Easter 2015. Lots of food *MAINLY OFF-SITE* No snappy title! *COMPLETE!*

[Vanillapod]

Typhoon today and I wasn't feeling cold

I love the Disney water parks. They're much more relaxed.
So, after breakfast in our room we were off.

We bought a new refillable mug as the sticker barcodes are no longer.


We just buy 1 and share.
They're pretty good value and you can pay a reduced fee to recharge the chip on subsequent days.
We don't find loungers, just stuff everything in a locker and come back every now and then for a drink and to reapply sun cream.
At about 4pm the sky was dark grey and we figured we were about to be kicked out of the pools. We quickly left before the masses!
As we were leaving it absolutely chucked it down!

We made our way to the Mall at Millenia. OH was having a pants crisis and we were off down the coast the next day so his crisis needed addressing! (He only left home with 7 pairs!)
After an inconceivably long period of time he had pants. It was late so we decided on PF Chang's

We ordered way too much. It was all very nice and I'm sure we'd go again.

We had...

Chang's fried rice
Chicken pad Thai
Mongolian beef
And something else but I can't remember what.

The Mongolian Beef was particularly good. I hardly ever order red meat unless I know where it's come from so I surprised myself with this one.







Another lean day for pictures but it does improve!

[MariaLynda]

Love a food report. Sorry for your loss.

Great pics so far, keke's looks yummy, need to Google and see where that is.

[Vanillapod]

Off to Busch today and then onto Anna Maria.

A very quick breakfast in the room and we were off. We packed some snacks too as we weren't planning on eating in the park.

It wasn't the best day TBH. I'm sure if it wasn't so manic we might have felt otherwise. By far the busiest day in any of the parks during our whole holiday and I don't think they're really geared up for crowds!

We actually would have eaten here if the food fest stalls were open but they weren't. I think it started the next day.
The offerings looked pretty good at those so it's worth looking up when that's on if you're planning a trip.

I know others may not agree but we thought the food at the permanent restaurants and kiosks looked pretty bad (for all seaworld parks) so we avoided it. If it was cheaper I might not be too bothered but if I spend a lot on crap food then I'm annoyed! If I spend a little then I'm not too bothered.
I feel the same at home or abroad.
If you can get the all day dining for $10 then it's clearly a no brainer. This offer didn't apply as part of the discovery cove package though.

We'd had enough by 3 ish so called it a day.

Checked into our hotel in Bradenton, typed The Sandbar postcode into the phone and off we went.

We had a little wait for a table (about an hour) so we grabbed drinks and played football on the beach. Perfect!
You have to leave your drinks behind when you venture onto the sand though.

It's a lovely relaxed setting.



I had a mojito or two...



OH had a beer and DS had a milkshake.
Great mojitos. They really smash the mint in

Food really was excellent.

We shared a smoked mackerel appetiser which came with fish skin crisps, capers and a few toppings. Plus a tomato, mozzarella and proscuito salad. They brought fresh bread out too.
It was all excellent. Really fresh with good flavours.







Mains were also very good.

OH had surf and turf. His steak was accompanied by stuffed shrimp. Included in the price you could choose from various potato dishes AND from one of 2 salads so it was actually excellent value too.



I had stuffed shrimp and DS had a wasabi crusted salmon salad (which came with more salad I think )





The same options applied with sides so we ended up with far too much!
For some reason I chose rice with mine which really didn't go at all. I just left that as it wasn't needed anyway.

I don't seem to have a photo of the accompaniments but I'm sure they're in tomorrow's photos anyway.

If you're headed to Anna Maria I really can't recommend this place enough particularly if you are early enough to watch the sunset (which we were the following evening )

[JanetteP]

Looking forward to more. 😊

[Jedi Princess]

Really enjoying your food report.

The breakfast from Keke's looks delicious.

Sorry for your loss. X

[Michelle]

Just caught up - Oh boy that has got my mouth watering...

That surf and turf looks so delish! I don't even like seafood that much either

[Vanillapod]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Bradenton which was pretty well placed.
Breakfast was included in the price of our room and was pretty standard fare.
I didn't take any photos I'm afraid but I can tell you that DS thoroughly enjoyed the pancake making machine

We spent a day exploring and completely fell in love with the place.

Here are a few non food photos just because!







We had intended to go to The Donut Experiment but when we arrived it was shut
FYI it closes at 1pm

However, we noticed this taco place next door so decided to give it a go.



Here's a menu too



And the food...





These were really fresh and delicious and such a bargain.
A really good find.

After that we went in search of somewhere to parasail but sadly had no joy. Back to the beach!

We'd already decided we would return to The Sandbar that night and wanted to be sure we saw the sunset.
We had a long wait for our table (2.5 hours )
But DS made a couple of friends and played 'soccer' so he was perfectly happy

We caught the sunset which was totally worth the wait!





We had calamari to start which was perfectly cooked.



And our mains were as follows

OH had fish cakes. I can't remember what exactly, but they were ok. Perfectly nice but nothing earth shattering



And DS and I both had the same.
A scallop gratin type thing which we both enjoyed.
It wasn't as nice as our meals the previous night but it was still really good.



We all chose the island salad to accompany our mains which was delicious.



Again, no room for dessert and we had to head back to Orlando so we paid up and were on our way.
We'd have loved to have stayed longer but everywhere was full!

Anna Maria is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been and we intend to revisit (for longer) next year. We will definitely return to The sandbar and Poppo's too

I think DS and I were asleep within seconds and the next we knew we were back at the Rosen.

[Tinkermom]

Thank you! such a lovely food report & fantastic photos of Anna Maria.

[dixonsontour]

Great report sorry for your partner's loss.

[Lisa29]

Great report so far with some yummy looking food.