In 2007 was our first meal at California Grill and I was looking forward to it so much. But then on the evening itself I was not feeling that well.
We still had a fantastic meal there which we really enjoyed and Carola has been talking about the cheese plate ever since. But I really wanted to get the chance to experience the restaurant fully without feeling a bit off. Therefore, we wanted a return trip.
In 2007 we went on an evening with the Pirate and Princess Party. We first experienced Wishes at 7 pm in the MK and then saw the Pirate and Princess fireworks from CG. We thought that was a great way of doing it, so we got the 8:30pm ADR. Unfortunately sometime before our trip Wishes was cancelled that evening.
We arrived a bit early for our ADR and were told that they were running a bit late (30 min). This was fine with us, we had intended to get a drink at the bar anyway. Once we arrived at the restaurant we were surprised that the bar area was actually pretty empty and we got a nice place at the counter.
I was a bit surprised that the bar had no bar menu.
I asked for it and just was told that they had a full bar. I guess this means that they have very good bartenders who realy know their job. But the problem is that I don't know any cocktails.
So I was really at a loss. The only thing that came into my mind was the apple martini that I had had at a restaurant on the gulf coast during our 2007 trip to Florida. Once again, this is something that you normally don't get in German bars, I only knew about it from watching the TV-show Scrubs (you see how educating TV can be
). So I asked for this and yes, that was possible. Carola decided to get the same drink:
These were very good! I think I will be more prepared this time, I have been thinking about which drink to order ever since we booked this trip!! I think I will get a gimlet...
While we were sitting at the bar we started reading the menu and already made a first decision: we wanted a flatbread to start us of.
We got seated after a bit of a wait and just when I went to turn in the beeper, a guest at the other end of the bar asked us in German where we were from!! It turned out that he had moved to Orlando 25 or so years ago and really liked German being spoken at the restaurant. What a fun experience!
We were seated in the Wine Room. This is a separate room from the main dining room which only has a few tables. It is at corner furthest from the Magic Kingdom, so no chance to see the MK from here, but we could see the WL and Epcot in the distance. At first I thought: why are we put in this dark corner... Then I remembered that this is the Wine Room that I had heard many DISers talk about and that I only heard positive things. We really liked it in the end as it was so much quieter and because of our server!
When we were seated, we were told that our server would be “insert some male first name that I have forgotten, so let's just say Peter”. So we waited patiently, for “Peter” who we saw was busy with another table. We were all set to immediately order our flatbread, we were getting really hungry!! Well, after “Peter” finished with the other table he dissappeared. In the meantime Gary (I remember his name!) came to our table and introduced himself.
We were not really sure what he was doing and due to our confusion we ignored him a bit, thinking he was just trying to help out his colleague and keep us happy until “Peter” would have time for us. Well, “Peter” kept ignoring us and so we ordered the flatbread with Gary. It turned out that Gary actually was our server and he was the best server ever!!!
It was not at all his fault that we did not realize that he was our server, it was the hostess, who had told us the wrong name. We liked him so much that we will make sure to request him as our server when we return in about ten days, even though I find the concept of requesting a server a bit strange.
After the meal he asked where we were from in Germany and I said that I work in Berlin at the moment. He asked whether Sir Simon Rattle was still the chief conductor at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (he is) as he had him as a guest at the CG one day. I really liked this story as I have a number of friends who think I am stupid for enjoying Disney. They are the ones, where I always get the impression that they don't go to concerts or in the opera or the theater because they truly enjoy it, but because it is a lifestyle they consider appropriate. So if Sir Simon Rattle goes to Disney, I can as well!! And I can still enjoy all these cultural things nevertheless!
Well, I guess you did not come here to read my philosophical essays, but the here about the food, so without further much ado, here is the most exciting bread and butter and oil we were served:
I love the bread at California Grill. Sourdough in Germany is only used in darker breads (we eat a lot of rye or wheat/rye-mixtures), not in pure wheat bread. I love the texture and the slight sour taste. So this is really a treat. And the bread was better than at Artist Point.
The next picture is our flatbread:
Marinated Beef Tenderloin with Parmigiano Reggiano, Balsamic Reduction and Lemon Oil.
This was lovely! It was very crisp, the beef was delicious and the balsamic reduction and the lemon oil gave it an interesting taste. It appeared to be quite big, but we were really hungry and it was gone very quickly without us feeling full or so. It was a great start to the meal and I think we are planning on getting a flatbread again on our next visit!
That's why we decided that we wanted to share an appetizer as well. I love artichokes and when I saw those on the menu, I was really tempted to get them. Carola, thought this sounded good, too. So we got the
Braised Artichokes with Serrano Ham, Black Olive Crostini and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette.
Sorry, I only have a picture of a half portion, I only remembered to take a picture after we had split the meal. It did not come out split as it did at Artist Point, but we were fine with getting it served on one plate.
We liked this dish, but it was not incredible. I would have loved for there to be more artichokes. The crostini were a bit dry. But the vinaigrette was very good and all in all it was a good dish. Perhaps I would have been happier if we had not shared...
