The "This should have been ace but is actually a bit rubbish" food report Jan 2016

[Joellybum]

Okay, so before I went away I had every intention of writing an amazing food report but didn't bank on a couple of very important things...

1. I would be so hungry and eager to stuff my face that I would forget to take a picture.

2. When I did remember we would either be halfway through our meals or I would only have my phone on me and the restaurant would be dark which would equal = rubbish photos

So I will try my best to make everything sound appetising

We had a bite to eat at home before we left for Manchester airport (Bacon butties for my husband Mark & son Joel) and peanut butter & banana on gluten free toast for me (I suffer with horrendous stomach pains if I eat too much bread so tend to stick to gluten free at home as I can't live without bread!). By the time we had got through security we were all hungry again so headed to Frankie & Benny's. I am not usually a fan but there wasn't much choice and I had a 15% off voucher. Mark had a full English, Joel had a bacon butty and I had the deli-style avocado on toast...this was amazing! I am totally addicted to avocado and eat it most days so it was an obvious choice for me, but I didn't have high expectations until I tasted it. It was smashed avocado with mango, lime, coriander & chilli on toasted ciabatta. So good I am going to make it for my breakfast tomorrow

All washed down with a lovely mimosa.

On the plane I always order a Vegan meal as I don't eat red meat and hate dairy. I had a salad with no dressing - this annoys me as everyone else got dressing and I don't understand why it is so hard to find a dairy-free salad dressing! Just give me a bit of olive oil, that would be fine! For my main I had gnocchi with a tomato & roasted vegetable sauce which was quite nice. Joel had the chicken but didn't eat it as it was in a creamy mushroom sauce so he had the all-day breakfast butty I'd bought him from Boots. Mark had paneer curry & Joel's chicken

We were too tired to eat out when we arrived so picked up some chicken tenders & salad from Target.

The next night we ate at Bahama Breeze - Joel's choice.

We started with coconut shrimp - we'd all been waiting to get back for our fix!

I had wood-grilled mahi mahi with chimichurri, rice & green beans.

Joel had grilled chicken with broccoli (but shared my rice & green beans) and Mark had paella. Mark had a pint of Blue Moon, Joel had a couple of berry slushes and I had a Strawberry daiquiri & a pineapple mojito. Everything was really tasty and Bahama Breeze remains a firm favourite.

Joel developed a bit of an obsession with Applebees on this trip - I have no idea why, but he loved it! We popped in one night after a long day as we wanted something quick, cheap & cheerful. Mark & I chose from the 2 for $20 menu. We had onion rings to start, then Mark had half-rack of ribs with a smoky chipotle sauce with fries & coleslaw. I had cedar grilled lemon chicken. This was delicious - a butterflied grilled chicken breast with a quinoa & rice salad with candied pecans & cranberry and an apple salsa. It was very light & refreshing but filling. Joel had fried shrimp & fries.

We went again the following week and had one of our favourite meals of the holiday! And one of the cheapest! Both Mark & I were craving something spicy so I had the Shrimp wonton stir-fry with rice and Mark went for the full rack of asian spiced ribs. We both absolutely loved it. My stir-fry was gorgeous, loads of shrimp & so flavourful. It really hit the spot! Joel had the shrimp (again!). I also had a bowl full of white peach sangria. Yum

Joel had a kids Oreo chocolate sundae for pud.

After a few nights Mark was hankering after a steak so we headed to Longhorns. We had a voucher for a free appetiser so chose the sweet chilli calamari as we are all huge fish/seafood fans. The portion was huge and it was so good that we couldn't stop eating it. Needless to say by the time our mains arrived I was no longer hungry

Mark had the Flo's fillet with fries and ceasar salad.

He enjoyed it, and it satisfied his steak craving.

