Picky eaters return to WDW! Garden View Tea - what a bummer added

[Minnie]

I can’t believe our trip is over already. We ate in some fabulous and some well not so terrific restaurants. One that gets extremely mixed reviews was one our favorites and another that gets consistent wonderful reviews was in my opinion a very large waste of money.

A list of the restaurants we ate in is as follows. If anyone wants specifics on any of them please let me know.

Table Service:
LeCellier
Coral Reef
Beaches ‘n Crème
Mama Melrose
Whispering Canyon
Liberty Tree Tavern
Crystal Palace
Grand Floridian Afternoon Tea
O’Hana

Counter Service:
Mara’s
Pizzafari
Fantasmic! quick service
Captain Cook’s
Roaring Forks

 

[disneykidz4]

Am wondering how Whispering Canyon Cafe was? I have seen some pretty rough reviews lately . . . Also, O'hana - apparently some inconsistencies with service and food . . . I have to choose between the two - maybe you might suggest some other ideas?

I also have to choose between Liberty Tree Tavern and Crystal Palace for dinner -can you help me out here?

Thanks!

 

[Lauren101]

Hi,

I am interested in what you thought of both Coral Reef and Mama Melrose as we have booked both these for our August trip - and have read very mixed reports on both!

Thanks!

 

[Ellasgirls]

Another one wondering about Whispering Canyon...I changed from Prime Time Cafe to this because we had such a great time but am now a little worried due to current reviews....

 

[Minnie]

Hmmmm, I think I’ll start at the top of the list and work my way down through the table service restaurants.
Now keep in mind as you read that this review will be written by probably the pickiest eater ever to enter under the hallowed WDW sign and the other two on the trip (my mom and son (13)) are nearly as bad. In other words…. Your mileage may vary.

LeCellier

I chose LeCellier for a couple reasons. (1) we’ve never had a bad meal there and (2) we needed to go to Epcot to pick up our APs and DDE card (which we did not get since the reception was a bit on the snooty side to say the least) . This was our first day in WDW and we were starving after being up since 4am to go to the airport. My mouth was watering for the pretzel bread and the French Dip. Much to my dismay the restaurant has changed their menu and taken the French Dip off the menu So now what to do???? We ended up with the following:

Son - ordered off the child’s menu, which we had no problem doing and got a cheese pizza and carrot sticks.

My mom - open-faced sirloin steak sandwich minus the caponata (yuck).

Me - mixed field greens appetizer salad minus the blue cheese (another yuck).

Now the method to our madness was that mom and I would share what we ordered though I have to admit we probably could have done without one of the meals as I could easily fill up on the yummy pretzel bread. Oh my mouth waters now just thinking about it…… Sorry about the pause had to pick by tongue back up off the desk.

Now son the cheese pizza and the carrot sticks hit the spot and wait for it…. Didn’t want desert! What kind of child did I raise????? Oh well we fought over the pretzel bread and that was about it for him.

The salad was very good though it was mainly greens with a yummy shallot dressing. Now who in their right minds would ever try a shallot dressing… but this picky eater has to admit the “world” has some of the best dressings ever!

The open-faced steak sandwich was something in which dreams are made. We had it well done… cause who eats steak that is pink – yuck! Anyways…. I would have never thought to but cheese on a steak but boy was it good. I’m going to try to recreate that one at home if I can find the right cheese at the grocery - melted provolone.

Now by this point buttons were starting to pop so even though I really wanted the Creme Brulee Sampler I knew that I’d better stop. Next time I think I’ll just have the pretzel bread and dessert and maybe “share” with mom again.

Next up Coral Reef and what the heck is on mom’s plate???????

 

[Busymom85]

Thanks for the review. Look forward to more.

 

[danjoan14]

Do you know if the dinner menu on allearsnet is the correct menu for the CR? I've read they do have prime rib for dinner. Some say they don't. Do they have the grilled pork chops and chicken?

