Land of the Rising Construction Walls…
August 15, 2011
Yes, dear Dedicated Readers, it’s time for more construction wall fun from WDW… but this time we have some really good info (at least we hope it’s good, and accurate) about what’s to come behind them…
We’ll be talking about one of my favorite places: the Japan pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase – and let’s start by going back a few weeks when some walls actually came down…
As we noted in the last “Epcot odds and ends…”post, the former Kakigori stand had been behind construction walls and recently those came down to reveal the new Kabuki Cafe. At that time the stand hadn’t opened for service, but there were menus posted.
Most notable on this “provisional” menu was the inclusion of several savory items: Wafu Ribs (as served at the Food & Wine Festival last year), Karaage (Japanese fried chicken), Miso Soup, Edamame, and a few Sushi options… sounds interesting, huh?
Well… maybe not…
So less than a week after we were there and saw the not-yet-open venue, the Kabuki Cafe started serving, so we made our way there to check out the offerings…
When we checked the menu to decide what we were going to start with, we saw this:
What the flip? Where are my ribs? No fried chicken? Sans Sushi?…. Only new non-sweet items are the Miso Soup (which we sampled, fine but nothing extraordinary, will be nice on a cool winter evening…) and the Edamame…
So at that time we had really no idea what had happened to the menu, but more on that later…
So a week or so ago (as we draft this post) Miss Bonnie broke the news to me that the Yakitori House in Japan was to be closed and undergoing a three month refurb…
I have enjoyed many meals there, gladly slurping Soba and quaffing a Kirin, this is (now was, as we shall see) perhaps my favorite quick-service eatery in all of Walt Disney World…
This past weekend, the partial Harem made it’s way around World Showcase, and after a couple of stops (La Cava, of course) we came upon Japan…
And yes, construction walls abounded…
Much of the left-hand part of the pavilion is now behind walls…
The walls start at the pagoda, and from the koi pond up to the restaurant on the hill is all now (at least somewhat) under wraps…
And with the closing of the Yakatori House, comes the (at least temporary) opening of a couple food venues…
Along the waterfront is an early inclusion of the Food & Wine Festival Japan kiosk…
for the time being they are serving a limited version of the Yakatori House menu…
but when Food & Wine starts, they will change it the the special menu for the festival.
Near the Mitsukoshi store is a cart now selling beverages and snacks (several versions of fried peas – I love them Wasabi Peas for sure!).
So, what’s the deal? What’s going on behind the walls?
My friends, let’s look forward to the unveiling of Katsura Gardens…
The former Yakatori House will become Katsura Grill (but the menu will stay basically the same style), and the area on the hill will be made brighter and redone as the Katsura Gardens… not for sure, but the area just past (to the left of) the new Kabuki Cafe may also be redone and allow wheelchair access to the area.
August 27, 2011 at 1:02 pm
[…] new, I snapped some shots of them on Tuesday. Andy over at Eating (and Drinking) around the World recently posted them, and AJ at Disney Food Blog has been keeping up with the changes across the way at Kabuki […]
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August 28, 2011 at 7:06 pm
[…] over at Eating (and Drinking) Around WDW got the inside scoop on a bunch of news coming out of the Japan pavilion in Epcot! Here are the […]
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August 28, 2011 at 10:39 pm
[…] Eating Around Walt Disney World Blog has uncovered some new details about the unannounced 3-month closure of the Yakitori House counter […]
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October 28, 2011 at 6:06 pm
[…] Construction continues in Japan on the soon-to-come Katsura Gardens… […]
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January 23, 2012 at 1:17 am
[…] in August of last year we gave you the skinny on the up-coming changes to the landscape of the Japan pavilion. As the Yakitori House and the […]
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May 3, 2012 at 1:33 am
[…] stopped by Katsura Grill in Japan for something to ease the soon-to-be-rumblings in our respective […]
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October 6, 2012 at 12:57 am
[…] disappear just days later when they actually started serving (for details go and read, or re-read, Land of the Rising Construction Walls…). I was told these items were being served only on weekends, and only during the Food and Wine […]
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April 15, 2013 at 3:23 pm
[…] Eating Around Walt Disney World Blog has uncovered some new details about the unannounced 3-month closure of the Yakitori House counter […]
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July 14, 2013 at 10:47 pm
[…] these were missing… (you can go back and read all the details and intrigue in the post “Land of the Rising Construction Walls…“). Since then they have primarily provided flavored shaved ice, ice cream and beverages, but […]
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