Presidents week reviews. All Done 2/28.

[jpolak]

Well were home:sad1: , but we had a great time. And did we eat. The cast consisted of me, DW and DD who is 3 1/2 (and don't forget the half). We tried the dining plan this time and it worked out great. I was nervous about service since tip is already included but thankfully that was never an issue. This trip we trip a couple of new places as well as some old favorites. We ate at 'Ohana, Le Cellier, Turf Club Bar and Grill, Crystal Palace (breakfast) PSB in Norway, LTT (dinner), and 1900 Park Fare. For counter service we tried Pecos Bill, ABC commisarry, and Artist Pallete. So lets get started.

2/18 'Ohana- This was our arrival day so since we do not go to any of the parks we thought we would try something new that we could take our time and enjoy. Now DW and I tried this place over 10 years ago and hated it. We thought the food was bad and the "entertainment" was cheesy, but after many trips and one DD later we thoiught we'd give it another go. I am glad we did. We checked in early for a 5:40 adr and were seated in under 10 min. Which was great because we were starving. Our "cousins" that night were great. The fried wontons and and dipping sauce were delicious. Our cousin ran all over the place looking for anything sweet that DD could dip hers in. The salad (yes salad) was alos very good but took a bacseat as soon as they brought out the honey-coriander chicken wings:thumbsup2 . Those were fantastic. Even DD was eating them. I really liked the spicy-sweet and sour shrimp, but DW was less than thrilled (not really a fish fan anyway :confused3 ). Let us not forget about the cheesey scalloped potatoes. I could have made a meal out of those alone. Unfortunately by this time we were getting pretty full and we haven't even gotten to the skewers. Which were delicious. I liked that the meat was simply seasoned and grilled not dripping in sauce. I loved them all, DW liked the pork the best. DD liked her mac and cheese and the grilled turkey. She also loved getting up to participate in the parades, cocnut races, and doing the hula. Now lets talk dessert. I do not eat bread pudding ever, but the bread pudding a la mode with Bananas Foster Sauce was out of this world. Thant was the one thing I really wished they came around with more of:goodvibes .

Coming soon. Can Le Cellier live up to the Disboard hype?

[heatherlynn444]

great start :thumbsup2 thanks for sharing

[jpolak]

2/19 Le Cellier- After reading som much about this place adn reviewing the menu on allearsnet I knew we had to try this place. I do have to say it was here were I had the most dreaded of all experiences. No not an over cooked steak or even a terrible waiter it was none other then food envy:scared1: . More on that affliction in a minute. We checked in and were seated in under 5 minutes. Enjoyed our little geography lesson on Canada and got down to business. I am not afraid to admit it, I like a good beer, so when I saw Unibroue on the menu I was very happy. For apps I order the mussels and if I were at home I would have licked the bowl clean. I mean OMG they were the best mussels I have ever had. DW ordered a salad:confused3 and loved it:confused3 :confused3 . We were excitied to see something different on the menu for DD. Beef & macaroni is one of her favs, but when daddy makes it we call it beff-a-roni (yes from scratch not that stuff in a can). DD was quick to point out that it was better than mine( I'm not sharing dessert with her). DW "convinced" DD to try the cheese soup as an app and we are glad we did. She hated it but we both wanted to try it and the small portion was perfect for a taste. Niether one of us thought we could eat a big bowl of it. Now to the food envy. Since the day I made the adr I knew I was getting the Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon. I really do not know what happened to me. Maybe it was the Unibroue, but DW I got the Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon and I ordered the 7oz filet not reading that it is covered in maple barbecue sauce. NOw do not get me wrong the steak was good and cooked perfectly, but the Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon was sooo much better. The mushroom risotto was to die for. Fortunately for me DW really did enjoy her salad and could'nt finish her meal so I got to have a decent amount of hers. For desert I had some chocolate mousse thing coverd in chocolate that looked like a moose. It was really good and I am not a mousse fan. DW who is a dessert expert ordered this chocolate cake which I thought was very good, but she wasn't crazy about. DD loved making her own sundae and eating all of the toppings. And yes I did let DD have some of the mousse moose. What really impressed me about this place was the service. They were very friendly, accomadating and almost proud to be working there. It really was a nice experience. And please help fight food envy, order what you really want to have, not so you can "have a taste of everything".

