Sandwich – SALLY♡THINGS

Epcot: Drinking and Eating Around the World.

Drinking at DISNEY? YES, you heard that right. The happiest place on earth just got happier for the adults. Disney World already sells alcoholic beverages in all of their theme parks, but it’s nothing like Epcot. You’ll want to experience a drink and food tour around the countries at Epcot at least once! Honestly, I got a little drunk towards the end and have never, EVER eaten so much in one day. I went to Epcot thinking that we would have time for eating, drinking, rides, shopping and checking everything else out, but we ran out of time. The International Flower and Garden Festival was going on as well, so there were extra things to look at. We were there from 11 AM to 10 PM too. We’ll for sure be back another time to try more foods and drinks and actually ride the rides.

Now let’s go world traveler, to Epcot we go! ºoº

Lunch Reservation at Chef de France (France)

Cassolette D’escargots
Casserole of Burgundian escargots baked in parsley and garlic butter

I don’t even know how to describe the taste of this except for the word délicieux! It may not look very good in the photo, but you can trust me that it very much was. I could eat this appetizer all day. The mixture of flavor is perfect.
C’est vraiment très bon!

Boeuf Bourguignon Linguine
Braised beef in Cabernet, baby onions, carrots, pasta

Jarret De Porc Braise Au Miel
Braised Heritage pork shank, mashed potatoes. Scallions, tomatoes

In NO way did we regret eating here, but what we ordered for lunch was pretty heavy to start off a drink and food tour. Maybe next time we’ll start off a little lighter, but we just couldn’t resist. Both proteins were so tender and melted in your mouth. The sauces and flavors were out of this world. Chef de France knows what they are doing in the kitchen!

France

Beignet Caramélisé
Caramelized Beignet filled with Vanilla Cream and glazed with Caramel Fleur de Sel

Sparking Pear Cocktail
Sparkling Wine with Pear Flavor

Yup! We started our drinking and eating tour right after our big lunch. I was already so full, but there’s always room for dessert! Usually the cocktail is a Sparkling Raspberry, but they ran out already so pear it was. Then the Beignet Caramélisé was good, but nothing too special in my opinion though. It was like a crème brulée doughnut.

Morocco

Orange Blossom-Saffron Cake

Cider Flight:
Keel Farms Pear Honeysuckle Hard Cider (Plant City, FL)

Woodchuck Imperial Sippin’ Citrus Hard Cider (Middlebury, VT)

3 Daughters Brewing Pomegranate Hard Cider (St. Petersburg, FL)

I couldn’t find a description of the Orange Blossom – Saffron Cake online at all, so let me try to describe it in the best way that I can. The top orange layer is a cream almost like vanilla ice cream and it was covered with a orange chocolate like layer with orange powder. That tasted like an orangesicle, then the green layer was a pistachio flavored cake (with pistachios on the side) on top of a raspberry syrup. It was a perfect burst of flavor!

Japan

Cocktail Flight:
Winter Melon Cocktail

Tokyo Sunset
Coconut Rum, Peach Schnapps, Banana Liqueur, and Pineapple Juice

Violet Sake
Sake, purple pear, and lime juice

Again, I couldn’t find a description online about the Winter Melon Cocktail. It was very sweet and tasted just like those little winter melon candies that are in small balls, very nostalgic. The Tokyo Sunset and Violet Sake were also sweet drinks, but all three were very good The Violet Sake was actually my favorite drink out of all the drinks we had! It tasted like a grape jolly rancher, but lighter in flavor mixed with lemon. Third country and 7 different drinks later, I was still feeling sober. The food we ate was doing some work or maybe I have a high alcohol tolerance, but let’s say it was the food!

America

Spicy Chicken Gumbo
with Andouille Sausage and Long Grain & Wild Rice

Bayou Cocktail
Spiced Rum, Coconut Rum, Fruit Punch, and Orange Juice

The Spicy Chicken Gumbo was my most favorite food item that we tried all day (besides our lunch at Chef de France). Who knew it would be gumbo from America? The Bayou Cocktail was okay. I think it reminded me too much of a drink that we serve at the restaurant I work at, so it wasn’t anything new to me.

Italy

Arrabbiata
Pennette Pasta, Spicy Tomato Sauce, and Buttery Shrimp

I am a pasta lover! At this point I was so full of food, but I had to try a pasta at least. The picture does not do it justice, it really just looks like school food, but you’ll have to trust me that it wasn’t. The sauce had the perfect spicy kick for those who only want a mild spice. The sauce had a thick, rich consistency too!

