Kouzzina -- Breakfast -- Table Service -- Boardwalk

*This dining experience took place in September 2012.

Kouzzina dining room

Ah, Kouzzina. One of my all time favs. You've probably read a lot of my reviews on this restaurant. I'm a big fan of their breakfast. I visited this time to grab some Mickey waffles and Udi's toast. I had also heard recently that there had been some bread vendor changes adding in GNI brand products and I wanted to find out if this was a complete replacement or only partial (I'm still not clear on that one). So, I figured one of my standby restaurants with some of my standby chefs would be a good place to start!Chef Sergio, who helped me on my last visit, was on hand today. I kind of miss Chef George. It's been May since I last saw him, and he was really good. I wonder if he's doing more dinner service now? In any event, Chef Sergio said we could do the Udi's toast and Earth Balance vegan margarine. I also ordered a side of Mickey waffles. This turned out to be a bummer, but more on that later. I also got eggs over easy (I like to dip the egg yolk in the bread--yum! And rarely get to do this in restaurants) and plain potatoes with no peppers and onions.

Eggs over-easy, bacon, and plain potatoes

First up, the eggs were quite good, but I find that lately they are using a little more extra virgin olive oil than I personally would like. The potatoes were awesome today. Sometimes they are so-so, depending on who's cooking them and how they cook them. These were deep fried with sea salt. Yum! The bacon is also always a winner here. No stringy bacon at Kouzzina!

Udi's GF/DF toast

Then the toast. I am soooo happy they have this here now. This is the second time I've had it, and I was very excited for it. Add Earth Balance to it, and it's divine. Chef Sergio said that as far as he knows that Udi's toast is a current addition that he didn't see being changed and that the GNI brand is being used there for the rolls (replacing the Udi's rolls, which sorry Udi's rolls were not real great--weird because I like all of their other products!). Good to know, and I need to follow up on this at other restaurants.

Not-so-yummy Mickey waffles...

Now on to the disappointing part of the meal. I ordered Mickey waffles and I was really looking forward to them because Kouzzina has some rocking waffles. My mom also ordered "regular" Mickey waffles and when they came I thought they were hers. Um not a good sign. I tasted one bite and knew immediately something was wrong. They looked different, they tasted different. My mom said they were clearly GF/DF after she ate them, but that they didn't taste the same. I tried a second bite and I just couldn't even eat them. They tasted really bland and bitter. Not so good. Now, maybe someone else might not think they are that bad, but for me they were yucky. I have been so spoiled by the amazing Mickey waffles made with Bob's Red Mill mix. I told the server that I just didn't want to eat them and asked to speak with the chef. This has to be pretty bad for me, because I've only ever sent something back at Disney once and that was at a terrible meal at Jiko (a selective experience I think).Chef Sergio came out and we talked about the waffles. He said he didn't know if the mix was a permanent change or a replacement for the Bob's Red Mill temporarily. It was Namaste mix, and I was pretty shocked about this because Disney's Catering used Namaste in all of the items and none of them tasted like this. Plus I use some of their mixes at home! I think it was not knowing how to use it the mix. I was pretty perplexed after this and wanted to know if this was a company wide change. Yikes! Yes, it's GF/DF but not so good on the taste (at least in this version).I headed to the Polynesian later and talked to Chef Johnny at Kona and he assured me that no this was a temporary change for Kouzzina and that the Bob's Red Mill is still there and not going anywhere. Phew! A sign of relief!!Overall, the meal at Kouzzina was still great. Just disappointing about the waffles. Still a solid 8 out of 10! In the future though, I'll be asking restaurants what mix they are using before I get the waffles! Good to know!