The time has finally come for the report of our lunch at Le Cellier! I know there are people that have been waiting for this one, so I hope I answer all your questions. If there is anything I miss, please feel free to post any questions and I will answer them
We had booked a 12:55pm lunch reservation, which I had managed to get on August 31st! I was actually surprised I was able to get one for Christmas eve with less than 180 days to go, but I was excited to try what many believe to be 'the best' restaurant at WDW.
We arrived early at 12:30pm and went to the small counter at the entrance to the Canada Pavilion to check-in. There was a family in front of us who were asking if they could get a table and the Cast Member told them they were fully booked for the whole day. We checked in next and she advised we would probably have to wait until 12:55pm and to go to the entrance of the restaurant and let them know where we would be waiting. Before going in we snapped a picture of the menu out the front
The lobby of the restaurant is quite small. There is some room to stand outside and maybe a bench or two in the lobby. We stood outside and looked at the gardens for a while before taking a seat in the lobby.
At about 12:45pm we were called to be seated, and taken to a table in Alberta. The Cast Member seating us told us about the Calgary Stampede, which would be 100yrs old in 2012. Don't know why, but it was pretty funny when she proceeded to ask us if we knew what a stampede was
The atmosphere of the restaurant was pretty nice. It was warm inside and the lighting was nice and soft. They had packed quite a few tables into the restaurant but they seemed to be reasonably well spread out. Noise wasn't a problem and we didn't feel cramped either.
Our server was Thomas and he was from Niagara Falls. He was a pretty nice guy, asked where we were from and said how he had only recently served a couple from Australia and another from New Zealand. I suppose they don't get so many guests from our part of the world?
Below are some pics of the menu.
Drinks
And the three course menu (also available on the Dining Plan btw)
To drink DD got a Perrier, DM and DS got the Niagara Refresher (which pleased Thomas of course
) and I got the Red Maple. ($4.69ea) I think it was great that we could get a specialty drink on the
DDP. The Niagara Refresher was a Raspberry Smoothie with a splash of Sprite, while the Red Maple was a Mango Smoothie with a splash of cranberry.
Niagara Refresher
Red Maple
Both of them were pretty good. As you can see they were quite icy, but this just meant that it was able to last the whole meal, which was great.
For our entrees DD ordered the New York Strip Steak ($31.99) and the rest of us ordered the Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon ($26.99). Of course we couldn't help ourselves and ordered two bowls of the cheese soup.
($6.99ea) When we ordered it he said that he was expecting us to order one. I guess everyone that visits the restaurant orders one!
Tom then brought out the bread basket. It contained two sticks of pretzel bread, a sourdough bread and a wholegrain bread. If I remember correctly, the wholegrain bread represented three Canadian provinces that combined produced over half of the wheat in North America, while the Sourdough represented the Yukon which only sees 2-3hrs sunlight in the Winter. I don't remember what the story was behind the Pretzel bread, but I think it may have involved Ontario. If anyone knows the story please let me know!
We held onto it for a few minutes until our cheese soups arrived. Tom recommended that we dip the pretzel bread in it, but of course us Disers already know that!
The cheese soup was excellent, really thick and full of flavour. The Moosehead beer was definitely there and the bacon added to the already strong flavour of the soup. The pretzel bread tasted absolutely excellent with it. I think that it is worthwhile even buying just one cup of the soup if you come, just to try it. It really is a bit different and really yummy too!
After a few minutes our entrees came out.
Dad's steak
And our Filet Mignon
The Filet Mignon was amazing. The steak itself was perfectly tender and absolutely divine, but what was really special was the mushroom risotto. I've read that a lot of people who dine here substitute the risotto for potatoes or something, but I simply cannot understand why. The mushroom risotto was just beyond words. It was definitely a piece of heaven. Some have said the saltiness of the risotto is a little overpowering, but to be honest we didn't feel that way. After leaving WDW we went to Las Vegas and we had a mushroom risotto there as well, but it was nowhere near as good as this one. DS doesn't like eating steak or mushroom but made an exception here since it was a steakhouse, and she really enjoyed it and would definitely have gone back for another one later in the trip. I've heard that the lunch serving of this dish is smaller than the dinner serving. Personally I didn't think the size of the serving was too bad, although I think it's good to know this before you go, as we did.
DD's steak was also good. Of course being a strip steak it is fairly different to the filet mignon, but it was also good.
After the entrees Tom brought out the dessert menus.
DD and I went with the Maple Creme Brulee ($6.99), DS went with the Smores ($5.99) and DM got the Seasonal Sorbet ($6.49) which was raspberry at the time. Below are the pics
In relation to the Creme Brulee, it was really nice and kinda different as a result of the maple syrup. The custard itself was sort of greyish in colour, while the top was nice and crisp. DS says her Campfire Smores were really good. Although she didn't like the marshmallow part too much, she liked the rest so much that even though she was full she kept eating it. Mum also liked her sorbet, but I don't think it was as memorable as the other two desserts. The sorbet might be a good option for those looking for a lighter dessert.
All in all, we unanimously agreed that Le Cellier was pretty much the best restaurant we ate at over the whole trip. The fact that we all agreed that it was the best is definitely a good sign, as often we have trouble agreeing on this sort of thing!
I'm sure if we had been able to secure a reservation at any time later in the week we would definitely have dropped everything and gone. It was one of those rare places where even though we were full, we were still compelled to finish all of our dessert. For our family, that is pretty rare and it is just testament to the fact that this place is not your average table service restaurant.
In terms of value for money, I think it is an excellent value proposition both on and off the dining plan. Without the dining plan, I think the quality of the food, service and overall experience makes it worth the money. On the Dining Plan, I reckon that it is a pretty good value for 1TS credit (Look at the average cost per person below!). I'm not sure what things will be like when this place shifts over to being a signature restaurant, but at least for the time being I think that Le Cellier is an excellent place for people on the DDP.
This restaurant definitely deserves all the praise it receives, and I hope that they don't change any time soon. I think it is well worth making a booking here.
Cost:
4 TS credits used - 20 remaining
Bill Total (excluding the extras) - $166.93 (avg $41.73ea)
Running Total - $1446.86
NEXT UP: A mid-afternoon snack followed by dinner at Les Chefs de France
Everyone's dinner looked great. I am really enjoying your reviews. Thanks for taking the time to post them.
