The Prisoner of Vineland Mall - Orlando Dining 2019

[theCMG]

Originally Posted by Princess Alison

I’m new to this thread!

Pleased to hear about this as it confirms my pronunciation of the word scone!

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lol my accent alternates from North to South on certain words but I'm definitely with the Scone/Stone which is how the Cornish pronounce it so definitive as far as I'm concerned Hope you enjoy the report

Originally Posted by saratogajan

Looking forward to this. Love your reports!

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Thanks for reading and glad you've enjoyed them (not sure about the first one - was a bit rubbish ). Looking forward to the updated EPCOT photo in your report (need some inspiration!)

Originally Posted by gjdjud

Looking forward to reading. I've always wanted to try Cowfish but unfortunately doesn't appeal to the kids so I've had to sacrifice it Looking forward to seeing your review.

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yes that's close to what happened to me on the last couple of trips - benefits of some solo time now. I'll be sure to post a decent review and thanks for reading/commenting I'm following your report with interest too and hope things go well with Evie's sight (and the family)

[theCMG]

The One with all the Kit Kats:

Practising the dining review thing and also adding something with DD to replace the EPCOT Snack Credit haul review that we forgot to do last year. We went a bit mad with all the Kit Kat flavours currently available in the supermarket.

The Line-Up in Full

We agonised over the controversial inclusion of the Chunky. But we wanted the white ones (not available in the fingers) and it was more chocolate so…Plus because we were disappointed at the lack of the white chocolate one we ended up getting a White Kit Kat Chunky, a regular Chunky and a Salted Caramel Fudge. 9 Kit Kat variants in total.

It’s not quite the days when I used to bring back weird and wonderful flavours like Wasabi, Strawberry Cheesecake and Green Tea from Japan but as DD has no memory of trying those, these will have to do!

The two fingers were in multipacks and the others as singles. These will see us right for lunchtime snacks over the next few weeks (who are we kidding...days) so nothing going to waste albeit anything truly gross might be gifted

Lunch, sorted!

Each bar was assessed /5 by DD and I against the following criteria:

Appearance
Smell
Flavour
Moreishness (vs Sickliness)

Pre-tournament odds favoured Orange, the White Chunky and Classic bar with Mint a dark horse and Lemon Drizzle the rank outsider. I know you can’t wait so let’s crack on.

First up was the regular Kit Kat (4 finger milk chocolate). The VW Golf of chocolate bars this one. Didn’t actually do that well though this time. DD didn’t enjoy it and I felt the wafer was too hard on the one I had (had there been storage issues in the supply chain? We’ll never know).

Kit Kat Classic Milk Choc 4 finger - Flavour/Smell/Appearance/Moreishness = Overall
DD 3/3/2/2 = 10
CMG 2/3/3/3 = 11

DD tucks in

The next one was more of a surprise. The relative boringness of a Kit Kat was lifted by the switch to dark chocolate. DD in particular enjoyed this, scoring high for flavour and nice scent.

Dark Chocolate 2 finger
DD 4/5/2/3 = 14
CMG 2/2/4/2 = 10

The Orange was a pre-tournament favourite. Hotly tipped by DW who stole several before the competition but thankfully we retained enough to get the game on. This flopped big-time. I only liked the smell. DD completely destroyed it like a miniature Simon Cowell covered in wafer crumbs. The first shock of the tasting!

Orange 2 finger
DD 1/1/2/1 = 5
CMG 2/4/3/1 = 10

Next up, White Chocolate Chunky. This was a revelation, the normally too sweet white chocolate colluded with the wafer, bringing out an unexpected wafer cocoa-ness to be overall a delight. Identical marks from both judges. Only a nondescript smell prevented it scoring even higher.

White Kit Kat Chunky
DD 5/2/4/4 = 15
CMG 5/2/4/4 = 15

White Kit Kat Chunky (buy) with backdrop of the movie Valentine’s Day (avoid at all costs)

Dark Chocolate mint was a wild card. Would it bring the A-game of the iconic After Eight or the misery of mouthwash aftertaste ? Well it smelled incredible, I’d use it as an air freshener, we split like the two fingers of the bar on the eating experience, blowing Mint’s chances of a high finish.

Mint 2 Finger
DD 2/1/2/3 = 8
CMG 2/5/4/2 = 13

What’s this shizzle? Kit Kat LEMON DRIZZLE? Confusingly this was milk chocolate covered when nature would surely have created this with a nice lemony white chocolate. It smelled to me vaguely of one of the Fry’s bars (still available in B&M!) but fell in the trap of being a bit weird and neither lemony enough or nice enough. Not the shizzle.

