CRP | Epcot's Food and Wine Festival

The past six weeks or so have been crazy busy at work due to the 20th Food and Wine Festival at Epcot.  It's pretty much exactly what it says on the tin: a massive celebration of international food and drink in the World Showcase.  There have been 31 extra food kiosks around the lagoon and in Future World and it's been a great way to try some different cuisines!  It was initially our plan to try something at every food carts but due to hectic schedules and other plans, we only managed to try 21 out of the 31 - not too bad of an effort though! 

What was great about this festival was the fact that every single dish we tried was delicious!  The chefs did such a good job of making sure all the food was great quality.  Most of the dishes were around $5 too and tapas sized so it was pretty affordable.  

Along with the awesome food and drink, there were free concerts performed by some well known (and some less well known) bands and singers although I didn't manage to catch any of them.  

I think I visited the festival on three separate occasion as a guest and I have been thinking about what my favourite dishes were... it has been a really tough decision!  I think my favourite savoury dish was the Kalua pork sliders and favourite sweet dish was the liquid nitro chocolate truffle from the Chew Lab.  I was also really pleasantly surprised by the Pumpkin Cider from the Florida Farm Fresh stand - who would have thought that Pumpkin spice would make for a delicious cider?  It was like a refreshing mulled wine!  

A lot of guests have visited Epcot purely for the Food and Wine festival so it has been great hearing how the festival has grown and become bigger and better every year.  It seems as if Disney are striving to make it even more impressive and a few episodes of the Chew were filmed in the park, which I think must have been pretty exciting for foodies!

Now the festival is drawing to a close, I think Epcot is going seem quiet for a little while before Thanksgiving, Candlelight and Christmas kick into action.  It's been so much fun being able to get to take part in all of these incredible things that happen in the Disney parks; I still pinch myself to remind myself that it's all real... I think I'm pretty  much going to be saying that all year round!  

CRP | The breakfast blog

Warning: there is more eating involved in this blog! I think I said a couple of blogs ago that breakfast is one of my favourite meals and working a lot of evening shifts means that it's the easiest meal to eat out for.

A lot of the restaurants offer a la carte breakfast dining or buffet and to be honest, I have tended to just go for the buffet as its great value for money and the best way to fuel yourself for a busy day at the parks or work! I really must try and steer myself away from the buffet at some point though and try some of the delicious sounding breakfast options! I really need to try real American French toast (that's confusing!). 

First up, we have breakfast at Trail's Emd at Fort Wilderness. I really want to give them props for their guest service too; we arrived a little bit late for the breakfast sitting but as the buffet was still out, they allowed us to have that instead of ordering lunch. Although you have similar breakfast staples across all buffets, they also have individual twists suited to each resort. For example, at Trail's End, they had cornbread muffins straight up from the South! One of my favourite items from this buffet was the chocolate chip Mickey waffles (I will never, ever get sick of Mickey waffles!). It was also great to have loads of fresh fruit - something that we aren't really eating a lot of at the moment. I also unstandably enjoyed the huge selection of pastries: donuts, muffins, cinnamon rolls.... Yum! All, of course, washed down with bottomless coffee. 

Next up, we have The Wave at The Contemporary. Our second restaurant at The Contemporary, The Wave bases itself on modern American cuisine and this is evident in its buffet extras. They offered sweet potato pancakes, eggs benedict, salmon and an awesome build your own parfait station.  I stocked up on more Mickey waffles smothered in hot maple syrup served with crispy bacon. They also had a large selection of cheeses, ham, various fruit salads, breads and pastries. The Wave fits in perfectly in The Contemporary, it's design is almost 1980s like, but that fits Walt's vision of the future. I've really enjoyed both my meals at The Contemporary and I'm desperate to eat at Chef Mickey's, where you can watch the monorail soar silently overhead while you enjoy your meal! 

Thirdly, we took a little tour off property for a genuine American breakfast experience! Our American friends took us to one of their staple restaurants: Crackerbarrel! Crackerbarrel is Southern cuisine which, seems to me, means hearty portions of delicious food! The menu was HUGE! I struggled to choose what I wanted but ended up going for blueberry pancakes. These pancakes were some of the most delicious I have ever come across. They were light and fluffy with crispy edges and packed with blueberries. The portion was so generous I couldn't finish it and I really liked those pancakes!! While you're waiting for your food, they have a little peg game to play and you can also play board games there as well. Attached to the restaurant is a shop filled with all kinds of goodies, from food to holiday decorations to music. It was one of those places you could happily wander round for ages. 

