Day 5: January 16, 2020 - Champs Champion, Crews Cup and Ale and Compass
Happy Valentine's Day and more importantly, happy Friday!
I made pasta carbonara last night and felt compelled to take a pic and show you guys what I'm used to- As you can see there is not really a "sauce" as the egg and cheese mixture sticks to the pasta.
Let's get back to my report! Alright, so following the longest day of my life, Scott had to get up early again to go fishing with Steve. The two of them bonded in TX over their love of fishing and they get together with my dad and some of their other buddies every year for a week-long trip. Of course they had to fish in Disney so equipped with Bloody Marys from room service, they went out at 7am to fish World Showcase Lagoon.
The kids and I slept in and planned to head over to World Showcase with Renee for a leisurely morning and meet up with the guys around lunch time. I had a couple late afternoon FPs over at Magic Kingdom and dinner at the hotel. So basically nothing to rush around for which was very much welcomed at this point.
First stop: Les Halles. Shouldn't every day start with a glass of bubbly? I ordered the Brioche Chocolat (which is basically a nutella stuffed donut) Rowan ordered the Eclair, Alice ordere thhe Duo mousse (chocolate and white chocolate mousse). I liked mine the least out of the bunch. It tasted a bit dry and stale unfortunately. But that's what I get for not eating creme brulee at 10am. Lesson learned!
After a chocolately breakfast, we started to walk around World Showcase, popping in and out of shops having a great time. They had some
Festival of the Arts photo ops set up here and there so we jumped in a few
We were over in America and hopped in the "Washington Crossing the Delaware" painting when people were laughing at us. I looked behind me and saw that Rowan was pretending to throw up over the side of the boat
For such a little guy he's got excellent comedic timing.
The kids were dying to get their faces painted in Africa and we had some time to kill....
The guys met up with us and we went to La Cantina de San Angel for lunch. The kids ordered beef tacos, I ordered Nachos and a margarita and I forgot what Scott ordered. This was a tasty lunch as usual. I don't know why we always end up having lunch here, but we do lol. I don't even like Mexican food all that much. Maybe it's the margaritas??
The four of us split up from Renee and Steven and went over to MK for a couple of hours. Then the kids started getting hot and cranky and the face paint was already sliding off their faces so we decided to head back to the hotel for a swim before our dinner at Ale and Compass.
Our reservation was at 7:15, and around 5:30 we mosied over to Crews Cup to meet up with Steve and Renee for pre-dinner drinks. A delightful cheeseboard was waiting for us along with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon for the guys and the Moet & Chandon Imperial Brut Rose for us gals
Ugh I'm so gauche! But honestly, it's not every day you get to enjoy such an amazing bottle of bubbles! I felt the need to capture this rare moment. Steve is a very successful doctor so they have the means to enjoy $100-$200 bottles of wine at happy hour....and we're just happy to be along for the ride
You may all remember from my previous DR that I loved Captain's Grill. I thought the food was really good, we had great service, it was right in our hotel. I mean, it checked a bunch of boxes for us. I heard mixed reviews about Ale and Compass but the menu looked good to me and I was excited to check it out.
Some people call the decor at Ale and Compass cold and generic. I actually really like the blue-grey color scheme. Feels modern and sleek. I don't think that every Disney restaurant has to be themed within an inch of it's life and I appreciated the subdued atmosphere.
We still had wine/champs to polish off and they were nice enough to cork the bottles to bring over to A&C. We started out with a few appetizers: Oven-Roasted Meatballs, Jumbo Lump Crab Cake and the Roasted "Buffalo-style" Cauliflower. The oven-roasted meatballs were just OK. The meat was a little chewy and didn't have a ton of flavor. The tomato sauce was nice tho. The crab cake is essentially the same recipe from Captain's Grill which was always a favorite of mine. LOTS of lump crab meat, not a ton of filler. Delicious corn and tomato salad and the sauce was perfectly tangy and citrusy.
The real stand-out here was the buffalo style cauliflower. I can't believe I am saying that either guys. I've been VERY skeptical about this whole cauliflower food imposter trend of the last couple years. But these were SO GOOD. Now, Scott is originally from Buffalo, NY... and even he loved them.
We ordered dinner and another bottle of some expensive red wine and I ordered a margarita on the rocks which was delightful! I was feeling pretty tipsy at this point so I was thinking that pasta would help soak up all the booze. I ordered
Pappardelle Pasta with Chicken with Spinach, Sautéed Mushrooms, Rebel Tomatoes, Roasted Garlic Cream, and Citrus Gremolata, Scott ordered the NY Strip, the kids Grilled Chicken and mac and cheese for Alice and the steak and sweet potatoes for Rowan.
It was a great meal with amazing company. I don't remember a great deal from it to be honest lolol but I remember really liking the pasta and not really liking the 12 layer chocolate cake. I remembered thinking that the spongecake was tough and chewy.
Ale and Compass is a great place if you're staying in the BC/YC/Boardwalk area. I don't know if I would travel a long way to eat here, but we had some really solid dishes and great service. It was the perfect dinner choice for all of us that night!
I took the kids back to the room while Scott, Steven and Renee went over to Martha's Vineyard to finish the bottle of cab from dinner. I was ready to take my contacts out and call it a night!
Up next: EPCOT and grownups night out at Il Mulino