HHN32 Food

Here's some of the specialty seasonal foods that I tried at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando this year:

Walking Taco: Fritos topped with taco beef, shredded mozzarella, black beans, queso fresco, pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, sour cream, and cilantro. 

 Lakeside "Meat" Stew: Beef Cheek stew with fingerling potatoes, wood ear mushrooms, tempura fried enoki mushrooms, and white rice

Cordyceps Corndog: Korean cheese dog with cordyceps, crispy potato sticks, trufle cream sauce, and diakon spouts

Universal Studios Hollywood Food

 I visited Universal Studios Hollywood twice in the past year. The initial visit was to see the park for the first time (alongside Disneyland). A few months later, my schedule and budget allowed me to go a second time to see Hollywood's version of Halloween Horror Nights. 

First food in the park was from a hot dog cart in the upper lot. I ordered the Californian. This was a Nathan's hot dog topped with guacamole, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and Takis. Very topping heavy. They were really generous with the guacamole and cilantro, which I won't argue with. 

When I returned a few months later, I walked by this same hot dog stand. All of the interesting hot dog toppings were replaced with basically one option: A 22" Chili Cheese Dog. Nowhere as exciting...

French Street Bistro:

I tried a brownie from the French Street Bistro. 

City Snack Shop:

I had this during Halloween Horror Nights. I had a Strawberry Spiral Croissant. This round croissant was partially stuffed with whipped cream, with some strawberries topping the cream. Pretty tasty.

Magic Kingdom Food (Casey's Corner and Sunshine Tree Terrace)

It's been a while since I've had food at the Magic Kingdom. Since the last post on this blog was about Disneyland, why not write about the similar castle park in Florida.

Casey's Corner:

I've lived in Orlando most of my life and have been to the Magic Kingdom countless times, but somehow I had never been to Casey's Corner on Main Street. I've heard the restaurant hyped up quite often, so on my last visit to Magic Kingdom I finally had lunch there. I ordered the Chipotle Barbecue All-Beef Foot-long Hot Dog. It was a hot dog topped with pulled pork, coleslaw, and barbeque sauce. Good for Disney serving more than plain hot dogs. Toppings always make them more interesting.  This was fine. Not anything great that I'd go back for again though. As I write this, I'm realizing that this had very similar ingredients to the Ronto Wrap at Galaxy's Edge. Slightly different forms of the ingredients, but it was essentially the same thing.

Sunshine Tree Terrace:

I had the I Lava You Float. Orange Dole Whip topped with strawberry Fanta, passionfruit syrup, and Pop Rocks. This was a good dessert.

Disneyland Food (Rancho del Zocalo & Ronto Roasters)

I ate at Califonia Adventure the day before. Today was all about the food during my first visit to Disneyland:

Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante:

Had lunch at a restaurant called Rancho del Zocalo. This Mexican themed quick service was located next to Big Thunder Mountain and had an outdoor seating courtyard that overlooked the ride.

 
I had the Trio of Street Tacos. Each taco was filled with either beef, chicken, or cauliflower served in Corn Tortillas with Tomatillo Sauce, garnished with Onions and Cilantro served with Mexican Rice and Refried Beans. The cauliflower taco was the best. All of them were surprisingly good when thinking of the equivalent restaurants at Magic Kingdom which are notoriously bad (I said it. Disney adults, leave your angry comments).

Ronto Roasters:

This was my first experience in Galaxy's Edge. I guess I was eating simulated ronto meat, cooked by a droid by a repurposed pod racer engine. I had the Ronto Wrap, which was roasted pork, pork sausage, peppercorn sauce, and coleslaw wrapped in pita bread. Theming of this place was awesome, but I don't think I'd go out of my way again to get a hot dog wrapped in a slice of pork with some messy coleslaw dripping everywhere. It was food...

Blue Milk from the Milk Stand exceeded all expectations. This was delicious. 

Disney California Adventure Food (Pym Test Kitchen and Cozy Cone Motel)

I visited Disney California Adventure for the first time. This is what I ate:

Pym Test Kitchen:

Ate lunch at Pym Test Kitchen in the Avenger's Campus section of the park. The theme here was that foods were either shrunken or enlarged using Pym Particles seen in the Ant Man movies. Lots of fun sight gags around the restaurant, including growing pretzels, giant cans of soda, etc.

