Day 18: Island Hopping | Back To The Magic 2013
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[Today’s photographs can be found on my Flickr and the whole collection of days can be found here.]
Rest Day + Bahama Breeze + Bamboo Wok Chinese Take-Out
August 31st, 2013
For some reason, we had a day off from the parks today – not sure why – perhaps we were all shattered or something! Since it was a rest day, we just chilled around the pool, as well as starting to pack up all our goodies that we bought. We dumped everything in one of the spare rooms in the villa…I had, so far, ignored the ever growing pile of bags in there! I have to confess, I panicked when I saw it all in one place and wondered how on earth we were going to fit everything in…as well as being underweight with the bags so as not to have to pay for excess baggage!
We had the three cases we brought, plus another two of which we brought inside those. We did have to go and buy a third case as nope, everything did NOT fit!
After battling with suitcases and having a splash about in the pool, we took ourselves off for an early lunch to one of our favourite restaurants – Bahama Breeze. The one we go to is at Rolling Oaks on the 192.
Since it was early, getting a table was not a problem. We were given menus and ordered some drinks. The boys just got coke, but I treated myself to a non-alcoholic cocktail…an Ultimate Piña Colada which had a strawberry layer on the top – it was lovely! The waiter said that they can turn most of their cocktails into non-alcoholic ones which, as the driver of the family suits me! I’m not a big drinker anyways, so it doesn’t really bother me not to drink.
This was our second visit to Bahama Breeze on this trip, and having not had my Coconut Shrimp on that meal out, they were my must eat – they are sooooo good! Steve ordered Beef Empanadas which came with a mango salsa on the side. Both starters have a nice spicy kick to them.
Since we were having a pig out day, hubs and I also got a cup of soup on the side with our main dishes. He got the Chicken Tortilla Soup – chicken breast, fresh carrots, roasted corn and avocado in a light broth with a hint of lime. I got the Bahamian Seafood Chowder – classic creamy chowder with shellfish and vegetables. Both are very tasty soups, and we’ve had them before. Maybe next time we go we’ll order things completely different!
For mains we all decided to have burgers. Liam had an Applewood Bacon and Cheddar Burger with smoked bacon, melted cheddar cheese, crisp pickle slices, vine-ripened tomato, shaved red onions, bibb lettuce on a toasted brioche bun, which comes with fries. He also had some HUGE onion rings on the side.
I had the Guacamole and Goat Cheese Burger – topped with caramelized onions, vine-ripened tomato, bibb lettuce on a toasted brioche bun, whilst Steve went for the veggie option of a Black Bean BBQ Burger – glazed with sweet and smoky barbecue sauce and served with melted Manchego cheese, guacamole, vine-ripened tomato and bibb lettuce on a toasted brioche bun. Both came with chips and both were delicious.
In all our five visits to Bahama Breeze at Rolling Oaks (3 times in 2011, and twice this time around) we’ve never had a bad meal. The one time we had a problem it was resolved super quick and didn’t put us off going there. It’s a restaurant that is well worth a visit if you’re staying at this end of Highway 192.
We got our desserts to go, as I really wanted to have my favourite – Banana Nut Bread Supreme which is sliced bananas and vanilla ice cream on warm banana-nut bread, with hot, homemade butterscotch brandy sauce. But didn’t have the room at the time! Steve took a Warm Chocolate Pineapple Upside Down Cake – a warm rich chocolate cake with a molten center topped with caramelized pineapple, served with raspberry sauce and fresh island fruit.
I don’t have photos of the desserts from this trip, but I do from our first, so here they are!
They pack up desserts really well and put the ice-cream in separate containers. Since we are a short drive away, we paid the bill of $88.13 and dashed back to put that in the freezer before popping out to do some shopping. Yes, more shopping :P
We then spent the rest of the day hanging out doing not very much, and in the evening got a take-out Chinese which we’ve heard raved about – Bamboo Wok at Berry Town Centre, which is a couple minute drive from us. I really only wanted to buy it for the containers (so sad!), but it was going to be interesting to see how American Chinese food differs from English Chinese food.
I can’t recall what we ordered – the boy would have had noodles and I think Steve had a beef dish. I remember getting chicken and cashews and it was filled with my most hated vegetable in the world – celery! I was not expecting >_< so I didn’t eat mine at all. I think certain dishes must come automatically with rice, so we seemed to have loads of rice that went to waste. The starter platter, which I just ordered because of the name – Pu Pu Platter (remember that in A Bug’s Life?!) which was a selection of things like spring rolls and ribs. Steve really wanted some dumplings, so we also ordered those.
Whilst this may get rave reviews (on the Disney forum I belong to), we really didn’t enjoy it at all. Maybe we had an off day with it, maybe we were still full from lunch time, but it was one of the worst Chinese meals we have had! A shame as was really looking forward to it owing to the good reviews we’d read!
Completely and utterly full (but finding room for our earlier take-out desserts) we watched some junk on the box and decided what to do on the morrow, before heading up to bed on the last day of August!
Read about the previous day: Day 17: Second Star To The Right – Character Breakfast at Chef Mickey’s, Contemporary Resort + Magic Kingdom + Dinner at Boma, Animal Kingdom Lodge
Read about the next day: Day 19: The Amber Nectar – Universal Studios + Islands of Adventure + Margaritaville
Read ALL the days! Back to the Magic Trip Report Index 2013