But then I would definitely had problems with my main course. I had already decided when reading dining reviews here on the DIS that I wanted to try the grilled pork tenderloin. I was briefly tempted by a Ahi Tuna, but then settled on pork:
Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Goat Cheese Polenta, Cremini Mushrooms, Zinfandel Glace and Sage.
This was soooooo good. I absolutely loved it! Gary recommended it to be served medium and that's how I ordered it. I was brought up that pork must not be eaten raw, but I had read in a dining review that pork is now pasteurized. I have no idea, whether this is right, but then I thought that Disney would not sell food of which they know that it is highly dangerous to eat. The pork was just a bit pink in the middle, therefore not dry at all. The polenta was very creamy and a bit cheesy. The sage was lovely crisp. The only part of the meal that I was a bit disappointed in were the mushrooms. I love all kind of mushrooms and these were just plain mushrooms, nothing special about them... Still they were perfectly good, just not as “wow” as the other parts of the dish.
Carola meanwhile decided to be very "exotic" (this was one of the meals were she totally surprised me with what she ordered) and got pasta:
Okay, the menu made this sound a bit more extravagant (but the receipt says pasta):
Hand Crafted Butternut Squash Ravioli with Oyster Mushrooms, Parmigiano, and Truffle Brown Butter
It was the vegetarian dish and it was fantastic. I got to try a bit of it and it was really hand made. It looks like a small portion, but it was four very large ravioli and Carola was having trouble finishing it, but then she also had that pot roast for lunch. Carola was very pleased with her meal. I think she said she chose it because she felt like eating something familiar. And it tasted like something that you could get at a very good Italian restaurant here in Germany. And we do have good Italian restaurants here, especially in Munich, it's just 120 miles from Munich to the Italian border...
At some point we also ordered some wine (I think after the flatbread when we had figured out that Gary was actually our server). I was sure that I wanted a Californian wine – I am eating at a Californian restaurant! I told Gary a bit what kind of wines I enjoyed and he recommended a very nice Cabernet, it was the Simi Landslide, Alexander Valley. It was not cheap, but I remember that I liked it very much. Carola on the other hand wanted an old world wine and picked the one Chianti they had on the menu: Borgo Pretale Chianti Classico Riserva, Tuscany. She liked it a lot, but for me it was not smooth enough. Still it was a very good wine, no doubt. Once again a Chianti is one of the standards you get here at better restaurants. So Carola's wine really went very well with her choice of main course!
Carola had been talking about the cheese board ever since our last trip to WDW. But when we had finished our main dishes, we were really distracted by the dessert menu. We realized that we were both really drawn by the Banana and Buttersotch “Buzz”
Caramelized Banans and Butterscotch Custard Stack with Caramel Sauce, Cocoa Nib and crunchy Plantain
One of the things that sold us on this dish was the plantain. We loved it in the salad at Backlot Express and it is so exotic to us. But Carola is a banana fan anyway and I love caramel. So we decided that we would share this dessert. No way could we think about eating a whole dessert each! It was heaven! Of course it kind of falls apart when you start eating it, but we tried to combine the different layers and they really added to each other. I loved the banana ice cream that was in it (even though it is not mentioned in the description), it was definitely selfmade. I am really sad that it does not appear on the recent CG menus available, but the good thing about CG is that the menu changes daily, so you never know what other delights might be available. And I think Carola cannot be distracted from the cheese plate again...
After dessert it was time to head outside to see the fireworks from the Pirates and Pricesses Party. These were great, but we saw the fireworks a few days later inside the park and they were sooo much better. In my opinion viewing the fireworks from there is a bit overrated. Of course we had to go out to the viewing platform, but I don't mind that at all. I want to be outside and hear the fireworks explode! We took the last bit of our wine outside with us and if we had been a couple, it would have been quite romantic out there. But that was lost on us...
It was 10:21pm when we paid, so I think the meal took us about 2 hours in total. We thought it was just the right speed to the meal, very relaxed, but never too slow.
As you could have guessed from what I wrote, we will be back at California Grill very soon. This time our reservation is for 5:30 pm and I hope to catch some daylight. It would be lovely to see the sun go down from there! Wishes is at 8pm, so we will see when we finish our meal, whether we stay around for a bit with an after dinner drink or whether we have enough time to leave and get over to the MK to see Wishes from there. I hope we will manage to have a relaxed meal, but still get to the MK. We will see how this works out!
At least I did. Instead of the kid's meal I got a cinnamon roll! I am really sorry, I did not get a picture of it 
But I can show you last year's picture:
We had to be at the MK before 8:30 am. No, we did not have a breakfast reservation we were going on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. 
We arrived just after 8 am and after we checked in for the tour we enjoyed the empty Main Street USA. This is the morning, the picture of Carola and me in the first post is from (by the way, for those who started reading before I changed the description, I am the one with the blond curly hair).
Le Cellier is definitely not in the same league as Artist Point and California Grill for me. We had exceptional meals there, while Le Cellier was very good. Also, I found the restaurant very crowded. I knew this before, but it still did have an impact on how I felt there. Also, it was quite noisy. Just as with Liberty Tree Tavern, I think the restaurants in the parks are just that bit more hectic.
Victoria Falls is very beautiful and we really wanted to make sure to have a drink there!