I had the bourbon glazed salmon with broccoli. It also came with rice. The server asked me what sides I wanted and I said that I only wanted the one, so she said she'd order me double broccoli. I insisted that I only wanted the one portion but when it arrived there were about 3 supermarkets packets on the plate! even between the 3 of us we couldn't finish it! This was just okay for me. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't have been so full.

Joel decided to be brave and try the steak. We never eat red meat at home but I am happy for him to eat it when he stays with my folks or when we eat out but he has never been a big fan. But he wanted to have a go so went for the kids sirloin with fries. The menu said it came with fresh fruit - this was two slices of orange on his plate covered in bloody steak juice... very appetising the steak was quite tough and took some chewing so he didn't eat it all but said he quite liked it. He didn't ask for it again all holiday so don't think he was overly keen.

I had a white peach sangria as recommended by a lovely lady at the bar. It was in a huge glass once again and very good. I then ordered the red berry sangria but this was super sweet and I had to wait til the ice had melted until I could drink it.

[Gusgusmummy]

Drooling as I'm dieting lol keep them coming

[Joellybum]

Our favourite restaurant of the holiday was a new one for us - Joe's Crab Shack (on the 192). We ate there twice - both on Mondays as kids eat free. The food was fantastic but the main reason we went back was for our wonderful server David. A super-cute 18 year old boy from New Jersey. We instantly clicked, Joel had a bromance and we've left firm friends. I'm half expecting him to turn up on our doorstep next week so if you eat there soon, ask for David and tell him Emma, Mark & Joel sent you on both occasions we went in he spent all of his time sat at our table! I was worried he would get the sack but he wasn't bothered! On our first visit Joel drew him some pictures of Gumball and David Instagrammed them, saying some lovely things about us. He is the sweetest, greenest (he asked if the Paris bombings were near Manchester, if the Pope lived in our country and had no clue who David Bowie is), funniest and naughtiest server we have ever had! He asked us constant questions and kept us entertained. On our last visit (our final evening in Florida) he made us special bibs to take home and gave us his email address and asked if we would keep in touch.

Anyway, back to the food! On our first visit Mark & I shared The KJ Steampot - Snow crab, seared scallops and mussels in a light Kendall-Jackson wine sauce with hints of garlic, pepper and notes of citrus. Served with potatoes & fresh corn on the cob. All absolutely delicious, the fresh corn was the nicest I have ever tasted.

We also ordered the shrimp & calamari platter with fries, which the three of us shared.

Joel had the kids steampot -snow crab, shrimp, sausage, potatoes & corn on the cob. As I said earlier, this was free but I would have happily paid $9.99 for it. The choice of kids meals here was the best I have seen over there. Lots of healthy options and different from the usual fare. Joel demolilshed it!

For afters Joel had the kids make your own ice cream sandwich sundae - he had lots of fun with this and it was fantastic value at $1.69.

Everything on the dessert menu looked so good but I really wish they wouldn't put the calorie content on - there was nothing under 1000 calories I am not a calorie counter at all and tend to eat what I like but I do have my limits! Mark ordered the key lime pie and when it arrived we realised why it was so calorific - it was 3 times as big a serving as we would get at home! Mark only managed half of it, and the boy can eat

The lovely David:

[Joellybum]

On our second visit we were too busy talking to take pictures. And we were brought out duplicates of some dishes as David had been too busy nattering to us when he took our order

Joel had the same as last time, Mark & I went with the Jumbo Bairdi Crab in a garlic & herb broth at David's recommendation plus we ordered the shrimp & calamari again. The crab was seriously good, huge claws & legs, very meaty & sweet.

This is when I remembered to take a pic! All gone.

I had a couple of strawberry peach sangrias, these went down rather too easily!

Joel decided to go for the paint your own crab dessert this time - a crab shaped rice crispie treat with strawberry, choc & caramel sauces for painting.

Again, I can't recommend this place enough. Lovely food, fantastic staff, great atmosphere & decor and good fun. They encourage you to be messy & enjoy yourself!

