Greetings From England – The Brits Are Back!! **COMPLETED 07/05**

Hello lovely DIS peeps :wave2:

I hope that you are all having a great week

Tuesday May 17th 2011

This morning we decided to head to Hollywood Studios for rope drope

We were planning on hitting the Studios the following week for Star Wars Weekends so thought it would be a good idea to enjoy some of our favourite rides whilst the crowds were still light

It was a beautiful sunny morning and the lines were very short so no problems hitting all the headliners

We hadn’t had any breakfast so a mid-morning snack was required and I knew exactly where to head

IMG_0144.jpg


We love it here and make sure to visit every trip

Here is our choice today;

IMG_4012.jpg


Butterfinger Cupcake

We decided to share :scared1: or should I say DH decided we should share :laughing:

IMG_4013.jpg


'Is your half bigger than mine?'

This was totally delicious and probably contains around one million calories.

The frosting and crushed butterfinger topping is wonderful and just in case it isn’t rich enough for you there is also chocolate frosting inside!

We continued around the park and just happened to be walking past Star Tours when the CMs removed the ropes for a soft opening of the ride :banana:

We rode twice without any wait at all and it really is a great ride

Following our inter-galactic adventures it was time for lunch and as this was nearby we headed inside

IMG_4025.jpg


The menu features fairly standard offerings, here is DHs choice

IMG_4026.jpg


Hot Dog & Fries

I think it looks a bit sad (the burgers looked a lot better) but he seemed quite happy with it

Here’s my much more interesting choice

IMG_4027.jpg


Grilled Vegetable Sandwich
basil asiago artisan bread, mushrooms, red peppers, zucchini, tomato, watercress and cheese with sundried tomato pesto, served with carrot sticks or french fries


This doesn’t look great in the photo but it was actually very good.

It was packed full of all the usual veggies and the bread was covered in cheese then grilled.

I didn’t manage to finish it all and you could easily split one of these

Only a couple of choices available for dessert in the Backlot Express

IMG_4028.jpg


Strawberry Parfait & Marble Cheesecake

Nothing outstanding here but not bad either

On the way out of the park we dropped into the Tune In Lounge as we had never visited it before.

IMG_4024.jpg


DH had a Coke and I had a ‘Lemonade’ :rolleyes1

IMG_4021.jpg


Dad’s Electric Lemonade
Bacardi Rum, Skyy Vodka, Blue Curacao, sweet and sour and sprite


Another glow cube for the collection!

Coming Up Next …………………. Narcoossees
 
The campfire looks like so much fun! I can't believe you had never had a s'more before, but I must say yours did turn out quite well!

We went to the Contempo Cafe on our last trip and I thought it was a great counter service option right near the Magic Kingdom.

Haha! I love Peter Pan! :lovestruc

Wow, I have U.S approval of my s'more ... love that! :goodvibes
I did a quick check around the office and nobody here has ever heard of them so I am not alone in my English stupidity :laughing:

Yum! Your food from Contempo Cafe looks lovely!

You are really going to new places for me - very exciting!:)

Hi Shari :goodvibes
We always try to try as many new places as possible and it was fab using the DDP for the first time on this trip :thumbsup2
 
Mmm that cupcake looks awesome - can't wait to try one! :thumbsup2

Lol at having to share and one half being bigger then the other - I would have gone for the bigger half! :lmao:
 
Sunday May 15th 2011

IMG_3730.jpg


Sorry in advance for poor photo quality!

As I said in my intro, DH leaves the planning of our trips entirely down to me which is just as well as I am a total control freak :laughing:

This means that he generally doesn’t know where we will be eating until we check in for our reservation.

What it also means is that he has no pre-conceived ideas about a restaurant; he isn’t influenced by any hype or good or bad reviews; he has no idea how easy or difficult it is to get a reservation at any particular restaurant

I am telling you all this as dinner this evening was to be at Le Cellier and we all know that’s not an easy ADR to get and it has a superb reputation.

I liked the idea that DH knew very little about any of the restaurants before we ate there as his comments would be completely un-biased

We had never eaten at Le Cellier before and as DH loves a good steak I thought he would really enjoy it.

I’d booked several two credit dinners for this trip as we had received free dining as part of an early booking offer in the UK and as we were heading off for a three day cruise in the middle of out vacation, we actually had an excess of credits so I am not judging this restaurant in terms of value or the fact that it had recently gone from one credit to two for dinner

Once we had checked in we were seated within 10 minutes.