Lemon Drizzle 2 Finger
DD 2/2/3/1 = 8
CMG 2/4/2/3 = 11

Monday’s work conversation. What did you get up to over the weekend CMG? You know. Took the dog for a walk in the park. Stuffed a lobster with Kit Kats. The usual.

Salted Caramel Fudge Kit Kat Chunky. I’m happy with all of those words so why was the bar such a disappointment This smelled and tasted of old toffee. Bad Nestle! Just no, no, no. Get back in the lab until you make it nicer. And I’ve tried your Peanut Butter one too, aint great either

Salted Caramel Fudge Chunky
DD 3/1/4/1 = 9
CMG 3/1/3/2 = 9

The Chunky’s had been a mixed bag to this point, one great and one awful. Still, the milk chocolate Chunky is an established classic. DD shockingly had never had one but for me it was an old friend I hadn’t caught up with for too long. We both scored it highly.

Kit Kat Chunky (Milk Chocolate)
DD 4/2/4/2 = 12
CMG 4/4/4/3 = 15

Finally, Cookies and Cream one that DD favoured coming into the tournament. I hadn’t tried before but she was already a fan (as it fits in the Oreo/Cookie Dough family she’s obsessed with). Pleasingly this has a two tone milk/white chocolate coating that assured 5/5 on this, I would share a photo but she’s eaten them all before I could get there! This scored like a major contender and so nearly took the crown…

Cookies & Cream (2 finger)
DD 4/3/5/3 = 15
CMG 4/2/5/3 = 14

Final Standings:

1 White Kit Kat Chunky
2 Cookies & Cream Kit Kat
3 Kit Kat Chunky (Milk Chocolate)
--------------------------------------------
4 Dark Chocolate
5 Milk Chocolate
6 Dark Mint Chocolate
---------------------------------------------
7 Lemon Drizzle
8 Salted Caramel Fudge Chunky
9 Orange

White Chocolate Chunky a worthy winner or Cookies and Cream for those who contest its eligibility. Another weekend well spent

[Jannyjan]

Is this a family hobby? Maybe you should rank all the jelly bean flavours next. 😏

[theCMG]

Originally Posted by Jannyjan

Is this a family hobby? Maybe you should rank all the jelly bean flavours next. 😏

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Eating is definitely a family hobby we've done m&m and Oreo flavour rankings before. Hmm Jelly Beans is an idea!

[caitlinsmummy]

How on Earth have I missed this pre trippie?! Please remind me to subscribe tomorrow as I don't know how to do, it on, my, phone ill have a good read through tomorrow xx

[theCMG]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

How on Earth have I missed this pre trippie?! Please remind me to subscribe tomorrow as I don't know how to do, it on, my, phone ill have a good read through tomorrow xx

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Well you know how I like to keep these reports low key I have no idea how to subscribe either, there are instructions in the dining report tracker thread somewhere. Having commented of course its in your Active Threads which is what I tend to do.

Thanks for reading, enjoy!

[theCMG]

Restaurants and why we picked them: Pt 3 (Orlando/Offsite)

The final round of previews, just dipped below the 60 day mark which while meaningless for a non Disney trip still feels like a milestone

100% DIBBER Satisfaction for Longhorn’s mean we have high hopes

The Ivy Brasserie (Pre-Travel day)
Wagamama, Gatwick Airport (Travel)
BA ClubWorld (DW) / Snacks (HP) (Travel)
Arby’s (Travel)
Cinnabon
Panda Express
Vivo Italian Kitchen
Voodoo Doughnut
Cowfish
Islands Dining Room
NBC Grill and Brew
Simpsons/Cletus Chicken Shack
Three Broomsticks
Longhorn Steakhouse
Cheesecake Factory
Eddie V's Prime Seafood
Benihana
Steak n Shake
Texas de Brazil

Arby’s, while an offsite I covered in the travel day section so starting here with Longhorn Steakhouse. This seems universally loved on the site and being more interested in big steaks, loaded baked potatoes and the like than freshly poached asparagus I’m sure this will be a hit. How we haven’t made it here before I don’t know. Blame the dining plan!

Prime Rib is winning at the moment

Another notable miss on the Porker resume is The Cheesecake Factory. Can mix this one into a weekend shopping day for a ‘light lunch’ and then I’ll find a quiet chair and fall asleep in Zara (they once left me there although it’s just DW this time so hopefully no repeat). What can you say about this sort of dessert selection and I know from many other great reports that there’s huge portions of some good dishes all through the menu.