 

[natalielongstaff]

great review

 

[wilma-bride]

Sounds great - really looking forward to Le cellier next month. And I am a seriously picky eater

 

[disneymom2twins]

Finally! My soul mate when it comes to food.

Blue Cheese yuck - CHECK
Pink Steak - CHECK

I normally would not each shallot dressing either, but now, I may try it

 

[Minnie]

Thanks for the review. Look forward to more.

Thank you for replying! I'll have the next one up shortly.

Do you know if the dinner menu on allearsnet is the correct menu for the CR? I've read they do have prime rib for dinner. Some say they don't. Do they have the grilled pork chops and chicken?

I'm sorry but we only went for lunch. I do know that they have a steak dish and a chicken dish at dinner but I'm not sure which ones. My Coral Reef review will be up next.

great review

Thank you!

Sounds great - really looking forward to Le cellier next month. And I am a seriously picky eater

You will Le Cellier. Definitely a must do for a picky eater!

Finally! My soul mate when it comes to food.

Blue Cheese yuck - CHECK
Pink Steak - CHECK

I normally would not each shallot dressing either, but now, I may try it

I normally get laughed at for my pickiness but I've been this way since I was a child and not much has changed since. Glad to see I'm not the only one!

BTW - I have found the dressings at WDW to be superb. I'll be writing about a couple more later on.

Thanks for reading everyone! I'll have the Coral Reef review up shortly

 

[TigerKat]

Enjoying your reviews. Can't wait to find out what was on Mom's plate at Coral Reef!

 

[Minnie]

Now this is a restaurant we’ve always steered clear of, after all this picky eater thinks fish should only be eaten if it’s Chicken of the Sea tuna with a dap of miracle whip. The rest of it… nope don’t think so. However, I’ve always been intrigued by the Chocolate Wave desert that is raved upon here on the Dis – though the restaurant itself gets very mixed reviews to say the least. I also found out that the restaurant had a couple non-fish entrees on the menu so I knew I wouldn’t go hungry

Still though I didn’t make an ADR because I just wasn’t sure we would be adventurous enough to try it and if there would be anything for Stitch to eat as he only eats fish if it’s in the form of fish sticks or popcorn shrimp. Well thankfully, they do have a child’s menu with you guessed it – pizza - so we decided to see if they had room for 3 and yep no problem-o. However, I failed to ask a simple question – how long would we have to wait?????? It ended up being quite a while but it was soooo freaking hot outside that we waited

We ended up with a marvelous tank side table that my son loved. I didn’t request this since we didn’t have ADRs and just figured we’d take what we could get. At one point, a diver went by and my son was thrilled. We also had a sleeping sea turtle right by our table for most of the time and several sharks and schools of fish came by. The glasses our pop came in were so cool; blue glass with a plastic dolphin on the side to keep.

Now with only 1 review in so far can you possibly guess which entrée my son decided on? I’ll give you a hint…. Review the LeCellier review. He had the pepperoni pizza from the child’s menu, which we asked for and easily received. Since he didn’t want sides with it, the CM offered to let us pay ala cart so it worked out great. He had this along with the bread that came with our meal, which he loved.

I ordered the Grilled New York Strip (well done of course) - served with potatoes au gratin, beef demi-glace, and broccoli (double yuck) which I had left off. The steak was even better than the steak sandwich at LeCellier the day before. Incredibly juicy and the demi-glace was just the right accompaniment that I didn’t even need ketchup! The potatoes au gratin were sweeter and less cheesy than what I am used to but were still very good. My only slight disappointment was that the CM refused to substitute the broccoli with something different – such as a side salad.

Now my mom is normally a picky eater as well. Let’s just say eating around the “world” is something we will never do. However, she does like fish (yuck again) so she ordered the Barbecued Salmon Sandwich which was seared salmon filet served on a multi-grain bread, with housemade barbecue sauce and pepper jack cheese. I saw that sucker come out and slid as far away as I could. Let’s just say I don’t even do fish smell which was another concern of mine while eating in the restaurant – which by the way there was none! She highly enjoyed the sandwich – as Ron from Harry Potter says, “mental that one” and I agree!

