Food Report - 14 nights NYC, Idrive & DDP! October 2015

[abiknox]

So it’s time for another food report!

Here is a quick run down of everything we have eaten on our recent 2 week holiday! Miraculously I have managed to lose 2lb of weight in the process! No idea how!

It was just the two of us for the majority of the trip, Me, Abi & OH Aaron, we met up with dibber Jon (DapperDisNY) in NYC for an evening & also met our friends Emma & Ben (Mowgli86) on the Dibb a fair few times in Orlando.

Off we go! …..

TGI Fridays – Trafford Center, Manchester

A traditional pre flight day feast was had. Drinks wise, I had a Long Island Iced Tea & Aaron had a Martini.



Food wise, Aaron had the JD Burger (so did Emma & Ben), I had the Belly Pork starter & some JD Chicken Strips & we also shared a portion of Boneless Buffalo Wings.









A quick stop at a Krispy Kreme stand on the way back to the hotel provided dessert for Emma, Aaron & Ben!



Flight, Thomas Cook

As neither of us enjoy plane food we took a couple of bits on the flight with us, Aaron had a croissant & we shared a Ham & Cheese Baguette with a packet of crisps.





We did accept the cold food selection to see what it was & I was really chuffed to find Brie and Crackers! I ate mine and Aarons portions. The Mousse was pretty nice too!





A mini ice cream was also appreciated






Tavern29, NYC

A lovely little bar we found on 29th St, NYC, only drinks consumed but they were great.

Aaron started with an Old Fashioned


I had a couple of Cosmos



Aaron then had a Columbian Exchange, he really enjoyed it but it has to be the worst cocktail I have ever tasted! Chipolte in a drink…. no thanks!



Heartlands Brewery, NYC

We only popped in here for a quick one to avoid the rain but we met a really nice Australian couple who we got chatting to and ended up staying for a couple of hours. It’s always got a really nice atmosphere when we visit. I had a Raspberry Cider, Aaron had a Crazy Cab Driver & a Beer.



Shake Shack, Madison Square Park, NYC

Peckish by now we ignored the rain & carried on down to Madison Square Park to have our much anticipated Shake Shack burgers. We dried off a table & chairs with some napkins and sat and enjoyed our food. It was as good as expected.

Shake Stack for me & Double Bacon Cheeseburger for Aaron (although his obviously didn’t justify a photo because I can’t seem to find one)!





Cosmic Diner, NYC

We head here after reading a few good reviews on the Dibb, the food was ok but the atmosphere was a bit strange, very quiet even though the place was busy. It also didn’t seem to be cosmic themed at all!?

I had Pancakes & fresh Fruit, Aaron had a Waffle with Bacon.

[abiknox]

Porchlight, NYC

This was one of the two bars we visited with Jon, it was away from the main tourist areas but worth the walk over. Its pretty trendy with lots of wood & casual seating & the staff were really friendly & good at mixing cocktails.

I had 2 Storms Brewin’ cocktails, Aaron had a Julep Du Monde & a Martini & Jon had a beer.







Food wise, Aaron & Jon both went for the Fried Chicken Po Boy & I had the Double Trouble Bison burger which was AMAZING! In fact, I just had to Google it to pilfer a photo & it seems it makes a lot of the must try burger lists of New York




Stolen photograph!


Boilermaker, NYC

Next stop was another great little place, really close to Katz’ Deli if you’re in that area. Again, pretty trendy with lots of cocktail choices, great service & a menu full of wings & burgers!

Drinks wise, I had 2 Rum Runners, Aaron had 2 Mai Tai’s and Jon had a Pumkin Beer.





Food wise, we shared the Spicy wings which were enormous, seriously the biggest wings I have ever seen!



Followed by the Donut Stars with the description pulled form their webpage ‘9 mini doghnuts sprinkled with cinnamon, ginger and sugar, Served with our raspberry chipotle sauce & expresso brownie sauce.’ Again, absolutely yummy & really gooey in the middle.




