Dining Through Disney: Day One

When my friend, Elizabeth, and I decided to book a trip to Disney World without kids we knew we had to eat in all of those places that we had only dreamed of going to! Dining with children can be complicated. I never truly get to enjoy my meal because of the constant "Sit down, be still, eat your dinner!" that I constantly have to say. So, we decided to stay in a Value Resort and go with the Deluxe Dining Plan. You can check out more information on that Here. With each meal, we were each allowed to order one soda, one appetizer, one entree and one dessert per person. We ate our way through Disney, literally! We made sure to try different cuisines at each meal. Just one of these dinners would be considered an "anniversary dinner" in the real world! We had 8 of them in 4 days! I would never have been able to do something like that otherwise. The trip was fabulous and the food was completely indulgent. I haven't had that much fun in a long time. Many thanks to Elizabeth for coming along for the ride. This will not be our last trip!


Day One Lunch: Teppan Edo's in Epcot's Japan

We started Saturday morning at Hollywood Studios for Magic Hours. We wanted to catch some of the good rides before the Park opened up to the general public. When you stay on property you're able to take advantage of perks like that. When we finished up a few rides we headed over to Epcot where we had reservations to have lunch at Teppan Edo's in Japan! Teppan Edo's has a Hibachi Grill section as well as a sit-down-order-off-the-menu section. We sat at the Hibachi Grill!



Because of our dining plan, we each ordered an appetizer. I love Edamamme, so that's what I picked. It was too hot for Miso soup! I've had them warm in local restaurants, but these were served chilled. I enjoyed them just the same!



Elizabeth ordered the Asakusa (Sirloin and Shrimp) and I ordered the Nihonbashi (Sirloin and Chicken). We forgot to take a picture of our plates. It was all served in stages, so it probably wouldn't have been a pretty picture anyway!



They served 3 sauces to compliments the meats. One was ginger based, one was mayonnaise based, and one was great for chicken and beef. I also loved how they served noodles instead of the fried rice. They cooked big Udon noodles with our veggies and served a bowl of steamed white rice on the side. It was similar to what you would find at Hibachi Grills in our neck of the woods, but it definitely had a more authentic flavor.



The dessert was the best part. Green Tea Pudding. I was hesitant at first, but sold after one bite. Elizabeth (right) was so full she only took a few bites. I just about licked my plate! We needed to save room for dinner later that night. Making room for all of the food, we came to find out, was going to be very hard!



Day One Dinner: San Angel Inn in Epcot's Mexico



We stayed around Epcot all day Saturday. That night we headed over to Mexico to have dinner at San Angel Inn. It is tucked inside the pyramids in what looks to be a courtyard over looking the Mexican Riviera. Just beautiful!



Like any other Mexican restaurant, they started us out with some chips and salsa. It was the best salsa I've ever had. It tasted like the vegetables were picked straight from a garden out back. My appetizer, Tostados de Tinga (pictured below top right), was probably my most favorite appetizer of the trip. I could have just made a meal off of that alone! It is described as, "Fried corn tortillas topped with black beans, lettuce, onions, avocado, tomato marinated chicken, sour cream and queso fresco". My stomach is growling just typing that! Elizabeth ordered Tostados de Jaiba (pictured below lower left), "Fried corn tortillas topped with shredded crab meat, mixed with chipotle mayo, red onions, cilantro and lime juice". I am not a huge fan of seafood, but those were really good. Hard to compare them though, when they were sitting next to my fabulous Chicken Tostados!



The service was excellent. When making all of the reservations I was worried that we would lose too much time waiting around the restaurants. Generally we were in and out in an hour. An hour and a half at the most. And this was for 3 courses! Thank God we walked as much as we did. We both got some much needed exercise!



For our main course I ordered Pollo A Las Rajas, a grilled chicken breast served over cilantro rice, red peppers, onion strips, cream sauce and queso fresco. I loved the flavors of the rice. This is definitely a dish I will be able to recreate at home! I remember seeing a recipe for Cilantro Rice over at Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes!



Elizabeth ordered Camarones al Ajillo, crispy shrimp with Guajillo sauce, served over cold potato salad. Hers was very spicy so she opted for the sauce on the side. The potatoes were diced very small and had great flavor. And I would say they were more room temperature than cold. When I think of "cold potato salad" I picture the spread at a 4th of July party! I would love to do some potatoes like this with some type of breakfast hash. I've got some ideas swirling!

We ended it with dessert, but were too full to even attempt to eat it. We had her give them to us to-go. I guess they didn't have regular containers, because she brought them to us in kiddie cups with lids! And they also didn't have plastic silverware, so she let us take the spoons off of the table! Needless to say, we didn't get a picture. But, I will tell you, that the Vanilla Mousse with Berries and the Bread Pudding were fabulous! Even if it was eaten out of a kiddie cup!


Day Two Coming Soon!