A Review of Flame Tree Barbecue at Disney's Animal Kingdom

By Nick

We all have our favorite attractions at Walt Disney World. Rides or shows that are a must every trip. There are also beloved eateries that we frequent more often than others, and of course favorite foods we eat on every visit.
But there are those restaurants that you really enjoy while eating there, but for some reason or other, you don't get back to for a very long time.
In Walt Disney World, there are sooooo many options that these really great food spots just get lost in the sauce, so to speak.
One of these spots is Flame Tree Barbecue in Disney's Animal Kingdom.

We ate here on our first trip back in September of 2006. Every time we pass it, I say "That was some great barbecue, we really need to get back there." and then proceed to go elsewhere, sometimes to another restaurant in Animal Kingdom, or more often to another restaurant in a different park, or even back to our resort for a bite.

On our trip in January, I consciously made the decision to eat at Flame Tree.

The menu is not overly extensive.

I had the 1/2 Slab of St. Louis Ribs which were $11.69. They were as good as I remembered them. Tender and juicy. I love a good cole slaw, and this is very good. The beans were delicious as well.

Barbie had the Smoked Chicken Salad for $9.49, which she described as okay. She wished she had gotten the ribs after trying mine!

Prices are reasonable, and the portions are large enough to share.
They accept Tables in Wonderland and are a quick service credit on the Disney Dining Plan.

There are several spots to sit, each offering a relaxing and cool spot to escape the heat, which really wasn't an issue in January.

The grounds are lush, and well themed with fountains and statues.

The condiments bar is conveniently located in the pavilion where we chose to sit, which is the same place we sat way back in 2006.

By the water, it offeres a great view of Expedition Everest.

There are a few pavilions by the water if you want to get a different vantage point of Everest.

Another wonderful thing about sitting by the water, you might have an encounter with local wildlife!

So, will we return to Flame Tree Barbecue? Yes, certainly. But it still isn't a must do every trip.

This article was originally posted on the Disney Musings Blog, which Nick co-writes with his wife and friends.

Afternoon tea at the Garden View Lounge located in...

Afternoon tea at the Garden View Lounge located in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.

Lemon Blueberry Cupcake from the Boardwalk Bakery located on...

Lemon Blueberry Cupcake from the Boardwalk Bakery located on Disney’s Boardwalk. (submission)

Epcot's L'es Artisan de Glaces

By Gaylin

When I am in between Disney World trips, I keep up my reading and research online to know what is new in the World. Before this last trip I was quite happy to read about a new ice cream shop that had opened in the France Pavilion at Epcot.

The whole time I was on vacation in May of 2014, the weather was hot. 95F (37C) or hotter with the usual melt-your-brain humidity. My first visit to Epcot included a trip to L'Artisan des Glaces and I wasn't disappointed.

The shop is not very big and for some reason was not crowded any time I went in it. I visited 5 times (or was that 6) during my vacation! Having food allergies limits what treats I can have and when I read that L'Artisan had ice cream sandwiches made with macarons, I knew I would be trying one.

You can see from the display of ice cream there are 16 choices on any given day and they do change the flavours. The macaron ice cream sandwiches are on the bottom row, 3rd from the left. I was surprised by the size of them, as macaron cookies are usually quite a bit smaller. They cost $3.99 ($4.25 after tax) and were well worth it.

They are served in a piece of folded wax paper with french news stories on the outside. The sandwich was really good, macarons are usually quite sweet but this was not overly sugary and the ice cream had a nice dark chocolate flavour. I admit, I did have another one on a separate visit, for research sake, to make sure they really were that good . . .

There are tables outside the shop, turnover is quite quick, people are willing to share so finding a seat was not difficult any of the times of was there.

One of the other treats I had was a Cafe Glace, iced coffee with a scoop of ice cream. This was really yummy, I chose Caramel Fleur de Sel (salted caramel) ice cream and the combination was lovely. The other 3 times I went I had a single scoop of the Caramel ice cream in a cup, you can get cones as well. Again, $3.99 + tax.

I would highly recommend giving Artisan a try, the flavours were great, the staff was nice and the lack of crowd, no line-up whatsoever was awesome.

On a side note, because the marcaron was so good at Artisan, I decided to try a Mickey Macaron one day. Cute! Also grossly oversweet and almost flavourless. The filling was mildly lemon flavour, I admit this is the only time I have thrown out a treat at Disney without finishing it. If you have a sweet tooth, these are for you, if you don't just admire their cuteness in the display case and keep going!

This article was originally posted on the Disney Musings Blog, where Gaylin is a co-writer.