Orangecello Cocktail
orangecello, orange juice, pineapple juice and strawberry puree

Peachy Dream Bellini
peach purée and Prosecco

I must have started to feel a little tipsy around here or was too excited to drink because this is the only photo that I have of our drinks from Italy. These two went down too easy! Out of the two the Orangecello Cocktail was the better one. I still loved the Peachy Dream Bellini though! This is when we were getting drinks back to back at a quicker speed.

Germany

Apfelschaumwein
Apple Sparkling Wine and Apple Liqueur with a Rosemary Garnish

I’m still trying to pronounce the name of this drink, so if anyone would like to teach us all feel free! This drink tasted like a light apple flavored hard cider, but with the perfect amount of sweetness. The rosemary garnish was super strong and we left it in the drink the whole time. That was our fault because it took over the taste towards the end of the glass.

China

Dragon Butterfly
Butterfly Pea Flower Gin, Vodka, Green Tea, Lemonade, Soda Water, Hibiscus and Dragon Fruit Syrups, with Blueberry Popping Boba

Did I use this as an excuse to put a picture of me in here? Yes, I definitely did. Plus the picture that I got of this drink is not that great. I was feeling the drinks for sure at this point and even more after this drink. This drink was very strong tasting. The popping boba at the bottom was our chaser with every sip. From here to the end, the Disney cast members were heavy handers!

Mexico

Tamale de Rajas
Poblano Peppers, Corn, and cheese in Masa topped with Poblano Cream Sauce, Crema Mexicana, Pickled Carrots and Onions with Chives

Lychee Margarita
Centinela Blanco Tequila, Lychee Liqueur, Citrus Juice, and Agave Nectar

As you can see from the picture, that I was drunk. I did not care for the photo HAHAH. That Dragon Butterfly drink from China really got me. THEN, our Lychee Margarita wasn’t any lighter. I swear it was pure tequila. I still was having a good time though! The tamale was good, but I feel like the cream sauce made kind of made it less authentic, it tasted more like mayo. My tastebuds could have been a little off at this time though. In the end, I would get it again.

Germany

Welsh Dragon
peach schnapps, melon liqueur, creme de menthe, orange juice, and pineapple juice

I can’t tell you why the last drink of the night has the best photo. I amaze myself and also confuse my own self A LOT. Anyways, the last drink we had! It was another sweet cocktail and my second favorite of the day. It was pretty close to being my first favorite. This drink wasn’t as strong as the last few and we had a little bit of down time before getting this drink. I was better after this.

BONUS: Disney Traders & Port of Entry

Soy-glazed Sticky Ribs
with Green Onions and Peanuts

Bonus foods! The down time we had between Mexico and United Kingdom, we got some more food and visited Canada (no purchases). So these foods aren’t in any of the countries, but in their own section. You can find these Soy-glazed Ribs by the Disney Traders. These are good, but I think they have great potential to be better. If they had a little more of the soy-glazed flavor, then it would have been perfect! The ribs were tender and fell of the bone otherwise.

Spicy Hotdog
with Pineapple Chutney and Plantain chips

You can find this Spicy Hotdog in Port of Entry. I was so full that I only took one bite of this, but that one bite was pretty good. It actually has a spicy kick to it. Yes, I know how basic it sounds, but plantain chips on a SPICY hotdog? An actual spicy hotdog? You can’t beat that. I’ll be coming back for it next time with an empty stomach. Maybe I’ll get two!

9 countries, 2 worlds, 14 different drinks, and 10 different foods all in one day. We even skipped getting drinks and/or food from two countries, Norway and Canada, to make sure we would make it through the whole park at least. We also skipped a whole bunch of other restaurants and food booths in every country and multiple items from the booths that we bought drinks and/or food from. There’s at least 4 different restaurants and booths to choose from in each country. To try everything at Epcot that we want, we’d probably have to spend at least three more full days at Epcot. There’s just tons of delicious sounding options there. I’m already drooling over the thought of trying more again. ♡

Until next time world traveler! ºoº

Food Alert: One Day in Chicago, Illinois.

