17 nights of allergy-friendly DDP - Sept/Oct 2015 **DONE! **

[Buffton]

Yum yum! Enjoying this! Thank you!

[DisneyDreamer81]

Yay! Love a food report!

[stan_the_man]

Sept 24

Today for lunch we decided on Restaurantosaurus at AK.

For those who don’t know the backstory to Restaurantosaurus and indeed all of Dinoland USA, I suggest you have a read of this link and this link. Well, ever since reading this I’ve wanted to sit in the Airstream trailer for my lunch! (on previous trips to Restaurantosaurus we have just found a table in one of the main dining rooms, and I’ve never really noticed the theming).



So we headed over around 11.15am hoping it would be quiet, and luckily it was. They still had CMs at the entrance directing you to tills, despite the fact each till had 1 or no people waiting to be served.

After picking up our food we found our way to the airstream trailer and luckily out of the 2 booths in there, one was free! (a South American couple were at the other one for 5 mins with no food, but then left randomly).

It is fun in here as the jukebox has a selection of paleontology/geology-themed songs which play throughout the restaurant (unfortunately you can’t select any of you own songs… I’m surprised Disney hasn’t cottoned on to that yet, they could charge a dollar a song!) and the whole trailer has a retro vibe, with the sparkly red leather seats and quirky items all over the place.



For the food we had both ordered the 1/3lb bacon cheeseburger with fries, and desserts were a cheesecake topped with strawberries and a chocolate mousse. As DW didn’t want either dessert, I had a little bit of each to provide an objective opinion! I quite enjoy it here for drinks as well since there is a refill station for your cups (I don’t think they are RFID coded yet though).




(desserts visible in the corner!)

Pretty standard for a Disney burger, but then we quite enjoy their bacon cheeseburgers (and the variant burgers you can usually find around the place). In terms of dessert, the cheesecake was a winner for me (I love baked NY cheesecake which it reminded me of) and the strawberries were a nice topping. The chocolate mousse was a bit meh although had a nice flavour. I didn’t finish both of them as (a) that is quite fatty mcfat and (b) the burger had filled me up anyway!)

Next up, dinner at Sanaa…

[stan_the_man]

Sept 24

Dinner at Sanaa

Although we had spent the day at AK, we went back to the resort to chill out before heading out to Kidani Village. I think we used HS as a transfer point as it is so close to CSR you can do it really quickly.

We arrived about 20 mins before our ADR time so went to explore the savannah outside. Compared to the Jambo village viewing areas this is quite small, but quite cosy too with the rocking chairs around the firepit.

After we checked in, we were shown to a window table which was nice as on 2 previous visits we have had a table stuck in the middle of the room. We even had a crane come up to the window trying to get in!



We started off by ordering the bread service with all 9 accompaniments (this is one of the few TS places where you don't seem to get complimentary bread).

As we were ordering off the allergy menu, we couldn't have 2 out of the 5 naan choices (which is what is on the regular menu), so what we got as our starter were 2x traditional, 2x garlic and 1x spiced ginger naan.



For the money, this is a great starter to share, and definitely worth paying OOP for. We got full from just the bread!

The accompaniments that came with it were as follows (going left to right in the picture): Cucumber Raita, Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney, Tamarind Chutney, Tomato-Date Chutney, Coriander Chutney, Garlic Pickle, Red Chile Sambal and Jalapeno-Lime Pickle. Handily these were also in spice order, going mild to spicy.

My personal favourites were the Mango, Tamarind and Tomato-Date Chutneys, but I quite enjoyed them all. The spicier ones did have a kick, but nothing too bad.

For our mains, I went for what I always go for, the choice of 2 Potje inspired smaller curries with choice of rice. This time round I had Butter Chicken and Spiced Lamb with the Five-Grain Pilaf. DW ordered the Butter Chicken with Peas and Carrots, and Rice with Shallot-Cucumber Slaw.





Both mine were tasty as always (hint, for those who order this, tip your bowls out onto your plate, it is much easier to eat this way!), The lamb wasn't as tender as I'd expected, so the chicken was the winner tonight. DW was very happy with hers as she hardly gets the chance to eat indian due to her allergy.

Dessert for me was the Dessert Trio - Tanzanian Chocolate Mousse, Banana Cheesecake, and Seasonal Kulfi (I think it was Chai). DW didn't have much choice unfortunately so went for some mango sorbet with fruit.





