French Fry Diary 535: Steak Frites, Royal Court, Disney Fantasy

I was hoping to get another taste of those terrific steak fries that I had gotten at the Royal Court the other day on board the Disney Fantasy, but it didn't quite work out. The menu changed. The burger (gluten-free) was still there, but so was steak frites, so I opted for the new choice rather than the old reliable.

As always the service is incredible, and if I had any problems or concerns, I am sure they could have been remedied, but let's just suffice to say I didn't get my steak fries. They might have been out of them as I didn't see anyone else with them either. Still what I got was very good.

The steak frites was a wonderfully succulent strip of grilled steak with a garlic butter, served with natural cut French fries. Now these fries were the same I have dissed before when talking about Disney before, not bad, but not spectacular either, but soaked in the juice of the steak and the garlic butter, they were very, very good. A wonderful lunch meal, Disney scores again.

French Fry Diary 534: Enchanted Garden, Disney Fantasy

Today was a good food day on board the Disney Fantasy, between breakfast at Cabanas and lunch at the Royal Court, I wasn't sure what to expect at the Enchanted Garden for dinner. I need not have worried.

I got the steak option available every night that is for the folks not interested in that night's particular fare. With that I got a baked potato, which was one of the better such I have had in quite some time. I mashed that sucker up with a fork, smothered it in butter and went to town. And yeah, the steak was very good too.

That's three for three today, and the third day on board. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Hopefully it's something potato-ey…

Happy Halloween!

French Fry Diary 533: My Gluten-Free Lunch at the Royal Court

While on the Disney Cruise, as I've mentioned before, I don't usually go ashore for excursions and the like. I really enjoy staying on the usually quiet ship to read, write, and people watch. The Disney Fantasy's stop at Grand Cayman was no exception. I was re-reading Stephen King's "The Shining" in anticipation for the release of its sequel "Doctor Sleep," as well as doing some writing of my own, so I stayed aboard.

Round about noon, I got the nibbles and decided to hit the Royal Court for lunch, partially in hopes of getting those terrific steak fries I had gotten at this main restaurant on other DCL ships. However, once seated, there was something weird afoot. I knew something was up from the get-go.

My servers brought bread and rolls to my table, then a minute later covered it up and took it away. Oookay. When the chopped Angus burger I ordered arrived, it had no bun. It did have those awesome rockin' steak fries though. I loved them, they were delicious, as was the bun-less burger. Having gotten the steak fries, and the breakfast potatoes that morning, the cruise was now aces in my book.

The server brought the dessert menu and told me there were some great non-gluten choices. That's when it hit me. I asked if I could just have a regular dessert instead, and that's when it hit him. They checked my room number, consulted notes, and asked, "Are you Charlotte?" Bingo. They thought I was my mother-in-law who's on a gluten-free diet.

I explained that I was not her, we laughed, and I had chocolate ice cream for dessert. The Bride and her mom had a good laugh when they returned from shore, we found out how diligent the Disney cooks are, and I got some terrific steak fries. It's all good.

French Fry Diary 532: Amora Moutarde

One of the things The Bride got involved in on this Disney Cruise is something involving a community of fish extender people. I know, sounds weird, but long story short, it's sort of like an onboard secret Santa - passengers give each other small gifts by hanging them on the fish ornaments outside their cabin doors. Sometimes the gifts are food, sometimes toys, and sometimes something from the giver's region of the world.

Today, we got a plastic bottle of mustard from fellow passengers who are either French or French-Canadian. There's not much on the bottle I can read short of the brand name Amora, and moutarde, which I'm relatively sure is mustard. What an interesting and generous gift.

What makes it relevant to French Fry Diary is the note they taped to back of the bottle. Their suggestion read thusly: "The Original French Mustard to eat with your meats, potatoes, hot dogs, burgers… and add a French flavor to your meals…" Now I'm not a mustard guy, but potatoes, really? Who puts mustard on potatoes?

