French Fry Diary 172: Triton's, Disney Wonder

Day four brought us to both brunch and dinner at Triton's. For our late brunch I had the French toast, bacon and roasted red potatoes. At Triton's there were a bit better and hotter than they had been up at Beach Blanket Buffet, and in a much larger portion. Also the bacon was reasonably cooked, not crunchy like glass as it has been most mornings up there. I guess it is a matter of where you go.

For our last dinner on board the Disney Wonder I had the best meal of our cruise. French bread as an appetizer, aged Angus beef tenderloins, bacon (yes, bacon!) wrapped green beans and side order of French fries - because it's a French restaurant after all.

These larger than usual regular cuts were the exact same delicious and nearly perfect fries from our first aboard ship at Animator's Palate. Dessert was an old-fashioned ice cream sundae. This definitely made up for last night. Not just the best meal on the cruise, but the best meal - not to mention service, Stafford and Myriam were first class - I've had in a long time.

French Fry Diary 171: Room Service, Disney Wonder

Whether you're in a fancy hotel or on a cruise ship, there is just something both amazing and enticing about the very concept of having food brought to you in your room. And the idea that they can bring you almost anything reasonable is good too. Whether it's bacon at a comic con in Baltimore or French fries at sea aboard the Disney Wonder - it's just magic.

Evening three of our most recent Disney Cruise I had a rather disappointing dinner so some time around two in the AM I decided that the magic of room service was needed. Macaroni and cheese, her favorite comfort food, was the weapon of choice for The Bride. I wanted, come on, what else would I want? If your answer isn't French fries, you haven't been paying attention for the last eight years.

I wondered what kind of fries would come. Last time, on board the Disney Magic, room service brought steak fries, a type I've yet to see on this trip on the Wonder. I know that so far on the Magic, I have seen regular cuts, natural cuts (on the top deck, at Pluto's Dog House and Pinocchio's Pizzeria, same as the Magic), slightly larger than regular cuts and something deliciously close to British chips.

What arrived were the less than satisfying natural cuts from the upper decks. Well, at least they were hot. Deep fried and unseasoned, these were good for the middle of the night munchies but little else. The mac and cheese satisfied as well. I honestly think if I hadn't been expecting steak fries - I might have enjoyed this more.

French Fry Diary 170: Beach Blanket Buffet, Disney Wonder

Much like Topsiders on the Disney Magic, Beach Blanket Buffet, on the Disney Wonder, is a buffet style cafeteria up on one of the top decks, specializing in breakfast but also dinners on occasion. Throughout a cruise trip, Topsiders would feature various styles of potato, and BBB is much the same.

Upon boarding the ship, while waiting for our luggage to arrive we hit the Buffet and I found the afternoon treat of roasted red potatoes. Not hot, but still rather tasty, especially for the road weary traveler who had just found out there was no Whataburger between Orlando and Port Canaveral. Us poor fry guys gotta take what we can get.

The red bliss roasted potatoes would turn up at breakfast at the Beach Blanket Buffet for at least two more days, but as with all my other Disney Cruise experiences, as the trip goes on, the breakfast potatoes take a nasty turn the longer you're aboard. The last two days we were 'treated' to disgusting processed squares of sad hash browns. Rarely hot, and never tasting of anything more than the grease they were cooked in, they are just not good. Think Chick-fil-A hash browns only bigger and squarer. Ick.

French Fry Diary 169: Triton's, Lunch, Disney Wonder

Lunch on board the Disney Magic, at Triton's twin, Lumiere's, was always marked by a terrific burger and some of the best fries around, so I was psyched to try the same at Triton's aboard the Wonder. After breakfast of Day Two (I know, the absolute last time I should be thinking about food) I passed the lunch menu for Triton's and saw the half-pound Angus burger with French fries, and I knew I would be back later.

And I was. Just not for the burger. When I came back and glanced at the menu my eyes were drawn immediately to something else - steak frites. Yeah, I hadda have some of that. I can come back for the burger. When in a fancy restaurant, go fancy, so I did.

The steak was very good, a bit tough, but that's my own fault for asking for very well done. I also got a grilled tomato, not my bag, and also, yeah, there were fries too. These were very tender natural regular cuts, good portion, and not crispy. Not crispy, but neither were they soggy or greasy. Their soft hot consistency actually seemed an excellent match for the steak.

