DFW Airport

We found ourselves stuck at the DFW airport in Texas for an extended period of time and decided to go upscale.  Three Forks, one of the best restaurants in Dallas, has a mini-location at the airport in terminal D.  I had a filet mignon that was superb and a nice Malbac to compliment it.  The side of asparagus was divine (it is asparagus season), but the cream corn is not GF, so I didn't get to try it.  A big upgrade from our meal last week at terminal A at the Salt Lick.  The Salt Lick is one of my favorite places in the world, but the airport location doesn't replicate anything well except the sauce.  The brisket is fattier, the potato salad isn't even the same recipe, and I have no faith that anything is gluten free.

Sandy

Disney Dining -- Plaza Restaurant

I expected great things from the Plaza Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom.  I read some very good reviews of the place, but it failed to live up to the hype.  For starters, we had a very long wait, despite our reservations. Always masters of customer service, they made it up to us with a "universal fast pass" that could be used on any ride.  That was great, but unfortunately useless for my in-laws, who were leaving to catch their plane as soon as the meal was over.  The rest of us, however, did get to skip the 90 minute wait for Peter Pan's Flight and get one last ride in before we left for the airport as well.

One of the reasons for the delay is that the Plaza is a very tiny restaurant.  Obviously someone was taking their own sweet time about vacating, and there just aren't very many tables.  The menu was pretty much the regular sandwiches and whatnot that you would expect on a lunch menu, but there were a few interesting items.  I ordered a vegetarian sandwich -- fresh mozzerella, hummus, basil pesto, cucumber, roasted red peppers, lettuce, and tomato, which they served on a GF tapioca roll for me.  It was very tasty, but probably not worth a return trip.

Sandy

Veggie Sandwich at Plaza Restaurant in Disney Magic Kingdom

Disney Dining -- Citricos

Heirloom Tomato Salad at Citrico's

The best meal of my life -- ever-- was at Victoria and Albert's in the Grand Floridian Restaurant at Disney World.  My meal at Citrico's ran a close second.  Also located in the Grand Floridian, Citrico's is downstairs from V&A's, and is slightly (but not a lot) less expensive.

In an extraordinary example of Disney magic, they greeted us at the door with customized menus that said "Happy Anniversary Wishes to You, Mr and Mrs Morris!"  I turned to my husband and said "did you arrange this?"  but he hadn't.  It was not our actual anniversary -- we were a few days off.  My best guess is that they have our wedding anniversary in their database and assumed (correctly) that a meal for two at Citrico's within a few days of our anniversary was probably a celebration dinner.  Gotta love that pixie dust.

Citrico's "state of the art precision wine preservation system" allows them to sell small servings of expensive wines that would otherwise have to be sold by the bottle.  These "Epic Wines" are several hundred dollars a bottle, but a one ounce pour can be had for 15 to 40 each.  We shared one ounce pours of 5 of these Epic Wines, and enjoyed the experience quite a bit.  Our two favorites were both in the $800 a bottle range ($38 for a one ounce serving) -- ZD Abacus Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon XIV from Napa Valley and an '06 Pensfold Grange Australian Shiraz.  Definitely an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.  

We had a cheese tray to go with the wine, then moved on to salads.  I had an heirloom tomato salad with fresh mozzarella that was divine.  For my main course, I chose the Pan-roasted Ashley Farms Chicken Breast served on a bed of Marscarpone Cream Corn with a peach glaze, served with oak grilled asparagus. I am going to be spending the rest of my life making peach glazes, trying to recreate that perfect blend of sweet and spicy.  Mark had short ribs on a bed of cheese grits -- he asked for them to be prepared gluten free as well so that we could share -- and they were also to die for.  

I am certain they would have had something even more spectacular for desert, but we were frankly too stuffed at that point to eat another bite.  

Peach Glazed Chicken at Citrico's

Braised Short Ribs at Citrico's

Sandy

Disney Dining -- Yak and Yeti

The Yak and Yeti at Disney's Animal Kingdom was a new restaurant for us.  We have always eaten at the Flame Tree BBQ before, which I like a lot; but this time it was important that our meals all be air conditioned (my MIL gets overheated easily), so we tried something new.  

It you are a seafood lover, the most spectacular thing on the menu is the Malaysian Seafood Curry.  It is gluten free as-is and is loaded with clams, mussels, and shrimp.  My son and husband loved this soup, but it should be noted that my Father-in-law found that his was loaded with dangerously sharp pieces of shell as well as seafood.  

Since I am not a seafood eater, I ordered fried rice.  Well, I tried to order fried rice.  The fried rice is not gluten free, but they were able to substitute rice for noodles in the Lo Mein, creating a gluten free rice dish that looks and tastes like fried rice, but is not officially fried rice.  (Follow that?)  I didn't really care how they rung it up on the bill -- it tasted good.  

Sandy

Malaysian Seafood Curry

A pot of tea at the Yak and Yeti

Gluten Free "Lo Mein"

Disney Dining -- Dinner at Ohana

We last went to Ohana in 2010.  I was very impressed the last time we were there, so I had high expectations, but sadly they fell short this time.

