Jiko Interior

*This dining experience took place in October 2013. It includes my gluten free & dairy free review as well as reviews from blog readers Linda & Brandon T. with a gluten and soy free review and gluten free review. Thanks again to Linda & Brandon and their friend Andrea for joining me for dinner!

Picture of open kitchen at Jiko

Jiko: the Cooking Place is located in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House and offers African inspired cuisine at a signature dining location. The interior is set to mimic the African sunset and the lighting aptly changes throughout your dining experience. This location offers terrific gluten free & dairy free offerings and even has special menus for specific dietary needs, making it much easier to order items off the menu. On this particular occasion I visited with several blog readers who also have special dietary needs and really enjoyed the experience with them.

My previous experience at Jiko had been several years ago, and it was bad. And I mean BAD. The worst dining experience I’ve ever had at Disney. Which is unfortunate for a variety of reasons. You can read that review HERE. So needless to say, I was a bit nervous about dining here. It’s been about 3 years, and I figured at this point, hopefully things had improved. Our server discussed drink options with us and then brought over the chef. The chef was very nice & really knowledgeable. He also brought us out special dietary menus, which was very helpful in making decisions about what we might want. It helps not making decisions on the fly when there are so many choices! We were actually able to keep our menus, and I have scanned versions of the gluten free menu HERE and the dairy free menu HERE. I also enjoy being able to match things up & cross reference the sheets quickly. Very handy.

First up, our table split the Taste of Africa sampler. Essentially this is a variety of dips & lentil pappadums. We also received extra pappadums for the table, so we had a lot! I will say that the dip sampler seems a lot stingier than it used to be. It seemed fairly small for the price, and between 3 of us splitting it, we did OK mostly because our entrees came quickly. We did not get a really good description of the dips, but there was a Kalamata olive hummus and several other spicier dips (I think they still have the chermoula and some others). In my opinion, the dip sampler at Sanaa is vastly superior both in taste and in quantity. For $10 you get all the dips at Sanaa which is a lot!

Lentil Pappadums

Taste of Africa sampler

For our entrees, both Linda and I ordered the Maize crusted monkfish. Linda is gluten & soy free, so she was able to get the tomato butter sauce that this dish normally comes with, while mine was prepared dairy free and had a rich tomato sauce. All other components to our dishes were the same.

Gluten free & Dairy free version of maize crusted monkfish

For my part, I will say that I like this dish very much. It was on the menu at my last visit (and what I ended up ordering) and I found it to be quite good. The vegetables were perfectly sauteed and very flavorful. The tomato sauce was nice and light. And the fish was perfectly cooked and very well seasoned. I like the maize crusted coating on it. This is one of those entrees that I would definitely order again.

Gluten free & soy free version of maize crusted monkfish

I know that Linda loved her fish dish and said she really enjoyed it a lot. I was glad that she enjoyed her version as much as I did!

Wonderful dinner with terrific company!

Brandon and Andrea both ordered the Filet Mignon on the menu, which has been known to be very good. Andrea doesn’t have a special diet, but she seemed to really enjoy her entree. Brandon didn’t love his filet, but it just goes to show you that everyone has different tastes and food reviews are certainly relative!

Gluten free beef filet mignon

Brandon also ordered the tomato soup, which he said had a very smoky almost BBQ sauce flavor to it. My guess is that they roast the tomatoes in the wood fired oven.

Tomato soup

For our desserts, I chose the coconut milk panna cotta which was made with soy milk & coconut milk. Linda ordered the flourless chocolate cake. Her dessert looked incredibly rich and delicious!

Flourless chocolate cake

Coconut milk panna cotta

I will say that I wasn’t wowed by my dessert. I found the taste to be a little strange, and I think they could have made a nice tropical mix of fruit with the mango coulis which would have played better with the panna cotta. The plain fresh berries didn’t seem to mix well, in my opinion. I also had a slight stomach ache after dinner, and I wondered if the soy milk might have been Kikkoman (which I heard later that it used to be) and is not gluten free. In general, I wouldn’t order that particular dessert again.

Overall, I did enjoy the meal. I really loved my entree, and I know Linda did too! The appetizer sampler was good, but I think I have been spoiled by Sanaa way too much and have high expectations of a dip sampler. The only thing I really didn’t love was the dessert.

In general, I would definitely visit Jiko again, but my personal preference both for type of food, price, and atmosphere would be Sanaa hands down. This is a great special occasion place to visit, and I very much thank Linda, Brandon, and Andrea for joining me the night before my first 5k (review HERE). It really made the meal special!