International Food Emprium, NYC

After we said our goodbyes to Jon we wondered back in the general direction of our hotel & after one more quick drink in Heartlands we came across a street of Korean restaurants & mini markets. As Aaron has recently developed a small obsession with Ramen dishes & I had promised him we would find some in NYC we had a little wonder around. We popped into a place called ‘International Food Emprium’ which was a funny little mix of steamed bun / ramen food stands. He grabbed a Chicken Ramen & I had a Pulled Pork Steamed Bun. Neither were great and we decided to stick to Wagamamas in the future! Very cheap food though.







Dominique Ansel, NYC

This little bakery was on my list on our last visit to NYC when their infamous Cronut was at the height of demand. We never made it there then but as we were strolling past only a couple of blocks West this time, we popped over to see what was on offer. The Cronuts were all sold out (even though we could see a load behind the counter) so that wasn’t an option. After looking at everything else on display, Aaron went for a Flourless Chocolate Cookie & I went for a Frozen S’more (Ice cream wrapped with marshmallow & toasted to order). Both were incredible but boy did we feel sick afterwards !







Juliana’s Pizza, Brooklyn, NYC

After walking the Brooklyn Bridge we head off in search of the famous Grimaldi’s Pizza restaurant. We found it easily, but after realising that they don’t accept cards, we opted to go to Juliana’s next door instead. If I remember rightly, the original owner of Grimaldi’s sold up and set up Juliana’s next door in competition, both get great reviews online so we weren’t particularly fussed with which one we ate at.

I had a wine & Aaron had a Peroni



Pizza wise, we went for a large Margarita, with additional toppings of Mushrooms & Roasted Red Peppers. It was really nice but could have done with a bit of garlic somewhere in the mix.



Jolly Monk, Hell’s Kitchen. NYC

Onto the worst meal of our whole trip We were seeing Wicked this evening on Broadway & following advise online & general consensus we avoided all the Times Square restaurants & headed West into Hells Kitchen. Everywhere seemed very busy (it was Saturday night) but we eventually came across this place and it looked ok. Not too busy but not quiet either & a pretty varied menu of standard US grub.

I had a Cherry Boom cocktail & Aaron had a Bud Light



Food wise, I went for the Chicken Sandwich (mainly because it was described as coming with a Garlic Aioli) & Aaron had the Buffalo Wings. The food didn’t take long to come out but when it did, Aarons wings were dry and my sandwich didn’t have the alioli. The issues were sorted eventually but not until the food was pretty much cold and for the rest of the night we got completely ignored and had to go to the bar for our won drinks. I’ll give the full run down in my proper trippy but basically the service here was horrific & for the first time in all our American holidays I didn’t leave a tip.





Gershwin Theatre

Wine & a JD & Coke in the lovely rip off souvenir cups!



Sweets to munch throughout the show…




Fat Witch Bakery, Chelsea Markets, NYC

Caramel brownie, we didn’t actually eat this until we were on our internal flight later on in the day but it was absolutely amazing! The best possible brownie, chewy & gooey with a caramel layer throughout! Droool.




Crepe Suzette, Chelsea Markets, NYC

Ham & Swiss Crepe, just incredible, so heavy & full of deliciousness! I highly recommend a visit to the markets if only for this (and the above brownie, and the below tacos ).




Los Taco’s No 1, Chelsea Markets, NYC

One Chicken taco, One Beef taco, both delicious. So fresh & tatsy!



Millers Ale House, I Drive, Orlando

Our first stop in Orlando after landing much earlier than anticipated due to a flight change & time made up in the air, we headed to our old favourite!

I had the Buffalo Zinger Salad & Aaron had the Cajun Chicken Pasta. Just as good as usual, fab service, great atmosphere & dirt cheap! We love it.






Panda Express, City Walk Orlando

So, onto the first of many Panda Expresses of the trip (it wasn’t even on the original plan once)! I swear it’s highly addictive!

We both went for the plate option, which is a side & two entrees. I had Boiled Rice, Orange Chicken & Beef with Brocoli. Aaron had ½ & 1/3 Boiled Rice & Noodles with Orange Chicken & Shanghai Aberdeen Angus Steak. It was all amazing.






