Of all our ADRs, I think this is the one I was most looking forward to. I had these visions of (cue romantic music now) sitting next to the window with the castle in the background....eating dinner and then watching the fireworks from our seats...true romance. (Imagine record skipping with that terrible sccccrrrattch sound). That's not exactly the way it went...
When we first took the elevator up to the restaurant, I immediately felt underdressed. I had on a nice(er) dress on with flipflops, DH had on khaki shorts and a polo shirt. Okay, we were SO underdressed that I felt uncomfortable. The ladies had on sequins, 6-inch heels, and guys had on fancy suits. It looked like a really bad prom. There was some sort of event going on in the private room over near the observation deck, and those people were even dressier. Seriously?!? I mean, I know it's Cali Grill, but it's still D-World.
We were taken to our table over in the wine room. I had very mixed feelings...on the positive side, it was so quiet and more romantic in this room. There was only about 7 tables and we were against a window. From our table, we could see Illuminations and the electric boat parade in the distance (the FAR distance). But, as lovely as it was, it didn't fit my vision at all. I got over it, and figured I would have many other opportunities to look at the castle.
I'm not one of those people who likes to request a specific table or area, so I guess it is what it is.
Our server was really great. We made it sorta obvious that we were new to the whole "fine dining" experience, and he still treated us with class and helped us along the way. We got some delicious wine and chose our appetizers.
I had eaten sushi only once in my life, DH had never tried it. So, with the help of our server, we decided to go for it. He suggested a half order of the shrimp tempura and half California roll.
DH didn't like the Cali roll...too "fishy" he said. I enjoyed them both, but the shrimp tempura was my favorite. It was a pretty good first sushi experience. (We didn't even know how to eat it
) I would probably get it again, DH would not.
His appetizer was the triple cheese flatbread.
OMG it was so good. He loved it (especially since pizza is his all-time favorite food, EVER). It was tangy, cheezy goodness. Much better than even our favorite local pizza place. I guess it was just a different flavor for us, so we truly enjoyed it. It was a huge serving and we each only had a few bites because, after all, this was only the appetizer. We had lots of food to get through.
We chose the same entree...oak fired filet of beef. No pictures
this is why...
The timing was SO off on our entree. Our whole plan was to watch the fireworks from Cali Grill. Our server even discussed with us when they began and how we could get to the 2 observation decks. The fireworks started at 10pm. He brought our entrees out to us at around 9:55. Even before he brought them out, we (I) was sorta panicing because we didn't see him anywhere...we wanted to tell him where we were going and not just disappear. Then, when we saw him coming with our entrees, we were like, "Oh $#@." He saw our faces and realized what had just happened, so he offered to give us hot lids. We took a couple bites of our steak, and then rushed out to the deck for the fireworks.
The fireworks were AWESOME! It wasn't Wishes, but the Summer Nightastic and it was so cool! We both loved the show, and it was cool being all the way at the end of the 2nd observation deck, pretty much by ourselves, with a glass of wine. I really enjoyed it.
So, back to our dinner... DH loved his steak. Mine was good, but I think the timing of everything made it a little less enjoyable for me. Also, I had eaten most of the sushi, so my belly was groaning slightly. Not to be a complainer, but the first bite of steak I took (pre-fireworks) was so chewy that I had to spit it out. The rest of the steak was tender and good, but that first bite kinda (almost) killed it for me. I knew dessert was around the corner, so I only ate a few bites of my steak and a few of the potatoes. DH finished off my steak. I think he would rather stuff himself until he gets sick than leave good meat uneaten.
And onto dessert! We were both about to pop at this point, but I can't let that stop me from ordering sweets! I got some type of chocolate creme brulee.
It was really, really good, but I think I was so full and tired by this point I just couldn't do it. I ate about half of it. (Would love to have the other half right now, actually.
)
DH got the Mascarpone and Meyer lemon cheesecake.
Neither of us remember anything about this dessert (food overload, I guess). But doesn't it look pretty?!?
All in all, this was a nice experience at the Cali Grill. DH enjoyed it more than I did. I think my expectations were so high, that I was slightly disappointed. (Not necessarily CG's fault) If the timing of the meal had been better, I would've been more relaxed and probably enjoyed it more. Maybe we should have mentioned the fireworks again to our server after we finished our appetizers?
Who knows? It was just a communication problem I guess, not really sure who (if anyone) was at fault. I would eat here again, but only if on the
DDP. It would've been WAY out of our budget otherwise.
Up next: 1900 Park Fare breakfast