Interesting side note - I was chatting with a fellow passenger while at that first lunch, who happened to be a chef himself. Being me, I talked about the French fries, and how I thought it was odd that I ordered 'steak frites' and yet did not get steak fries. He said that just because they are called something that doesn't mean that's what they are for. He further said the fries I got were appropriate to the meal I got. Ooookay.

I am reminded about what Freud supposedly said, "Sometimes a train is just a train." I guess the same goes for steak fries. Hey, at least they were good.

French Fry Diary 168: Parrot Cay, Disney Wonder 2010

Our first foray into Parrot Cay on this Disney Cruise trip was on Day Two for breakfast. Now of course, like many of the restaurants on the DCL, I'd been here before, but every dining experience is different with Disney, and especially with the cruise. The breakfast potatoes this time around were red bliss potatoes halved and quartered and simmered in a succulent sauce, tender, hot and just right.

Day two's dinner returned us to Parrot Cay. And just for kicks, I did not order any fries. I bet I caught you off guard with that one. There were fried and potatoey stuff on the agenda however. My appetizer, a delicious island jerk chicken came with tasty dried and deep fried shredded carrots, and my entrée came with a yummy twice baked potato. Good stuff, and a nice change of pace.

Day three's lunch got me back to Parrot Cay, and that burger and fries you'll read about in a future entry. The burger I had been hankering for since the previous morning was my Parrot Cay lunch. While ninety-nine percent of the ship was ashore at Disney's private island Castaway Cay, it's my favorite time on the boat. No crowds, just rest and relaxation, peace and quiet. Maybe I'm just a freak, but that's how I vacation. So I had much of the restaurant to myself as well that lunch time.

The burger was a half-pound slab of succulent Angus meat on a toasted roll. Wow. This was the best burger I had eaten in quite some time. The fries were slightly larger than regular cuts, similar to those that first night at Animator's Palate, but not quite. Still very very good.

If I had to say anything negative at all, it had to be that the fries were a bit dry, but that's my fault, because I'm not a ketchup guy. I did surreptitiously slip a few under the bun and on top of the burger (like I might sometimes do at McDonalds), and that was terrific. What a treat, and a wonderful lunch.

Dinner for day three was also at Parrot Cay, which was also Pirate Night, a great event on board the Disney Cruise. Folks, passengers and cast members alike dress up like pirates, sing, dance, eat, drink and shoot off fireworks - not necessarily in that order. Fun all around, but I wish that carried over to the dinner.

Scrapbookers might be upset at one corner Disney has cut in that the Pirate Night menu is no longer a rolled up take home treasure map dealie. That was a bit of a disappointment but I had ordered a side of fries with dinner so I thought things were all good. Don't count on it.

The French fries were regular cuts, and nothing at all what I got just a few hours earlier for lunch. These fries were just bad in comparison with the usual excellent quality on board the cruise line, but just bad, period. We're taking Old Country Buffet under a heat lamp for a week bad. On a good note, the beef ribs that I got as my entrée (and were only just okay) came with a barbeque sauce that was excellent for dipping and made the fries just a bit better.

All in all, despite one off night for dinner, Parrot Cay does remain my favorite of the Disney Cruise Line restaurants, and I do look forward to coming back.

French Fry Diary 166: Animator's Palate, Disney Wonder 2010

Just when I thought that after a dozen or so visits to this fun but gimmicky Disney Cruise Line restaurant, I have been surprised. Animator's Palate has black and white images and animations all over the walls that slowly as the meal progresses begin to gain color until the entire restaurant is alive with vibrant full color and music. It's a great trick the first time, and fun a few times after that but after a while it becomes old hat. This time however, was as good as the first time, and the best meal of our Disney trip so far.

Much of this goes to our serving team Stafford and Myriam who were fabulous taking care of us. And with the Disney Cruise, your serving team stays with you throughout your cruise, following you from restaurant to restaurant, so I foresee a wonderful carefree few days ahead of me. I require very little usually on these cruises. Don't give me a look when I ask for French fries, and keep my Coke filled. I got aces from these two, and their end of trip tip will show that.

The side order of fries that came with my beef tenderloins were without peer, and easily the best I've had on this entire trip so far. These were thick steak fries both in width and girth and shape, very similar to the British chips I would have gotten at Cookes of Dublin or Yorkshire County Fish and Chips, had I gotten there this trip. These fries were seriously damn good, baked and not deep-fried, golden brown, crisp outside and soft and hot on the inside. Near perfection, baby.

Back from Vacation

I'm finally back from vacation and I had lots of the favorite fried food while I was away in Walt Disney World and aboard the Disney Wonder.

