Counter-Service | the disney food blog

Carl the Croc-Wrestling Bartender and the Magical Pint of Guinness

If you’re lucky, you’ve found yourself once or twice squeezed into the fun little Rose and Crown pub in Epcot’s UK pavilion. If you’re really lucky, you’ve found yourself there with wonderful friends and a nourishing pint of Guinness. And if you’re REALLY, really lucky, you’ve found yourself a guest of Carl the Bartender — the most dynamic entertainer this side of the pond!

So, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, let’s talk about Carl the bartender and his famous balancing pint of Guinness.

Rose and Crown Carl the Bartender

I wandered into the pub one day, snapping pics as I’m wont to do in Disney World dining establishments, and Carl, who was filling a pint glass with Guinness for a guest, struck up a conversation. I quickly noticed his handiwork on the head of the pint (a lovely and ever-so-appropriate shamrock) and asked the guest if I could take a photo of his beer. He obliged, and I soon found out that Carl happens to be well known for his “Glass-Balanced-On-A-Dime” trick, which of course I needed to see!

Shamrock Design on Top of Guinness

First, Carl did his impressive trick of balancing an empty glass on a dime…

One glass...

…then he decided to top himself by balancing two glasses on [Read more…]

“You Won’t Believe This!” Snack: Marble Cupcake

By AJ 29 Comments

Marble Cupcake from Starring Rolls

You’ve seen the Butterfinger Cupcake and the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake, and the third in our “You Won’t Believe This!” Snack Series is the [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: March 14th, 2010

By AJ 6 Comments

Epcot Morocco Baklava

I’m trying out something new this week, guys. Every once in a while, I’m going to use a relevant pic other than my standard “Eat Here” photo into the Weekly Round-Up. Hopefully this’ll be fun. 🙂 Now, on to the round-up!

To start out, here’s some cool NEWS!!: Have you heard about Chef Cat Cora’s book-signing and cooking demo in Orlando next weekend? Check out the specs here!

Touring Plans has a guest blog by yours truly all about the Monorail Crawl — a fun way to experience the lounges at the Monorail Resorts.

StudiosCentral analyzes prices at Disney’s Hollywood Studios restaurants to determine whether or not the restaurants are a good value cost-wise.

DisneyGeek shares his incredible pics, including several food photos, from Disneyland’s D23 Anniversary Event! Keep scrolling through after the linked page to see more.

The Plain Chicken has developed her very own recipe for the Butterfinger Cupcake from Disney’s Hollywood Studios Starring Rolls Cafe. We’re thrilled that she first heard about the delicious confection right here on our blog!

Imaginerding takes a look at Minnie Mouse’s bookshelves — with a special look at her cookbooks!

Babes in Disneyland has a pic of some Cheshire Cat-tail Candy in Disneyland! I totally missed this post last week, but I’m hoping they’re still there!

EverythingWDW does a Q&A about the newest Disney World dining plan — the Quick Service Dining Plan.

Tasty Chomps is tempting me with photos of the baklava…and other good stuff…from Tangierine Cafe in Epcot’s Morocco.

Watch Me Eat visits Epcot’s Club Cool.

The Disney Parks Blog shares the news that Disney World chefs were in the White House this week cooking for the Greek Prime Minister!

Deb Wills from AllEarsNet tweeted the following pic of Flame Tree Barbecue’s new queue line.

Chip and Co shares a review of breakfast at Epcot’s Akershus Restaurant. This one’s especially good for those of you who have little princesses.

Disney Every Day visits the Main Street Bakery for breakfast. Yum-o cinnamon rolls!

DisUnplugged‘s Culinary Quest family compares and contrasts Disneyland Resort’s Rancho del Zocalo and Cocina Cucamonga. I love the venn diagram at the end!

In The Daily Disney from the Orlando Sentinel, food writer Heather McPherson highlights the recipe for the oh-so-tempting Chocolate Crusted Key-Lime Pie from the Grand Floridian Cafe. If anyone wants to make this and send it to me, feel free.

Menu Updates: Fairfax Fare

By AJ 9 Comments

Disney's Hollywood Studios Fairfax Fare

StudiosCentral has posted a new menu for Fairfax Fare, which includes: chicken, ribs, beef brisket, a chili hot dog, and more!

And, just in case you weren’t aware, Fairfax Fare is also serving breakfast these days:

Fairfax Fare Breakfast

Who knew there was so much going on right down the street from the Tower of Terror?!

Hey Howdy Hey Takeaway on Pixar Place

By AJ 14 Comments

When I was a kid, I always loved to see things that were larger-than-life — remember in the 80’s when those giant, person-sized pencils and huge crayons were all the rage, and you just knew that rich people like Lisa Turtle and Webster and that kid from Silver Spoons had them in their houses?

Well, that’s what it’s like to wander through Pixar Place in Disney World these days. You’re shrunk to the size of the Toy Story characters, so everything is built on a massive scale and meticulously detailed. And right in the middle of it all — across the street from Toy Story Midway Mania — is Woody’s Hey Howdy Hey Takeaway!

Hey Howdy Hey Takeaway Sign

You can see the Takeaway has taken over [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: March 7th, 2010

By AJ Leave a Comment

Eat here

Happy Sunday, all! Just a quick reminder of a couple of updates before we launch into this week’s round-up:

More details were released about the Garden Town Breakfasts at the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival
I’ve updated our Disney’s California Food and Wine Festival Guide page.

LaughingPlace

has the latest on St. Patrick’s Day menus for WDW’s Portobello, Fulton’s Crab House, and Wolfgang Puck Cafe.

CakeWrecks showcases some amazing Alice in Wonderland themed cakes.

SamLand’s Disney Adventures brings a Disneyland popcorn stand into focus.

