Disneyhanna
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2017
Hello all! Since I am a very slow trip report writer I am becoming more of a dining report writer these days. I feel like I am still recovering from a fantastic 9-night stay for Marathon Weekend where I completed my first Dopey Challenge, and in a few weeks I am back to run the Princess 10k with my best friend. So, I figured I'd combine these dining reports! WDW food changes all the time so I hope that some of these dishes are still available should you have an upcoming trip. Alrighty, on with the report!
For Marathon Weekend I did a few nights at the Dolphin followed by a week in a DVC studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge. For Princess, we will be doing one night at the Polynesian (a first for both of us!) followed by a stay at the Dolphin. So expect to see a variety of dining in this DR!
PGA Lounge, MSP Airport
First stop was the Priority Pass lounge at MSP airport, it's a quiet little lounge and you can choose to sit on the public restaurant side (Ike's) or on the lounge side. They give you a $15 food/beverage credit per person which is honestly preferable to the finger food I've had at the few other PP lounges I've tried. The airport was very quiet on this day, with the holiday being observed on a Monday, I'm sure very few people chose to travel on that Sunday.
Still decorated for Christmas! I had a comfy lounge chair next to an outlet all to myself. You can sit at the bar or at any of the tables or chairs and a waiter will come to you.
They serve a solid breakfast as well, after the $15 credit you're basically just paying gratuity, so it's a nice deal. Despite it being a little before 11AM I knew I'd get hungry during my flight so I got the turkey club which comes on a croissant and housemade chips.
This was absolutely massive, there were two huge slabs of turkey and I took one off and still only managed to eat half of it. The croissant was toasted and buttered, I was surprised at how good this was. Nice and crispy bacon as well. I think the mayo was horseradish mayo which I didn't mind even though I am not a fan of horseradish, it was very mild. The chips were crisp but a bit plain, overall this was way better than any grab and go sandwich you'd find at the airport.
Service was quick and my waitress was super friendly, when I left there were maybe a dozen people in the entire lounge. Super peaceful and I recommend checking this lounge out if you're ever going through MSP and have Priority Pass access!
I had an uneventful flight to Orlando, I do love that Delta offers sun chips now. The bag is so teeny and cute!
Katsura Grill
I left my room at the Dolphin a little after 7PM and the BoardWalk was very lively. I made it into Epcot just before 7:30 and immediately sought out some food. The line was very long at Katsura Grill but it sounded good and I was solo so I decided to wait for it.
The line was way out the door and moved pretty slowly. Overall I waited exactly 30 minutes to order. All of this was new to me, I got the violet sake, tempura shrimp udon, and a spicy tuna roll. I almost got the kids teriyaki chicken and shrimp instead of the roll but I decided on the roll at last minute.
Violet Sake (sake, purple pear, lime juice), $11
Shrimp Tempura Udon, $13
Spicy Tuna Roll, $10
I waited maybe seven minutes for my food, so most of the wait is to order. There was a table open so I beelined to it, of course I realized I forgot a spoon and napkins, downside of being solo is I don't feel comfortable leaving my food/drinks unattended so I just went without! Oh well!
I had the tempura shrimp first so they wouldn't get soggy, it comes with two so it actually feels like a pretty good value. There's nothing special about the udon or tempura, it's just like I'd get at home at an AYCE sushi joint. The broth was pretty plain but not too salty, I would get this again. It's a good sized portion and would probably be filling enough for a light eater, but I was quite hungry since lunch was eight hours ago!
The violet sake was a new favorite for me, it's on the sweeter side but not sickly sweet. I have never had sake before so it really didn't taste alcoholic to me at all, I'm sure it's 99% juice. The pear flavor is strong but not artificial, it reminds me of prickly pear flavored things. Very floral without being soapy, I loved this. It's obviously pre-mixed since they pour it from a jug but no complaints from me! I didn't really taste the citrus, pear/violet are the dominating flavors.
The spicy tuna roll was very average, it's a decent supermarket roll. The nice thing is they go through a lot of sushi so it hasn't been sitting around long enough for the rice to get hard. Nothing spicy about it but I have a high spice tolerance so never trust me!
Fuel, Dolphin Hotel
I stopped at Fuel at the Dolphin for a snack to bring back to the room, phew, just look at those yogurt prices. Bring your wallet!
The little single serve bags of chips were like $3 so I spent $7 on this slightly larger 4.25oz bag of chips. Just Disney math things. Funny enough, I saw this exact bag of chips at Marshall's today and it was $3. Ha!
