[MickeyMamma]

Restaurant Reviews: To make this easier to wade through, here is a list of the restaurants that I am reviewing in the order that I will describe them.

Boma
Jiko
Mara
O’Hana’s
Chef Mickey
Wolfgang Puck Cafe
Crystal Palace
Liberty Tree Tavern
Hollywood & Vine
Sci-Fi Drive In
Tusker House
Marrakesh
Le Cellier

Boma (AKL, Buffet) – We ate here our first night. This is the best dinner buffet at Disney! There is a nice variety of foods available. Plenty for those with less adventurous palates, including carved roast beef, mac & cheese, roasted vegetables. The more ethnic dishes are very flavorful and not spicy hot. Some of my favorites were the bobootie (lamb with almonds and raisins with a nice sweet cinnamon taste to it, may sound strange but it is delicious) and the Coconut curry seafood soup (sounded strange, but the flavors were great together with lots of seafood in it too). About the Zebra domes – I tried them and, maybe it is because I am not into coffee or maybe it was an off night, but they were good, but not incredible. If the thought of sweet flavors with your meat is something you do not enjoy, this may not be the right restaurant for you. For me, I thought it was great and I would certainly put it on my do it again list!

Jiko (AKL, sit down) – This was the best meal of the trip! My mother watched my son this evening so my husband and I could have a relaxing meal. We had a lovely table overlooking the fountain and a view of the wall that simulates the African sunset. If you go, look at how the lights from the ceiling look like birds in flight – really cool effect! Onto the food…. We started with the Beef rolls and the grilled octopus and both were delicious! For main dishes, my husband had fish (can’t remember what kind) with an olive and something crust on it which was very tasty and not too olivey. I had the stuffed quails braised with pomegranate which were fabulous!!!! If you order the quails, do not have it with the beet salad thing that they have listed – ask the waiter if you can substitute something else for it and then choose the wild mushroom ragout over sweet potato dumplings – the flavors are perfect together and I enjoyed every bite! When it came time to dessert, we passed since we were off to Pleasure Island next and didn’t want to be too full, but since my husband’s birthday was listed on the PS, they brought him a surprise pistachio crème brulee which was quite tasty too. This is a definite do again restaurant and great for a quiet or romantic dinner out, although they seemed very accommodating with the kids that were in the restaurant too.

[MickeyMamma]

Mara (AKL, counter serve) – Not much to say, this is their quick food place at the hotel. However, they do have great soups (same as they serve in Boma).

O’Hana’s (Poly, sit down, all you can eat) – This was a pleasant surprise meal for us. We had a table with a great view of Cinderella’s castle. The food was hot and tasty. The appetizers were great especially the shrimp wontons. The main dish is brought to you on skewers and you tell them what you want and how many. The meats were good, a little bland, but tasted great with the sauces especially the peanut sauce. The shrimp were the best – a little spicy and very tasty. After all that feasting, there was no room left for dessert so the pineapple with caramel that they gave us was plenty. During the meal there is a singer with a ukulele that comes around and sings and gets people involved with dancing the hula and having activities for the kids like coconut races which my son loved. All in all, a very enjoyable meal. Leave yourself enough time to relax and enjoy the meal.

Chef Mickey (Contemporary, buffet) – We went here for late breakfast and it was once again a very enjoyable meal. There is lots of variety of foods and everything is tasty. Best of all, the characters come around to the tables and you get individual time with them. The characters that were there included Mickey, Pluto, Chip, Dale, and Goofy. I would suggest taking one of the later seating since as the crowds head out to the park, the characters get to spend lots of time with you. I have some great video of my son dancing with Goofy and flirting with Minnie. We went to the MK for Early Entry on a Sunday, then went to breakfast here and then changed parks for the afternoon and it was a great way to enjoy everything with minimal crowds.

Wolfgang Puck Café (DTD, West End, sit down) – This meal was good, but nothing too exciting about it. They have a lot of nice pizzas and things, but I find them to be a little expensive for what it was. Probably not something I would do again.

Crystal Palace (MK, buffet) – This is a fun meal. The food is good, nothing that great, but the atmosphere and the character interaction is great! I love watching my son get excited when he sees that it is his turn to visit with Pooh. As with Chef Mickey, the characters come around to each table and you get individual time with them. You will find Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore at this meal. We went here right before the Halloween party and it was a great way to start off our night!

Liberty Tree Tavern (MK, sit down, all you can eat) – This is a nice meal. The food is traditional American cuisine – turkey, steak, and ham with sides, salad, and apple cobbler too. It was good, but again nothing too interesting. This is another character dinner and that night they had Minnie, Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Meeko. While the experience was nice, I think that I would choose Crystal Palace or Chef Mickey over this meal.

Hollywood & Vine (MGM, buffet) – This was a nice meal. It had a better food selection than both Crystal Palace and Liberty Tree. It seemed to be one of the better deals in terms of restaurants at MGM. They had a really nice selection of desserts and a fun atmosphere that felt like an old Hollywood diner.

