Negeri Paman Sam: Casey's Corner and Gaston's Tavern

Casey's Corner

On the afternoon during our trip to the most magical place on earth, a.k.a. Disney World's Magic Kingdom, we paid a visit to Casey's Corner to have lunch. After a long walk from Tomorrow Land, with no sight of eye-catching and mouth-watering food, we finally arrived at the restaurant which serves thick Hot Dogs with complimentary condiment buffet. 

Casey's Corner was packed with hungry Disney enthusiasts

Casey's Corner was filled with people, fortunately we only had to queue for around 5 minutes. There were four kinds of Hotdogs, Chicago Style Dog, Chilly Cheese Dog, Barbeque Slaw Dog, and a regular plain Hot Dog. We ordered a combo of Chilly Cheese Dog and two Barbeque Slaw Dog, one for my Dad and the other two was for my Mom and I. The Hot Dog came with a side dish, either it be French Fries or Sliced Apple. Boy was I wrong to pick the Sliced Apple.. 

Condiments were available at Casey's Corner. You can find an awful lot of Ketchup and Mustard, along with Sauerkraut, or Sour Cabbage. And the good thing is that the condiments were served on a special buffet table, so we could stock ourselves with some sour veggies to go with the Hot Dogs.

"Order's up!"

An all-you-can-eat condiments

In 15 minutes, our lunch was ready. Our tray was packed with three fat Hot Dogs! It was a blissful sight. 

Dad had himself a Chilly Cheese Dog - a fat bun filled with delicious beef sausage, then topped with a handful of chilly and shredded cheddar cheese. Mom and I had the same Hot Dog, which was a Barbeque Slaw Dog - another bun filled with beef sausage, topped with barbeque pulled-pork and coleslaw, then drizzled with a spoonful of barbeque sauce. 

My Hot Dog tasted sweet from the barbeque sauce, just like how I like it, and freshly juicy from the coleslaw. I love it very much! It costed my Dad almost $10 for each Hot Dog, but it was worth it because those buns tasted great. 

Left to Right: Chilly Cheese Dog, Barbeque Slaw Dog, Sliced Apple, French Fries, another Barbeque Slaw Dog

I chose me a bag of sliced apple for the side dish and, boy, was I wrong. Those apples were injected with preservatives they look as good as a freshly cut apple after three days. It tasted sweet, but I could taste the bitter chemical substance contained within it. If both side dishes were as unhealthy, I should have go for the french fries.. at least they tasted sinfully good. 

Our luxurious lunch

We ate at the dinning area available outside Casey's Corner. We were literary accompanied by birds and ducks when we ate, as they flew above our head and scavenged for left over french fries. "Quack! Quack! Quack!" the duck shouted when they found a pile of french fries that some customer dropped when he was trying to find some seats for his family. 

A pianist, along with a singer, entertained us with some Disney songs, such as the Jungle Book's "I Wanna Be Like You" and Monsters Inc's "If I Didn't Have You". It felt great to have lunch with the view of Cinderella's Castle in front of you, with Disney songs roamed around the surroundings. 

Even the ducks were feasting

Gaston's Tavern

On the evening, at around 4 o'clock, my parents and I were pretty hungry and decided to seek for food. I told my Dad about how Gaston's Tavern in Fantasy Land sell roasted knuckle pork for less than $10, then we immediately headed to the tavern.

The mighty Gaston's Tavern

The restaurant is a tribute to Gaston, the self-obsessed antagonist from the movie Beauty and the Beast. There was this macho and manly atmosphere when I entered the tavern. The walls were decorated with antlers and a big portrait of Gaston himself. The light inside the dinning place was very little and dim, which made me didn't notice about Gaston's throne's existence on the corner of the dinning place. If only I spotted that chair that time, I would sit on that glorious throne while munching on my pork shank. 

Spotted that furry leather throne on the right corner?

We ordered a Roasted Pork Shank and a glass of LeFou's Brew. What's a LeFou's Brew, you asked? It is a cold beverage made from "Frozen Apple Juice with a hint of Toasted Marshmallow and topped with All-Natural Passion Fruit-Mango Foam". Who wouldn't want to tasted a drink like that, right? 

Le Fou's Brew and Roasted Pork Shank

The Roasted Pork Shank tasted great! Savory, nicely roasted, meaty and less fatty, it was an awesome choice of snack to have in the evening. I do think I could finish one shank. 

LeFou's Brew tasted uniquely brain-freezing. It tasted like apple juice, but I could taste the toasted marshmallow as well. And the passion fruit-mango foam was sweet and bubbly, making the beverage gain a two-thumbs-up from me. 

Savory and meaty pork shank

LeFou's Brew that tasted unique

Casey's Corner

Main Street U.S.A. 

Chilly Cheese Dog ($8.59)

Barbeque Slaw Dog ($9.19)

Gaston's Tavern

New Fantasy Land

Roasted Pork Shank ($7.99)

LeFou's Brew ($4.49)

Negeri Paman Sam: Disney Characters Meet & Greet

Good day to you, readers!

Alas, I am back after a few weeks of hiatus. For those who are wondering, I was on a trip to the United States. I went to Washington DC and Orlando, Florida, and ate lots of food. American food were great, but I constantly found myself battling with myself about what to eat and not to eat. Most of the food I ate were fast food, and of course everybody knows what fast food cause to one's body. Nonetheless, they were great and not disappointing. Now, we will get to that story later because this post is specifically about Disney. Yes, Disney! Pretty odd to found a post like this in a food blog, is it not? Don't worry, it is still food-related, so you can sit back and relax, scroll down and enjoy the story.