One of the first things I noticed was that there were several unoccupied tables near to where we were seated that had not been cleared and were covered in half eaten plates of food (these were still not cleared by the time we left)

In general the place looked really untidy with discarded silver wear and napkins under some of the tables :eek:

Our server introduced herself to us and although pleasant she really seemed to be just going through the motions and talked us through the menu in what can only be described as a ‘robotic manner’

I ordered a drink whilst looking through the menu

IMG_3918.jpg


Torontopolitan - Iceberg Vodka, Chambord and Cranberry and Orange Juices

A really nice cocktail, very refreshing and a good kick to it

DH stuck to water (he is always the sensible one :laughing:)

Once we had placed our orders the infamous bread was served

IMG_3919.jpg


OK I know this might upset some people but the pretzel bread left me cold :confused3 it just seemed really dry to me, we both quite liked the multi-grain stick though

DH was particularly hungry so he decided to have an appetiser

IMG_3920.jpg


Steakhouse Caesar Salad, Crisp Romaine, Aged Parmesan and Pretzel Croutons

He said it was ‘OK’ but could have used more Parmesan

He was only about half way through his appetiser when the entrees arrived.

As he tried to move the plate out of the way to make space for the entrees another server picked up the unfinished salad and removed it without asking if he had finished :sad2:

For his entrée he chose the signature dish

IMG_3921.jpg


Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon - 8 oz. Canadian AAA Beef Tenderloin with wild mushroom risotto, white truffle butter sauce and micro chervil

He really didn’t enjoy this dish, the risotto was far too salty and the steak was certainly not what could be described as tender (I watched as he forcibly sawed through it with his knife :eek:)

There wasn’t too much choice on the menu for a non-meat eater so I went for the salmon

IMG_3922.jpg


Pacific King Salmon - with parsnip puree, braised greens, pickled pearl onions and mustard sauce

This dish was barely warm but the fish was totally overcooked :confused3

It's a real shame that the dish wasn't prepared or served correctly as I could tell by the small amount that I ate that if it was hot and not over cooked it would have been the kind of meal I would really have enjoyed

We had also ordered a side dish

IMG_3923.jpg


Maple-glazed Rainbow Carrots in maple butter

These were stone cold

Our server came over to ask if everything was OK and I pointed out that the food wasn’t warm and that my husband’s appetiser had been taken away before he had finished.

She asked me if I would like her to take the food away and ‘get it re-heated’

Errrr No ….. what are you going to do, pop it in the microwave for me :confused:

I politely told her that she didn’t need to do that and we would just stick with what we have.

We both wanted to be finished in time for illuminations so neither of us wanted to hang around

To be honest we were really enjoying our night despite the food and were joking that if the rest of the week’s ADRs were as bad as this we should stick to counter service :laughing:

DH asked me if I had ever read any reviews of this place and was it one of the less popular restaurants :eek:

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I had made the reservation 6 months ago at the very second the phone lines opened!!

A few minutes later a manager came over to see us to apologise as he had heard that we weren’t entirely happy with our meal and what could he do to rectify it.

We really didn’t want to make a fuss and bizarrely were having a really great night so insisted that we didn’t expect him to do anything.

Having left most of our food we decided to give dessert a go

IMG_3925.jpg


Maple Crème Brûlée for me

IMG_3924.jpg


Lemon Cheesecake with a Citrus Salad and Mandarin Orange Gelèe for DH

The Crème Brulee had a really strange texture, it was watery in the centre and hard at the edges, basically it was yuk!

DH’s Lemon Cheesecake may have had a lemon wafted past it at some point in its creation but they certainly hadn’t been intimately acquainted!

I tried a little bit and it didn’t even have the faintest taste of lemon

So Le Cellier was a total bust as far as food was concerned but it was actually so bad that it became a strangely entertaining experience ;)

When it came time to settle the bill the manager had taken off everything not covered on the dining plan which was good of him and unexpected

Perhaps they were just having a bad night? I certainly wouldn’t consider going there again for a very very long time

Coming Up Next ........... Yee Ha!! ....... Whispering Canyon Cafe

I had the same experience with Le Cellier as you did. Servers werent very friendly or helpful at all...steak wasnt good (generally not a good cut of meat), bread/pretzel sticks werent anything to write home about, and the cheesesoup was simply "meh". I've had better in my hometown. Like yourself, i vowed not to return for a looooooong time. until i've eaten everywhere else in disney that is!!:lmao:
 


Wow, I have U.S approval of my s'more ... love that! :goodvibes

Yup, official approval right here!! :thumbsup2 :laughing:

:lmao: after the butterfinger cupcake was split in half. That is seriously one of the best cupcakes I have ever had in my life. Definitely need to share it though - I'm pretty sure one could get a sugar coma if they decided to eat the whole thing!