[Joellybum]

In stark contrast to the service we had at Joe's was Bonefish. We first ate here 3 years ago and loved it. The food was beautiful and we had a great evening. This time it was completely different. We were seated and a server came over and greeted us with "well it looks like I'm your server then!". Way to make you feel welcome! Everyone around us was being talked through the menu, informed of specials, automatically given water etc. Our experience was completely different. We had to ask what the seasonal veg was, specials etc, no water, she was very abrupt. I did wonder if it was because we were the only Brits in there? Who knows?

We were given bread & oil first, Mark had a Blue Moon & I went for the winter white cosmo which was delicious. Joel had a pineapple juice as they were out of OJ.

For mains Mark went with the Mahi Mahi special - stuffed with crab and served with fries & coleslaw.

I had grilled shrimp & scallops with mango salsa, garlic spinach & fries.

Joel had the kids shrimp & fries and shared my spinach.

We all agreed that the food was just okay. Not a patch on our last visit. My seafood tasted a bit watery with little flavour. We did want a dessert, and I fancied a martini but decided to cut our losses and call in Publix on the way home to pick something up (I think we got some muffins). Our bill came to just over $69 dollars and we only left $75. The smallest tip we left all holiday but we felt that we had had poor service and an underwhelming experience. We like to take our time over a meal but we were rushed and in and out of there in 45 mins

[Joellybum]

On a visit to Epcot our initial plan had been to spend the morning there, leave at about 2ish, let Joel have some pool time, go out to eat then head back for the fireworks but we were having such a good time so stayed all day! We were all fancying something spicy again and as there is no India in World Showcase (we are all huge curry fans!) we headed to China and Nine Dragons. It was 5:30pm but we were seated immediately. We seemed to touch lucky as about 15 mins later it got mega busy.

Mark & I shared the Kung Pao chicken & boiled rice and the peppery shrimp with spinach noodles. Joel had the kids sweet & sour shrimp and chicken with fried rice. OJ's for Joel & I, Sprite for Marky.

Mark isn't a huge fan of Chinese food but he loved this, we all did - Joel especially. The spicy Kung Pao chicken hit the spot! The dessert options weren't great so we picked stuff up around the park. Joel had an ice cream and Mark & I shared a cronut.

Joel wanted to go to Red Lobster so we stopped there one night on the way home from MK.

I had a voucher for a free appetiser so we let Joel pick and surprise, surprise, he chose the coconut shrimp.

He then went for the garlic grilled shrimp & fries and shared my house salad.

I went for the garlic grilled shrimp & salmon combo with broccoli (it also came with rice).

Mark went one better and chose 3 options - steak, scampi & stuffed flounder with fries (we shared the fries & veg between us).

Both Joel & I thoroughly enjoyed our meals but Mark wasn't impressed. He said there was little flavour in anything. I think he just chose the wrong things as he has always previously liked it.

We had some other lovely meals - a great afternoon sampling the Bahama Breeze Happy Hour - having Joel with us and Mark driving meant that we couldn't take full advantage of the alcoholic part but I still had a couple of cocktails - a mojito and a bahamarita (how have i never had one of these before? ! Ridiculously good. It was however my downfall as I was sooooooo full after eating then drinking that.My stomach felt like it was going to explode!)

We shared some half price appetisers - 2 x coconut shrimp, 1 x adobo chicken street tacos, 1 x onion rings and 1 x Crab & shrimp stack (my fave, I always have to have this at least once a trip!).

We then followed it with the chocolate pineapple upside down cake which was yummmmmmmmmmy. Joel managed one spoonful then admitted defeat, which is unlike him.

[Joellybum]

We had a couple of trips to Sweet Tomatoes, which is always a welcome relief after all the fried/heavy food. It's great value for money especially if you sign up to the email club and use the vouchers. We all certainly make the most of it in here, everything is tasty & fresh and the strawberry lemonade is addictive!

