Jiko The Cooking Place: 7 Best Foods to Try
Jiko - The Cooking Place, is a signature fine dining experience at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom Lodge in the Jambo House. In this review we will briefly cover our total experience including food quality, uniqueness of the restaurant and atmosphere. Most importantly, we reveal the answer to this question, “Does it have Disney magic?”. Let’s find out!
Let me begin with telling the end from the beginning. This place is fantastic. To reveal this upfront may not be good for keeping people on a blog longer; but no matter, it is better for the reader’s sense of direction. Why is it fantastic? Let’s start with the food.
If you are familiar with Disney restaurants, I would liken Jiko to a cross somewhere between Citricos and Tiffins. This is a good thing for the causal American and “foodies” alike. Tiffins has a tendency to really push the envelope as far as food selection and flavoring goes. Like Sanaa, Tiffins may have selections that the average un-adventurous person may not like. Citricos on the other hand has minimal worries here. If you like steak, chicken, seafood or things in similar fashion, you’ll be fine. It’s simply great food with a gourmet twist. This is where Jiko comes in. If you like reliable favorites - it’s here. If you want a twist on the normal - that’s here too! This makes Jiko come in at a place where you don’t need to worry about finding something you’ll like and gives you get that sense of culinary adventure you crave at the same time.
Above are two types of bread that are served with goat butter topped with black salt. On the left is giraffe bread. By rolling the dough in rice flour, the texture of the bread resembles the pattern of a giraffe. This selection is less dense and has more fluff. We think this was a great choice by the chef here. On the right is a flat bread common to Egypt. This is decidedly on the denser side of the two giving you a variety of textures.. It was delicious, and we found it to be one of those “dangerous” foods that get better the more you eat.
Pictured above is the Braised Wild Boar Tenderloin. A fantastic appetizer - yes it says wild boar and is spelled funny. Don’t be thrown by the name. There isn’t a hint of “gamey” taste to it, in fact you will find it to be a cross between a tender cut of steak and a smoked pork brisket. It is served with creamy pap, chakalaka tomatoes and herb-smoked oil.
I chose the Sweet Potato-Groundnut Soup for my personal (non-sharing) choice. I love cream based soups so I was ecstatic to try this one. There is definitely a kick in some bites that come from the pickled red excited - but it’s not unbearably strong and won’t leave you grabbing for your water. There is definitely an “earthy” flavor to this and whether or not it is for you may be determined by your like of cream based soups. I personally like it almost as well as the butternut squash soup at The Brown Derby for reference.
The sustainable fish option is currently grouper. It is finished with winter spiced potato, persimmon-cranberry greens, citrus yogurt and fruit relish. If you are newer to the Disney fine dining scene the foods, garnishes and seasonings may often seem like odd pairings. When I have thought this I have found it to be a good practice to forget what I have read and let my taste buds decide. The pairings were wonderful & perfected that sense of “adventurous fooding” with reliable consistency that average Americans are accustomed to.
Another option, that I think is the best on the menu, is the Oak-grilled Filet Mignon. It comes naturally with four-cheese macaroni and spiced brussels sprouts. I have tried brussels sprouts in various settings - I just hate them no matter how they are served. So my substitute was mashed potatoes (on the side). The steak is covered in bone marrow butter and is plated atop a chocolate-red wine demi glacé. To be honest this is one of the best filet dishes on property in my opinion, second only to Shula’s steakhouse (Victoria’s & Albert’s restaurant is never included in property comparisons because of its exclusive dining status).
As a general rule in life about dessert, two principles have never let me down. The first is, if it’s chocolate it’s probably good. The second is, if it has a cool name, they have likely spent as much time perfecting the dessert as they have the name so it’s probably good. Enter the Kilimanjaro - which is both chocolate and reminiscent of Mt. Kilimanjaro in it’s height. Or maybe it’s named after one of my favorite AK rides. With a touch of light-hearted humor and absolute certainty that this theory actually works, once again, it proved to be right. Ghanaian dark chocolate mousse, pistachio financier, pink peppercorn meringue, cocoa nib crunch, Ras el Hanout Pineapples. But don’t worry about all those ingredients if they throw you off, just try it. The chefs here are a master at food parings.
The first picture under the title with the restaurant’s name on it is the Melktert dessert. A South African take on cheesecake made with custard and a crumb crust.
Now what about the view? Inside - elegance. Outside you will be able to explore all the wonder’s of what makes AKL - Animal Kingdom Lodge. The concept of having a working wild life savannah outside of your hotel is truly revolutionary. If you don’t like the Jambo house just take a quick bus over to Kidani Village. This isn’t a long bus ride like going to the parks but a shuttle that runs about every 10 minutes. You can also walk between the two “villages” in that amount of time using a brisk walking pace.
The atmosphere in Jiko is exactly what I expected. A nice ambience with appropriate spacing between tables. Beautifully designed to capture the heart of Africa and elegance at the same time. As soon as you arrive at your table you are given a hot towel infused with rosewater to honor their tradition of cleaning your hands before a meal. This is a beautiful example of blending the heart of Africa and elegance together and another shining example of why imagineers are the most important part of Disney!
How would we rate Jiko?
Adults 9/10 - it’s hard for us to find anything wrong with Jiko. However, the menu may be more adventurous than others would like.
Kids 6/10 - Children just do not like great food. They like chicken fingers and fries. Jiko has a great kids menu - but the rating is due to theming that appeals more to adults than kids. However, if your children LOVE animals, and they are ok with going outside to see them then the proximity of Jiko may raise this score up a couple of numbers!