[TigerKat]

Another fan of those mussels here!:thumbsup2 I thought they were the best thing I ate all week!!!!!

[Epcotgal]

I'm enjoying your reviews. Kee 'em coming. Thanks.

[jonesmatNY]

We just finished up 10 days on the meal plan, Le Cellier was the best! I want to know if you weighed yourself before you left, and then weighed yourself when you got back? I strarted a diet on 1/1 and lost 22lbs, up to the day before I left, tomorrow, as part of our office pool, I weigh in again, and believe me I am very afraid. It was a ton of food to eat, but worth every calorie.

[Minniespal]

Enjoying reading your reviews ~ Looking forward to more:thumbsup2

[jpolak]

We just finished up 10 days on the meal plan, Le Cellier was the best! I want to know if you weighed yourself before you left, and then weighed yourself when you got back? I strarted a diet on 1/1 and lost 22lbs, up to the day before I left, tomorrow, as part of our office pool, I weigh in again, and believe me I am very afraid. It was a ton of food to eat, but worth every calorie.

I think having DD on my shoulders for most of the trip helped. I only gained two pounds after six days of the DDP.:thumbsup2

[jpolak]

On to the Turf Club Bar and Grill (TC).- We decided to try this place because: A. It was new and B. It was located at our resort. Since we were staying in the Paddock and going to DTD afterwards we decided to drive to TC. TC is very nicely decorated and seemed like a nice place. They had mussels on the menu for an app, but I figured after Le Cellier they would be a disappointment. So I went with the fried calamari. Good choice it come wiht two dipping sauces, aioli and spicy marinara sauce. I like spicy but I think they over did it a bit with the marinara sauce. Mixed in wiht the calamari was fried pepperchini. Very good. DW opted for the crab cakes wich were delicious. All crab and very little breading.:thumbsup2 . DD went wiht Disney's version of beef-a-roni, so she was very happy. For dinner DW and I both had the Grilled Top Sirloin Steak topped with Blue Cheese, portobello mushrooms and balsamic-port glaze. The steak was very good, although for me the blue cheese got to be a bit much. If you really like mushrooms (we do), prepare to be disappointed. The steak came with four of the smallest strips of portabello I have ever seen. Now for dessert, I had New York style cheesecake and DW had the Chocolate Lava Cake. Both were very good. Just a word of warning the lava cake takes about 15 minutes to make so order wisely. The biggest negative to this place is the lack of a bathroom in the restaruant. You have to go outside, down the stairs through the pro-shop.:confused3 For those of us who are traveling with kids who need to go what seems like every 5 minutes it is real hassle. DW & DD went and as soon as they left dinner came out. So, as good as dinner was I am sure it would have been better when it was hot.

Coming soon: Breakfast with Pooh & friends.

[MicheinMA]

Great reviews, thanks for sharing :thumbsup2 Can't wait to read the rest!

[disneyfan551]

Super reviews! Bring on the rest! ;)

[jpolak]

After our last trip in August we decided not to do so many breakfasts. Which was a real tough decision considering that DW and I love a good breakfast. So we only kept our favorite two. Crystal Palace and PSB in Norway.

2/20-Crystal Palace. After arriving at MK for rope drop, riding BTM 2x, and taking a couple of spins on the magic carpets we were ready to eat. We checked in early and were seated almost immediately. DD & DW went up to the buffet first while I waited at the table. After waiting for a while I asked the server if she thought it would be okay if I left my stuff and went up to get food. She said I should wait because they had incidents of stealing :mad:. So I waited and waited. DW finally made it back to the table and was delayed by indecisive diners, and re-filling of food. I mean whats to be indecisive about? It's a buffet, try a little of everything. Well thats at least my strategy. My fav is still the breakfast pizza on the kids table, combine that with a couple of helpings of biscuits and gravy and you have yourself a good base. The veggie fritata was excellant as well as the french toast. Just when you think it's safe DW comes to the table with a pastry sampler platter.:banana: Yum. DD had a blast marching Tigger, and ate like a champ. So after we were throughly stuffed we made our way over to splsh mtn. We figured the extra weight we added would spped up the drop.