We usually go for a few breakfasts whilst we are there but didn't bother so much this time. We went to Sizzler on the 192 on our first morning as Joel likes it and we were the only ones in there! It was just okay. We decided to try Golden Corral after reading good things on here but I thought it was disgusting - I hated that they had all lunch things out at breakfast time - it's just weird! Nothing was labelled up (a nightmare for a dairy-phobe like me) and it all just looked a bit sorry and unappetising.

Here are some pics of drinks, snacks & food from the parks & supermarkets to round off my half-report

Shrimp & fries from Columbia Harbour House at MK:

ABC Commissary at HS - Joel had chicken nuggets & fries (and some of my salad), I had the asian salad with chicken and Mark had the asian salad with salmon. These salads were gorgeous - right up my street! We could probably have gotten away with sharing one but they were so good we both ate every last bit even though we were full.

Smokehouse place at Busch Gardens. I think the food options here are pretty poor. This was fine, tasty but nothing special. It filled a gap. Mark had the pulled pork sandwich, I had the half chicken and Joel had the kids chicken. If we'd have been a bit more with it Joel & I could have shared my meal as there was loads of it and I didn't finish it.

An American Dream from the Fife & Drum stall in USA, World Showcase - strawberry & raspberry slush with vanilla ice cream. Just the thought of it makes me feel sick but unsurprisingly, Joel loved it and finished the lot!

Grey Goose orange slush from France, World Showcase. This was beautiful...

So good in fact that I had another later in the day!

Dunkin Donuts

Raspberry Lemonade from the Cheshire Cat at MK. We got through a few of these on our trip.

Sushi from Publix:

Happy hour margarita by the pool:

Wawa hazelnut coffee - Wawa garages are AMAZING! We had one on the corner of our street so popped in there a lot. I am obsessed with flavoured (unsweetened) coffee so once my stash from home had run out, Mark was sent on morning runs to Wawa. Amazing value at 79c. I bought a bag to bring home with me.

A Dole Whip for me & Mickey head sundae for Joel (Mark had one too!). From a stall in Africa at AK. My first Dole Whip! Nice to be able to have a treat whilst the boys have an ice cream.

Ghiredellis at Disney Springs - Mint choc and cookies & cream sundaes for the boys:

The Boardwalk - chilli fries for Mark, regular fries for Joel & I and then an apple danish from the bakery for me my treat after the boys ghiradelii ice creams.

[Joellybum]

Mickey Head chocolate cake pop from MK:

Coldstone Creamery at Universal - the boys had several trips here, one of their favourite places. The portions are HUGE!

An elephant's foot beer and a khumbu icefall cocktail (if i remember correctly - guava rum, raspberry & coconut). I love coconut but am not a fan of alcoholic coconut drinks. I took a chance and ordered this and it was delicious. From the Thirsty River bar in Asia at AK. A lovely girl from Skipton worked there and asked us where we were from (probably due to our broad northern accents!). When we told her we were from Oldham, it turned out she used to be a nurse and worked at Oldham Hospital before moving out to Orlando 2 years ago.

Dinner at home (pls excuse the poor photo, we forgot to change the setting from night pics!). Chicken, garlic prawns, salad, curly fries, home made guacamole & Ritz tortilla chips. Plus a bottle of "Prosecco" that tasted like nasty cheap pomagne

The main meals on the plane on the way home were better than going out. I had pasta in a tomato & courgette sauce with different sautéed mushrooms on top. It was really tasty! The less said about my "breakfast" the better. The hostess even commented on how bad it was. The boys had the Mexican chicken with rice & green beans, which was quite nice but the chicken was super salty. They didn't fare much better than me with their brekkies either!

Thanks for reading

[Joellybum]

Originally Posted by Gusgusmummy

Drooling as I'm dieting lol keep them coming

See more...

There's a few healthy options so you don't have to feel too guilty ;-)

[mobeckwith]

Really enjoyed reading this report,I will be looking into happy hour at Bahama breeze,our hotel isn't to far from there x