Of course since we were at Disneyland for two full days we had to eat, right?

After we visited the Expo on Saturday afternoon we had a late lunch at La Brea Bakery Cafe. This is only the second time we’ve eaten there, but I’m not sure why, because we both really like it – we both look at the menu and say: “Oh, that looks good…but so does that…” and we have a hard time choosing – there’s a lot of menus where there’s nothing that we really love – just something that we’ll eat.

Anyway. It was a warm day, but we were able to sit outside in the shade and that was very pleasant – especially when the breeze blew the cold air from the open doors of the World of Disney store in our direction! 🙂 One of my favorite things about La Brea Bakery Cafe is their passion fruit iced tea. It is SO good. Lee and I both ordered that, and our waiter did a pretty good job of keeping our glasses filled.

I ordered the Chicken Salad Sandwich. This was thin strips of grilled chicken with shredded cabbage and radicchio, olives, Italian parsley, and roasted garlic on lightly toasted olive bread. It was supposedly tossed in a mustard dressing, but that was very light, and I couldn’t taste the garlic, either. But it was still very good – the chicken was moist and flavorful. It came with choice of salad or fries – I ordered the salad. I’d definitely get that again, though I also like their fresh mozzarella sandwich.

Lee got one of their specialty burgers – the Marmalade Burger. This was Angus beef with caramelized onion marmalade, topped with blue cheese crumbles. They were supposed to give him a choice of onion or sesame bun, but he wasn’t asked, and it came on the sesame bun. It was served with french fires. He really enjoyed it.

(In honor of marathon weekend they were also offering a couple of special pasta dishes all day Saturday and all day Sunday – lasagna with meat sauce, and spaghetti bolognese.)

La Brea Bakery Cafe Menu

That night we were trying to figure out what to have for dinner before the race. I don’t need to do a big carbo-load before a half marathon, but having a good dinner with some carbs and protein is a good idea. We didn’t really want to fight the crowds over at Redd Rockett’s in Disneyland, and don’t think the food at Pizza Oom Mow Mow is that good, so we ended up at the Pacific Wharf. Lee decided to try one of the Asian rice bowls at the new Lucky Fortune Cookery, which had just opened on Friday.

The menu is pretty limited – they offer rice bowls with vegetables, though you have a choice of beef, chicken, or tofu, and then choice of four sauces: Mandarin Orange, Spicy Korean, Thai Coconut Curry, and Teriyaki. He ordered the Thai Coconut Curry with chicken. Like Yak & Yeti at Animal Kingdom, his meal was served in a take-out food container – veggies and rice on the bottom, then the meat/tofu, with the sauce on top.

It was hot and fresh, and he enjoyed it. I tried it, and thought the sauce was good – though it was very mild – more sweet than anything – and the chicken was flavorful. I didn’t care for the veggies, though – there weren’t very many and they used largely peppers and celery, neither of which I like. But it was decent, and for the price ($9.49) it was a fair bit of food. I think the menu is a little too limited, though – I would like to see them add egg rolls or something like that.

Lucky Fortune Cookery Menu

I ended up with a Salinas Turkey Sandwich from Pacific Wharf Cafe, which was a big disappointment. Though their soups and salads in bread bowls are made of their wonderful sourdough bread, the “sourdough” bread roll used for the sandwich had no flavor at all, nor the wonderful chewy texture of sourdough. The turkey was bland, and there wasn’t much lettuce on the sandwich. And a little more of the tomato and swiss cheese would have been nice. There was no dressing on it, and the only condiments available were yellow mustard and mayonnaise. But at least the green apple I got to go with it was crisp with the right level of tartness/sweetness!

Pacific Wharf Cafe Menu

On Sunday morning after our run (and a shower!) we met Deb and Linda at Storyteller’s Cafe for a late breakfast. Storyteller’s offers a breakfast menu, but we all wanted the Farmer’s Market Buffet, which includes fruit, breakfast pastries, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, eggs benedict, hot and cold breakfast cereals, french toast, pancakes and Mickey waffles, and omelets made to order. It includes juice and tea/coffee, also. Lee and I were really hungry for some reason. 🙂

I think they really do a nice job with this buffet – everything is fresh and good. And I really like the omelets – Deb, Lee and I all ordered one of those. It’s fun just to watch the chef make them!

