Disneyland and Galaxy's Edge

We had travelled to Los Angeles a day ahead of a cruise to the Mexican Riviera.  We stayed at Paradise Pier which is just a few minutes walk from Disneyland.  We arrived at our hotel at 11AM  and our plan was to head to the parks.   First some lunch.  We walked a short ten minutes to Downtown Disney and found The Black Tap which offered craft burgers and beer  - usually a great combination.  I ordered the mexican burger and my wife had the turkey burger.

Mexican burger was very tasty and cooked medium rare.  I am guessing they used a 80/20 blend of beef based on the deep meaty flavor.  The burger was topped with pickled jalapenos and pico de gallo along with a crisp onion ring.  I also got had onion rings on the side.

Mexican Burger with Onion Rings

Most places offer a turkey burger as a throwaway item on the menu.  They use a generic thin patty and then add toppings they think will make sense.  It usually doesn't end well.  At the Black Tap the chef is really forward thinking about respecting the turkey and making a sandwich that is actually worthy of being called a burger.  This was a thick burger made from freshly ground turkey.  And it was still juicy and so flavorful.  Topped with guacamole and a truffle mayo it was very balanced.   The avocado really added the needed fattiness that is missing from most turkey.

Turkey Burger with Roasted Broccoli

Our goal at Disneyland was to focus on Galaxy's Edge.  Unless you have been living under a moon rock on Tatooine, this is the newest theme park at Disneyland.  We wanted to experience the single ride Millenium Falcon: Smugglers Run and some of the food.

Millenium Falcon:  Smuggler's Run

Blue Milk is a creamy smoothie made from coconut and rice.  It is not dairy.  It has the taste of a raspberry Sweet Tart so not overly sweet.  I am glad I tried it but don't think I would order again.

Trying Blue Milk and Galaxy's Edge

If you travel to Disneyland during Halloween, always make sure to get a copy of the list of all the special foods.  They offer mostly sweet items with a few savory.  I decided to try the Frozen Horchata.

Special Halloween Treats  at Disneyland

Frozen Horchata

Galaxy's Edge also has a bar that is supposed to be like the iconic bar from Star Wars.  It is called Oga'a Cantina and offers adult beverages.  There is no blue milk served here.  The cocktails were not great.  I tried the Jet Setter which was a bourbon cocktail with bitters.  Mostly it was a shot of an old fashioned.  My wife had the Jedi Mind Trick which was white tequila with way too much blue curacao.  That one was simply too sweet.  If you have the bars in any of the Star Wars films, they are filled with interesting aliens.  No such aliens here which would have really made this place interesting.   Instead it was really just a bar.

Jet Setter and Jedi Mind Trick

Jet Setter and Jedi Mind Trick

We had flown from Tampa on an early morning flight and we were hitting the wall from the time difference.  We took a ride on the Disneyland train and got off at the Main Street Depot.  If you have never taken the train at Disneyland, it is a great way to rest and just go around the park.  Round trip is about 20 minutes and you get to see some "wildlife" (no spoilers).  As we had started our day at Downtown Disney, we decided to also grab our dinner there.  Ballast Point has some one of my favorite IPAs, called Grapefruit Sculpin.  They have a location at Downtown Disney so we went there for a couple of beers and dinner.  I ordered the kale caesar and California Smoked Amber wings.  My wife had the chipotle chicken wrap.

Kale Caesar with Chicken

California Smoked Amber Wings

Chipotle Chicken Wrap

The caesar was quite flavorful and fresh but had too much dressing for my taste. I also made a mistake adding the chicken since it was generic chicken breast and quite dry.  The wings were my favorite.  I sweet, smokey sauce over mostly drummettes.  They could have been crispier, but I appreciated they were still moist.  Now had that sauce been used to add some spice to the chicken on the salad, it may improved it.  The chipotle chicken wrap had all the items you wold expect in a good burrito served with a very good sized and fresh side salad.

After dinner, we went to the Ballast Point gift store and they had a Sculpin we had not yet tried called Aloha.  We bought a six pack from their fridge and brought it back to our room.  It was so delicious.  Hoppy with just enough tropical fruit flavor to balance it.  I highly recommend the Sculpin series of beers.  I can only get the grapefruit where I live so it was a treat to see this one.

Ballast Point Aloha Sculpin

The next day it was travel day to a cruise from San Pedro port.  We were hanging out in the room until our transfer.  But of course we needed some coffee and a treat. When we travel to new places, I have usually had good luck using Yelp to find places to eat and it was no exception this time.  I found a local chain called Coco's which was only a five minute walk from the hotel.  In addition to two black coffees, I also ordered a chorizo breakfast burrito.  I expected there to be mostly egg and potato with a little chorizo.  What I got was a delicious chorizo bomb of goodness!!!  It was so tasty and plenty for two people to share!!  The chorizo had some crispiness from seared edges and just enough spice to keep you going back for more.   And the fresh avocado was a welcomed creamy surprise.   Well done Coco's!!

Chorizo Breakfast Burrito

We planned to arrive at the port about 2PM to escape the crowds of passengers that would be arriving early.  So instead of having our usual lunch onboard, we headed back to - guess where?  Downtown Disney!!  I had researched this place called Catal when we had planned this trip.  It is a Mediterranean themed restaurant.  If you have read my other blogs, you know I will always gravitate to any dish that has octopus.  And they had octopus and shrimp tostados which was going to be a must have.  We also ordered a machego salad and deviled eggs.

Machego Salad

Deviled Eggs with bacon

Octopus and Shrimp Tostados

The salad was definitely my favorite!!    It had a slightly sweet dressing, large slices of salty and nutty manchego along with sugared pecans and dates.  So much going on in this salad but each item complemented the other.

The deviled eggs were well thought out.  The yolks were creamy and lightly seasoned with salt.  Then topped with crispy chunks of bacon and pickled onions.  Dusted with a little smoked paprika.  Once again a chef who is really thinking about how all the ingredients in a dish can work with or against each other.  And you often do want contrasting ingredients so that your palate stays interested as you go back for more.  Here the crunchy bacon and acid from the onions really worked so well with the creamy yolks.

To my surprise. the octopus tostados was my least favorite dish.  While the chunks of shrimp and octopus were well seasoned, there were too many potatoes which distracted from the seafood.  If I ordered these again, I would ask for no potatoes.