This born and raised New England family went to Cape May Cafe for the Clam Bake on Wednesday night. This was by far the worst meal I have ever had on Disney property.
First, It's a Clam Boil, not a bake. Now I knew that going in but you should advertise it properly. I have worked many years on both bakes and boils and know what it takes to make a good one!
Arrived at 6:30 for a 6:50 ADR, not seated until 7:10. second question asked was if we were on the dining plan, No, I using a CM discount and paying OOP.
Seated near the buffet, OK not the best place, but not bad either. I'm not going to take points away for that. server comes over and takes promptly takes drink order. Good Start. Now she asks where I work (she knows that I'm a CM) When I say Bus driver, she starts in on how we caused all these problems trying to get a new contract and how much money we make (NOT). This is NOT what I want to hear at dinner! (besides it was the full time drivers that were against the contract, I'm PT and under a different contract)
Drinks get delivered while we were at the buffet. The salad bar was good with a lot of choices, the ministrone soup was good but the "New England Style Clam Chowder" was not. It may have been NE style to a creole but not to a New Englander. Too many spices that don't belong and way too dark almost a grey instead of a white.
The bread selection was good with different rolls and cornbread with whipped butter.
The Clams.
I have never seen clams that small that were legal for the taking! I'm guessing that they are farm raised fresh water clams. There were two types available, Steamed in water and steamed in a buttery type garlic and tarragon liquid. Maybe that was in attempt to impart some flavor, but it is not my style of clam. DD and I go for the plain clams, corn on the cob and small red potatoes. There was a vat of drawn butter (unsalted - what???) The clams were steamed too long, were rubbery and most has come unattached from the shells meaning you got a lot of empty shells.
The mussels were OK, in two types of broth but they were overcooked as well.
As for the rest of the non-seafood selection:
The ribs were good, the chicken was dry, the prime rib was good. I will give a two thumbs up for the sausage and peppers. A good selection of veggies and potatoes etc. The food that was there was refreshed frequently but that did not help the chicken.
Come time for dessert:
Key Lime tarts, German Chocolate cake, Cheesecakes, Oreo Cookie traets, a strawberry mousse type dessert, hot apple cobbler and an assortment of cookies. Sounds good huh?
It is IF there were desserts out. When I got there, there was a bowl of very tired looking mousse and cold apple cobbler. No tarts, cheesecakes, etc. It took 5 minutes looking for a manager to get the dessert table refreshed. Once refreshed, they were tasty.
Back to our server. I guess the 18% manditory tip added to a CM's bill means she can give exceptionally poor service. She never came back to refresh my iced tea or the other drinks. I had to ask a manager to get more drinks. There were more dirty dishes on our table than I have ever had in any restaurant. She cleaned the table off once the entire meal!
When I asked for the check, it took her 20 minutes to finalize the bill so we could leave. She was more interested in cleaning and setting up more tables than to let me pay the bill. Because of this, we had to choose between Illuminations and Soarin instead of being able to do both.
Overall imperssions.
For a Disney deluxe resort, this was a bad experience. If I want the standard buffet fare, I'll go to Chef Mickeys or Crystal Palace. I went to get something different, BOMA does different well, Cape May Cafe does not.
First, It's a Clam Boil, not a bake. Now I knew that going in but you should advertise it properly. I have worked many years on both bakes and boils and know what it takes to make a good one!
Arrived at 6:30 for a 6:50 ADR, not seated until 7:10. second question asked was if we were on the dining plan, No, I using a CM discount and paying OOP.
Seated near the buffet, OK not the best place, but not bad either. I'm not going to take points away for that. server comes over and takes promptly takes drink order. Good Start. Now she asks where I work (she knows that I'm a CM) When I say Bus driver, she starts in on how we caused all these problems trying to get a new contract and how much money we make (NOT). This is NOT what I want to hear at dinner! (besides it was the full time drivers that were against the contract, I'm PT and under a different contract)
Drinks get delivered while we were at the buffet. The salad bar was good with a lot of choices, the ministrone soup was good but the "New England Style Clam Chowder" was not. It may have been NE style to a creole but not to a New Englander. Too many spices that don't belong and way too dark almost a grey instead of a white.
The bread selection was good with different rolls and cornbread with whipped butter.
The Clams.
I have never seen clams that small that were legal for the taking! I'm guessing that they are farm raised fresh water clams. There were two types available, Steamed in water and steamed in a buttery type garlic and tarragon liquid. Maybe that was in attempt to impart some flavor, but it is not my style of clam. DD and I go for the plain clams, corn on the cob and small red potatoes. There was a vat of drawn butter (unsalted - what???) The clams were steamed too long, were rubbery and most has come unattached from the shells meaning you got a lot of empty shells.
The mussels were OK, in two types of broth but they were overcooked as well.
As for the rest of the non-seafood selection:
The ribs were good, the chicken was dry, the prime rib was good. I will give a two thumbs up for the sausage and peppers. A good selection of veggies and potatoes etc. The food that was there was refreshed frequently but that did not help the chicken.
Come time for dessert:
Key Lime tarts, German Chocolate cake, Cheesecakes, Oreo Cookie traets, a strawberry mousse type dessert, hot apple cobbler and an assortment of cookies. Sounds good huh?
It is IF there were desserts out. When I got there, there was a bowl of very tired looking mousse and cold apple cobbler. No tarts, cheesecakes, etc. It took 5 minutes looking for a manager to get the dessert table refreshed. Once refreshed, they were tasty.
Back to our server. I guess the 18% manditory tip added to a CM's bill means she can give exceptionally poor service. She never came back to refresh my iced tea or the other drinks. I had to ask a manager to get more drinks. There were more dirty dishes on our table than I have ever had in any restaurant. She cleaned the table off once the entire meal!
When I asked for the check, it took her 20 minutes to finalize the bill so we could leave. She was more interested in cleaning and setting up more tables than to let me pay the bill. Because of this, we had to choose between Illuminations and Soarin instead of being able to do both.
Overall imperssions.
For a Disney deluxe resort, this was a bad experience. If I want the standard buffet fare, I'll go to Chef Mickeys or Crystal Palace. I went to get something different, BOMA does different well, Cape May Cafe does not.
