Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Disney World to attend their media preview of Maria & Enzo’s Ristorante. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
If you’re on the hunt for Instagramable Disney food, we just found some menu items you may want to add to your list!
Planet Hollywood is a restaurant located on the West Side of Disney Springs. It’s hard to miss from the outside, with its huge domed ceiling that’s fashioned to look like an observatory. But it’s best known for the design on the inside since it’s decorated with TONS of movie props and memorabilia. But it turns out the decor isn’t the only flashy thing to see inside this restaurant!
We were recently invited to a media event hosted by Planet Hollywood to showcase some food and drinks, including a few new menu items that just made their red carpet debut.
First up, we tried the Practical Magic, a non-alcoholic specialty drink made with pineapple juice, orange juice, fresh lemon & lime juices, and grenadine. Our drink came served in a light-up souvenir cup that definitely added to the “magical” effect!
The drink was fruity and sweet, and it reminded us a little bit of the iconic POG juice that’s found at several places around Disney World. Even though there were a lot of fruit juices involved, we still found the drink refreshing without being overly sweet. Although it is priced at $15 for the beverage with the souvenir cup, so it is a bit pricy.
Now, on to the appetizers! And if you thought the light-up cup made for a cool presentation, wait until you see this…we tried the High Roller Sampler, which comes served on a large Ferris wheel platter! Unfortunately the Ferris wheel didn’t spin, but it would still make for a super cool Instagram photo! The High Roller Sampler includes five different appetizers — the World Famous Chicken Crunch, Texas Tostados, Buffalo Wings, Five Cheese Dip, and Fried Jumbo Shrimp.
We had the chance to sample the Texas Tostados and the Jumbo Fried Shrimp. The Texas Tostados were similar to nachos but were made on gyoza skins, which had a nice and crispy texture. They were topped with BBQ chicken, sautéed onions, cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses, sour cream, BBQ sauce, and pico de gallo. We really enjoyed these! They were wonderfully cheesy and the gyoza added a nice crispy texture. They were a bit simple but had great flavor.
We enjoyed the Fried Jumbo Shrimp as well. The fried coating had a nice texture and the shrimp were pretty large. We would have preferred more seasoning in the batter, but the sriracha sauce they were served with had a decent kick at least to pair with it. The High Roller Sampler is intended to serve four people and the presentation is definitely the big selling point. But if you have a group big enough to finish it and want to snag that cool Instagram pic, it might be worth the $42.99 price tag.
We also had the chance to try a few entrees, starting with the Bacon Mac-n-Cheese Burger. This was a decent burger, but it was our least favorite of the three entrees we tried. This is Guy Fieri’s award-winning burger, and we were told they sell 300 of them a day. It is a smash-grilled burger with applewood smoked bacon, six cheese mac-n-cheese, cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, crispy onion straws, and donkey sauce on a brioche bun. The burger itself was good and juicy, and the lettuce and tomato were very super fresh and crispy and added a much-needed freshness to the burger. We were a bit overwhelmed with all of the flavors that were happening with the burger, which was the main reason it was our least favorite of the entrees. But if you’d like to give it a go, you can snag one for $21.99.
Next, we had the L.A. Lasagna, which had great flavor! The pasta tubes are filled with creamy ricotta and Bolognese meat sauce, then fried until golden brown and served with roasted garlic cream and tomato basil sauce. The filling was tender and was seasoned well, and the fried pasta tubes also added a unique touch. We really liked the texture of the pasta and loved how crispy it was, which went well with the tender filling and creamy garlic sauce. Overall we loved the taste and presentation of this one, but like most of the other items, it’s a bit pricey at $22.99.
For the third entree, we tried the Roasted Prime Rib of Beef. This slow-roasted Prime Rib, served only after 4PM, was a BIG portion at 14oz. We were told by the chef that it is a premium beef that you can only get in Florida — Buckhead. It was served with an Au Jus and a horseradish sauce and came with a sautéed green bean blend and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. The prime rib was very tender and seasoned well. We really enjoyed the green beans, which were VERY crispy and fresh. The mashed potatoes we pretty typical, but still delicious. This was the most expensive entree we tried — it’s priced at $39.95.
And to top it all off, we also had the chance to try one of Planet Hollywood’s over-the-top shakes! We opted for the Strawberry Big Bang Supernova Shake, which is a classic hand-dipped strawberry milkshake, topped with sprinkles and a slice of cake. This is a super Instagram-able item, and it wasn’t bad, but it also probably isn’t a dessert that we’d order again. The milkshake had chunks of strawberries, which we enjoyed, but the shake itself wasn’t creamy enough for us and it was definitely VERY sweet, so you’ll have to have a pretty big sweet tooth for this one. If you are up for the challenge of tackling this sugar rush, you can get one for $14.99.
And that wraps up our taste test from Planet Hollywood! Overall, we did try some things that we really enjoyed — especially our entrees. But what really stood out to us was the over-the-top presentation of items like the appetizer sampler and the milkshakes. If you’d like to give any of these a try for yourself, be sure to stop by Planet Hollywood in Disney Springs!
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Have you been to Planet Hollywood? Share your experience with us in the comments!
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