Universal and Victoria and Albert's

Today was the day of good eats! We left the RV at 8:30 to return to Universal Studios to do the Islands of Adventure park. The grounds were well done, but the rides left a bit to be desired. Bill went on the Hulk Roller Coaster by himself. Then we went on the Spider-Man ride which was a combination car ride and various screens and effects. Not a bad ride. Bill went on the Ripsaw Falls log ride and got soaked. It was too cold to get wet for me, so I passed. We wandered through the Jurassic Park section which was pretty but lacking in rides. We went through Poseidon’s Fury which was a walk through with various scenes. Loud but not too exciting.

Lunch was a real treat. We stopped in at a full-service restaurant called Mythos. The décor was tan rock, pillars, and a wall sculpture of Poseidon. I had a wonderful spinach, asparagus risotto with a tiny crab cake and tiny piece of steak. It was really good. Bill had a bowl of onion soup with 3 pork sliders on ciabatta bread. The dessert was really interesting. They had an array of ‘shots’, various desserts in tall, thin shot glasses for only $1.75 each. I got a caramel cream brulee and a chocolate sabayon. Bill got a carrot cake. They were not only cute, but delicious and just the right amount.

Finally we went through the Seuss area. That was the cutest thing I saw at Universal. The whole area was Dr. Seuss themed. We went on the elevated Seuss Trolley Train ride. That was fun as was The Cat in the Hat ride. Finally we went to an area called If I Ran the Zoo. It had lots of cute fiberglass Seuss characters and things to do.

We got home about 2:30 and I took a nap. I have had the sniffles, and I wanted to be in good shape for our dinner at Victoria and Albert’s at the Grand Floridian Hotel. We got dressed up and arrived for our 8pm reservation. The service was quite pleasant if a bit overdone. Our two servers were Ann and John. Ann tried to get a hook to hold my purse, but my purse was too big, so I got a cassock next to the table to put my purse on. We were given fancy menus with our names printed on them. It is a fixed prix dinner with choices. The Amuse Bouche was a tray of 4 items including a lobster bisque, lobster in a vanilla butter sauce, a tiny scallop, and some teeny tiny rollup. For my first course I had tuna with Tat Soi salad and a cappuccino foam. Bill had smoked buffalo with an apple radish salad. The portions were very small but very good.

The second course I had grouper with artichokes, fennel, leeks, and iberico. Bill had scallops. The third course I went to the vegetarian menu and had mushroom tortellini with black truffles and assorted other mushrooms. Bill had duck 3 ways. For my entrée I had angus beef with kabocha squash and Italian chestnut sauce. Bill had veal tenderloin with hedgehog mushrooms and English peas. Next came a cheese course with stilton, piave vecchio and coach farm’s goat cheese. For dessert I had chocolate 3 ways: Peruvian chocolate ice cream and chocolate puff pastry, Kona chocolate soufflé, and Tanzanian chocolate mousse in the shape of a pyramid with a gold leaf star on top.

Coffee was brewed at the table in two glass bowls acting like a percolator. A harpist played throughout dinner. We knew we were escorted to restrooms, so we went before we arrived. Valet parking was free. It was a delightful meal, but the portions were all small enough that we truly didn’t feel stuffed when we finished! This was Bill’s Christmas present from me, and I think he was happy.