My favourite was the chocolate mousse, but all very delicious in their own right. DW didn't have much to say about hers as it was just plain sorbet!

All in all quite an enjoyable meal, I wish I'd saved it for later in the holiday!

[Rescuer]

Great start to your food report. Can't wait to go back to Sanaa in the summer. The wave looks really interesting.

Shame Coral Reef didn't have exciting choices for your dw.

Looking forward to reading more.

[Tor32]

I was waiting to hear about Saana. We are onsite for the first time at AKL and this is the restaurant I really fancy! What time did you eat? It would be good to be able to still see the animals in daylight.

[Jesslydevie1]

Just catching up with your report, I never realised how limiting food could be with a nut allergy !

[stan_the_man]

Sept 25

Peco Bills for lunch

I didn't take any pictures of todays lunch food, so how about a nice story to explain why I might have forgotten?

This was the day before POTC was due to open up after the refurb. We had been on JC, and as we were walking towards our HM FP+, I noticed a CM asking people to go in to Pirates... sounds like a soft opening to me!

We ran in with big smiles on our faces (well, on mine at least) and got straight onto a boat. We set off and went through the mist curtain... this was where it stopped being fun.

We bumped into a boat just past the mist, and noticed the boats in front weren't moving. It transpired we had gotten on to the 4th boat that had gone that morning. The first boat was stuck at the top of the drop, and the others were stuck behind. They kept playing the standard "please remain seated, your vehicles will move soon" but nothing was happening.


Very sad at this fact

Cut to 30 mins later, you can really get fed up of hearing the same song and spiel for that long. Eventually the lights came on and a load of CMs came to assess the situation and figured out they couldn't get the boats over the drop.



They managed to offload the first boat that was stuck at the drop as they were next to a platform that led to backstage, however the boats behind were surrounded by water. A lovely CM was in his wellies trying to push the boats back up to the load ramp, but that didn't work. In the end Security, Reedy Creek FD and EMTs came to help, tied the other 3 boats together, and walked us over the boats row by row one at a time to get to backstage. Talk about a palaver!

Disney were lovely though, we had to walk round the back of the POTC ride building to get to a gate that led on stage. At every turn there were 2 or 3 CMs apologising profusely and directing us where to go Just before the gate, a couple of managers gave us 4 anytime FPs (couldn't be used for SDMT or Wishes though!).



but we had missed our HM FP by this point and were starving, so on the way to HM we walked past Peco Bills and headed in.

I went for a BBQ pork sandwich, and DW had a 1/3lb cheeseburger, both with fries. I asked for a corn on the cob as a side and asked to pay for it with a snack credit as well, but it turns out I was given the side free as part of a QS credit? This also happened at Yak and Yeti later on, so it must be a general thing to get free sides if you ask for them (try it out if you go soon!)

For dessert we got a carrot cake for me and strawberry yoghurt for DW. These were a nut-free dessert option from QS locations so she had it a few times throughout the trip. It is a greek style and massive, and only 90 calories or something (not that you need to calorie count on holiday though ). The carrot cake was a standard Disney carrot cake, quite tasty but the icing is always a bit sickly sweet for me.

So no pictures as (a) we were so hungry I think we just wanted to eat and go, and (b) we were also Whatsapping some florida-mad friends to tell them all about it!

Next up, Citricos for dinner...

[stan_the_man]

Originally Posted by Tor32

I was waiting to hear about Saana. We are onsite for the first time at AKL and this is the restaurant I really fancy! What time did you eat? It would be good to be able to still see the animals in daylight.

See more...

I looked at the sunset time for the day we were going (7:20pm) so I got the ADR for 6:50pm. I would recommend trying to get earlier though as they start to get the animals in just before sunset, so as we got to the resort about 6:30 we got to see a few outside, but while we were eating you could see them going in.

Originally Posted by Jesslydevie1

Just catching up with your report, I never realised how limiting food could be with a nut allergy !

See more...

It isn't that bad at Disney, they are really good with allergies, and at a majority of places there was a massive selection. The thing we found though was that they tried to group a lot of allergies together on their menus, so whereas in the past she may have been able to have an entree off the main menu, they would modify the sides to make it fit a gluten and soy free diet as well as nut free (for example) so occasionally i.e. at Coral Reef, it was literally meat, potato and veg. Keep reading though and you'll see her choices were quite good!