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I went to Disney World as a part of my quick getaway in Orlando, Florida. Anything can happen in Disney World, including meeting your favorite Disney characters. Yes, you didn't read that wrong. You can meet your most favored Disney characters in the flesh! I met some of them and, as a foodie and curious gastronomer, I asked them questions not far about food.

The first one that I met was Merida, the first born descendant of clan DunBroch from the movie Brave. I had to wait half-an-hour in line to meet Merida because she had a village of fans dying to have her autographs and take portraits with her. As soon as my turn is up to meet her, I took out my camera and shot her some questions. 

The main questions I asked them Disney characters are about their favorite food and their ability to cook. Merida, being a free-spirited princess that she is, fancy apples. She straightly said, "Apples" by the time I finished asking her what her favorite food is. Her cooking skill is not that great as she told me the story of how she baked a cake once and turned her mother into a bear. But, she claimed that she likes to help her Mom cook haggis sometime. It is a savory pudding made out of a sheep's pluck. 

Then, I bumped into Gaston. You know Gaston, right, readers? The narcissistic self-obsessed antagonist from Beauty and the Beast. Gaston is a tall buff man with pony tail who smiles seductively most of the time. He told me that his favorite food is egg and that he eats it five dozens a day. Now you know where he get all of his muscles from. 

Gaston's favorite drink would be LeFou's brew. He claimed it to be his brew and that LeFou stole the credit, because he is the one who tasted the drink samples before it made out to the tavern. He did not say anything about his cooking skill, but he told me that what he likes the most about himself is his muscle, his smile, and his hair. "Have you seen me in a mirror," he said whilst grinning. 

Snow White was whom I met afterwards. She has milky-white skin and a very bright smile. Her black hair was perfectly decorated with a big red bow, which matched her lipstick color that emphasizes her dazzling skin. 

Snow White is a young beautiful maiden who excels in cooking and baking. She stated that her favorite food is Gooseberry Pie and that she sometimes has porridge in the morning. When I asked her whether she can cook or not, she immediately replied me with an, "Of course I can!". Other than just cooking, she sometimes teach her friends who cannot cook well. "Well, I like to make Gooseberry Pie, Apple Dumpling, and sometimes Apple Pie," she said. It seems to me that she does not have any dislikes towards apple, despite the fact that the evil queen gave her a poisoned apple once. 

The thing about characters meet and greet in Disney World is that you have to wait in line before you can actually get a hug and have a chat with them. I was very lucky to be able to interviewed Aladdin and Princess Jasmine without having to queue. I was actually a bit late to line up because their Meet & Greet was over at that time. Luckily, they strolled around the area before the went through the door that has "Cast Members Only" written on it. I quickly took out my camera when they were at a particular Arabic-themed jewelry shop and asked them my questions. 

Aladdin most favored food is apple, same like Merida. Princess Jasmine said that she usually bakes Apple Pie for Aladdin, continued with a lip-licking from the prince and a great comment about the princess' baking skill. The Genie is the one who usually cooks, especially when they have an upcoming party. But, despite all that, it turned out that Aladdin is also handy with cooking utensil. He usually bake some Gooseberry Pie, with the help from his princess. 

I only had a quick chat with the Arabian Prince and Princess because they had to find Abu, who was not with them at that time. "Bye, it was nice meeting you," said Jasmine running off with Aladdin.  

I get to meet Princess Aurora as well. She was very pink at that time as her pink dress was emphasized by the pink lighting above her. Her voice was squeaky and soft, and she talked a bit fast too, but I managed to capture her mentioning that she "like so many foods". Berries would be the food that she loves so much. "I pick them in my Enchanted Forest almost every morning," she added. 

Once, she had her good fairy, Fauna, taught her how to bake cakes. But, she told me that she prefer to bake things with her berries. Blueberry Pies, Blueberry Muffins, and Blueberry Pancakes are some examples of baked goods that she generally make. The princess thinks that her cooking skill is slightly better than the fairies, even though they used magic and she didn't. 

Last, but not least, is the Native American princess, Pocahontas. I met her at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was very difficult to miss her with her signature aqua necklace and long jet-black hair flown by the wind. People were lining up to meet her, and I was very lucky to be able to join the party. 

As a Native American, Pocahontas does not have burgers in her village. The people in her village plant their own food. Corn would be her favorite food, while Meeko's is biscuits that he got from Joh Smith. Pocahontas does not cook, but she has the ability to. The ladies in the village usually do the cooking for her because she is the princess. 

And there you have it, folks, a quick story of my quest at Disney World. None of this would not have make it without the help from my parents of course, who brought me to Orlando and who were very patient in accompanying me queueing for the meet and greet sessions. I was very happy to be able to meet these performers! They were very friendly. They smiled a lot. And they were very generous in giving hugs and wise words. It was a very challenging job to wait in line to interview them, but it was fun while it last! 

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Would you care for a video of my interview? 

Looks fun, does it not? Well, what are you waiting for? Go, pack up and go to Disney World as soon as possible! I wish you a magical journey on a magic carpet ride. 

Regards,

Kinan L. Wirastani