These were not dreadful, they tasted a lot like pop chips to me. Not spicy but more flavorful than a plain chip.
And that's a wrap on Day One. I'll post another day right after this to get more into the WDW foods!
For Marathon Weekend I did a few nights at the Dolphin followed by a week in a DVC studio at Animal Kingdom Lodge. For Princess, we will be doing one night at the Polynesian (a first for both of us!) followed by a stay at the Dolphin. So expect to see a variety of dining in this DR!
Travel Day - January 1st
PGA Lounge, MSP Airport
First stop was the Priority Pass lounge at MSP airport, it's a quiet little lounge and you can choose to sit on the public restaurant side (Ike's) or on the lounge side. They give you a $15 food/beverage credit per person which is honestly preferable to the finger food I've had at the few other PP lounges I've tried. The airport was very quiet on this day, with the holiday being observed on a Monday, I'm sure very few people chose to travel on that Sunday.
Still decorated for Christmas! I had a comfy lounge chair next to an outlet all to myself. You can sit at the bar or at any of the tables or chairs and a waiter will come to you.
They serve a solid breakfast as well, after the $15 credit you're basically just paying gratuity, so it's a nice deal. Despite it being a little before 11AM I knew I'd get hungry during my flight so I got the turkey club which comes on a croissant and housemade chips.
This was absolutely massive, there were two huge slabs of turkey and I took one off and still only managed to eat half of it. The croissant was toasted and buttered, I was surprised at how good this was. Nice and crispy bacon as well. I think the mayo was horseradish mayo which I didn't mind even though I am not a fan of horseradish, it was very mild. The chips were crisp but a bit plain, overall this was way better than any grab and go sandwich you'd find at the airport.
Service was quick and my waitress was super friendly, when I left there were maybe a dozen people in the entire lounge. Super peaceful and I recommend checking this lounge out if you're ever going through MSP and have Priority Pass access!
I had an uneventful flight to Orlando, I do love that Delta offers sun chips now. The bag is so teeny and cute!
Katsura Grill
I left my room at the Dolphin a little after 7PM and the BoardWalk was very lively. I made it into Epcot just before 7:30 and immediately sought out some food. The line was very long at Katsura Grill but it sounded good and I was solo so I decided to wait for it.
The line was way out the door and moved pretty slowly. Overall I waited exactly 30 minutes to order. All of this was new to me, I got the violet sake, tempura shrimp udon, and a spicy tuna roll. I almost got the kids teriyaki chicken and shrimp instead of the roll but I decided on the roll at last minute.
Violet Sake (sake, purple pear, lime juice), $11
Shrimp Tempura Udon, $13
Spicy Tuna Roll, $10
I waited maybe seven minutes for my food, so most of the wait is to order. There was a table open so I beelined to it, of course I realized I forgot a spoon and napkins, downside of being solo is I don't feel comfortable leaving my food/drinks unattended so I just went without! Oh well!
I had the tempura shrimp first so they wouldn't get soggy, it comes with two so it actually feels like a pretty good value. There's nothing special about the udon or tempura, it's just like I'd get at home at an AYCE sushi joint. The broth was pretty plain but not too salty, I would get this again. It's a good sized portion and would probably be filling enough for a light eater, but I was quite hungry since lunch was eight hours ago!
The violet sake was a new favorite for me, it's on the sweeter side but not sickly sweet. I have never had sake before so it really didn't taste alcoholic to me at all, I'm sure it's 99% juice. The pear flavor is strong but not artificial, it reminds me of prickly pear flavored things. Very floral without being soapy, I loved this. It's obviously pre-mixed since they pour it from a jug but no complaints from me! I didn't really taste the citrus, pear/violet are the dominating flavors.
The spicy tuna roll was very average, it's a decent supermarket roll. The nice thing is they go through a lot of sushi so it hasn't been sitting around long enough for the rice to get hard. Nothing spicy about it but I have a high spice tolerance so never trust me!
Fuel, Dolphin Hotel
I stopped at Fuel at the Dolphin for a snack to bring back to the room, phew, just look at those yogurt prices. Bring your wallet!
The little single serve bags of chips were like $3 so I spent $7 on this slightly larger 4.25oz bag of chips. Just Disney math things. Funny enough, I saw this exact bag of chips at Marshall's today and it was $3. Ha!
These were not dreadful, they tasted a lot like pop chips to me. Not spicy but more flavorful than a plain chip.
And that's a wrap on Day One. I'll post another day right after this to get more into the WDW foods!
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