Random Tater Pic of the Day #274

After meeting up with friends Anne-Sophie and her family in Norway at the World Showcase in EPCOT, The Bride and I stopped at Sunshine Seasons in The Land to split a quick breakfast. It had to be quick as we were on our way to the Disney Cruise next.

The Adult Breakfast included, obviously, breakfast potatoes with red and green peppers, eggs, overdone bacon (apparently that's the only way it comes at The Land), sausages, and delicious French toast bread pudding with a spicy kick of cinnamon. Yummy!

French Fry Diary 736: The Garden Grill, EPCOT

Every time I've gone to The Land in EPCOT in Walt Disney World, I have always heard the same thing, that the food served in the restaurants at The Land is where possible grow and prepared right there at The Land. For those not in the know, The Land has an amazing horticultural, agricultural, aquacultural community. They grow everything there onsite.  And since I see potatoes on the Living with the Land omni-mover boat tour, one might assume, ya know? 

First things first, the Garden Grill is a revolving restaurant, set on a dais that turns ever so slowly as you eat over top the aforementioned Living with the Land.  The restaurant, like many in Walt Disney World, also features character meals, or more appropriately, a character breakfast.  Those in question here included Chip and Dale, Pluto, and Farmer Mickey.  For the uninitiated, a tip, Chip has a black nose and Dale has a brown one. 

What initially attracted me to the restaurant for breakfast, besides the promised "Hash Brown-style Potato Barrels" which I wrongly assumed to be fresh from the garden potatoes of The Land, was probably the ham, the bacon, the Mickey waffles, and cinnamon buns.  When we received our family style skillet full of breakfast, we were surprised, and not for the better.

Don't hit him, Jenn, it's probably not his fault...

The ham steaks had mysteriously vanished from the menu, and our skillet.  And while the warm and gooey cinnamon buns were to die for, not much else was.  The mini-Mickey waffles had done their time under a heat lamp and bacon was much too burnt and crispy for my taste, but that's okay as that's how The Bride likes it.  None for me though. 

And the hash brown-style potato barrels?  They were tater tots.  Frozen Ore-Ida or Ore-Ida knock off tater tots.  Disney had tricked me.  Not only were they really crappy heat lamp tater tots, they certainly were not grown in The Land.  At least Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale were fun, but I don't think I'll be coming back. 

French Fry Diary 671: Yorkshire County Fish Shop 2015

Ever since I visited this place a few years back I have wanted to return. Considered a quick service on the Disney Dining Plan, this tiny little counter tucked away in the United Kingdom section of EPCOT's World Showcase is indeed a little treasure. And their outside dining area is the perfect place to see Illuminations, or just chill and listen the Brit Invasion bands across the way.

So I got my chips and sat down, as seating was at a premium I sat at a table with a couple from Wales. They immediately wanted to know why I was taking pictures of my chips with my phone. I explained about the blog, and we had a nice conversation about accents, and chips, and fries. The gentleman called up French Fry Diary on his phone and was reading some of the entries. It's true, he had notes for me.

These chips at Yorkshire, or Cookes of Dublin or Raglan Road for that matter, aren't authentic. They are just what Americans think British chips are. I'm the victim of a tourism conspiracy. Real chips come from chip trucks or holes in the walls. And as far as fish for fish and chips, real fish is cod or haddock. As I was getting schooled, an older Scottish couple joined us at the table. This is what is so great about Walt Disney World - you can make friends quickly.

The conversation turned to accents and language again, and the two couples teased me by speaking real Welsh and Scottish, proving that neither is anything like what Americans would call English. The new couple agreed about the chips, not authentic at all - quite good, mind you, but inauthentic. Next we talked about American food - what is American food anyway? It's all stolen from other countries. We have good bacon, of that everyone was in agreement, but let's face it, bacon is Canadian.

I had a wonderful afternoon eating chips and chatting with new friends. This was great. So if you want to talk authentic chips, the Yorkshire County Fish Shop is the place to be.

French Fry Diary 430: The Disney Food Blog Podcast

Those of you out there who know me know that I've dabbled in podcasts in the past, and currently participate in two on video, the All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast and the Biff Bam Popcast, notably, neither about French fries. I also enjoy listening to the podcasts of others.

One that I have been listening to lately actually does talk about French fries from time to time, that's the Disney Food Blog Podcast. It's hosted by A.J. Wolfe of the Disney Food Blog, which I've mentioned here once or twice, and Brad Johnson of WDW for Grownups, also a very cool site. Regular readers know how often I'm in Disney, so of course I'm digging the Podcast.

In episode 5, something was mentioned that I had never heard of but sounded right up my alley - Figaro Fries at Pinocchio's Village Haus in the WDW Magic Kingdom. My ears perked up until they mentioned they had been discontinued. Sigh, too late. Apparently these were natural cuts covered in lettuce, cheese, ranch dressing and tomatoes. You can check them out at the DFB here.

That was where I went after I heard about them on the Podcast. See what else is there? Isn't that cool? They did a report on the favorite fried food available elsewhere in the parks, including a few I have yet to sample myself.

And if that's not enough, in the next episode, they go into a rather lengthy discussion about poutine and Le Celier in EPCOT's Canada. I love these guys!

French Fry Diary 392: Sunshine Seasons, The Land, EPCOT

The Bride gets very overzealous when it comes to Disney World. She got it in her head that we had to be at Epcot at god awful o'clock in the morning. Extra magic hours, she called it. It just meant they were open earlier for resort guests. So we rushed out, no time for breakfast, mind you, although I had been Jones-ing for that trademark Disney breakfast potatoes and bacon, and we got to EPCOT when they opened.