America really knows how to do breakfast! 

CRP | Breakfast at 'Ohana

Eating is something we do an awful lot of here in Florida so I'm going to continue the theme here on my blog!  Last week we ate breakfast at 'Ohana, which is a restaurant in the Polynesian resort.  The best thing about breakfast at 'Ohana is that it's a character breakfast and you get to meet Stitch!  I love Stitch - he is probably one of my favourite characters!  

 Our reservation was at 8.35am so we hopped on the bus from Housing to the Polynesian and checked in.   Our table wasn't quite ready yet but we were able to relax on some comfy chairs outside the restaurant until we were able to be seated.  We were welcomed into the restaurant as a cousin - afterall, 'Ohana means family and everyone is part of the family at the Polynesian!  

As soon as we sat down, we were brought coffee and some of Lilo and Stitch's favourite juice (made from guava, orange and mango) and a delicious bread/pastry basket.  The breads and pastries are always delicious at WDW so I would recommend giving them a go!  This was quickly followed by a fresh fruit platter of melon, rapsberries and pineapple.  Dena nor I are really big fans of melon so we were then brought another little bowl of berries and pineapple.  These little touches always make Disney resorts and service stand out to me.

We then were brought our hot breakfast pan: crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, sausages, potatoes, and Stitch and Mickey waffles!  My first Mickey waffle of the trip, I was beyond excited!  We helped ourselves to plenty of breakfast, served with maple syrup.  I'm quickly becoming a fan of breakfast foods and maple syrup... especially bacon!  I think it's the whole sweet and salty mixture.

The breakfast was an all you can eat but we were both full after one platter so didn't want anymore.  It was so good, breakfast is definitely one of my most favourite meals here.

While you're eating, different characters come round for your meet and greet!  We met Mickey Mouse, Lilo, Stitch, and had a selfie with Pluto!  It's so much fun because you have as much time as you want with the characters and you don't feel rushed or pressured to spend five seconds with them.  The sittings are also really cleverly allotted so the characters are able to get round everyone, fair and square!

Towards the end of the breakfast, the children are given maracas and do a little conga dance round the restaurant with the characters and they all love it so much!  It's such an unforgettable experience for them all.

I was so pleased to meet Stitch too! He's such a grumpy and mischeivous character; he really reminds me of my cat!  I enjoy the character breakfasts so much I've managed to reserve a table in one at Epcot for when the family come out.  It really does bring out the big kid in me!  

CRP | Birthday celebration at Beaches and Cream Soda Shop

As I mentioned in my last post, Dena recently celebrated her birthday over here in Florida.  Unfortunately Dena had a lovely ten hour shift on her birthday so we had to wait to the very last minute to celebrate!  Most of our arrival group got together after work to surprise Dena with a trip to the Beaches and Cream Soda Shop - home of the famous Kitchen Sink! - at the Beach Club resort.

The weather wasn't very ice-cream friendly (think: torrential rain and thunderstorms) but after finishing at Epcot we took a Friendship boat over to the The Boardwalk and hurried round to Beaches and Cream.  We managed to get a table together after begging (they didn't take reservations for groups bigger than eight) and indulged in a lot of American ice-cream parlour goodness!  

Of course, we just had to go for a Kitchen Sink, which involves eight scoops of ice-cream, all the toppings (Oreos, peanut butter, Snickers, cherries, sprinkles, brownie, cake...) and lashings of cream.  Dena is lactose intolerant and they used non-diary ice cream too - Disney are so good at catering for dietary problems.  All twelve of us ordered some kind of sundae and we quickly devoured them with the jukebox playing fifties songs in the background - I felt like I stepped into Grease and it was so much fun.

You've probably guessed how much I absolutely adore Disney's theming since I talk about it all the time - and will probably continue to do so - and I loved the little touches that Beaches and Cream had: banana split signs, juke box menus and of course, chequered lino!