Pool area, Lowes Royal Pacific, Orlando

Free snow cones!



Pina Colada & Mai Tai

[abiknox]

Hard Rock Café, City Walk, Orlando

So after having our hearts set on Margaritaville tonight we were devastated to find that it had a cooperate buy out in place and along with the Mexican & a couple of other City walk restaurants was out of action for this evenings dinner. That left us with very few choices, CowFish, Bubbas, Hard Rock or the Italian.

CowFish has never appealed to us, we didn’t fancy Italian & it looked very busy, Bubbas we have always found to be quite disappointing & that left the Hard Rock. It seemed a shame to be heading somewhere we have been to so many times (although the same can be said for Margaritaville) but we didn’t really have any other options. Anyway, as it turns out, we had a really lovely meal.

We started with Pretzels, served with Mustard. Absolutely massive, yummy, warm, salty– Just heaven basically!



I went for the Club Sandwich & swapped the Fries for Onion Rings





Aaron went for the Local Legendary which is a Burger topped with Mac & Cheese…





All the food was amazing & the service was good too, a little slow at times but I think all the restaurants that were open to the general public were being hounded due to the closures so no worried there. A definite highlight & if you’re thinking about it, the local legendary really was delicious!


Lowes Royal Pacific, Orlando

Just a quick breakfast of a shared Bagel with Cream Cheese & Honey. Basic but just what we were after.




Panda Express, Idrive, Orlando

We just couldn’t help ourselves!

2 Plates again, Aaron had Orange Chicken & Beef & Broccoli with ½ & ½ Boiled Rice & Noodles. I had Boiled Rice, Orange Chicken & The Shanghai Steak Aaron had had the day before, so basically we just swapped. In addition, because we ate there yesterday, we had a voucher for a free Entrée so we asked for the Sweetfire Chicken, the server said there wasn’t enough for a portion so we had it topped up with Beijing Beef! Sooooo much food! Just as amazing as normal!





Bahama Breeze, Idrive, Orlando

Another old favourite, we stalked Emma & Ben here last year & did the same this year!

Me, Aaron & Ben started with a flight of cocktails, I can’t remember the combos but they were 90% rum based & all really good. Emma had a single cocktail but I can’t recall what it was.





Bemma had the Spinach Dip for starters & we had the Quesadillas





I ordered an Ultimate Pina Colada, Em had a Daiquiri & Ben had the third (I’ve lost my notes for this day so Im struggling to remember what it was & Aaron had a beer!









For mains, me & Em both had the Buttermilk Chicken, Aaron & Ben both had Pasta dishes & Aaron added a salad.









The food & service were great & this holds its place as one of our favourites!


Discovery Cove, Orlando

General breakfast offerings, we didn’t miss the hot options that have been taken away since we last visited.





Lunch was also pretty good, almost like Panda Express for a third day running! Oops

[abiknox]

Millers Ale House, Idrive, Orlando

Just a quick pop in for drinks. I had a couple of Cosmos, Aaron had a Margarita & an Old Fashioned.








Yard House, Idrive, Orlando

A new one for us & highly recommended. The whole area by the Orlando Eye was lovely & the food & service here was impeccable.

Drinks wise, I had a Bikini Tini & Aaron had a Strawberry Bourbonade.





Food wise, we were obviously feeling peckish as we opted for a starter, and it was big! Spinach dip!



For mains, Aaron had the Southern fried Chicken & I Had the Nashville Hot Chicken





Both were really good, the only disappointment was that mine came served with sweet Potato Fritters and nowhere in the description did it say they would be smothered in cinnamon Luckily the portions were so huge I was able to share Aarons mash.

[abiknox]

Ben & Jerry’s, Idrive, Orlando

A quick pit stop on our walk back for some Ice Cream. We went for 1 scoop of Salted Caramel Blondie with a topping of Gummy Bears. Really yummy but a bit too much caramel for us (and that’s saying something) so we both felt a bit sick after a while and had to dump some! Shocking!