Fire pit at Ohana 

As always, the Polynesian is a wonderful oasis.  Truly one of the best themed Disney resorts.  The atmosphere at Ohana is upbeat and fun.  The best part is when they gather all the "keikis" (kids) to participate in the Coconut Races.  The children have to push the coconut around the restaurant with a broom.  (I actually witnessed one mom with a toddler pushing the broom herself and saying to her son "faster, faster" as the poor kid was towed along side her.  Some parents just don't get it.)

Colin in the Coconut Race

The kitchen, however, was off it's game.  They brought my salad out three times, only to whisk it away again, as they realized they hadn't done everything on the GF checklist.  This is a family-style restaurant, so that means the rest of my family was waiting on their salad as well.  Since there were 5 other people at my table, it would probably have been better to leave the salad and say "I'm not sure that's safe for you, let me get you another one."

They had a special order of chicken wings for me, which were good; but the dipping sauces I remember liking the last time I was there did not seem the same.  They were ok, but not great.

GF Chicken Wings at Ohana

The wonderful individual chicken, beef, and pork skewers I was served the last time I was here was replaced by an unattractive skewer of unseasoned chicken.  It had black pepper on it, and nothing else.  I know it was served on top of a bowl of something, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was.  Rice? Veggies?  Obviously it wasn't memorable.  I was able to have the same beef and shrimp that was brought for everyone else.

The meal includes dessert, and while everyone else ate bread pudding, I got a brownie with ice cream.  Probably a win there.  Who wants to eat bread pudding when you could be eating chocolate?

GF Brownie a la Disney World

The drinks at Ohana are fantastic.  The Mai Tai was as good as I remember (and since I remember it as one of the best drinks of all time, that is saying a lot.)  I also got a fantastic drink, served in a pineapple.  So fun!

Fun and fruity drinks at Ohana

I wish I knew if the quality drop was indicative of their usual performance, or if they just had an off night.  Either way, I will probably find myself back at Ohana again on the next trip.  If nothing else, it gives me a chance to soak up the atmosphere and imagine myself in the islands.

Sandy

Disney Dining -- Lunch at the Prime Time Cafe

We were at Disney Hollywood Studios on a Star Wars Weekend and it was super crowded, but fortunately we had made our dining reservations in advance (as we always do for Disney World trips) and were eating lunch at the Prime Time Cafe.

The rope drop was at 8 am that morning, so we had no time for breakfast.  I had a hard boiled egg and some juice I bought at the Beach Club Marketplace (a combination gift shop/ quick service/ convenience store) and away we went.  Knowing that we wouldn't be eating much breakfast, we scheduled an early lunch at 11 am.

We have been to Disney World many times (somewhere around 10 times, I think), but we had never eaten at the Prime Time Cafe.  The primary reason for that is the 50's theme is carried over to the waiter/ waitresses who play mom and dad and scold you if you don't eat your vegetables.  We aren't the type who thinks that is funny (we also don't like restaurants that are rude as part of their shtick), so we stayed clear.  What drew me in this time, though, was the rumor of gluten free chicken pot pie.  Mmmmmm.

Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie

The restaurant is supposed to remind you of a family living room in the 1950's, with televisions, couches, and tacky macrame wall hangings.  Our waiter soft peddled the dad-routine, probably sensing that we weren't really into it, and Chef Eddie was a total professional when he came out to go over the menu with me.  Sure enough, the pot pie filling is gluten free.  They normally put a piece of puff pastry on top, but for the gluten free version, they serve it with a slice of Udi's toast.  It was very yummy, though it did have more onions and mushrooms than I would prefer.  I had a moment of panic when I got a bite of bread from the bottom of the bowl, but it was just a second piece of Udi's that they had ladled the filling over.

I was able to eat a dessert off the menu (the dessert menu is presented on a View Master toy, by the way); it was a crustless (and sugarless) cheesecake with a strawberry sauce.  An excellent dessert, and I could not tell that it was sugar free.  It did not have that artificial taste that you get with sweeteners.  A very enjoyable meal from a restaurant we thought we would not like.

Sugarless Cheesecake

Sandy

Disney Dining -- Dinner at the Cape May Cafe

We were staying at the Yacht and Beach Club, a Disney resort walking distance to Epcot, so we planned dinner at the hotel.  Actually, we planned for the grandparents and kids to eat dinner at the hotel, and my husband and I would go have dinner at Chefs de France.  However, a incident with one of the kids, a busted nose, and a paramedic, convinced us we would rather stay closer to home.  Fortunately, the Cape May Cafe was able to extend our reservation to 6 without much difficulty.  

Buffet dinner at the Cape May Cafe

The dinner at Cape May is a Clam Bake.  Actually, it's an all-you-can-eat buffet with seafood, but the clam bake theme is a lot of fun, and there are plenty of clams plus all the fixin's you would expect at a real clam bake, such as corn on the cob and boiled potatoes.  My son, the seafood fiend, was in heaven.  Unfortunately, I am not a seafood fan, but there was still plenty on the buffet for me to eat.

Chef Robert came out and took me through the buffet, pointing out what was and wasn't safe for me.  I had roast beef, chicken, mashed potatoes, and lots of veggies.  There was even something for me on the dessert buffet!  They had small flourless chocolate cake bites and a flan/custard dish in little ramekins.  Both were yummy, and I went back for a second helping of dessert.

Sandy