Check back here over the next few days for reports from my trip.

Photo courtesy of the I Can Has Pixie Dust blog from the entry found here.

French Fry Diary 67: Animator’s Palate, Disney Magic

The Animator’s Palate on both the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder is a thing of both magic and wonder. It’s a restaurant that gives you the sensation of experiencing a Disney animated feature from start to finish, from sketches to full animation – literally from black and white to color.

In fact when you enter Animator’s Palate the entire restaurant is in black and white and set up with props like giant paint brushes holding up a ceiling of artist’s palattes and walls filled with black and white preliminary sketches of various Disney characters and movie scenes. Even the wait staff are wearing black and white.

As you order your meal and enjoy the company of your companions and eventually eat, some of the wall fixtures come to both color and animated life. Finally in a blaze of color the entire restaurant is transformed, including the wait staff, vibrant colors soak every corner of the room as an animated video and music show transpires around you. When it ends, you can enjoy your dessert in the vibrancy of the new atmosphere. It’s a truly wonderful experience.

The themed menu at Animator’s Palate has some great stuff on it, including some penne pasta, veal and salmon, but as anyone who has traveled on the Disney Cruise Line knows – ask and you shall receive. I asked for fries and I got fries. These were steak fries, general variety, probably frozen from a bag, but they were so tasty. Obviously the chefs here on the Magic know their stuff even when it comes to the easy stuff.

And of course, the best thing about eating on the Disney Cruise is that your wait staff follows you from restaurant to restaurant. They get to know what you like, what you don’t like, and how to specialize a meal to you. This is only the first night of the cruise. I suspect by tomorrow, I’ll be happily getting fries with every meal. Vacation is good.

Steak fries, mmmm. Ask and ye shall receive.

French Fry Diary 66: Lumiere’s, Disney Magic

On my last trip on the Disney Cruise, on board the Disney Wonder, I found some amazing French fries, English chip style, along with a lunch burger at Triton’s. This trip, on board the Disney Magic, I figured I would try the fries at Lumiere’s – the Magic version of Triton’s.

The obvious choice for lunch at Lumiere’s is, duh, the Lumiere Burger. This came with, and was even labeled on the menu as, steak fries. No biggie. Actually I had kinda expected this. Upon request at dinner the night before, I was also brought steak fries. Like I said, no big deal, cuz these were really good steak fries.

Presentation counts. Here I was in a French restaurant, surrounded by French bread, French onion soup, French escargot, and I was having French fries. It works. There’s an old saying that you can’t dress up a pig – you still have a pig in a dress. Sometimes, just sometimes though, you can dress up French fries. Such is the case with Lumiere’s steak fries. And the burger was damned good too.

French Fry Diary 08: Aboard the Disney Wonder

Cruises are notorious for the never-ending parade of food on board ship. The Disney Cruise Line is no different. What is different on board their two ships, the Magic and the Wonder, is the quality of the food. Personally I’ve only cruised on two other lines, the Disney Cruise proving to be vastly superior in comparison.

I’ve traveled on the Magic my first two times and the Wonder my second, including this most current trip. The ships are virtually identical with one major difference – the dress-up restaurant on the Magic is Lumiere’s and Triton’s on the Wonder. But both ships have variations on the favorite fried food.

Starting with the morning, the breakfast potatoes at Beach Blanket Buffet up on Deck 9 came in a few different varieties. There were hash browns of the flat tater tot style, closer to store brand than McDonalds, but nowhere near as greasy and just as tasty. Also available were potato wedges, baked and seasoned, and soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside. The final type were stir-fried scalloped potatoes – my personal breakfast fave on the cruise (potato-wise at least) – made from reds and cooked perfectly in that nebulous area between crisp and baked potato goodness.

In the fries category, natural cut shoestrings came as a side with most offerings at Pluto’s Doghouse. For free fast food sides, not bad, hot and tasty, and they certainly compliment the giant hot dogs they have. My only complaint would be that the last thing I want on an open deck in the Caribbean is hot food. Still good fries though.

The prize find of the trip however, as far as the favorite fried food goes, would be at Triton’s. The French fries available at lunch seatings (and dinner if you ask nicely) are very close to the best fries on Earth (those found at Cooke’s of Dublin in Orlando, FL). Obviously fried then baked, these fries are thick cut, three-quarter inch by three-quarter inch and perfectly delicious. The only problem would be the sparse amount one gets, but as with most things Disney, you only need but ask and you shall receive. Just ask for more.


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