Had the Quantum Pretzel and the Pym-ini Sandwich. The pretzel seemed necessary since it was the centerpiece food seen being enlarged over the cash-registers. It was a good pretzel. The Pym-ini was salami, rosemary ham, provolone, and sun-dried tomato spread on focaccia. Served with marinara dipping sauce and arugula salad. The sandwich was tasty, but the gimmick of shrunken and enlarged food wasn't readily apparent on this one. Arugula was supposed to be larger lettuce leaves that were reduced in size?

Ordered the Proton Punch to drink. Because you have to get the specialty beverages at theme parks now. This was lemonade, berry purée, cherry boba and a grenadine-filled pipette. It was fine. Fancy pink lemonade.

 

Cozy Cone Motel:

Had dinner in Cars Land in the Cozy Cone Motel. This highly themed snack bar featured several giant traffic cones modeled after the real life Wigwam Motels.

I had the Chili Cone Queso. This was a bread cone filled with beef chili, cheddar cheese, and corn chips. I very much enjoyed this meal.

California Pizza Place in Anaheim, CA

Went on a trip to California. The first couple days of the trip was in Anaheim to see Disneyland. Disney was open late, yet the majority of the restaurants surrounding the property weren't open. California Pizza Place was one of the few places to get food after midnight within walking distance. Ended up here twice.

First night I had a slice of the House Special pizza topped with pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms.

Had a slice of pepperoni on my second visit. 

Not the greatest, most gourmet pizza I've ever eaten, but it was definitely better than walking further to a Mcdonalds. After 30,000+ steps during a day at a theme park, the pizza was very satisfying. 

7 Seas Food Festival at SeaWorld Orlando

I ate some food from the 7 Seas Food Festival at SeaWorld Orlando. Here's a selection of the dishes I tried:

Cajun Shrimp & Grits from the Gulf Coast Market.

Moroccan Grilled Lamb Chop from the Mediterranean Market.

Korean Corn Dog from the Asian Market.

Lobster Mac & Cheese and Crispy Brussel Sprouts from the American Market.

Palermo Fontina Cheese Meatballs from the Italian Market.

Bratwurst and Chocolate Pretzel on a Stick from the German Market.

Lobster Roll and Prince Edward Island Shrimp Fritters from the North Atlantic Market.

Corned Beef Hash from the Irish Market.

Phoenicia Diner in Phoenicia, NY

The morning after skiing at Belleaire Mountain, I stopped for breakfast at Phoenicia Diner in Phoenicia, NY. This place was located in middle of nowhere upstate New York, so what the diner was like on the inside surprised me. A good way to describe it would be "hipster." Which is a good thing. 

I had the Arnold Bennett Skillet. This was scrambled eggs, locally smoked trout, parmesan cheese, chives, and creme fraiche, served in a skillet along side toast. This was one of the best breakfast dishes I've had in a long time. Good job!

 

Belleayre Mountain Food (Discovery Lodge and Waffle Cabin)

I went skiing in Upstate New York at a place called Belleayre Mountain. I ate lunch on their property. First meal was at the cafeteria in their main lodge.

I had the Maple Pho. Interesting combination, since I don't think of pho as generally being sweet. The broth had the maple flavor. Noodles, brisket, bok choy, mushrooms, jalapeno slices, and scallions filled the pho. Tasted about what I expected from a ski resort cafeteria. It was totally acceptable, but not a meal I'll be craving any time soon.

 I had a snack before leaving Belleayre at the end of the day from a place called Waffle Cabin. This is apparently a chain that has locations mostly at ski resorts. 

I had a chocolate covered waffle. 

And a hot chocolate.

Arkville Bread & Breakfast in Arkville, NY

Had breakfast at a restaurant called Arkville Bread & Breakfast while traveling through upstate New York. I was staying at a hotel in a neighboring town, and this place was recommended by the people working in the hotel. Arkville Bread & Breakfast was inside of a caboose with an extended building built around the train car.

I had a chorizo omelet, served with home fries and toast. Good breakfast.

There were some neighboring train tracks from a nearby scenic railroad, explaining the caboose theme of the restaurant.