The Culinary Works

So it looks like we are heading down the home stretch.  Eveyone in our house survived Christmas with only a few bump and bruises.  Jen and I have finally recovered from the three day marathon to Disneyland and California adventure with Sam in tow.  Surprisingly, we had a lot of good food while we were there.

Even though the majority of the food at the parks are similar to  your traditional fast food meals, I have to admit that I was impressed with the quality and speed it which they served the public.  We had our first park meal at the Tomorrowland Terrace.  It  serves mostly traditional fast food fare, but you also have the choice of fresh fruit plates in addition to grilled chicken and vegetable plates.  The wait in line time was about a minute  per order; our wait was about two minutes we had a special order.  Not bad considering that there were about forty lines going at the same time.  The food was hot, fresh and really good after a morning of tromping around the park.  It was burgers and fries, but it more that met our expectations.  Finding an empty table:  that was a major effort unto itself!

Later in the day on Saturday we stopped for a soda and water Rancho del Zocalo in Frontierland.  I really wished I was still hungry since the Mexican food looked and smelled amazing.  I could not even convince myself that I had room for desert which was probably a good thing considering the next ride was the Indiana Jones adventure.

We spent Sunday at the California adventure and found some reasonable offerings.  The Bountiful Valley Farmers Market served up burgers, fish & chips and more importantly: corn dogs!  We also found a really nice Mexican treat at the Cocina Cucamonga Mexican Grill in the Pacific Wharf District.  If you are a snacker, the kettle corn at the Paradise Pier was really good.

The Downtown Disney promenade really has some great restaurants, but I would recommend that cruise the menus in the morning and call for a reservation.  The lines just to put your name on a waiting list were ten to twenty people deep with an average of a twenty to forty minutes wait time.   Some restaurants like the Jazz Kitchen would not even take walk-ups until after 8:00 PM.  We ended up braving the line at Naples Ristorante e Pizzeria where Jen and I shared a Fig gorgonzolla and Three Chesse pizza.   Sam did no sharing at all as he tore through his plate of pasta topped with just a little olive oil.

After dinner we retired to Marceline's Confectionery.  You will find many of the same treats offered in the parks are also available there, so check it out.  I highly recommend the Tiger Butter if you are a fan of fudge.  Apparently Jen says the almond toffee was quite good, but I only got the slightest taste.  Not to worry, I only shared a tiny bit of my Tiger Butter with Jen.  My only question is:  how did I spent over $50 in a candy store??

With the new years holiday just down the road, we should have a lot of drink and snack specials for you this week.

Enjoy!!!!