Thursday, August 09, 2012

French Fry Diary 402: Pepper Market, Coronado Springs Resort


I remember this place from my previous stay at Coronado Springs in Walt Disney World for one main reason. The Pepper Market is guarded by a creepy giant pink rabbit. Oh yeah, it looks harmless now, but just wait until you go to sleep.

Pepper Market is at best peculiar. It's a sit down restaurant that doesn't count as such on the Disney Dining Plan, and if you argue or question, they will haggle with you. No, really, this happened. Twice. The ordering and paying methods inside the realm of the giant pink bunny are more than a little confusing. You get tickets from each food station you stop at and then it's totaled at the end of the meal, or the start of the meal, depending. See what I mean by confusing?

And the napkin is a dishtowel. No, seriously, it's a dishtowel. A paper napkin would be both so much more useful, and really, a whole lot less icky.

When I figured out how the place worked, I ordered my usual. The burger was very good, big and thick, and chargrilled while I watched. The woman next to me, with the Fargo accent, was having trouble figuring out the system and I tried my best to help her, but she just couldn't be satisfied. As the cook heard everything she was saying, I have to wonder how her burger tasted.

The burger came with French fries. They were deep-fried shoestrings, probably from the grocer's freezer, and worst of all, they were sitting under a heat lamp for who knows how long. I was not enthused. Luckily I got a fresh batch, and I was amazed to see them toss salted in a bowl (just like Belgian frites!) as they made their way to my plate. That and the huge serving saved them in my eyes. They were hot, crisp and tasty. I even sandwiched some.

The Bride had heard bad reviews of the Pepper Market, and passed on coming with me. From what I saw, I can believe it had bad reviews, but my personal experience that night was very good. I know Ms. Fargo was less than happy, but I did all right with my dinner.

2 comments:

Heironymous said...

Now it has been quite a few years since I was last at the Pepper Market, so I don't remember any big pink bunny. i do remember lots of festive tables , chairs and umbrellas.

I also remember that (for me) it was the best "quick serve" (non-buffet) restaurant at WDW. Most of the foods were prepped (but not completely prepared) and the "station" chef would make up the order fresh when you placed it. There were about 5 to 7 different food stations (grills, I think they were called back then) It was something I had never experienced at Disney.

Now, last year, when I went aboard the Disney Dream and experienced the Cabanas restaurant. That reminded me (a bit) of the Pepper Market concept. Glad you got to enjoy it (with or without the bride).

Though, I am envious of your bravado to do so, caballero!!

Unknown said...

It's worth noting that before this Disney excursion in March, I had last been to Coronado Springs in the mid-nineties, and the Pepper Market was quite different then.

However, the giant pink bunny was there then too, as was the giant bird god inside that I will talk about in my Pepper Market breakfast entry soon. Both are gigantic and tres creepy. You must have blocked them out. I wish I could.