As well as ice cream, Beaches and Cream offer traditional American diner food, we ordered fries to complement our "meal", all washed down with pink lemonade or soda.  With all the fun going on inside the parlour, we were able to forgot about the awful weather and celebrate Dena's birthday properly!

Beaches and Cream is quite the treasure hidden away at the Beach Club and it was so much fun discovering another one of Walt Disney World's secrets!  

London Food | BRGR.Co

Inbetween all the crazy Disney planning and organising, we managed to squeeze in a mini trip to London to see Benedict Cumberbatch in Hamlet. Of course, we decided to make the most of our stay in the capital by eating at some interesting places!

If you've read my blog for a while, you'll probably know that I love afternoon tea and it's almost become a bit of a tradition when we visit London.  This time though, Dena uncovered a gem and that was afternoon tea at BRGR.Co!

We had a reservation at the Chelsea restaurant, which sits prettily on Kings Road and if you can grab a tablet outside, it's a perfect spot to people watch (I love London for that very reason!).  I didn't spend much time inside but the restaurant looked modern with an open kitchen/bar area which is reminiscent of 'real' American diners.

What really made this meal special was that it was afternoon tea with an American twist... The perfect way to get in the mood for the upcoming move to Florida!  No finger sandwiches or scones here, you get a selection of typical American dishes.

To start off with, we ordered drinks - an iced tea and homemade lemonade (deliciously sour) - and then we were brought the tea part of our afternoon tea which was a fizzy bellini cocktail.  It was fruity with a touch of alcohol, not too overpowering and perfect to enjoy in the London sunshine.

The main part of our afternoon tea was so much fun.  I loved the twist on this essentially British tradition.  Instead of sandwiches you are served mini fries (as good as Five Guys fries), a cheese and beef slider, prawn and salmon slider and a southern fried chicken slider.  The cheddar and beef slider was to die for; the meat was juicy and succulent and the bun was lightly toaster.  My favourite though was probably the southern fried chicken slider; crispy bread crumbs, perfectly cooked chicken breast and lashings of coleslaw.  A million miles away from salmon and cucumber sandwiches but so light hearted and tasty!

Instead of scones and cakes, you're served a lemon tart, chocolate brownie, white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake and a mini vanilla ice-cream.  Once again, it was all so tasty.  The lemon tart filling was sour and complemented the buttery pastry and the cheesecake was served in a mini shot glass, with generous layers of biscuit and cheesecake topping.

Another great thing about this afternoon tea experience was that it was so relaxed!  Although I have very much enjoyed afternoon tea at The Ritz, it was great to turn up in jeans and a comfy top and relax.  It really gives off a fun-loving vibe!

The staff at the Chelsea restaurant were polite, friendly and attentive and we left feeling thoroughly full and satisfied.  I would definitely recommend!

Have you ever eaten at BRGR.co?





   

London Food | The Disney Café by Harrods

We were in London last weekend and took the opportunity to visit the Disney Café in Harrods.  Naturally, I was filled with so much excitement to be experiencing a bit of Disney in Harrods, and being Harrods, I had extremely high expectations. 

The Disney Café is situated on the fourth floor, just off the children's wear section and a stone's throw from the afternoon tea court.  The café is suitably decked out in Disney memorabilia - from Mickey Mouse outlines on the back of the chair to Tinkerbell over Big Ben, beneath a starry night sky.  We visited on Sunday afternoon at around 3pm with the hope to have a cream tea and when we arrived, the café was quite quite so we were able to choose where we were seated.

Once we sat down, we discovered that afternoon tea didn't start until 4pm but thought since it was quite quiet and we were all used to exemplary Disney service, we thought we would ask if we could have afternoon tea.  The waiter asked the chef if this would be possible and we were told no as it was too busy.  I was quite disappointed but I was equally tempted by some of the desserts, so in the end, we went for a dessert and a drink.

The adults menu was reasonably priced for London (around £10 a main) and offered a fairly extensive and tempting menu.  The drinks, on the other hand, were very expensive (£5 for a coke!) but I suppose that's an easy way to increase their spend per head. 

