meal bowl, but no boba balls or sauce and limited bases to fit into the Mickey Check guidelines. I might have been able to make modifications but I also REALLY wanted to try mobile ordering and I wasn't sure if I could make modifications at the pickup window or what the whole situation was. I also really wanted to try the potato hash base, which is not a Mickey check option. So eventually I just decided to suck up and pay the extra $4 for the adult meal vs. kid meal because I decided I was stressing out way too much over $4, it wasn't worth it.
At the last minute I decided to get the kale salad base ANYWAY because there was going to be so much yummy food coming up and I decided to try to be a little good for as long as I could. Also since changing my way of eating, I actually crave salads pretty often now and it was warm and the kale salad base sounded better. So I got on my phone and ordered up lunch and was pleasantly surprised by how empty Satu'li Canteen was right at noon... walked right up, got our food, plenty of empty tables. It was nowhere near the hell of QS past.
In fact, here we are looking happy and unstressed in a QS restaurant! YAY! Also wearing our christmas tie dye shirts, which got a TON of comments everywhere we went... way more than when we wore them to the christmas party. We are also sporting our spiffy
Disneyland Paris 25th anniversary ears.
So I got myself:
Slow-Roasted Sliced Grilled Beef Bowl
Slow-Roasted Sliced Grilled Beef marinated in a blend of Garlic, Herbs, Red Pepper Spice, and Red Wine Vinegar topped with Crunchy Vegetable Slaw and Boba Balls served with your choice of Base and Sauce.
I got the romaine and kale salad base and the charred onion chimichurri, both of which appear to have been replaced by "hearty salad" and "charred green onion viniagrette." I am wondering if they are the same thing with different names... just checked the app that is what is there.
here is what I got. It was, as we like to say in our household, DELISHBALLS. The meat was nice and medium (ie not overcooked), the salad was fresh and crunchy and I actually found myself picking out the kale and leaving the boring romaine behind. The slaw was wonderful as well, it seemed to be pretty carrot heavy (all colors, purple and yellow and orange) and was sweet and crunchy. The boba balls were good but I would probably not pay $4 extra for them again. The chimichurri was AMAZING and now i'm sad they changed it to a boring vinaigrette but maybe it will be good also. I gave the kid some of the steak too but he was not so interested in it, I think he didn't like the seasoning.
Here is what my plate looked like when I was done eating.
Some of the meat had made it to the kid's plate. It was a very LARGE serving. Yeah, that's a lot of waste, but it also felt like the endless salad, no matter how many pieces of kale I shoved into my mouth, there always seemed to be a full bowl of salad.
Like I said, next time I will definitely try the mickey check option and hit them up for some sauce on the side at the pickup area. If waste bothers you then stop reading here because waste is going to happen! At home I plan so I don't waste much but when I'm out I'm at the mercy of restaurant portions and I can't eat more than I do so it is what it is.
The kid got the:
Cheeseburger Steamed Pod - steamed cheeseburger pod stuffed with ground beef, ketchup, mustard, pickle, and cheddar cheese served with vegetable chips and grapes, and choice of small water or lowfat milk
I wasn't sure how he would like it so I got him the kid meal but turns out he LOVED it... which pretty much confirms my gut feeling that for him it's most often the texture rather than the flavor because he will not eat pickles or most condiments... but all blended together he liked it. He asked me to get him the adult version next time (with 2 pods). I had a bite and thought it was alright, exactly what I expected but not really my thing. He didn't much care for the chips though, except for the blue ones (which were probably blue potato chips). I tried an orange one and had read reviews they are stale... they are not stale but sweet potatoes and yucca and whatever the heck else it was do NOT fry up like white potatoes. I've had veggie chips before and it tasted exactly like what I expected it to. He got a chocolate milk with it and I stuck the grapes in my backpack for later.
Overall we give Satu'li Canteen 2 thumbs up: would return. The food was as reviewed by everyone else...fresh and yummy with healthy options and slightly more interesting flavors if that's your thing. It's mine but not the kid's and we got stuff to satisfy both of us here.