Disney take two! - COMPLETE

[caitlinsmummy]

Another hit for the Nomad lounge! I wonder how many more times you can squeeze it in before the end of the trip? 😂 Xx

[OB1LukeLucas]

The lobster mac and cheese looks good. I’m pleased you are back nice and cosy in the Nomad Lounge. I think it was great that Disney managed to control the weather so you got to stay in there for extra drinks the other day waiting on your fastpasses!
I’m catching up on your past few days since Nev arrived, there have been a few ups and downs with food and service but it sounds like your having a great time. Did you get sorted with your luggage?

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Dr.JumbaJookiba

I could just do that lobster mac and cheese in right now for supper

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Originally Posted by orlandoamber

Oh wow... that lobster mac n cheese has my name written all over it.

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Originally Posted by Pez01

Oh my goodness I’m liking the look of that lobster mac and cheese 😋😋

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I am very glad I made enquiries about it, I can see it being a favourite.

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

Another hit for the Nomad lounge! I wonder how many more times you can squeeze it in before the end of the trip? 😂 Xx

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Well we are back on Saturday and Monday evening, so there are two more opportunities.

Originally Posted by OB1LukeLucas

The lobster mac and cheese looks good. I’m pleased you are back nice and cosy in the Nomad Lounge. I think it was great that Disney managed to control the weather so you got to stay in there for extra drinks the other day waiting on your fastpasses!
I’m catching up on your past few days since Nev arrived, there have been a few ups and downs with food and service but it sounds like your having a great time. Did you get sorted with your luggage?

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We haven’t got the luggage sorted yet, I will send Nev to follow up today.

[Guest]

This evening we had an 8:15pm reservation at Takumi-Tei in Epcot. We arrived a little grumpy after a one hour journey from Wilderness Lodge and being dropped at the bus stop just about the furthest away from the gates as it could possibly be. We were close to our reservation time by the time we pulled in and not liking to be late, we route marched over to Japan.

We were greeted verbosely at the podium and then again inside where we received a speech about five Japanese “artisans” of wood, stone, paper, water and the fifth one I can’t remember. The rooms of Takumi-Tei are based around these artisans and we were told we had been allocated to the paper room. The room had six tables for four and was very light, Nev thought it was authentic looking and he is right, but I prefer dimmed lighting to dine by.

We had a further long explanation about the menu, which we were interested to hear, even though we were both more or less decided on what to pick after looking at the menu beforehand.

To start with we ordered a non alcoholic cocktail each, Nev picked the ginger samosa and I the blood orange spritzer. We later decided to try a bottle of the sauvignon blanc.

To eat (I will use the English descriptions) I picked “crab on the beach”, essentially a ponzu crab and toasted crab salad, followed by roasted duck for my main. Nev started with the braised wagyu served with bone marrow, followed by tempura tiger prawns. We also received an amuse bouche which was a blob of fried miso, I know that sounds weird and we concluded there must have been a spherification process. I can’t decide on the best photos, so here are all of them.

Our non alcoholic cocktails turned up first, we loved the colours, they looked so refreshing. The ginger mimosa was probably the nicer of the two, but they were both good. We weren’t sure about the 2017 sauvignon as we usually stick with something no older than the prior year for sauvignon, but it was a lovely wine and we thought it was an unusual looking bottle.

Onto the food, firstly we started with the amuse bouche of course. We ate it in one mouthful and it popped open and turned into liquid, interesting and delicious. The starters were hits, mine in particular was beautifully presented and they were not sparing with the crab. The sauce was a plum reduction, which seemed to have been reduced to almost nothing but it was there on the plate and was so tasty that I even ate most of the frisée, something I am not normally a big fan of. Nev enjoyed his starter too and also thought the portion size was generous, he struggled getting any sauce though as the artistic smear shown on his plate was virtually spot welded to it.

I think my main was also the better looking of the two. We tried each other’s dishes and agreed my duck was beautifully smoked, I enjoyed everything else on the plate too, the yellow crumb is cured duck egg yolk, not something I have seen before. I think I would have preferred Nev’s main though, the prawns were good! Possibly he would have preferred mine too, purely down to personal tastes.

Service throughout was well paced, we were there for about ninety minutes for two courses and no after dinner drinks. Nev thought they should tone down the deference however, he thought it was over the top and a bit embarrassing. They also talk a lot, we had quite a few speeches within the first ten minutes of arrival. The other parties appeared to have opted for the set menu and they all got another long speech as they finished.