As gold sponsor of the 2nd Annual Special Diets Dessert Party weekend, Goldbaums supplied our guests with a variety of terrific goodies to enjoy including their fabulous ice cream cones and their new quinoa crisps. You can imagine the great excitement that guests had to see truly gluten free & dairy free ice cream cones! These were certainly one of the top hits for products at the party weekend.

If you’ve not heard of Goldbaums, you are missing out on a fantastic gluten free & Kosher company. They carry a variety of products, such as natural brown rice pasta, rice & quinoa crisps, soup accompaniments, and gluten free meals, among others. The company makes sure that each product goes through rigorous testing & tasting which means you’re getting the best of the best when it comes to superior gluten free & dairy free products. All of their products are certified Kosher which is another wonderful hallmark of this company.

Cocoa Sugar Cones (my personal favorite)

Perhaps the biggest draw for me was their ice cream cones. Not only are the gluten free, GMO free and vegan but they come in several varieties including traditional vanilla wafer cups and chocolate sugar cones. I’ve never been a sugar cone I didn’t like, and this one exceeded my expectations in all ways. The cocoa sugar cone was the perfect combination of chocolate & sugar cone. Sugar cones are my personal weakness, and to say that I enjoyed these is an understatement. You can bet that I will be heading to my local Winn Dixie (where they carry Goldbaums) to grab more of these. For those that like traditional wafer cones, they will be pleased with the ones that Goldbaums makes. I may be picking up a lot of non-dairy ice cream and making sundaes for a while! It’s a rarity to get a good GF/DF ice cream cone, and this one certainly aims to please. In fact, I would say it was one of the biggest hits at our dessert party weekend festivities! There’s just something about an ice cream cone!

Traditional wafer cones

The other terrific dessert party weekend treats that we had were Goldbaums new quinoa crisps. These were so addicting! Each of our guests were treated to the three flavors of crisps: Onion & Garlic, Sea Salt, and Barbeque. Of course, you know that I had to sample some of these treats (Laurie & I needed pre-event fuel!). I adore the crispy texture of the crisps and the unique flavor. The sea salt is a nice light option which really highlights the quinoa flavor. My personal favorite was the onion & garlic which reminded me of sour cream & onion chips from my gluten & dairy eating days! Only these were much more healthful and free of any items that might make me sick. I’m not always a fan of BBQ chips but these were very mild & had a hint of smokiness. All three were definite winners for me, and I could easily see myself enjoying these as a snack or with my lunch.

Onion & Garlic were my favorites of these!

Goldbaums also supplied a few treats for both Laurie & I to sample. Laurie will be providing her review on her website (http://lauriesadowski.wordpress.com/) as well, so stay tuned for that. The first thing that I eyed that I was beyond excited to try was the Chow Mein Noodles. These are a bit of a staple at many Chinese restaurants, and they really remind me of my childhood. Long have been the days since I’ve been able to eat something like this, and I admit I always kind of crave these when I’m feeling under the weather and make egg drop soup (one of my favorite “under the weather” treats). You can bet this was one of the first things I dug into in the Goldbaums box of treats.

My new favorite soup accompaniment

I made some homemade egg drop soup and opened up that bag of Chow Mein Noodles. They are not only crunchy but they also taste like the ones I remembered from childhood. Added to soup, they were the perfect accompaniment. The didn’t get too soggy and they held up really well to the hot broth. Honestly, it made me just want to make soup over and over again just so I could eat these! I’m hoping that they have these at my local Winn Dixie; otherwise, I’m finding a way to order them online! They will be terrific during the holidays.

Three kinds of flatbread crisps

Next up are the flatbread crisps. These are so good. They make the perfect snack with some non-dairy cheese or meat added to them, or even some Daiya cream cheese! As always, I love garlic & onion flavors and so these were definitely my favorite. They are really sturdy crackers–a bit like Wasa or some other flatbread crisp. I was actually thinking that they might be really good broken up into chunks and put into a party mix (like homemade Chex mix) for the holidays. Now you know what I’m going to be doing this year…

The other item I have on hand is the gluten free brown rice pasta, which I haven’t tried yet. That’s on my list of “to-do’s” this week! Once I have tried this, I will be updating my post here so I can share my thoughts–I have no doubt that it will also be high on my list of items that I enjoy!

Overall, I can’t say enough great things about Goldbaums products. I only wish I had a chance to try all of them! From mini GF/DF croutons to GF/DF Israeli couscous and even their Wonder Meals, I kind of want to try it all.

I know both Laurie & I can’t thank Goldbaums enough for their generous support of our dessert party weekend festivities. We are so honored to have had them as a gold sponsor for our event.

*Note: Goldbaums provided items for this product review; however, this review and the opinions written here are my own thoughts.