That Hidden Gem...

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That Hidden Gem...

Good Morning Folks...You know there's not many secret places at WDW that your Disney food experts don't know about. So it was a nice experience to read the food blog this wet Monday morning on a review of Bongos Cuban Cafe at downtown. Now I've got this diner on my radar as I love the menu..I've walked past it many many times...So do you have a place where you've always walked past and then decided to give it a try and discovered a hidden gem..?...

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It's not a popular one or really a hidden one, but we visited sci fi dine in, on our last trip for the first time and loved it and now it's going to be a tradition.

King Fergus

Philhowelldesign wrote:
It's not a popular one or really a hidden one, but we visited sci fi dine in, on our last trip for the first time and loved it and now it's going to be a tradition.

Yep,again never tried the Sci Fi...It gets mixed reviews,most of them are good..May try a lunch this year..

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One of the true "hidden gems" in my opinion is the Turf Club at the Saratoga Springs Resort clubhouse. Great food, fantastic deserts, good service, and nice atmosphere and surroundings. It is my DVC home resort but I would frequent this restaurant even if it were not. AND it's not usually too busy because not many know about it.

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We were that way with Mama Melrose. We passed it a lot but never gave it a try. One day, we decided to make an ADR and have loved it ever since.

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I will say the Garden Grill. It also gets mixed reviews from people a lot, but it is so great! It is also a character meal too!

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Since Vettelover has already mentioned the Turf Club, I will go with a different one and say The Grand Floridian Cafe. We stumbled upon it for lunch one day and loved it. We have since also tried it for breakfast which just may be even better than lunch. It has quickly become a must do for us. So far we have pretty much just walked up and got in without reservations.

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Eeyore wrote:
I will say the Garden Grill. It also gets mixed reviews from people a lot, but it is so great! It is also a character meal too!

We did Garden Grill in April 2012 and loved it! Excellent food, great character interaction for us. Looking forward to going back in May. We really like the create-your-own pasta in the food court at Port Orleans Riverside. Even if you're not staying there, it's a great connection point to DTD for the evening. Bus from park to POR, have dinner, boat to DTD, bus back to home resort.

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Seafire Inn waiting

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Not so much a place but a food. Everyone knows about Caseys but be adventurous and try the pulled pork and slaw hot dog. I love it. I have eaten at most places at disney as that is part of the experience for me (my wife is the pack a sandwich kind). There are not too many places I will not go again but the plaza restaurant is probably close to the bottom of my list and Be our Guest for lunch is one of my top three.

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Liberty Tree Tavern for lunch! I would always dismiss it, because I wasn't really big on the family turkey dinner. On our last trip, we decided to try it for lunch, which is a completely different menu. Going back next trip, and this time, I am not sharing my Ooey Gooey Toffee cake!

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Prior to my last trip, I always walked by Sunshine Seasons and Tangierine Cafe. Since I put a bigger emphasis on food on my last Disney trip, I added those two places since I read they were fan favorites and when my day at Epcot ended, I left thinking: Why didn't I find these places earlier?! gaah

I know both places are fan favorites but I think for Tangierine Cafe, I think that place gets overlooked by a lot of people. I think a lot of people fear that Moroccan food is too spicy or it's something they'll eat from Bizarre Foods or something but it isn't. It's full of flavor and in my neck of woods, again, I can't find a really good place that serves Middle Eastern food.

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Turf Club is a good one. If you get seated on the patio at the right time, you can see fireworks from Epcot.

I think the Coral Reef gets overlooked at Epcot. It's a great restaurant.

Most resort restaurants get overlooked because everyone wants to get as much park time as possible. I really like Maya Grill at Coronado Springs.

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Tangerine cafe is a favorite of mine. Dh not so much.

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I don't know if it's a hidden gem but we love the Wave for breakfast. The buffet is amazing and it is always relaxing and not to crowded.

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jhugo wrote:
I don't know if it's a hidden gem but we love the Wave for breakfast. The buffet is amazing and it is always relaxing and not to crowded.

The Wave is a great restaurant and you can pretty much walk in as long as there is no convention.

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King Fergus wrote:
Good Morning Folks...You know there's not many secret places at WDW that your Disney food experts don't know about.

Sanaa for Lunch
One of my absolute favorites, the food is fantastic and dining while the sun is shining on the savanna and all of the animals are outside playing is phenomenal.

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Kristen K. wrote:
Sanaa for Lunch
One of my absolute favorites, the food is fantastic and dining while the sun is shining on the savanna and all of the animals are outside playing is phenomenal.

Spicy Lamb Kefta Burger would be absolutely fantastic right now!

King Fergus

Had lunch at Sanaa without an ADR in July in 2012... Awesome....

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King Fergus wrote:
Philhowelldesign wrote:
It's not a popular one or really a hidden one, but we visited sci fi dine in, on our last trip for the first time and loved it and now it's going to be a tradition.

Yep,again never tried the Sci Fi...It gets mixed reviews,most of them are good..May try a lunch this year..

