bad dining experience

[Kissyme]

I know I will probably be in the minority here but, one of the worst meals we have was at the Outback I had pasta with Chicken and most of the pasta was hard and dry and just did`nt taste nice, Hubbie said his steak was "alright but nothing special"

[ellie]

Cracker Barrel food is very fresh and the hot biscuits and corn cakes which are complementary are delicious. It is very clean, very efficient - usually - and the staff have been, without exception, polite and friendly. It is good plain food, but you can get delicious jacket potatoes instead of fries, and the puddings, especially Chocolate Cobbler is out of this world, pecan nuts, chocolate sauce, lovely sponge, am dribbling at the thought of it!!!

Must admit, my idea of a holiday is not exchanging one cooker for another, so although I have cooked Christmas dinner, and enjoyed it, we much prefer to go out and relax, avoiding Ponderosa, Sizzler and Shonneys, some of which seem very run down. Agree that Golden Corral on 192 west of Disney is pretty grim, though it was supposed to be getting a facelift - we haven't been in it since 9/11. The Golden Corral at the lower end of International Drive has had a refit and is probably one of the better ones - it has a good bakery with lovely cookies. If you take the price into consideration, it is pretty good value, but its not the Ritz.

We like Bennigans on the 192 near marker 8. The food is freshly cooked, and service is generally pretty slick - if not, complain and they will do their best to make up for it. However, we have found some of the other Bennigans - on OBT, for example, are not so good. They, too, do jacket potoatoes - Baked Idaho potatoes - which are a delicious change from fries.

Western Steer was a recommended breakfast buffet in Brits Guide but we found it was disgusting, poor quality, swimming in grease, pretty dirty - so 'steer' clear of that one. Mind you it IS cheap so what can you expect?

Planet Hollywood by Downtown Disney Pleasure Island is a real experience If you want a typical burger and fries meal - good quality and service.

If its just a snack, then Panera Bread do great soups, salads, sandwiches and delicious Danish pastries - there is one in Mall at Millenia and a new one at Florida Mall.

Trouble is, food is a very personal thing, and what suits one person won't suit another, and lets face it, if you've got kids they probably call the shots anyway! However, I cannot agree that all food is bad. It just needs care, just as it does in the Uk, and we always look first, BEFORE we sit down - check out what others are eating - a quick glance will tell you a lot -they do not seem to mind you taking a look before you commit yourself to a meal, and we have always found restaurants very helful in this way.

Ellie

[Carla]

We can't eat in Cracker Barrell. We tried once, and found that we had to queue for a table in the shop area. The overwhelming and cloying smells of the perfumed goodies that they sell (as bad as The Body Shop!!), ensured that we gave up almost immediately and went elsewhere, rather than get a thumping headache and cold-like systems from the conflicting perfumes. You couldn't smell the food at all.[gun][gun]

It's a great shame because we've eaten in one in Vermont and they didn't have a shop, and the food was delicious.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by ellie
Cracker Barrel food is very fresh and the hot biscuits and corn cakes which are complementary are delicious. It is very clean, very efficient - usually - and the staff have been, without exception, polite and friendly. It is good plain food, but you can get delicious jacket potatoes instead of fries, and the puddings, especially Chocolate Cobbler is out of this world, pecan nuts, chocolate sauce, lovely sponge, am dribbling at the thought of it!!!

Ellie

[/quote]