my "foodie" blog

I'm thinking I should have started this sooner, but sometimes it takes a while for the light to come on.

The best food I've had at a restaurant has to be the food at Wolfgang Puck's restaurants in the Downtown Disney area in Orlando, FL. The first time was probably in 2002 when we stopped in the Downtown Disney area to replace a broken Mickey-head ornament, ºoº, and we ate lunch on the first floor of the restaurant - not at the Express area. I had a WONDERFUL pasta dish, my mom had one of the best hamburgers she's ever had, my sister had a fettuccine & chicken alfredo dish and my dad, I think, had another pasta dish. CORRECTION - Mom had a sausage and veal with ziti dish... and maybe there was a third meat in there.

Our vacation continued with a cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship, and I will admit - the food there was NOT all it was cracked up to be. I found myself thinking "I make this better" at many meals, and with many of the pastries I snacked on along the way.

The meal at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant was far and away the best meal of the entire trip.

The second time I ate at Wolfgang Puck's was this summer - 2007. My husband and I flew down to Florida and met my family down there for 5 days - 5 CRAZY days. We did Disney and Universal Studios in that time! So - where shouldn't you eat? Anywhere IN the Universal theme parks should be avoided. If you're at Universal Studios, FL - go to Margaritaville. We both ordered a cheeseburger in paradise - but with a turkey burger patty rather than beef - and ADD MUSHROOMS! It was the best burger I've ever had!

But in the Disney themeparks, food is edible & quite tasty. Even the fast counter-service or cafeteria style food was decent. But the best places - Tony's Town Square Restaurant in Magic Kingdom, Wolfgang Puck Express - Downtown Disney's West Side, the Earl of Sandwich in the Downtown Disney shopping area, and Rainforest Cafe (we ate at the one in Animal Kingdom, but there's also one in Downtown Disney's shopping area).

Tony's Town Square Restaurant was the only restaurant to do something special for our anniversary. (We got complimentary buttons at the guest relations window our first day in the parks). We tried making priority seating arrangements, but with no luck as our fast-paced vacation had our plans ever-changing as to what park we would be in for any given meal. We walked up to Tony's as our hunger was starting to get the best of us. But the wait for a table for two was about 5-10 minutes and we could sit inside and watch Lady & the Tramp (were you expecting something else at Tony's???). When we were shown to our table, it was decorated in Mickey-head shaped confetti ºoº and little curled paper streamers. We both ordered the special of the night, which was Chicken Parmesan, and being so full after the meal, we weren't planning on dessert, but they brought out a complimentary *and HUGE* sundae for us and announced to the entire restaurant that we were celebrating our 1-year anniversary.

Wolfgang Puck Express - we were running EVERYWHERE that night to try to fit everything in. I think we started the day off in Epcot - but only because that's where my parents were going. We jumped right on the Monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) and grabbed the bus to MGM. Ran all over MGM all day, answering trivia, hunting down Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper for pictures, waiting to see Remy and Emile, the Incredibles and Sully & Mike from Monsters, Inc. Then after a full day in MGM, we went back to EPCOT, picked up some pictures, then we went to the TTC to find out that you can't get a bus from there to Downtown Disney anymore - you have to walk to the Polynesian and catch a bus from there. So we hike. We get to the Polynesian, and we get to Downtown Disney.... and try to figure out what we NEED to shop for, and where to eat before we meet my parents coming out from Cirque du Soleil. We shop a bit and end up with not enough time for a sit-down, but I'm STARVING. We go into the Wolfgang Puck Express, order one meatloaf dinner and the MACADAMIA CRUSTED CHICKEN BREAST dinner. The meatloaf was good (and I love a good meatloaf) but my husband's Macadamia Crusted Chicken Breast was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!

Earl of Sandwich - again, located in Downtown Disney, we ate here one night after spending the day in Universal Studios with no desire to eat anywhere near that place. With my best friend living in Sandwich, MA, I had to try this Earl of Sandwich... plus I think I read some decent reviews of the place in doing my Disney research. To say that we ordered sandwiches and I grabbed a fruit cup for 'dessert', the food was wonderful! From the breads to the freshness of the veggies to the way they matched condiments to the contents of the sandwich, it was great! I definitely recommend this place for some quick food that is healthy, delicious and inexpensive. Not to mention that it would be very easy to grab a sandwich and chow down while you explore the area during day-light hours.

Rainforest Cafe... I can only speak to the wonderful-ness of one dish - the Pastalaya. Our first trip to Disney after Animal Kingdom and Rainforest Cafe opened, we ate here and I ordered the Pastalaya. We found there was one in the Burlington Mall (MA) and ate there several times, and then again in subsequent trips to FL. And I always order the Pastalaya. So this time I ask the waiter what he recommends (because they know what sells, what seems to be a hit, what seems to be a miss, and generally have a meal there for each shift they work). I also explained that I always order the same thing EVERY time & he asks what it is. So I told him the Pastalaya & he couldn't recommend anything better than that - it's one of his favorites too. And it was just as good as I remembered it. I think I tried a nibble of my husband's coconut shrimp which was tasty... AND surprising that he ordered a dish that included shrimp - and HE LIKED THE SHRIMP! Then for dessert we all shared this HUGE brownie and ice cream dessert thing... wow.

So that's my Wolfgang Puck and Disney food post... Who knows what I'll write about next time, but it will be tasty!