After that I had a brief to find a really nice restaurant for a date night and settled on Eddie V’s Prime Seafood which scores very well on review sites. I could be wrong but I’m assuming this is a reference to King Edward the Fifth of England.

Eddy's bragging raised the ire of a passing Richard III

Moving on we also want to try Benihana for some Japanese hibachi table cooking after the success of our first trip to Teppan Edo last year. DW of course a big seafood fan and this is a great way to eat it.

Steak n Shake was a big hit for DD and I back in 2015 and I’m keen to go back there and try the garlic burger. Such great value this place, my photos were horrible so I’ve borrowed a stock one here (with the bun no doubt wearing foundation):

Finally a repeat visit to Texas de Brazil. The salad bar is stunning and the all you can eat meats a joy but we also found the less celebrated dessert trolley to be awesome - had an amazing Brazilian Cheesecake from there, Porked down despite maximal fullness.

Till next time

[caitlinsmummy]

Originally Posted by theCMG

Well you know how I like to keep these reports low key I have no idea how to subscribe either, there are instructions in the dining report tracker thread somewhere. Having commented of course its in your Active Threads which is what I tend to do.

Thanks for reading, enjoy!

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You click thread tools at the top of the thread then click subscribe I've done it now x

Originally Posted by theCMG

Restaurants and why we picked them: Pt 3 (Orlando/Offsite)

The final round of previews, just dipped below the 60 day mark which while meaningless for a non Disney trip still feels like a milestone

100% DIBBER Satisfaction for Longhorn’s mean we have high hopes

The Ivy Brasserie (Pre-Travel day)
Wagamama, Gatwick Airport (Travel)
BA ClubWorld (DW) / Snacks (HP) (Travel)
Arby’s (Travel)
Cinnabon
Panda Express
Vivo Italian Kitchen
Voodoo Doughnut
Cowfish
Islands Dining Room
NBC Grill and Brew
Simpsons/Cletus Chicken Shack
Three Broomsticks
Longhorn Steakhouse
Cheesecake Factory
Eddie V's Prime Seafood
Benihana
Steak n Shake
Texas de Brazil

Arby’s, while an offsite I covered in the travel day section so starting here with Longhorn Steakhouse. This seems universally loved on the site and being more interested in big steaks, loaded baked potatoes and the like than freshly poached asparagus I’m sure this will be a hit. How we haven’t made it here before I don’t know. Blame the dining plan!

Prime Rib is winning at the moment

Another notable miss on the Porker resume is The Cheesecake Factory. Can mix this one into a weekend shopping day for a ‘light lunch’ and then I’ll find a quiet chair and fall asleep in Zara (they once left me there although it’s just DW this time so hopefully no repeat). What can you say about this sort of dessert selection and I know from many other great reports that there’s huge portions of some good dishes all through the menu.

After that I had a brief to find a really nice restaurant for a date night and settled on Eddie V’s Prime Seafood which scores very well on review sites. I could be wrong but I’m assuming this is a reference to King Edward the Fifth of England.

Eddy's bragging raised the ire of a passing Richard III

Moving on we also want to try Benihana for some Japanese hibachi table cooking after the success of our first trip to Teppan Edo last year. DW of course a big seafood fan and this is a great way to eat it.

Steak n Shake was a big hit for DD and I back in 2015 and I’m keen to go back there and try the garlic burger. Such great value this place, my photos were horrible so I’ve borrowed a stock one here (with the bun no doubt wearing foundation):

Finally a repeat visit to Texas de Brazil. The salad bar is stunning and the all you can eat meats a joy but we also found the less celebrated dessert trolley to be awesome - had an amazing Brazilian Cheesecake from there, Porked down despite maximal fullness.

Till next time

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Plans are looking great, but I'm proud to see you have Steak N Shake in there for the garlic burger ... you won't regret ... if you do you can hold me responsible for it xx

[theCMG]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

Plans are looking great, but I'm proud to see you have Steak N Shake in there for the garlic burger ... you won't regret ... if you do you can hold me responsible for it xx

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Thanks, I’m 100% confident from your description and our previous Steak n Shake experience, its going to be great Cheers for subscribing

[theCMG]

Just went on to look at parking (Gatwick) and for a reduced rate you can now hire your car out while you’re away Ingenious but I think I’ll pass until it’s a bit more established.

Quick update on touring plans, with 4 days of solo park time and the 2 Universal Parks to focus on I’m going to keep myself amused by experiencing every attraction Rides, shows, characters, experiences, parades, (shops?) let’s try and do the lot Anything that will let me on or in and doesn’t have an extra charge.

Will review everything I experience obviously. Need to think of some categories now and also source the master list of what’s occurin