[stan_the_man]

Sept 25

Citricos for dinner

We headed over the MK from the resort and hopped on the monorail to take us to the GF (we were going to wait for the boat but it had only just left the dock, and had to go to GF and Poly before heading back, so figured the monorail would be quicker).

We got there about 20 mins before our ADR time so had a look round the resort. I know people rave about it here, but it doesn't appeal to me at all (except the restaurants!). Saying that, the outside by the beach is quite nice.

We checked in and waited by the check in desk for a few mins until our table was ready. We were shown to a nice table at the back of the room that had a view over the boat dock.

First up as always, bread service:



This was a crusty wholegrain baked by the same chefs who do the bread at V&As. There were 3 bits that had black olive bits in them, and 2 plain bits. The butter had citrus salt on top with some fennel. DW doesn't like fennel so I added little bits to my bread and it was nice paired with the citrus taste of the salt.

As this was a signature, we ordered appetisers as well (this is something we usually do at signatures). I chose Slow-roasted Pork Belly with Anson Mills cheese grits, smoked jalapeno, sweet onion and hibiscus BBQ Sauce. DW chose Citricos Portuguese Flatbread with house-made Linguica sausage, garden peppers, spicy poma rosa sauce and cilantro cream.





This pork belly topped my pork belly from Coral Reef a few nights before, and it was only a starter! The cheese grits were a nice accompaniment to the pork, although were 'looser' than I expected, although I haven't had grits before so I don't know how they are meant to be! (I read they were like polenta so expected them to be thicker in consistency). I think the smoked jalapeno and onion were also in the grits as they weren't on my plate. The BBQ sauce was very tasty too!

I had a bit of DWs flatbread, it was ok but nothing special, and the crust was very hard. We have had flatbreads in the US before and they are normally a lot softer (i.e. like a pizza). Thankfully the sauce wasn't too spicy and didn't overpower the house made sausage or peppers. I am not a huge fan of cilantro (aka coriander) either, as I am one of those people who are genetically-predisposed to taste soap when eating coriander (look it up, it's true!), but that is usually when it is whole leaves uncooked. It was a milder flavour when put on as a cream here.

For entrees I had the Crispy Veal Cutlet with lemon herb butter, cipollini onion, rainbow carrots, boniato mash and Madeira sauce. DW had Oak-grilled Kurobuta Pork Loin with carnaroli fines herbs risotto, chef's garden baby squash, and applewood bacon lardons with a balsamic and port wine reduction.





This is the first time I have had veal cutlets (I have tried their veal shank in the past). There were 2 large cutlets coated and fried so they are crispy. They were tender and quite delicious. The boniata mash was amazing (boniato are tropical sweet potatoes) and the rest of the sauces/veg worked really well with the meat.

DW told me her pork loin was melt in your mouth as well. This actually took 28 mins to cook as she wanted it done well, so they cook it slow to ensure it doesn't dry out, which is considerate of them. Luckily after about 10 mins of waiting they came and told us this so we weren't left wondering where the food was! The risotto was how a good risotto should be cooked, and as they used carnaroli rice rather than traditional arborio rice, you got a firmer risotto with less flavour in the sauce and more in the rice.

Onto desserts... I chose the Lemon Scented cheesecake with a blanket of white chocolate ganache. DW chose the Tropical Fruit Creme Brulee which came with mango and assorted berries.





I have had this dessert before as I love white chocolate. The cheesecake has a ton of white chocolate ganache on top of it, followed by the lemon sauce. The brandy snap looked handmade and gave a nice crunch to the meal, and the standard mango/raspberry decorative sauces were there on the background of each spoonful.

I didn't have to try DWs dessert to talk about it as I have had this twice before as well. I can't remember exactly what tropical fruits are in it, but it reminds me of mango and passionfruit. It is nice to have the creme brulee in a different container to what Disney usually present their creme brulees in so you know that it is made in house rather than potentially shipped in.

For the first signature meal of the holiday this was a good start. Unfortunately it went downhill after the next signature (Jiko), but I chalk it up to staff having a couple of off-nights as opposed to the restaurant declining in service). It has made me reconsider doing so many signatures next time as I don't feel we got the level of service we have in the past at all signatures. Foodwise it was all brilliant though, so it is a tough decision to make!

Up next, Discovery Cove brekkie and lunch...