Helloooooo, I’m back with another food blog from Chicago! You’ll probably see tons of Food Alerts blogs from Chicago because I only live a few hours away and I’m the type of person to drive for some good food. What I love about Chicago is the variety of food spots that exists and how there’s constantly new places popping up! This one has a special location because we also have one of these restaurants in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Yes, you read that right! You don’t have to travel as far to my Wisconsin readers. In today’s blog, I’ll be talking about all the spots that I visited in one day. Let’s get HUNGRY.

First stop of the day was Bearology. Boba teas are always a must when traveling! I don’t exactly enjoy tapioca pearls like that, but the teas or the drink part is where it’s at. This was a smaller location in Schaumburg, but they had this cute bear decor on the wall! If only they had it on sale, I would have bought it on the spot. The green drink on the left is their Shimmering Kiwi Lemonade with Tapioca Boba and the right drink is their Strawberry Mango Green Tea with Lychee Jelly. The cool thing about Bearology is that you can choose their jars or flask to have the drinks in and if you bring it back on your future visits, you get 10% off your drinks! We love reducing plastic waste ♡

Imagine this, you’re sitting down in a small convenient store eating a pizza puff, Pho Bo, an Ube Cookie and the Viet Dip while listening to Slow Down by Bobby Valentino. Yeah, you bet I felt like I was 10 years old back in 2005 eating a home cooked meal blasting the radio. Phodega is where it’s at if you want that nostalgic experience. The food is authentic Vietnamese food (yes, even the pizza puff. It’s the bread dough that they use.) Plus where can you get a pizza puff and pho at the same place? The place has limited seating, but it’s worth the wait!
The Viet Dip is an Italian dip, thinly sliced ribeye, cilantro, onions, and jalapeño on french bread with a side of pho jus to dip in.

Now let’s talk about some drinks! A foodie adventure is not an adventure if you don’t have some drinks and I’m not talking about our boba from earlier either.
A L C O H O L, but make it unique and innovative. Yes, you heard that right! Machine: Engineered Dining & Drink is the place to go for that. I’ve never seen a place like this before, they had a flower wall and fall trees indoors. Then you can request the florist and flower cart to come to your table and make a personalized bouquet for you right on the spot! Now that is service! I ordered the Caged And Infused cocktail drink and it came with a little hammer to smash the candy cage. I failed pretty badly, but it was fun. My boyfriend ordered the Dragon’s Breath.

Boba, lunch, drinks and now some sweets! You can’t forget the dessert treats, you always have to make room for dessert. I came across 2D Restaurant on Instagram and knew we had try their mochi doughnuts. The idea of the restaurant is super cool, the interior decor is painted to look as 2D as possible like you’re in a comic strip! 2D Restaurant has more than mochi doughnuts, so we had to try their Mild Rooster Sandwich and the Iced Organic Blueberry Tea. The chicken sandwich was very good and very mild, basically no spice at all. I think we could’ve handled the hot one. The Mochi Doughnuts that we ordered were The Pooh, Strawberry Sprinkle, Berry Easter, S’more, Matcha Dream and the Churro.

2D Restaurant is also very limited in seating, so you might have to wait a bit in order to get in! I believe you can make reservations though.

Last, but not least…. SEAFOOD BOIL!!!
Yes, we are obsessed. We’re always on a lookout for a new seafood place to try. Lowcountry is the name of the restaurant and good news for us Wisconsin readers, they have a location open in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So we’ll be able to have it again whenever we’re in town. The seafood boil here was good, not the best cause Orlando is still my #1, but I will definitely be eating here in Milwaukee. Lowcountry is doing something right cause when we ordered the heat level as hot, it was actually hot. A spicy hot, but a good spicy hot. It lived to its name.

We ordered a Combo A – Shrimp Combo (1 lb shrimp, 2 piece corn, 3 piece potato, 2 piece cornbread and drink) and did a fill your own bag with 1 piece Snow Crab Cluster, 1 piece 8 oz Lobster Tail, and 1 lb Crawfish. Both with the Everythang sauce and one in heat level hot (2 pepper) and very hot (3 pepper). The sauce was addicting even when our mouths were burning from being pretty spicy, we kept smothering our seafood in it. I’m actually ready to burn my mouth again for it, I can never get enough seafood boil!

You can visit a good amount of restaurants in one day, you just have to plan it accordingly. Food trips are one of my favorites. So many good foods and drinks out there that’s waiting to be consumed! I told my boyfriend once before “I don’t eat to live, I live to eat” and I will forever stick to that hahah. All I’m thinking about is the seafood boil now because I just relieved the experience through writing about it. I’m also about to heat up the last of our mochi doughnut for a quick morning snack. I hope you guys are enjoying these Food Alert blogs, many more on the way! STAY HUNGRY ♡

Food Alert: 3 States, 3 Bánh Mì.