Husband says it's good in a burger sort of way. BUT, if you sit in the cars, taller people do have to do a bit of leg folding. Also he doesn't care for the 2 people in each seat all facing the same way, so you can't actually talk with people in your party. You can request a table but he said it's harder to see the movie..... Just saying. We are not going there as we have a family that has a lot of loooong legs.

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oldtink wrote:
King Fergus wrote:
Philhowelldesign wrote:
It's not a popular one or really a hidden one, but we visited sci fi dine in, on our last trip for the first time and loved it and now it's going to be a tradition.

Yep,again never tried the Sci Fi...It gets mixed reviews,most of them are good..May try a lunch this year..

Husband says it's good in a burger sort of way. BUT, if you sit in the cars, taller people do have to do a bit of leg folding. Also he doesn't care for the 2 people in each seat all facing the same way, so you can't actually talk with people in your party. You can request a table but he said it's harder to see the movie..... Just saying. We are not going there as we have a family that has a lot of loooong legs.

I think we need to request some stretch Limo's to be put in the for the tall crowd! biggrin

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mrhub wrote:
oldtink wrote:
King Fergus wrote:
Philhowelldesign wrote:
It's not a popular one or really a hidden one, but we visited sci fi dine in, on our last trip for the first time and loved it and now it's going to be a tradition.

Yep,again never tried the Sci Fi...It gets mixed reviews,most of them are good..May try a lunch this year..

Husband says it's good in a burger sort of way. BUT, if you sit in the cars, taller people do have to do a bit of leg folding. Also he doesn't care for the 2 people in each seat all facing the same way, so you can't actually talk with people in your party. You can request a table but he said it's harder to see the movie..... Just saying. We are not going there as we have a family that has a lot of loooong legs.

I think we need to request some stretch Limo's to be put in the for the tall crowd! biggrin

rolling rolling rolling rolling awesome

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disvillain63 wrote:
We were that way with Mama Melrose. We passed it a lot but never gave it a try. One day, we decided to make an ADR and have loved it ever since.

Our ONLY reservation (pardon the pun....well, not really) is that while we love the food, the atmosphere, if you are seated up towards the front it's VERY loud. It's entertaining if you don't want to talk to anyone else. In the back area, the seating is close so the wait staff are moving around behind you. We saw one poor guy drop his tray of drinks close enough to soak some patrons. Felt bad for the guy because it was a tight fit with a BIG tray.

Since DH is having hearing issues as is one of the couple going with us, we opted to try 50's Primetime for the first.

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"George Banks and all he stands for will be saved. Maybe not in life, but in imagination. Because that's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again." Walt Disney

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We actually like sitting at the tables at the back of the restaurant with the umbrellas.

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Can I propose a place to eat that doesn't actually serve?

When at Epcot, we notice that there are places tfor QS but the seating...well, isn't. We love to go behind England/Great Britain and siit in the beautiful gardens. It's usually quiet and oddly are there any people there.

You can talk and enjoy the moment of quiet in the zoo of people.

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"At some point in life you have to decide if you're the Tigger or the Eeyore."...Randy Pausch

"George Banks and all he stands for will be saved. Maybe not in life, but in imagination. Because that's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again." Walt Disney

King Fergus

oldtink wrote:
Can I propose a place to eat that doesn't actually serve?

When at Epcot, we notice that there are places tfor QS but the seating...well, isn't. We love to go behind England/Great Britain and siit in the beautiful gardens. It's usually quiet and oddly are there any people there.

You can talk and enjoy the moment of quiet in the zoo of people.

You mean the UK pavilion... Crazy

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King Fergus wrote:
oldtink wrote:
Can I propose a place to eat that doesn't actually serve?

When at Epcot, we notice that there are places tfor QS but the seating...well, isn't. We love to go behind England/Great Britain and siit in the beautiful gardens. It's usually quiet and oddly are there any people there.

You can talk and enjoy the moment of quiet in the zoo of people.

You mean the UK pavilion... Crazy

My apologies, Sir. Yes UK. (In my defense I am reading English History/Biography, so when I was typing I was still in "that" world at that moment.

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"At some point in life you have to decide if you're the Tigger or the Eeyore."...Randy Pausch

"George Banks and all he stands for will be saved. Maybe not in life, but in imagination. Because that's what we storytellers do. We restore order with imagination. We instill hope again and again and again." Walt Disney

King Fergus

oldtink wrote:
King Fergus wrote:
oldtink wrote:
Can I propose a place to eat that doesn't actually serve?

When at Epcot, we notice that there are places tfor QS but the seating...well, isn't. We love to go behind England/Great Britain and siit in the beautiful gardens. It's usually quiet and oddly are there any people there.

You can talk and enjoy the moment of quiet in the zoo of people.

You mean the UK pavilion... Crazy

My apologies, Sir. Yes UK. (In my defense I am reading English History/Biography, so when I was typing I was still in "that" world at that moment.

Only joking with you..It happens all the time here..When a Scottish sports star wins something special ( Andy Murray for example ) he goes from Scottish to British..LOL..

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Tangierine Cafe. If it wasn't for the Avengers, we would have never gone here. But we had to have Shawarma when we saw the sign! It was amazing!

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