[abiknox]

Friendlies, Idrive, Orlando

Back to one of our old favourites, the food was great as usual, a very quiet atmosphere though where you felt like you needed to whisper.

We both stick with our standard sandwich, the BBQ Honey Chicken Supemelt. Heaven! I swapped my fires for a salad.








Panda Express, City Walk, Orlando

I know I know! Panda again! Its just we were at HHN with Emma & Ben & had raved so much about it that Aaron decided he fancied it again & Bemma were happy to try it!

I went for Sweet fire Chicken & Beijing Beef, with ½ & ½ Boiled Rice & Noodles. Aaron had Beijing Beef and another Chicken Dish which I can’t recall!






Celebration, Orlando

Ice Cream stop, we had 1 scoop of Heaven Hash with Liquid Marshmallow poured over the top. Lovely, but very sickly again. Will we ever learn




Buffalo Wild Wings, Formosa Gardens, Orlando

This was another first for us after reading many great reviews & having Jon recommend it for the wings. We decided to share a starter & then share a portion of wings.

We had the deep Fried Cheese Curds which are honestly one of the best things I have ever tasted, like ever  Super salty & crispy!



Wings wise, we opted for a small portion which was 10 wings, ½ Spicy Garlic & ½ Honey Mustard Bourbon. They were really good but I preferred the Spicey Garlic of the two dips. The fries were good too, really skinny and not overly seasoned which normally puts me off.




Cookes of Dublin Bar, DTD, Orlando

A quick refreshment stop. Beer for Aaron, Baileys Slush for me!






Cubre Libre, Idrive, Orlando

Another one just for drinks, great service though & this is on our must do list for food next time. It was happy hour so the Sangrias were only $4.



Aaron had a couple of Guave Caipirinhas




Millers Ale House, Idrive, Orlando

One more meal here before we moved over to Disney! Old favourite choices too so nothing very exciting for the food report!

Chicken Cajun pasta for Aaron with the added salad option & Zinger Mountain melt for me.








Pinocchios Village Haus, Magic Kingdom, Orlando

Our first quick service of the trip & the first time we tried swapping out the dessert for a side. It worked! I had a gorgeous Chicken Ceaser Salad & we shared the Garlic Knotts as well. All very nice for theme park grub!






Tangerine Café, EPCOT, Orlando

Mixed slider plate, very nice and pretty different to the normal theme park grub! Again we swapped the dessert for a side & went for a tangerine cous cous!





Hanger Bar, DTD, Orlando

Drinks again! Long Island Iced Tea & Margarita… A great addition to DTD/Disney Springs!






Trader Sam’s Grog Grotto, The Polynesian , Orlando

A mix of drinks for the 4 of us, Hippopotomai-tai, Shrunken Zombie Head, Trader Punch and a few more after…

[abiknox]

Ohanas, The Polynesian, Orlando

Normal grub here, the initial portions seems a bit stingy as they were giving us the same amount for 4 that tables of 2 were getting but we soon got more once we asked. The food was all lovely and fresh & we didn’t feel rushed which I know is a common complaint here. Still a firm fave for me That pudding too….















Yak & Yeti, Animal Kingdom, Orlando

Another quick service favourite here although the food didn’t seem quite as nice as previously. I also missed the cardboard containers as they kept the food really nice and warm. We shared the Honey Chicken and the Teriyaki Beef & swapped a dessert for an Egg Roll. Good, but its no Panda Express!








Boma, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Disney

My all time favourite Onsite restaurant, spoilt slightly by how busy it was (September is VERY different to February! ). The food was still lovely but it was so much effort to try and get any on your plate that we only managed a couple of plates each.












50’s Prime Tome Café, Hollywood Studios, Orlando

Finally, after 6 years of visiting, we spotted the bar & I got my mits on a Penut Butter & Jelly milkshake, and it was gooood!




General Snack, Hollywood Studios

M&M Mickey Head for breakfast – No further explanation needed!




Grand Floridian Café, Grand Floridian, Disney

Another new one and it loved up to all expectations. The setting is beautiful, service was good & the food was incredible.