Next up: Dinner wiht our Patriot pals at LTT.

[chuckcorden]

As someone who is also staying at SSR, I was interested in your review of the Turf Club. I may have lunch there on my first day (while I'm waiting to check in) but I'm glad I didn't waste an ADR on it. I do enjoy your reviews and will be interested in what you say about the Liberty Tree.:surfweb: I've eaten there before and enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.

I'm surprised a NYY fan can be so discerning as to have "Patriot Pals." (This is from a big fan of any team in Beantown---Y'know I'm a Chowdah head.:rotfl2: )

I'll be giving my reviews in early April. I have ADRs for Coral Reef, Liberty Tree Tavern, Restaurant Marrakesh, Mama Melrose's, Cape May Cafe, and Boma. All but LTT are for dinner under the dining plan. A somewhat eclectic group, I think.:cool1:

[huggiebear23]

Hey Fellow Yankee Fan and long islander!! Great reviews so far. :yay:

[tadamom]

Loving it!! We are staying at Saratoga too and are planning on eating at Artist Palette for lunch one day and Turf Club one night! Glad you mentioned that about the bathrooms at TC b/c my 2 year old is potty training and that much travel to the restroom will be no fun for anyone that is taking her!!

[disnut1149]

Hi
I'm enjoying your reviews. I'm anxious to here your review on PSB. We're going there for the first time in August. Thanks for sharing.

[jpolak]

I'm surprised a NYY fan can be so discerning as to have "Patriot Pals." (This is from a big fan of any team in Beantown---Y'know I'm a Chowdah head.:rotfl2: )

Patriots I can deal with, now the sox:headache: thats a whole different story. Lets move on to LTT. We checked in and were seated promptly towards the front. Our server was very friendly, took our drink orders and returned quickly with them and our salad. Now I am not the salad fan that DW is but it was very good. I do wish they wouldn't drown it in so much dressing. I mean yes it's good, but lets save some for the other guests. Seated next to us was a two tables that made up one party. They were very nice, but dominated the space and our waiters attention. LTT is essentially a buffet. They are making the same thing all night for every table so the food should not take as long as it did to come out as it did for us. Well the two table party were trying to surprise someone for their birthday and our waiter felt it his duty to wait and hide for the perfect moment to bring out the cake. So after the impromptu surprise party the service picked up. We like this place because it's real food. No burgers and fries(not that I have anything against them), it's comfort food. Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy. The beef did seem a bit dry and I wasn't as crazy about the ham as DD & DW were. I enjoyed the turkey best. Then you wrap the whole thing up with warm apple cobbler with ice cream. The characters here are also very good. DD is still a bit scared of them and they do very good job of interacting without being to intrusive. So after liberating our appetites we were off to see what kind of trouble that Donald could get himself into.
Coming soon: It's off to Norway and the land of the Princesses.:thumbsup2

[chuckcorden]

Patriots I can deal with, now the sox:headache: thats a whole different story.

OK, I won 't mention 2004.:cheer2: Your review of LTT was right on. I had the Declaration Salad with the strawberry vinigarette (sp?) which was one of the best salads that I have ever had. I followed that with the Pilgrim's Feast which was, well, a turkey dinner. Good, but nothing special. I also had the warm cobbler which was very good. Grades: Salad A+, Entree B, Dessert A-.

I'm going again in late March.