Pancakes and Mickey waffles are not on the buffet – your server brings those. In the past they have asked if we wanted them, but this time our server just brought a plate with several pancakes and two waffles. (I ended up eating both the waffles since my dining companions weren’t interested! 🙂 )

This is also a character meal: we saw Terk (who really loved my half marathon medals!), Chip, Dale, and Koda. Kenai was also there, but passed us by. No Meeko this time, which Deb said was probably a good thing, since he wouldn’t have been able to resist all of the shiny medals that so many of us were wearing. 🙂 For a character meal it’s very low key, which I appreciate.

It was a very nice meal, and the four of us sat around talking for quite a while after we finished eating – great to relax with good food and good friends!

Storyteller’s Cafe Breakfast Menu

That evening Lee and I had dinner at Napa Rose. This is only the second time we’d eaten here, but it was another great dinner, with an excellent server. Rodney did a great job in recommending wines and taking care of us. We had the early dinner seating – 5:30. We didn’t wear our medals, but there were quite a few other parties in the restaurant who were wearing theirs. 🙂

Rather than ordering an entree, I opted for a selection of salads, appetizers, and sides, otherwise there was no way I’d have room for dessert (and even with that strategy I was pretty full!).

So my first course was the Summer Garden Tomato Salad – Vine Ripened Locally Grown Heirloom Tomatoes, Rocket Arugula, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Haricot Verts and Roasted Corn tossed with Chardonnay Vinaigrette and Goat Cheese. Linda had this the night before and recommended it as excellent. And I agree – it was really good – my mouth is watering as I’m writing about it!!!!

Lee had one of their signature appetizers, the Sauteed Hand-Harvested Diver Scallops with a Sauce of Lemon, Lobster, and Tahitian Vanilla. He likes scallops and he really enjoyed this. Rodney came back at one point and chastised him for leaving so much sauce and chunks of lobster on his plate, and told him to sop it up with some bread. We didn’t think you were allowed to do that at a fine restaurant. 🙂

As my “entree” I had the Fried Zucchini Blossoms stuffed with Laura Chenel Goat Cheese, with Sauteed Spanish Chorizo, Summer Onions and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce. This was pretty small, but there was lots of wonderful soft, warm goat cheese in the center, so it was rather filling, and very tasty.

I also ordered a side of Roasted Organic Broccoli with Applewood smoked bacon and tangerine Hollandaise. This was quite large (I shared with Lee!) but it was also very good. I was a little concerned about the Hollandaise – that they might drown the broccoli in a heavy sauce – but I needn’t have worried – it was a fairly light sauce and lightly applied. Very tasty. It also came with sauteed onions. Roasting the broccoli brought out a little more sweetness in it, but it was still crisp. Really good.

For an entree Lee ordered the Wild King Salmon with Szechuan Pepper-Sesame Crust, Santa Rosa Plums and Cabernet Sauvignon-Red Miso Glaze. Rodney advised him that this was a flavorful blend of spices and not a hot blend. It had just a little kick, but not much. The plums tasted very good, too. He cleaned his plate. 🙂

For dessert I ordered the Scharffen Berger Truffle Cake with cinnamon ice cream. I was a little disappointed in this – it really wasn’t that chocolatey, and quite frankly, my chocolate lava cake is better. It was beautifully presented, though.

Lee had the Summer Sweet Peach “Sandwich” – Layered with Homemade Fresh Sebastopol Blueberry Sorbet and Honey Biscuit. This looked very pretty, and I guess he must have enjoyed it, because now that I think about it, he never offered me a bite! 🙂

Wonderful dinner, and we were both pretty full when we left, which was about 2 hours after we arrived.

Napa Rose Menu

Monday morning we went over to Disneyland after it opened and had breakfast at the River Belle Terrace. I think the food is about as good as the Carnation Cafe, and it’s sure a lot faster – you have to get to the Cafe when the park opens if you don’t want to wait for a while. Besides, River Belle Terrace is the only place that you can get Mickey pancakes! And that’s what I had.

Lee had the Steamboat, which comes with scrambled eggs, sausage or bacon, and regular pancakes.

We ate outside overlooking the Rivers of America – it was very peaceful, and you’d never believe that area had been menaced by a 40′ dragon the night before! 🙂

Anyway…breakfast wasn’t fancy, but it was good, and I know we’ll be eating there again on future trips.

River Belle Terrace Breakfast

So this ends my half marathon weekend blogs – now it’s on to the D23Expo!