After doing Test Track several times (the family, not me, I have a heart condition, remember?) we were all pretty hungry, but we started to realize there wasn't any place to eat for breakfast. After consulting various apps on our iPhones and asking real human Cast Members, we were directed to the food court at the Land. The Land, on my first visit to WDW, and on my honeymoon, had terrific fries but they have since changed them. Same thing with the mac and cheese The Bride used to love. No matter, we were there for breakfast, not lunch or dinner.

The Disney Dining Plan is a wonderful thing. When you are going out to restaurants where you sit down, it rocks. It is highly recommended, especially for those experiences, I love it. However, when trying to decipher the mysteries of what constitutes a snack, or a counter service, and what you are entitled to on each… I swear you need a slide rule. What I eventually got from the Plan for breakfast I don't actually know, but I do know I walked back to my table carrying a tray with bacon and breakfast potatoes.

I was a tad disappointed in the bacon, and the bro-in-law really hated it, but since I had been waiting for bacon for nearly four hours, it was good enough for me. I received a good-sized cholesterol-threatening lump of bacon on a tiny paper plate. No real strips of the wonder food, but more like shredded pieces of it in a big mound.

The favorite fried food came in the form of diced red potatoes with just a bit of onion and pepper, served on the same sized plate as the bacon. They were soft and delicious with golden seasoning. The serving I received was quite small compared to the giant helping of shredded bacon I got, but it was still quite good. Looking at other folks' plates who got the full breakfast, I felt better as I still got much more bacon and potatoes than they did.

Still, all things considered, the family had a good breakfast, and we were all re-energized to go take on Soarin' and the rest of EPCOT.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #20

This one was taken by friends Dom and Cindy while on vacation with us in Walt Disney World. It's from the Norway pavilion in Epcot, where they took their little girl to the 'Princess Storybook Dining' at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. The little princess got meatballs and green beans and gravy on a nest of mashed potatoes, with lingonberries - shades of Ikea!

French Fry Diary 216: Pop Century Breakfast 2011

The Bride is a very sweet and a very sneaky lady. This installment of Somebody Else's Fries is one that I have featured before on at least two occasions, here and here. These are the breakfast potatoes from Pop Century in Walt Disney World, but this entry is not so much about the fries this time, as it is about how she got to the fries.

My mother-in-law, one of the coolest and sweetest ladies I know outside of The Bride, has her seventieth birthday this year, today in fact, and my wife wanted to make it something special. She spent months planning an elaborate surprise birthday party with family and friends, the theme of which was the dreams my mother-in-law has always had - one of those dreams was to travel the world.

The Bride thought up the scheme of sneaking down to Disney World, going to the World Showcase in EPCOT and getting a special passport stamped and signed in every country for her mom - so that she could say she had 'seen the world.' Mom loved it, and as an added bonus, The Bride also got some breakfast potatoes from Everything Pop.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

P.S. It should be added that the surprise party itself was held at French Fry Diary favorite the Pop Shop, and included those amazing Pop Fries. Special thanks to the folks at the Pop Shop for making the day extra special.

French Fry Diary 51: Yorkshire County Fish and Chips, World Showcase

This is a small fish and chips stand right next to the Rose and the Crown, the English pub/restaurant in the United Kingdom section of World Showcase at Epcot in Walt Disney World.

If you think that’s a mouthful, finding out the name of this place is even worse. It’s a bit of a word puzzle in itself. Officially, it’s the Yorkshire Fish Shop featuring Harry Ramsden’s. The sign over the shop says almost that, the sign over the window says Famous Fish & Chips. The building is attached to the Rose and the Crown. The wax paper says Harry Ramsden’s and the tray the chips lie in says Walt Disney World. The receipt says U.K. Fish & Chips Kiosk. Your guess is as good as mine.

The chips themselves are definitely British chips, almost but not quite as good as those at Cookes of Dublin. The chips are extra thick regular cuts, served quickly, hot and fresh. They’re not perfect, but damned good, a bit crisp, not a bit greasy, hot inside and out. The service is great, with an English accent, of course.

As I said, this place is right next to the Rose and the Crown. Sixteen years ago on my first trip to Disney World we had dinner there. I remember those chips being quite good, but they came with something resembling boiled steak. We came to the conclusion the food was UK authentic, as all UK food is supposedly bland. I checked the menu for the place while I was there – no boiled steak. Maybe we’ll try the place again, next time.

French Fry Diary 48: Restaurant Marrakesh, World Showcase

Up front, they have fries, but I didn’t have ‘em – but it's my blog, so I make the rules. The Restaurant Marrakesh is the fancy food place at Morocco in the World Showcase at Epcot at Walt Disney World. On my most recent trip The Bride and I made reservations for dinner there.

As with any of the restaurants of the World Showcase, atmosphere is the prime directive and Marrakesh has it in spades. Over the course of our meal we enjoyed the talents of two sitar players and a belly dancer. We sampled new and interesting foods – yeah, that’s right, me, the catastrophically picky eater, I tried cous cous and something called a beef brewat roll. Interesting. Marrakesh also had the best beverage service I have ever seen. My Coke wasn’t even half empty before another was placed next to it. Niiice.

On the fries front, the party next to us had a little girl who ordered from the kids menu, which did have – you guessed it – French fries. They appeared to be regular natural cuts, like a lot of the generic counter places in Disney World have. And they must have been better than whatever that party’s adults had ordered, because they were all taking the little girl’s fries.

The Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco in WDW, recommended, and they do have fries.