Keep the reviews coming, but you know that you are making the wait for my arrival in WDW unbearable.:hourglass

[jpolak]

OK, I won 't mention 2004.:cheer2:

:sad1: :sad1:

Now lets talk about the PSB. We have gone to PSB every trip that DD has made, so this makes our fourth time there. After Soarin adn Nemo we were read to eat. We arrived about a half hour early for our adr and were told we would have to wait the entire time. Fortunately that was not the case. We were seated about ten minutes later. We saw Belle when we came in and all of the other Princesses came by early in the meal. Nothing is worse than a princess showing up while you have a mouth full of food. Now they changed this place a little since our last visit in August. They still bring the skillet to the table, but they have a small buffet area with pastry and fruit. The sticky buns they have there are in my opinion the best, and with a cup of coffee could be a meal. The breakfast skillet is standard fare. Eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, and those cheesey potatoes. The food was very good and the service was much better than we have had in the past. For some reason we always had a long wait to get the check or to sign the receipt. This time it was better, not great just better. This continues to be a fav, but if they ever get rid of those sticky buns it's off the list.

Up next: Dinner at 1900 Park Fare.

[TruBlu]

Great so far! I can't wait to hear about 1900PF. We are trying it for the first time this year. Do you think my boys will like it??? :confused3

[Disneyolic]

Excellent reviews...thank you.

[jpolak]

Great so far! I can't wait to hear about 1900PF. We are trying it for the first time this year. Do you think my boys will like it??? :confused3

It may be a little "girlie" for them. Lets review, shall we?

We were hesitant to try 1900 Park Fare again since we really were not crazy about it in August, but DD wanted to see Cindy so what choice did we really have? I am gald she did becuase we really were pleasantly surprised. We arrived on time(amazing) and were seated almost immediately. We stopped in and met with the Fairy Godmother and were led to our table. They had two pasta stations. One was a penne in a red suace with artichokes, very good. The other was penne in a cream sauce with shrimp and asparagus, very very good. DW loves the strawberry soup and I refuse to try it. The salmon was excellant and so was the chicken marsala. The carving stations featured prime rib and turkey, both were very tasty. My favorite was probably the spring rolls with the spicy duck suace. So all in all we had a very pleasant dinner. DD was blown away by the fact that Cinderella and PC came by to say good bye and remembered her name:wizard: . I am glad we had such a good time considering this was our last sit down meal of the trip:sad2: .

Up next: How many times can one family eat at Artist Pallete? And a quick review of Pecos Bill and the ABC Comissary.

[TruBlu]

It may be a little "girlie" for them.
Well they are going to just have to deal with it! Mom wants to eat with Cinderella!:rotfl: (And the food sounds fantastic!)

DS5 has a huge crush on Cindy, so I think we will be OK.

Again, thanks for the great review!!! :goodvibes

[ufgator]

Thanks for your reviews so far.

[disneyfav4ever]

I'm glad to read such a positive review of 1900 Park Fare since I just added that to my fall trip. :goodvibes I hope my meal is just as nice as yours was.

[disnut1149]

Thanks again for your reviews. We loved 1900 Park Fare. We'd go there again this August, but it's going to be closed, under rehab, while we're there. That's why we thought we'd try PSB. My DGD is 4 and can never get enough princesses!!

[kaceyisme]

Thanks again for your reviews. We loved 1900 Park Fare. We'd go there again this August, but it's going to be closed, under rehab, while we're there. That's why we thought we'd try PSB. My DGD is 4 and can never get enough princesses!!

We just ate at 1900 Park Fare for the first time, and liked it so much that we decided to add it to our list for August. When I called for an ADR , they told me it was closed, but they would be serving the character meal at the Grand Floridian Cafe, so we made the ADR for there.

[chuckcorden]

Now lets talk about the PSB. We have gone to PSB every trip that DD has made, so this makes our fourth time there.

I have to confess that PSB threw me.:confused3 But after searching through all the restaurants in the Unofficial Guide and the list of restaurants (both TS and CS) under the dining plan it finally came to me. Princess StoryBook Meals at the Akershus.