[MickeyMamma]

Sci-Fi Drive In (MGM, sit down) – This is a fun meal. You sit in what looks like cars from the 50’s and you watch old clips from Sci-Fi movies. The atmosphere is great and the light-up drinks are fun too. The food was good, but was awfully expensive for what it was when you compare it to other Disney restaurants. If you go here, do it for the experience. I am glad we did this, but it is not on my list to do again too soon.

Tusker House (AK, counter service) – This is one of the few places in AK that you can sit down in an air conditioned room and eat your meal. The meal was nothing exciting, but the food was good. The kids meal ticket is a great deal at $6 and it includes ice cream and a soda for later in the day too. The soup and sandwiches were good. The air conditioning was definitely the best part after walking in the hot sum all morning.

Marrakesh (Morocco, EPCOT, sit down) – I liked this restaurant. We hadn’t been to this one before. (We usually eat at Chefs de France which we love but wanted to try something different this time.) The food was great! We got a sampler and a Berber feast so we could try several different dishes. Everything was delicious. The couscous was very tasty! They also have a musician and a belly dancer that come out during the meal which was a nice touch. They put on a nice show and the dancer even came over to dance with my son who was trying to imitate her dance by swinging his napkin. It was really cute and a lot of fun. I would go to this restaurant again.

Le Cellier (Canada, EPCOT, sit down) – The last time I ate here, this was a Buffeteria. Wow has this place changed. The food was great! We had their special Mushroom filet which is served over risotto with Bernaise sauce. It was like eating a delicious steak with the best garlic sauce. The risotto was so creamy and the spinach blended nicely with all of it too. Chefs de France has been my favorite in EPCOT for years, but this may change my opinion. This meal was great and I would definitely go here again.

That is all that I can think of for now. I will check over my list and see if I left any major restaurants out. If you have any other questions about any of these places, ask away!

[roncss]

MickeyMomma: Thank you for the wonderfully detailed reviews. You have helped identify several candidates for us to visit in December. It sounds like you had a great time!
Ron

[alexa1466]

Thanks for the reviews MickeyMamma! You definitely made up my mind for me about Le Cellier. We weren't sure whether we were going to eat there for our December trip, but this restaurant is a MUST now! Thanks again for the good reviews!:D

[llama]

Thank you for such wonderfully detailed reviews. I've read a lot of good things about Ohana's and I think now I'm convinced we'll try it. And I certainly agree with you about LeCellier. Last year it became our instant favourite at Epcot. May seem like a small detail but their bread sticks and pretzels were unbelieveably good.

[cbeccaboo2]

Thanks for the listing, I have printed it out and added it to my Passporter to go to the world with me in December. Thanks for all your time and your effort eating at all these places. I know how hard it is to do this for all of us!!:p

:heart :) :) :heart

Becca

[Dana]

The reviews were AWESOME!!! I'm staying at AKL (I think I told you in another post) and I found your review to be very helpful. I was undecided about which Epcot restaurant to eat dinner at. I originally chose Rose and Garden pub and then didn't know what to do. Your review of LeCellier has swayed me in that direction. Is this the place that makes the cheese soup? I have read about so many of Epcot's restaurants that I am confused. Thanks again for the help with the AKL places. I know that Boma will be safer to try for us picky eaters.

[tigger]

Great Reviews! Man, now I'm all hungry again.

I really have to agree with about LeCellier. If any of you go to LeCellier here is my appetizer suggestion...if they have them get the sea scallops! They were so good, my DW got the cheese soup it was pretty good too. But for my money go sea scallop go! (Also ask for them to put Buffalo back on the menu...even if you don't like it...do if for me your old friend Tigger :D )

Jiko is worth the look.

Tusker House is the best counter service in any of the WDW parks.

Great job MickeyMamma!!!

[Dana]

OK, now I'm sold on Le Cellier. I love cheese soup!!!

[iluvwdw]

Originally posted by Dana
OK, now I'm sold on Le Cellier. I love cheese soup!!!

Girl, you WILL NOT be disappointed!!! It is sooooo good!!!! :p

[Dana]

I am so there!!! I have added it to my game plan. I told my DD that I didn't care if we went for lunch or dinner, but we were going on one of those 6 days.....she just kinda rolled her eyes the way kids do...gotta love it.:)

[disneyjenny]

O.K. now I am sooo confused as to where to go!! I thought about going to a few of these places now I want to go to almost all of them (I'll skip Sci-Fi, bad experience) Right now Le Cellier and Marrekesh are in the lead. But Jiko is moving in very fast. My BF and I will have one night to ourselves to go out to eat and for whatever else we want, and it is my choice where we go to eat. This will be his Birthday dinner since it is only a few weeks before we go. Any suggestions for a good birthday dinner?

Thanks :)

[MickeyMamma]

For birthday dinner, do Jiko! We did my husband's birthday dinner/our night out there. It was great!! Away from the parks and great atmosphere.

[cindy1970]

I vote for Le Cellier. The cheese soup is soooooooooooooo good. Also the shrimp cocktail is good. This is a must for us when we go.