I had heard the dessert menu offered Mickey waffles but I fancied the chocolate brownie so went for that.  Dena and Kerrie went for the waffles and we all waited with anticipation for our delicious Disney fare.  I was a little perplexed when I saw a waiter bring my chocolate brownie in through the restaurant entrance, but tried to remain open minded.

When our desserts arrived, they were beautifully presented.  Mickey waffles and my portion of brownie had been transformed into Mickeys!  Hurrah!  The Disney food I was expecting!  

However, upon tasting, honestly, we were all very disappointed.  My brownies were okay. They weren't gooey and chocolatey like I like them, they were quite dry and the chocolate taste wasn't as a decadent as normal brownies.  The ice cream was creamy and delicious but I was unsure about the fruit puree served with it.  The much-coveted Mickey waffles didn't fare much better: they were served with a berry compote which  turned out to be half a dozen berries on their own and they weren't sweet waffles, they were pretty tasteless and bland.  I understand waffles not having to be loaded with sugar but if you are ordering dessert, it's usually to satisfy a sweet tooth so in my humble opinion, the waffles needed some kind of sauce, whether it be fruit puree, maple syrup or chocolate sauce. 

I think the problem was we were expecting quality food since it was not only Disney but Disney by Harrods. Of course, I can't speak for the mains but the desserts were distinctly mediocre. Whether they think they can get away with okay food because people come for the experience or it was a bad day, I don't think the experience was really good enough.  It's a real shame.  

All in all, it seemed like it was all style and no substance; beautifully presented but really lacking in taste.

Have you ever visited the Disney Café?  Did you enjoy it more than I did?  

Chocolate making just for me!

One of my lovely birthday gifts was a chocolate making workshop.... To do at home! This was perfect for me as I am quite antisocial at times! I took the kit away with me to Kent where we were staying for another birthday adventure and happily spent a good couple of hours on Saturday afternoon creating chocolatey goodness!

The kit itself is beautifully presented and jam packed with everything you'll need for the experience: from the chocolate and decorations to the cookie cutters and baking paper.  There's also a massive instruction sheet which you can hang up in the kitchen to help you along the way. 

First of all, you have to melt all the chocolate: there's dark and milk...and plenty of it!  Once it's melted you start on your first creation: chocolate truffles! You make the ganache by stirring double cream into some of your melted chocolate, it's incredibly decadent and took all my self restraint not to eat it there and then. After that, it's time to practise your piping skills and pop the ganache into the fridge until later, when they're ready to be dipped and decorated. 

One of my favourite parts of the experience was making the tempered chocolate. It involved putting chocolate on your top lip to check the temperature - the chocolate moustache caused a lot of amusement and giggles!

Once your chocolate is the perfect temperature to give it a lovely, shiny finish, you can start coating fudge with chocolate and using edible transfers to decorate. The best bit is, your instructions tell you to eat the leftovers and it was delicious!

You also get to flavour your chocolate and in the kit there are rose and lemongrass waters. I love rose flavouring and have used it in cooking before but I have never thought to use lemongrass with chocolate. It's so fragrant and citrusy! After flavouring your chocolate, it's time to get creative and decorate! You can choose from white chocolate shavings, caramelised hazelnuts and strawberry chocolate curls, which all look beautiful on the chocolates.

We had so much chocolate left over (must have been very restrained and not eaten much chocolate throughout the making process!) so we made extra giant chocolate buttons, chocolate covered strawberries and blueberries and a massive slab of chocolate too! 

The whole experience was so much fun and it was great to be able to do it at home and in my own time. The kit gave you enough guidance to feel confident enough to do it alone but was not super rigid - you could be a bit creative! You make around forty chocolates which you can then package in little cellophane bags and they look so appetising.  I was so impressed with the quality of the kit and the ingredients - it all felt (and tasted) luxuriously delicious.   I would definitely recommend this experience to chocolate lovers for any occasion; you can get the kit from The Chocolate Hedgehog.

Sunday lunch at Le Talbooth

Last Sunday started a week of my birthday celebrations (getting old has some perks!) and to kick it all off, we went for lunch at Le Talbooth in Dedham.  Situated in the beautiful countryside of the Suffolk/Essex border, Le Talbooth is a fine dining restaurant that offers award winning food and has been on my "must eat at" list for so long. 

