Summary

This Korean BBQ restaurant has been in North Williamsburg for a while. I’ve always wanted to go to this, but prior to the pandemic, it was always easier to go to Koreatown since I was always in Manhattan. We arrived here at an early rainy Sunday afternoon. They follow COVID protocol very well, and there were very few people inside. The waitress took our temperature and address as usual, and then we were seated after. The tables are separated by plastic guards. Let’s move onto the food.

Summary

This French restaurant is located at the southern part of Vernon Blvd right across the street from Cafe Henri. We were able to walk in without reservations. The interior is quite cozy in this COVID environment as it has this very French (Paris) cafe feel to it. Each table was separated by a plastic wall. Be warned though that this place only accepts cash or AMEX. More on that later, so onto the food…

Summary

Pio Pio actually has several stores in the greater New York City. This one is number 8 and is located in Manhattan a few blocks north of Hudson Yards. Remember that the COVID protocols are still applicable. When we walked in, we were seated in an alcove to the left before the stairs that led down to a larger open space dining room. This alcove was pretty nice and it seemed to be catered for parties of 2. The lights were dimmer here for more intimacy.

Summary

Even though there had been a large number of Asian restaurants in the Long Island City and Astoria vicinity, vietnamese restaurants are still fairly limited. I was kind of craving for some pho since it’s been a few years, and this one was within walkable distance. The city recently allowed 25% dine in, and the reviews for this restaurant seemed fairly decent. The interior was decorated pretty homely, and the tables were spaced decently apart with screen separators. Let’s move on to the food.

In 2021, it was by pure coincidence that the week we were going to Disney World happened to also have this International Flower and Garden festival. There are a myriad of flower and grass decorations of some of your favorite Disney characters displayed. It was our first time ever going to a destination with a lot of variety of little tastings scattered throughout. In different sections of the park, Disney has set up little booths that have different themed items, each ranging from $5 to $10. We didn’t drink much, but we’re going to share some of the cool foods we ate.

Summary

In terms of unique restaurants in Disney Springs, there aren’t too many. I think this is one of them that was a little different than the normal suburbia / city type of restaurant. This is Spanish influenced and is one of Jose Andres’ restaurants. Having been to his other restaurants like The Bazaar (where molecular gastronomy was a focus) in LA, I had some expectations for this. The restaurant itself is actually very noisy and dances around the line of being trendy and hip. The decor has a lot of colors that pop with a festive vibe.

Summary

This is located in the central area of the Hollywood Studios theme park. Having dine in similar restaurants in Los Angeles, this definitely does bring back vibes from there. The restaurant decor has a ton of celebrity facial caricatures hanging on walls with an old 1910s to 1950s like decor. They placed us in our own booth, so they took care of social distancing. This restaurant is definitely not as upscale as some of the other restaurants we’ve been to, but it’s supposed to be regarded as the one to go to in this park.

Summary

Oga’s Cantina is a Star Wars themed bar in the Galaxy Edge section of the Hollywood Studios park. It was a little confusing in figuring out where it actually was because there’s no visible sign, so we had to double check the online map on how to get there. The availability for this is insane in that you need to make reservations for this months in advance, in fact it’s advised that when you are eligible to make reservations you should do this first. Due to COVID protocols, there was a lot of social distancing and space between guests and party, but the music and theme inside was still very cool. They played cheesy Star Wars cantina themed music, and even the bartenders would roleplay a little too. We ended up seating at the bar close to the kitchen.

Summary

Tiffins is one of those restaurants that to me seems rather unique in general. While most people go straight for the typical French or New American style, I think the African Asian themed ingredients presents quite an interesting take. The restaurant’s decor was actually quite nice and open. During the first week of March when we went, there weren’t many people, so it was nice to dine casually in tranquility.

Summary

For dinner, we stopped by the American pavilion. This BBQ restaurant only took orders via mobile. After you placed your mobile order, they will text you when it’s time to pick up your food. Outside there are a bunch of tables, but you can also sit indoors too. Like other COVID menus, the choices were not as abundant. People have shared menus that you can order 3 meats, but the mobile menu only had single meat combos.