We arrived in Orlando on a Tuesday evening and knew we would be hungry so we booked a reservation at Tokyo Dining for Patrick's favorite: sushi. Tokyo Dining is located above the Mitsukoshi store in Japan and shares the space with Teppan Edo. Upon checking in at the hostess stand downstairs, we waited just five short minutes before being buzzed in for seating. We were placed at a table in the middle of the dining area with the perfect view of the sushi chefs. Many people rave about Tokyo Dining's view of Crescent Lake for IllumiNations but we were mostly excited to eat after a long day of traveling. The first thing we noticed is that our server bowed to us upon introduction; there is something very humbling about this kind of service and it was really unique to experience. We ordered sushi, vegetable roll for myself and volcano roll for Patrick, which was delivered maybe 20-30 minutes after our order was taken. I felt the time was a little long for just a sushi order but I overheard a large group near us that was placing their order at the same time and several individuals had food allergies so I can understand and appreciate the care that Disney takes to accommodate such needs. I'll gladly wait an extra 10 minutes for my food if it means everyone leaves the restaurant healthy! The sushi itself was fresh and delicious; I couldn't finish my vegetable roll but our server insisted on treating us to a complimentary piece of ginger mousse cake for our honeymoon! Who can say 'no' to cake? Looking back, I get a little teary-eyed thinking about the gesture because it was the only pixie dust we witnessed on this trip.
Vegetable Roll
Volcano Roll
Ginger Mousse Cake
I've already mentioned Teppan Edo so this is an easy segue to the next Epcot dining experience. I booked Teppan Edo in secret because I wanted to surprise Patrick with an early birthday celebration. We checked in at the same hostess stand and again only waited about five minutes for our turn to be seated. Unfortunately the dining area for Teppan Edo is very cramped with several grills lined up in a small room and eight people crammed around a table. There is barely any room to scoot your chair back without bumping into the wall, which makes bathroom breaks a nightmare for anyone that needs to scoot past several tables. Thankfully, the food more than makes up for the atmosphere and we walked away from this meal with full tummies! The first thing I'll say about this teppanyaki experience is that it's probably not going to compare to what you've got locally; most teppanyaki restaurants drown the rice, noodles, and protein in teriyaki or some other sugary sauce and Teppan Edo does not. Additionally, Teppan Edo is pretty light on the carbs and opts to give a lot more green veggies than you might otherwise see at an Americanized location. If you can appreciate a 'lighter' (read: healthier) teppanyaki experience then you'll definitely enjoy this meal!
And finally, our trip to Disney World wouldn't be complete without a stop at Via Napoli. We've reported on this restaurant before and nothing has changed from then to now. We ordered the arancini and a full quattro formaggi pizza to share, as well as an order of garlic bread knots. It was still too much food but the best end to our trip and a cherished experience. I think Via Napoli will be a must-do meal for us every vacation!
Epcot remains our favorite park largely because of the culinary options but also because of the cultural experiences and educational opportunities. We look forward to trying many more Epcot restaurants on future trips!
Teppan Edo
Let's shift gears to a different meal: breakfast. If you're anything like us, then you probably plan most breakfasts in the room because it's cheaper to pack/buy a box of granola bars than to eat out every morning. We mostly stuck to that same routine on this trip except I had heard so many great things about Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie and finally needed to put it to my own test. The awesome thing about this bakery is that it opens earlier than the rest of World Showcase so it's a great little place to visit between 9am and 11am when the crowds are light. We snagged some great photos of the Flower & Garden Festival topiaries as a result of this plan! The variety of options inside the bakery are endless - there are savory sandwiches, chocolate, fruit, cheese, custard, and the list goes on and on. We selected three items to share, which was definitely more than we needed for breakfast but soooo worth it! We had the Brie aux Pommes, Roule Lard and Fromage, and the Duo. The Roule Lard and Fromage was definitely the best item on our tray but the Brie aux Pommes was a close second! The Duo was also pretty tasty but a little too sweet for our morning meal preference.
Clockwise from top: Duo, Roule Lard and Fromage, Brie aux Pommes
And finally, our trip to Disney World wouldn't be complete without a stop at Via Napoli. We've reported on this restaurant before and nothing has changed from then to now. We ordered the arancini and a full quattro formaggi pizza to share, as well as an order of garlic bread knots. It was still too much food but the best end to our trip and a cherished experience. I think Via Napoli will be a must-do meal for us every vacation!
Epcot remains our favorite park largely because of the culinary options but also because of the cultural experiences and educational opportunities. We look forward to trying many more Epcot restaurants on future trips!