I had the Open Sandwich





Aaron had the steak





Followed by the most incredible dessert, the fondue. It was a Chocolate Orange Ganache with Fruit, Marhsmallows & Brownie! We also had a Coffee Chocolate Pot which was really nice too.





Great meal & highly recommended!


Pecos Bills, Magic Kingdom, Orlando

We head in here looking for a burger, it seems they no longer offer them though. Instead it was Tacos & Burritos, fine by us! We went for a Beef Burritio with a side of Chicekn Enchilada Soup instead of a dessert. We made serious use of the toppings bar, endless Sour Cream & Guacamole! OMG devine!








General Snack, Epcot

A lovely, refreshing Mango & Strawberry Smoothie




Hawaii Food & Wine Festival Stand, EPCOT, Orlando

A lovely Pulled Pork Slider



Brazil Food & Wine Festival Stand, EPCOT, Orlando

We used a QS credit here for 3 snacks – No problems. Meat Pie, Belly Pork & Cheese Bread! Om nom nom nom nom!








Raglan Road Bar, DTD, Orlando

Cider & and amazing cloudy Apple Juice



Raglan Road, DTD, Orlando


This wasn't initially on our plan but whilst we were sat in the outdoor bar area we were watching the food come out & it all looked amazing, We made a swift decision to cancel Yachtsman & book here instead. It was a great decision as we had really good food & service. The atmosphere with the dancers & band was great too.

I had the Braised Beef & Aaron had the Ham, we added a side of Cauliflour Gratin & shared the lot. It was one of the nest meals we had while we were out there. I think we were craving some wholesome food with veggies!







For puds, we went for the Lemon Tart & the Flourless Chocolate Cake. Both were great but we had to request more cream to go with the cake, the so called garnish amount was a joke for the size & richness of the cake. We saw the table next to us ask for more too so it wasn't just us.






Beaches & Cream, Beach Club, Orlando

A much awaited stop for the kitchen sink, but first drinks & savoury.

A very orange coloured Fanta!



Patty Melt for me





Burger for Aaron, he did upgrade to Onion Rings but it came with Fries so he ended up with both!





And here it is, the Chocolate version of the Kitchen Sink! Everything you could hope for as a chocolate lover!



I think we made a pretty good effort too!

[abiknox]

House of Blues, DTD, Orlando

As we had made a last minute swap from the Yachtsman to Raglen Road we had a spare table credit for our last night, we decided on an old favourite of House of Blues. Again, the main restaurant had a buy out on but they did manage to fit us in the quieter side of the restaurant which was nice and quiet.

I had the Jambalaya with a House Salad & Aaron had the Buttermilk Fried Chicken.







To finish, we shared the Key Lime Pie which is really nice!




General Snack, Magic Kingdom

Strawberry & Banana Smoothie

This obviously wasn’t too nice as Aaron binned about ¾ of it 




Wolfgang Pucks, DTD, Orlando

So we have reached the last meal of the holiday, a QS meal at Wolfgang Puck Express. An amazing use of the QSDP option.

We both went for pizza, Roasted Mushroom for me & Peperoni for Aaron. Both were amazing.





For dessert we went for a brownie (more like chocolate cake) and a fruit pot!




Apologies for the pre photo nibble!


And that brings us to the end of the trip! Overall we had some amazing food. There were a couple of disappointments. We most likely won’t return to Boma or Friendlies again but we have added Yard House & Buffalo Wild Wings to our favourites! Hard Rock Café was a surprisingly amazing meal and Panda Express ranks very highly again for a quick, delicious fill! Shake Shack, Chelsea Markets, Porchlight & Boilermaker all stood out in NYC and the Kitchen Sink was a great experience too! Now tell me how I managed to loose 2lb!?

[Short legs]

OMG! Just amazing, I'm drooling Thanks for sharing.
I love a good cocktail, the baileys one looks sooo good!
I really want to try Panda Express, I keep reading how great the orange chicken is and I have to get me some next year
Definitely trying Millers Ale House too. Slimming world here I come...

[ely3857]

Fab report! Love all the pics and sorry, not a clue as to how your dropped 2lb! X