You might be wondering what is that word ‘Bánh Mì’ means. Well In literal translation from Vietnamese it means bread, but it holds so much more than that. It is childhood memories, it is adulthood, it is family time, it is history, it is culture and it is traditions plus many more. Bánh mì is a Vietnamese cuisine that is gaining popularity in the US.

Let’s go into a little bit of the history if it!
Like I mentioned bánh mì translates to bread, but for the cuisine it uses a baguette that the French colonist introduced to Vietnam when it was still part of French Indochina along with some of the other ingredients. Sometimes it is called bánh mì thịt, just adding the word ‘meat’ to the end so you know it’s the person is talking about the sandwich and not about bread itself. Bánh mì has been considered a luxury cuisine a couple of times in history, during World War I and after the Fall of Saigon in 1975, but is now a common street food. It has become a staple food of Vietnam and if anyone remembers H’Hen Nie, Miss Vietnam 2018 wore bánh mì as her Miss Universe national costume.

H’Hen Nie, Miss Vietnam 2018 wore bánh mì as her Miss Universe national costume.

There are different variations of these viet subs, but the ones that I will be comparing today are all Bánh mì đặc biệt which is a special combo sandwich. In these special combo sandwiches, you’ll find these ingredients:

• Vietnamese baguette
• Sliced pork or pork belly
• Chả lụa (pork sausage)
• Head cheese or brawn
• Fresh cucumber slices
• Cilantro
• Pickled carrots and white radish (shredded form)
• Jalapeños
• Maggi seasoning sauce
• Mayonnaise
• Liver pâté

bánh mì đặc biệt or special combo Vietnamese subs or sandwiches

I grew up eating these subs and I absolutely love them to this day. In the last month, I have tried 3 bánh mì đặc biệt from 3 different places, which happen to be all in different states. So here is from least liked to most liked.

The first place is from a restaurant in Madison, Wisconsin. I don’t really want to put the name of the restaurant out there because they have other foods that are really good. I had really good pho from them actually, so I won’t knock them down for just one food item. Their subs were okay though. I probably wouldn’t get any subs there again, but if someone else did they are still tasteful enough to eat.
So one main ingredient that makes up a bánh mì đặc biệt is the bread right? I mean it’s in the name. Well the reason why they are my least liked is because their bread was flat, not airy like a baguette. It seemed like they scooped the breading out like how Jimmy John’s does? Also their bread was really wide and the inside ingredient portions did not match at all. The shredded pickled carrots and white radishes were all cut super thin where you could barely tell that there was any in it.

The second place is right down from where I grew up in Kentwood, Michigan at B&N Sandwiches located in the Golden Bridge Plaza. I’m probably a little bias, but the bread there has a nice crunch when you bite into it. The veggies are cut into good sized pieces, the only thing that I would change about it is the inconsistency of the sandwich. Sometimes there isn’t enough of one ingredient compared to the last time you bought some. Overall all, I would really recommend them to everyone!

The last place is from Ha Tien Super Market located in St. Paul, Minnesota. All the bánh mì that I have ever had, Ha Tien Super Market has made it the best! The bánh mì has a nice crunch to it, the inner ingredient portions are more than you can ask for. They really fill the baguette up. I really like cilantro too, so the amount of veggies that they throw on is perfect. *chefs kiss*
I don’t know what else they use, but there is just way more flavor in their subs. I would travel again back to St. Paul just to get more. Might have to go back pretty soon to get some!!

I will always be trying other places, so there will be more food blogs on these Vietnamese subs! It’s nice being able to write foods that I grew up eating and that are a part of who I am. I’ll start doing more of these, it makes me feel a little more connected to my roots and my family since I moved away. The area I live in now doesn’t have too many Vietnamese restaurants like they do back in Michigan.
I also wanted to quickly add that while bánh mì (and other Viet cuisines) are gaining popularity here in the US, please don’t try to take these dishes and americanize them to make a profit off of. Do not do what has been done to Mexican/Hispanic foods. Foods should be shared with others along with their traditions and origins, even if someone else puts their own twist on it, but shouldn’t be monetized. It’s quite insulting, but that’s another topic for another time.