Now we were all stuffed and once again, my son refused desert. Nevertheless, I wasn’t leaving without trying the Dis board famous “Chocolate Wave”. Now let me tell you this little morsel of goodness was even better than the love of my chocolate life – the Zebra Dome. The Chocolate Wave is a warm chocolate cake with a molten white chocolate Grand Marnier center. It also had a few brandied cherries on the side which I quickly passed off (yuck again). Other than those nasty cherries this desert was a little slice of a dream come true. If anyone has the recipe please send it my way!

Now I will say this meal took quite a bit of time. I think from the time we walked in till the time we walked out it was nearly 2 hours. Quite a bit of park time to give up I admit and after that meal we were more than ready to leave the park.

Up next……Beaches ‘n Crème and they put peanut butter on ice cream???????

 

[danjoan14]

Thanks for the review. We'll be trying CR for our first time in November. I'm hoping that they still have grilled chicken or pork chops on the dinner menu when we go. DW is a VERY picky eater. DS and I are not. DW needs all of her food to be plain. Do you know if they have any pasta as a side dish? DW likes pasta and FF to eat with her dinner. And I'm sure that DS will enjoy the tank!

 

[wilma-bride]

If anyone has the recipe please send it my way!

Voila!

Chocolate Wave Cake
from Coral Reef, Epcot

Yield - 6

3/4 cup butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 eggs
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons Grand Marnier

For the white-chocolate truffle:
6 ounces white chocolate
3 tablespoons heavy cream
3 tablespoons softened butter
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier



1. Melt butter in a double boiler over medium-low heat.

2. Add chocolate chips, heating until mixture is melted.

3. Combine sugar and cornstarch in a large mixing bowl.

4. Add chocolate mixture to sugar mixture and beat well.

5. In a separate bowl, combine four eggs, four yolks, and Grand Marnier. Add this to the chocolate mixture and beat until well mixed. Cover and chill overnight.

6. Melt the white chocolate and heavy cream in a double boiler over low heat. Add butter and Grand Marnier and stir until smooth. Chill overnight.

7. Butter and flour six 5-ounce ramekins. Fill 1/3 of each with the chilled chocolate mixture.

8. Add a rounded tablespoon of the truffle mixture. Fill to the top with the chocolate mixture.

9. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Let the cakes sit for 15-20 minutes before inverting. Run a knife around the edges to loosen. Serve with chocolate sauce, raspberries, and/or ice cream if desired.

Great review of Coral Reef. I am reading your reviews with much interest and I think I would have chosen exactly the same as you - although I believe the potatoes au gratin have onions in and I'm not partial to those at all so I may have had to have another side. It is defintiely a place we plan to visit with the in-laws in April though as they are both big seafood/fish eaters (yuck!)

 

[Caleb's Mom]

My DS & DH get the awards for picky eaters of the century and I could never get them near the places you ate. I'll pretty much eat anything but have shied away from DDP for fear that DS & DH would freak.

My QQ is - what were/are you picky eater's specific issues and how did you get around them at some of the specialty restaurants. How did you find places that would have something for everyone? Could you modify/special order items?

Thanks in advance for any tips you can provide!

 

[danjoan14]

My DW has always been a picky eater. I ususally check out the menu selections, then make my ADR's from there. We can eat at Tony's, because she likes pasta. We usually eat at Crystal Palace for breakfast, that's her favorite. We're also eating at 50's Prime Time and Coral Reef. They have chicken and pork on the menu that you can order plain. So I have to do my homework before making any ADR's. It tough, because DS and I are not picky eaters. There's a lot of restaurants that I would love to try, but we can't because DW will not enjoy anything on the menu.

 

[Sparklin]

Yum that chocolate wave sounds heavenly! I'll have to try that recipe for sure!

I would love to read your other reviews of all the other restaurants you listed.

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[Lauren101]

Thanks for posting a review of Coral Reef - I hope we don't have to wait a long time - and the food sounds good - very much looking forward to that chocolate wave!