StitchKingdom posts an info-packed story with the latest news about the D23 Expo, the WDW Fantasyland Expansion, and more. In it, he mentions the upcoming Be Our Guest Restaurant and also showcases some delicious Disney event dessert photos.

PSCalculator reviews Trail’s End Buffet restaurant in WDW’s Fort Wilderness!

Bakerella has some fun Oscar season recipes inspired by nominated Disney films! (Check out the “Up”cakes and Frog Pops.)

Zannaland recaps her experience at the February Tables in Wonderland “Wave Discovery Dinner” in WDW.

Main St. Gazette shares a creamy grits recipe from Olivia’s at WDW’s Old Key West Resort.

Watch Me Eat visits Epcot’s Lotus Blossom Cafe.

A World View visits three of WDW’s best counter-service spots: Flame Tree Barbecue, Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe, and Earl of Sandwich.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has a unique profile of the New Orleans chef who was inspirational to the Princess and the Frog story.

The S’mores The Better!

By AJ 17 Comments

In honor of those Disney fans heading to Tent Fest in Walt Disney World this weekend, I got the great suggestion to chat a bit about Disney s’mores!

S’mores on Demand
There are two restaurants that currently have fun s’mores desserts on the menu; the first is more of a kid-friendly version, while the second will satisfy any of our many grown-up marshmallow cravings:

Le Cellier’s colorful s’mores-on-a-stick has been a go-to kids’ dessert for years, and it never fails to impress. “Built” with a graham cracker, chocolate, and ice cream base, the “wow” factor comes with a sprinkle-y marshmallow topping it all off.

Le Cellier Smores Dessert

The 50’s Prime Time Cafe s’mores dessert is a more “gourmet” offering — mostly because they can use a blow torch to make it — but the fun of having those ooey gooey marshmallows arrive on your table [Read more…]

Disney Food Post Weekly Round-Up: February 28th, 2010

By AJ 4 Comments

Welcome to the weekly round-up! You’ll see we have a different photo on the blog this week: it’s a painting by Disney animator Lorelay Bove being featured in an exhibit called Curiouser and Curiouser: Inspired by ‘Alice in Wonderland’ at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, CA. I absolutely love Bove’s art and thought there might be a few fans out there. If you happen to get to the exhibit, let me know how it is! Now…on to the round-up!

Firstly, I’d like to send a thanks to Jeannie Kim and Redbook Magazine for recommending The Disney Food Blog in a recent article about Walt Disney World planning.

Tables in Wonderland events for March are now available for booking!

The OC Register reports that Philippe Tosques comes from the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas to join the Napa Rose team as General Manager, replacing Michael Jordan.

Yesterland‘s Werner Weiss reviews Wally Boag: Clown Prince of Disneyland, highlighting one of The Golden Horseshoe Revue’s finest performers.

Samland’s Disney Adventures posts incredible historical information about and concept art of Disneyland’s Club 33.

AllEarsNet‘s Jack Spence brings us to the Yacht Club’s Crew’s Cup Lounge.

Progress City U.S.A. posts about a 1977 Gourmet Pantry cast-member-only sale on frozen meat. This is hilarious. Pls read.

Bluebonnets and Brownies developed a new Schoolbread cupcake based on the recipe for Epcot’s Norway pavilion’s famous pastry!

Etckt has shared a Disney Photo Challenge on flickr seeking out the most beautifully plated dishes (gorgeous!). Go join in and/or vote!

The Disney Chick is back with another great Boma recipe walk-through — Curry Butternut Soup.

Only WDWorld posts a review of Epcot’s Les Chefs de France.

Tim Maughan Books shares some Ponyo Cupcakes! (Thanks to Imaginerding for the link.)

Cooking With Mickey shares a review of Disneyland’s Goofy’s Kitchen.

Watch Me Eat heads to Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe.

Ice Cream Double Take

By AJ 25 Comments

You might think that all of the Disney parks sell the same ice cream treats — Mickey Premium Bars, Strawberry Bars, Itzakadoozie Pops, etc. But, would you believe, it looks like not all of the ice cream stands sell the same products!

I did a little experiment and took photos of ice cream stand menus in each park. Here are the results:

The Animal Kingdom ice cream board:

Animal Kingdom

[Read more…]

Disney Food Post Round-Up: February 21, 2010

By AJ 3 Comments

Eat here

It’s been a busy week, everyone! Just in case you missed them, here are a couple of headlines from the Disney Food Blog in the past few days: highlights from the Dinner:Impossible visit to Walt Disney World last week, and the options for foodies at the upcoming Epcot Flower and Garden Festival.

Also, check out Touring Plans for an analysis I did on whether Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ restaurants are a good value.

Scott Joseph’s Orlando Restaurant Guide reports that the preliminary list for the James Beard Award in the Best Chef Category includes Victoria and Albert’s Chef Scott Hunnel.

Orlando United shares some photos of WDW’s Crystal Palace with the refurb walls down.

DLRP Today reports that Disneyland Resort Paris’ Pizza Planet will become a Buzz Lightyear Buffet.

The Disney Chick takes you through the creation of one of my favorite Disney World desserts, Liberty Tree Tavern’s Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake.

DisneyShawn gives a peek into the imagineering of Mrs. Potts’ Cupboard and the Friar’s Nook in WDW’s Magic Kingdom.

Disney Parks Blog shares a dessert recipe from the Saratoga Springs’ Turf Club Restaurant.

AllEarsNet has a gorgeous photo-blog from Nine Dragons Restaurant in Epcot’s China.

Main Street Gazette writes about the Yakitori House in Epcot’s Japan.

DisUnplugged brings us to the Troubadour Tavern in Disneyland.

The Daily Disney from Orlando Sentinel shares a Coconut Curried Chicken Stew recipe from Boma at WDW’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Have a great week!

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