Unfortunately I must mention something which was displeasing to me and that was the bathrooms! I went when we arrived, there was a disabled and a regular cubicle, I went to the normal one to find both loo roll holders empty! I popped next door and fortunately this cubicle had loo roll but there was also an overflowing bin in the room. I went again before leaving and the situation was exactly the same. Anyway sorry for bringing that up, but to me the state of the bathrooms always reflects on the restaurant and I did expect a better bathroom experience in a restaurant of this calibre.

We only have good things to say about the food and the drinks. All excellent in terms of presentation, portion size and flavour. It is early days for Takumi-Tei and it would be nice to see it a little busier, I felt sad to see all the empty tables in there, hopefully things will pick up in time. We agree we would like to go back one day, but we don’t think it will will be on the agenda for next year. We hope that when we do go back it will be thriving.

[collybird]

I’ve wanted to try that Geyser Point burger since the restaurant opened so glad to see a favourable review of it. Can I ask how the seating works there? Do they seat you and take your order at a table? Or do you get your food at the QS counter and find a table yourself (if it’s not as busy as in your experience!)?

I’ve been teetering on the prink of cancelling our Tiffins ADR as OH really does not want to go back but you’ve won me over with the Lobster Mac and Cheese, it looks divine. I agree the poutine doesn’t look the most appetising, but if Nev was happy then that’s all that matters.

I’ve been looking forward to your Takum-Tei review, I was disappointed to see it wasn’t on the DDP, but the perfect excuse for you to visit when you are OOP. The restaurant looks lovely and the mocktails look gorgeous. Your dishes sound delicious, I think I’d have also gone for your main and then had food envy when Nev’s showed up!

I’ve been saddened to see how many issues you’ve run into across your trip so far, whilst Disney’s guest recovery has been good it does seem they are falling short on the first attempt too many times.

[princessnicki]

Thank you for the review on Takum-Tei, it looks lovely, really impressed with all the food pictures, the tasting menu here is in the running for our anniversary on our next trip but I think my husband has his heart set on Bull and Bear at the Waldorf

[princessnicki]

Originally Posted by collybird

I’ve wanted to try that Geyser Point burger since the restaurant opened so glad to see a favourable review of it. Can I ask how the seating works there? Do they seat you and take your order at a table? Or do you get your food at the QS counter and find a table yourself (if it’s not as busy as in your experience!)?

I’ve been teetering on the prink of cancelling our Tiffins ADR as OH really does not want to go back but you’ve won me over with the Lobster Mac and Cheese, it looks divine. I agree the poutine doesn’t look the most appetising, but if Nev was happy then that’s all that matters.

I’ve been looking forward to your Takum-Tei review, I was disappointed to see it wasn’t on the DDP, but the perfect excuse for you to visit when you are OOP. The restaurant looks lovely and the mocktails look gorgeous. Your dishes sound delicious, I think I’d have also gone for your main and then had food envy when Nev’s showed up!

I’ve been saddened to see how many issues you’ve run into across your trip so far, whilst Disney’s guest recovery has been good it does seem they are falling short on the first attempt too many times.

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I need to have another read of your food reports as we are considering deluxe dining plan

[Pez01]

Wow wow wow. I love the look of the food. I’d have ordered the crab and the giant prawns. Brilliant review thank you 😊😊

[KarenG]

Oh my goodness Takumi-Tei looks like my dream restaurant!

(Bathrooms aside).


Drooling over your lobster mac and cheese too.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by collybird

I’ve wanted to try that Geyser Point burger since the restaurant opened so glad to see a favourable review of it. Can I ask how the seating works there? Do they seat you and take your order at a table? Or do you get your food at the QS counter and find a table yourself (if it’s not as busy as in your experience!)?

I’ve been teetering on the prink of cancelling our Tiffins ADR as OH really does not want to go back but you’ve won me over with the Lobster Mac and Cheese, it looks divine. I agree the poutine doesn’t look the most appetising, but if Nev was happy then that’s all that matters.

I’ve been looking forward to your Takum-Tei review, I was disappointed to see it wasn’t on the DDP, but the perfect excuse for you to visit when you are OOP. The restaurant looks lovely and the mocktails look gorgeous. Your dishes sound delicious, I think I’d have also gone for your main and then had food envy when Nev’s showed up!

I’ve been saddened to see how many issues you’ve run into across your trip so far, whilst Disney’s guest recovery has been good it does seem they are falling short on the first attempt too many times.

See more...

To be honest I don’t think I spent long enough at GP to work out how service works. I did think I would have got table service, had I been seated at a table, which I wasn’t. I once watched a Tim Travker video and I am sure he said there were separate areas for being served and picking up your own meal.

We have had some issues' you are right they shouldn’t have happened. But fortunately, this far we don’t have any unresolved dining issues and so we are having a nice time.