Seriously, if anyone knows of any instances or recipes, hit me up, and maybe I'll feature it here on the blog. This is a new one on me, and I would like to learn more.

French Fry Diary 531: Cabanas, Breakfast, Disney Fantasy

I talked about this free form buffet before when I encountered it on board the Disney Dream. This morning we went there for breakfast before seeing an early morning showing of Planes in the Buena Vista Theatre. After an unlucky couple of days food-wise and no luck find breakfast potatoes other than those awful greasy hash brown slabs, I finally hit the jackpot.

Not only did Cabanas have grilled ham in pieces bigger than a half-dollar, but they had the most succulent and delicious breakfast potatoes I have every had. Big chunks of spiced potato, about half the size of a wedge, mixed in with peppers and onions. I had two servings of these awesome potatoes. Sooo good.

I guess that's a lock then, we'll be, or I'll be having breakfast at Cabanas for the rest of the trip. Those roasted breakfast potatoes are the best.

Random Tater Pic of the Day #118

One of Ruffles' new advertising campaign, this one for Ultimate Sweet & Smokin' BBQ Ruffles. Awesome.

French Fry Diary 530: Animator's Palate, Disney Fantasy 2013

We've talked about what happens in this Disney Cruise restaurant before, from the changing colors to the interactive characters. They lowlighted it a bit for our first meal there on this week long cruise. There was no big color changing dealie, but Crush the Turtle still made fun of me for being bald (the bastard). I have heard rumors that our return visit will feature some sort of new show. We'll just have to wait and see.

For tonight's meal, I had three different kinds of potato treats. As an appetizer, I got the bacon cheddar potato soup, which was thick and hot. It was good, but I didn't really taste all that much cheddar in it, and the bacon was just some crumble on top. Hot soup is always good however, and for me, not a soup person, that's really saying a lot.

It should be noted that these are all things I tried on my last cruise. With my ginger teriyaki dusted Angus sirloin, I got wasabi mashed potatoes and a side order of fries. The wasabi mashed potatoes were very hot, burn my mouth hot, make my eyes water hot. This was not the wasabi I love from Oh Yoko!.

The fries, while good, were not the ones I was expecting or wanted. The last few times at Animator's Palate I got the most delicious and hot steak fries with my meal. What I got tonight was the same old natural cut fries available from the snack counters upstairs and throughout the parks. The same old same old. Where were my steak fries from last time?

Food wise, this cruise was not turning out to be as wonderful as previous ones. I really hope that this is not a trend. Either way, we are still having a fabulous time. 

Potato Tribute to Wonder Woman

This one comes from The Mary Sue, and through them, Kitchen Overlord.

This tribute to Wonder Woman is officially called Potatoes Diana, and you read all about it, as well as get the recipe, here.

French Fry Diary 529: Royal Court, Breakfast, Disney Fantasy

I have to say, that in all the time I have been cruising with Disney, this being my eighth, this was the first really disappointing meal I've had. There is, of course, always the option to just ask, and they would do whatever you wanted, but there's also that thing of not wanting to be a jerk. What is the old adage? Don't tick off anyone in a position to touch your food.

As a poor Christian boy married into a Jewish family, ham is something I rarely see, and grilled ham is even more rare. Unless I cook it myself, which I'm just not very good at, I'm just not getting it. In the past however, I have found the grilled ham at breakfast on the Disney Cruise very very good. And it was good this morning… the tiny piece I got. I was kinda stunned. I got three tinier bite-sized pieces from it. Perhaps, with the amount of overcooked bacon I got on my plate, perhaps they had run out of pig.

The hash browns that came with this breakfast were not the great breakfast potatoes that both Disney and their cruises are known for but one of those slabs of potato pieces, more Wawa than McDonald's. Greasy, disappointing, and unsatisfying.

Again, I suppose any of this could have been remedied by saying something to the server, but asking for more ham, medium-cooked bacon, and real breakfast potatoes. I sooo did not want to be that guy.