Fiona in January

Fiona in January

Monday, November 22, 2010

Day 6 - "Free Day"

Our 6th day in Disney was sooooo relaxing. We had seen/done everything we really wanted to experience at all the parks, so we spent a lazy morning at the hotel before heading off in search of a tasty lunch at Coral Reef in Epcot.

The decor in the place was really cool - a whole wall of the dining room is a huge aquarium complete with sharks, manta rays and sea turtles!





















We were definitely distracted by the awesome fish while we ate...them...hmmm. We couldn't decide what to try for the appetizers so we got the Appetizer for Two, that way we could try everything! It had crab cakes with tropical fruit salad and tequila aioli, grilled shrimp with cucumber salad, BBQ beef tenderloin skewers, plus two tiny cups of creamy lobster soup, which Aaron sipped oh-so-elegantly.














While waiting for our entrees, we were visited by a gigantic sea turtle:











For our entrees I tried the Lobster Ravioli and Aaron went for the Seared Rainbow Trout - yum!











We topped off the meal with fabulous desserts: Almond Gelato and a very grownup chocolate dessert - Baileys & Jack Daniel's Mousse!














We spent the rest of the day shopping, laughing ourselves sick at my lack of expertise or even just passable skill on the mini-golf course and then saw Cirque du Soleil - it was a fantastic day and we ended it with what was arguably the best meal of our entire trip at Jiko, an African fusion restaurant in The Animal Kingdom Lodge.

For an appetizer I tried the Taste of Africa, which included four dips with housemade naan bread with other assorted breads. Aaron tried the Wild Boar Tenderloin appetizer and it was so delicious - had a slight venison taste and was so tender! We also go the bread with tamarind butter...which I couldn't seem to stop eating and am desperate to try to re-create the next time I make Indian food.





















Our appetites were definitely whetted by the appetizers - everything was so delicious, including the South African hard cider we tried. For entrees I decided to eat duck for the first time and ordered the Seared Barbarie Duck Breast over a potato and spinace masala, chanterelle mushrooms, bruleed figs and a port emulsion sauce. Being as the only fig I've ever had until this was inside a Newton, these were incredible! I am a fig convert for sure! The duck breast was cooked perfectly medium rare and had such an incredible flavor...I had to force myself to slow down and savor every single bite.











Aaron became addicted to lamb dishes on this trip and when he saw lamb on Jiko's menu he had to try it. He ordered the Roasted Lamb Loin with heirloom tomato-chickpea salad, bacon vinaigrette and Kottumbari relish. It was tender and cooked perfectly - he loved every single bite...and I have to commend him, he absolutely HATES Fig Newtons (also the only kind of figs he's eaten) and was pessimistic about the fig, but he tried a bite of mine and was pleasantly surprised at the light and not overly-sweet flavor. Maybe we'll have to try fresh figs at home one of these days...











We were excited to try our desserts and weren't disappointed! Aaron had the Cape Malva Pudding - warm Cape Dutch cake with vanilla custard, mango and apricot sorbet. I went for the Cheesecake and Blueberries. It combined two of my favorite flavors: lemon and blueberries...yum! Creamy cheesecake made with lemon curd, dressed with blueberry coulis, blueberry compote and topped with a "bee sting". I asked our waitress and she explained it as a poppyseed honey crisp...outstanding!

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