I've been to Akershus and enjoyed the food immensely. (Part of my heritage is Scandanavian). But I was not familiar with PSB. My own kiddos are now in their twenties and having their own children and my grandchildren are too young (we're talking months, not years:laundy: ) to take to WDW much less PSB.

Thanks, and keep the reviews coming.:cool1:

[jpolak]

Well all we have left to talk about are our counter service meals. So this should be easy.
Pecos Bill -After a light snack in the room and running around the MK all morning we were ready for some lunch. Considering we just finished splash mtn, Pecos Bill seemed like the obvious choice. We do like this place, good burgers and a giant fixins bar you can't go wrong. We all had bugers of differnt sizes. I opted for the double bacon cheese burger (when going for a burger, go for a burger:thumbsup2 ). DW had 1/4-Pound Cheeseburger, and DD had the same. Now, we were either starved or these were the best burgers we have ever had because we inhaled them. With the DDP we all got a dessert. The brownies were very good and DW saved the fruit cup for a light snack the next morning.

ABC Commissary-We have been here before and I have always gotten the fish and chips, but this trip we switched it up a bit. DW go tthem this time and they did not disappoint. I had made up my mind that I was going to try the cuban sandwich. I am glad I did. I do not know what makes this a cuban sandwich but it was fantastic. DD always a fan of a goo chicken nugget was also pleased.

Artists Pallete-We had been pretty much on the go (with the exception of our midday break) since Monday that by Thursday mid day we were done. We decided to relax at SSR and use the pool for the last day and a half. That meant a lot of time at AP. AP actually had a pretty good selection for meals. For breakfast DD and I had the breakfast platters. Both had eggs, bacon, suasage, potatoes, and a biscuit. DW had the western omelet (sp?) plate. We all were very happy. Me especially because DW shared the omelet. We spent the day by the pool and broke for lunch. I had the Turkey Caesar Sandwich. Very good. DW went with Roasted Vegetable Sandwich. Which she liked, but thought the word roasted implied it would be served hot. It wasn't. DD went out on a limb and had chicken nuggets. Which as far as nuggets go were actually pretty good. Before heading to DTD for a last hoorah we went back to AP for dinner. I had the pepperoni flat bread, which I highly reccommend. DW had yet another salad.:confused3 Although this one came with roasted chicken and a very tasty ceasar dressing:) . DD expanded her culinary repitiore and went with her old stand by of mac-n-cheese. For dessert they make the best chocloate chip cookies there. They come out hot, and are huge. They are worth going there to try. One last thing, they have avery good system at AP. When you place your order the give you a buzzer so don't have to stand a round and wait. You can go get your drinks and pay while you wait.

All in all we really had a good time and many good meals:goodvibes . This was our first time using the DDP and we ate like kings and made out like bandits. I hope this was helpful, informative, and maybe fun to read. If you have a specific question I will gladly answer it later, but for some reason I'm starving.:rotfl:

[seetheworld]

WOW, what great reviews! You did an AWESOME job! I LOVED reading your post - thank you VERY much!
:thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2

[kdkbrebel]

Thanks for the reviews.:)

[disnut1149]

We just ate at 1900 Park Fare for the first time, and liked it so much that we decided to add it to our list for August. When I called for an ADR , they told me it was closed, but they would be serving the character meal at the Grand Floridian Cafe, so we made the ADR for there.

Thanks for the info. We decided to stick with PSB since it will be something new for us to try. Also, The Cafe is a preplated meal. It's not a buffet and I think a buffet will be better for our group.

[Desnik]

Thanks for the reviews! I really enjoyed reading them all. You made 1900 Park Fare sound so good. We had been there before and had a bad experience but maybe we'll give it another try.

I was glad to read your review of the Turf Club restaurant. We are DVC'ers and SSR is our home resort. But we have not tried this place yet. Glad you liked Artist Palette we love it, I especially like the flat bread pizza too!!

We will be using the DDP for the first time in April. Good to see you feel like you got your moneys worth.

BTW, glad to see a felllow NY'er and Yankees fan on the boards!;)

[dawgfan]

Thanks for the review!