The next night saw us with an ADR for California Grill. While this isn't my favorite signature, I feel like it's a Disney right of passage. It's the signature that's hardest to get in to, and who doesn't love the view? For a lot of people I'm sure the food is somewhat of an afterthought, especially since you see more people with kids here than other signatures.
But, I do like CG a lot and felt it was necessary to bring Mark there on his first Disney trip!
We had a 7:20 ADR and arrived a bit early around 7. To my surprise, we were immediately whisked up the elevator and seated. I love that CG exclusive elevator - makes you feel all special and important! It's like Oooooh you're special..you get the special elevator with an escort!
We didn't have a window table, but we could still get the full panoramic Seven Seas Lagoon view, along with a nice kitchen view on the other side.
After we were seated, I saw a server named Stephen I had had twice before and thought to myself, "Oh darn, I should have requested him! I hope he's our server...please come to our table!"
But it was not meant to be. Another man came to our table. Oh well. It's a signature...they're all good servers, right?
He took our drink orders and while I went with water, Mark decided he wanted a glass of Chianti, one of his favorite kinds of wine. I was kind of shaking my head inside....we're at the CALIFORNIA Grill.....seems like you should order something Californian! Oh well....I guess the guy knows what he likes. So he got a glass of
Borgo Pretale Chianti Classico, the only Chianti they have on the wine list.
We took a long time decided what to order, but it wasn't an issue as our server took forever to come back with out drinks and bread.
We placed our orders and started nibbling on the wonderful housemade
Sourdough Bread that CG offers. It's served with butter sprinkled with sea salt.
I love bread, and call myself a carboholic, and this is my favorite sourdough ever! It was warm and freshly baked. Soft and fluffy, but with kind of a heavy feel. The crust is somewhat hard and...well, crusty, as I think a bread should be! I was so much happier with this bread than the awful grocery store type sourdough we had at Narcoossee's.
I ordered a salad, showed up fairly quickly, but not quick enough to beat Mark finishing his first glass of wine.
The salad was the
Heirloom Apple with Fall Greens, Almonds, Dried Cranberries, Maytag Blue Cheese, and Cranberry Vinaigrette.
I love salads and this was one of the better ones I've eaten. It wasn't especially creative, as you see this kind of thing lots of places, but it was done very well with fresh quality ingredients. I love the sweet-tart of the apples and cranberries with the bitter greens and intense blue cheese. It's tasty and refreshing! I also like the little toasts it was served with - again, there are my carbs. Yum Yum.
Our meal timing was a bit off as our entrees arrived when I was only halfway done with my salad. I HATE that. It makes me feel rushed, and who wants to have cold food? The restaurant didn't even seem particularly backed up that evening, so I guess our server was trying to churn and burn or just wasn't paying as much attention as he should have.
Mark had gotten a second glass of Chianti by then to have with his
Oak Fired Filet of Beef with Olive Oil Whipped Potatoes, Broccolini, and Terriyaki Barbeque Sauce - one of their signature dishes.
I had a bite of this and it was quite good. But Mark absolutely LOVED it. He thinks this is the best steak at Disney and we because of this one dish, we have an ADR here for our next trip in December.
When he was first placing his order, he asked for the steak well done. But I pointed out to him that when we had gone to Bern's earlier in the trip he had the steak cooked medium (which the server there talked him down to) and
loved it. I felt kind of funny at first saying that....I'm sure the waiter thought I was some overbearing wife or girlfriend, which is quite funny since I am neither and we're just friends.
Well, as I like to hear, I was right.
Mark said he was glad he only got the steak medium. For my next mission, I will be talking him down another notch to medium rare! Muahahahaha.
There were so many things I wanted at CG, but I finally went with a flatbread as my entree. These are somewhat small as an entree, but I knew I would be ordering dessert, so with three courses it was plenty as an entree. I ordered the Rotisserie Chicken Flatbread with Butternut Puree, Wilds Mushrooms, Point Reyes Blue Cheese, and Heirloom Apples. Well at least I thought I did. I said "the chicken flatbread", but apparently our server heard that as "the cheese flatbread", because what was brought out was the
Triple Cheese - Pecorino, Asiago, and Provolone with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Arugula Pesto.
Although I wanted the chicken one, this smelled so good. I also didn't want to wait for them to cook another flatbread, so I just didn't say anything. I have actually had this one before on a previous visit, so I knew at least it should be good. And it was great - but as I was eating it I started to wish I had said something. The Triple Cheese was very good, the crust was nicely crisped, and cheese very flavorful, but it was a bit on the plain side - I had this dish when I was in my early teens and experimenting with food. Arugula pesto was new to me back then...but now, not so much. I was just a bit bored with the dish, but I would never say there was anything wrong with it.
By the time we were finishing up our entrees, it was near 8pm - time for Wishes to start! So when our server showed up to clear the plates (the first time he had come back to the table since dropping off our entrees) we told him the dessert orders would be held off til after the fireworks.
We went outside and watched Wishes from the 15th floor observation deck. Although the view isn't centered here, I still think it's great because it feel's like some of the fireworks are more on eye level and you don't have to strain your neck looking up so far.
I had just gotten a new camera, which has a fireworks setting, so I gave it a try:
Oooooo
Aaahhhh
Eeeeee
After the show was over, we went back inside. Mark ordered a third glass of wine for his dessert, while I went with what I knew I would be getting months beforehand:
Valrhona Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Ice Cream, Pomegranate Macerated Cherries, and Peppermint Bark.
CG always has this molten centered chocolate cake, but changes the accompaniments with the season. I'm not even that big of a peppermint fan, but this was fantastic! The cake was warm and filled with gooey chocolaye goodness. It has a great, pure chocolate flavor and I loved scooping up the cake and a cherry for a bite. Then I'd alternate and have cake with ice cream. The peppermint bark was really tasty too. This remains ones of my favorite Disney desserts, but I have to admit my favorite pairing was when they had Raspberry!
So overall, a good, but not outstanding evening at CG, like they usually are. I was really disappointed with our server. He just never seemed to be around when we needed a water glass filled or really to be paying much attention to us at all. Next time, I will remember to request Stephen.
I still recommend CG for those who haven't been. It's a delicious and scenic intro to Disney signature dining.
I would give meal an 8.5 out of 10, but it gets knocked down a point for the less than stellar service to a 7.5.
'Go too often'....ha, as if that were possible!
I don't think Mark liked them either - what you see in the photo is what was left when both of us were finished with them. 