As soon as we arrived, we were welcomed by the hostess and asked if we would like to have a drink on the terrace while we waited for our table, it was a lovely, sunny, albeit blowy day so we decided to see outside and enjoy the spring weather.  The terrace overlooked the river and it was such a relaxing start to our meal! We enjoyed a glass of champagne (the stars bottled!) and canapés of toasted almonds and olives which really whetted my appetite! 

The Sunday lunch menu is different from the rest of the week but offers a range of mouth watering dishes. We ordered whilst on the terrace and then asked to come to our table inside.  The restaurant is immaculately presented while still retaining its historic charm. 

For starters, we had cumin scented cauliflower velouté with a crispy chicken wing and cumin oil. Firstly, the most delicious and tasty chicken wing was bathed in a creamy, thick and luxurious velouté sauce. We enjoyed the starter with a selection of fresh baked bread; perfect for pulling apart and dunking. 

We were now ready for the main course! I had ordered the roast rack of Dingley Dell pork with truffled pomme purée, glazed carrot and sprouting broccoli. It was outstanding; the pork melted in the mouth and the crackling was crunchy and flavoursome.  The pomme purée was to die for: creamy, and perfectly seasoned. Dena ordered cod fillet with herbed gnocchi and spring vegetables, which she assured me was incredible - crispy topped cod which fell apart in the mouth and worked really well with the spring vegetables.  The portions were generous too, we felt very satisfied after our main but with only a little bit of room for dessert! 

However, the desserts were so tempting we just couldn't say no! I went for strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake and Dena opted for the banana and toffee pudding. The cheesecake was light and creamy with a crispy base served with strawberries, oranges and mini pistachio macarons.  It was sensational and really got me in the mood for summer! The banana and toffee pudding was sticky, sweet with chunks of crunchy toffee served with caramel sauce, decadent and naughty! 

At this point we were extremely full but the waiting staff appeared with coffee and a large wooden box... Very intriguing indeed. The box was filled with a variety of homemade chocolates and truffles. I couldn't possibly choose so we were recommended the salted caramel chocolate, Chef's special truffle, raspberry, and marmalade chocolates. The chocolate was dark and bitter cut through with the different flavours. I surprised we could fit anything else in but we managed! 

I thought we were done with food but then a birthday cake arrived for me! It was a chocolate cake beautifully presented and it looked incredibly tempting! I couldn't possibly manage a mouthful more so we took the cake home and I'm sure it'll make an amazing dessert for tea!! 

Le Talbooth is a beautiful restaurant with incredible food. The atmosphere is stylish while being comfortable and welcoming. I can't wait to go back! 

Casa Mexico, Suffolk.

As you can imagine, one of the things I miss most about living in Mexico is the food.  Mexican food is simply amazing:  the colours, smells, flavours.  Genuine Mexican food is very underrated, it's a million  miles away from the Tex-Mex and Old El Paso we are led to believe is what Mexican's eat every day.  Because of this, it can be really hard to find authentic Mexican products in England and even harder when you live in rural Suffolk.  However, last year Casa Mexico opened up in Stonham Aspal, a small village here in Suffolk.

We finally got round to visiting the shop last week and stepping inside the former pub was like arriving back in Mexico.  It's a treasure trove of all things truly Mexican.  It stocks all kind of Mexican goodies: from glassware to art to groceries.  

We, of course, headed straight to the food section of the shop! It brought back so many happy memories and cravings for authentic Mexican food.  There were fresh flour tortillas, corn tortillas, tinned salsas, refried beans, dried fijoles, totopos, sweets... so many delicious goodies!  I could have easily bought one of everything but instead I limited myself to a few bits and pieces, ready to make a Mexican bank holiday feast.  

The owner explained to us that they used to live in Guadalajara for 15 years and all of goods were bought in Tonalá (which is where I used to work out there).  It's so nice to be able to chat about Guadalajara here in England as it's something that we've had to almost leave behind.  

Everything was very reasonable priced, considered it has to be imported from the other side of the world.  We picked up tortillas, totopos, salsa and sweets for around £6.  I will definitely go back to visit this little slice of Mexico in sunny Suffolk!