Dining at Disney World: Yachtsman and Jiko: The Cooking Place

One of the exciting experiences about a Walt Disney World vacation is dining-especially at the high-tier restaurants. While many vacationers cannot do this every night of their vacation, they do like to splurge with one fine meal. And with the dining plan making it a little more accessible, it's important to know which restaurant would most appeal to you and your family. This article will showcase the Yachtsman and Jiko: The Cooking Place.

What's a bigger favorite than a good old American Steakhouse? Steak is the obvious item to order at the Yachtsman Steakhouse in the Yacht & Beach Club Resort at Walt Disney World. And after watching Samantha Brown on Great Hotels order the salt-encrusted baked potato with her steak, I knew I had to do the same.

For the starter, I had the: Caesar Salad with crisp romaine lettuce, grated parmesan cheese and pumpernickel croutons. My companion had the: Stone Fruit Salad with California peaches and prosciutto di parma and goat cheese.

For our main course, I had the: Yachtsman Filet Mignon with shallots and red wine sauce and substituted the crushed potatoes with a salt-encrusted baked potato. My companion had the: Black Angus New York strip steak with roasted garlic gratin potatoes and peppercorn sauce.

Everything with delicious. My steak was tender and just melted in my mouth. While I had been tempted to have the Sautéed Mushroom Caps smothered with sherry and cabernet wine sauce, as shown on Great Hotels, I was glad that I didn't. We were pleasantly full and content with what we had. The couple next to us ordered the Dessert Sampler Platter for Two but it didn't really appeal to us.

If you're hungry for a steak, you can't go wrong at the Yachtsman.

But if you're in the mood for something a little more exotic, you should consider Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

What to have for an appetizer is a no-brainer for us. While all of the appetizers sound delicious, The Kalamata Olive Flatbread is our #1 favorite appetizer in all of Walt Disney World. When it comes to South African wines, we weren't sure what to order. We asked our server, Sally, for recommendations and she brought a couple of different wines for tasting. We also asked her about her entree recom­mendations - and the lamb in particular. She explained why this lamb dish was so tasty and that it didn't have that "lamby" taste you find when it isn't done well. She went into such detail about the Berbere sauce and how the flavors all worked together, I was convinced. And I was so glad I decided to make it a full dining adventure.

Here's the description of our entire meal:

Appetizer: Kalamata Olive Flatbread - with four cheeses, and Laura Chenel's soft goat cheese

Entrée #1 was the Chermoula Roasted, Tanglewood Chicken - with red-skin mashed potatoes, preserved lemons, kalamata olives, roasted garlic, herbs and harissa. With was paired with a glass of Excelsior Robertson '04 Cabernet Sauvignon.

Entrée #2 was the Berbere Braised Lamb Shank - with toasted couscous, baby spinach and berbere sauce. This was paired with a glass of Rudi Schultz Stellenbosch '03 Shiraz.

This was a birthday celebration so when we informed Sally of this she delivered a birthday dessert of Pistachio Creme Brulee with layered chocolate bottom

Kenyan Coffee

The Kalamata Olive Flatbread with the 4 cheeses is simply divine. We traded samples of our entrees and I can vouch for both entrees as being absolutely amazing. Last time, we had the Short Ribs and Monkfish and we thought they were awe­some. And next time we're thinking of trying their signature Filet Mignon and perhaps the Pork Tenderloin. They're all so flavorful and the meat is fork tender. We've heard less than inspiring things when it comes to their seafood - that's proba­bly better left to The Flying Fish.

But if you to want to add a little something exotic to your fine meal at Disney World, you can do no wrong at Jiko: The Cooking Place.