And what a pretty "lemonade" ;)
 
Mmm that cupcake looks awesome - can't wait to try one! :thumbsup2

Lol at having to share and one half being bigger then the other - I would have gone for the bigger half! :lmao:

DH always say's 'let's share' but stay tuned for a return visit to Starring Rolls where we go solo :thumbsup2

I had the same experience with Le Cellier as you did. Servers werent very friendly or helpful at all...steak wasnt good (generally not a good cut of meat), bread/pretzel sticks werent anything to write home about, and the cheesesoup was simply "meh". I've had better in my hometown. Like yourself, i vowed not to return for a looooooong time. until i've eaten everywhere else in disney that is!!:lmao:

We tried several signature restaurants on this trip and LC didn't even come close to the others we tried :confused3

Hey, I think this cupcake cross-sections quite well! It looks like a little archeological dig down to the cake part!

:rotfl: I never though of it like that

Yup, official approval right here!! :thumbsup2 :laughing:

:lmao: after the butterfinger cupcake was split in half. That is seriously one of the best cupcakes I have ever had in my life. Definitely need to share it though - I'm pretty sure one could get a sugar coma if they decided to eat the whole thing!

And what a pretty "lemonade" ;)

:goodvibes
yep that was a pretty awesome 'lemonade' :laughing:
 


OOOOOH ! I'm hopping on, sorry for being late ! everything looks amazing.... you had me at the cupcake cross-section. I'm in heaven ! (and now drooling all over my desk. not pretty. at . all. ) :goodvibes

can't wait for more !!! :thumbsup2
 
A 'lemonade'??? You had me going for a minute!:rotfl:

I had that cupcake from Starring Rolls - but I refused to share....;)

I love your photos - especially with the added speech bubbles!

We quite often go to the Backlot Express for our Hollywood Studio's counter service - like you say - usual CS fayre but not bad.

Really interested how you found Narccoosses....
 
OOOOOH ! I'm hopping on, sorry for being late ! everything looks amazing.... you had me at the cupcake cross-section. I'm in heaven ! (and now drooling all over my desk. not pretty. at . all. ) :goodvibes

can't wait for more !!! :thumbsup2

:welcome: you're never too late to join in with my rambling reviews, they are probably going to be running for the next 6 months anyway :laughing:

A 'lemonade'??? You had me going for a minute!:rotfl:

I had that cupcake from Starring Rolls - but I refused to share....;)

I love your photos - especially with the added speech bubbles!

We quite often go to the Backlot Express for our Hollywood Studio's counter service - like you say - usual CS fayre but not bad.

Really interested how you found Narccoosses....

Coming right up me duck :thumbsup2
 
Cool, I'm all caught up now. :)

So sorry that your Le Cellier dinner was a disaster! I had the salmon in March and really enjoyed it, but if it had been cold and overcooked I certainly would have felt the same way.

And I found the waffles at Roaring Fork completely delicious! We tried every kind except the chocolate one, and the strawberry-orange waffles were heavenly. :cloud9:
 
Tuesday May 17th 2011

Tonight our dinner was at Narcoossee’s (I'm never sure if that is this is a correct use of an apostrophe :laughing:)

We arrived about 20 minutes ahead of our ADR so that we could enjoy a pre-dinner drink before we were seated

Once we had checked in and had our buzzer we headed to the bar

As always DH had a Coke, no picture but I think you know what that looks like and I got one of these;

IMG_4042.jpg


Agave Nectar Margarita
Tierras Organic Blanco Tequila, Agave Nectar, and Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice


When I ordered the bar tender told me it was his speciality and although other bars have this margarita, his were the best! (for research purposes I would test this theory later in the week :rolleyes1)

This was a very well mixed margarita with a nice kick to it

We sat outside on the terrace enjoying our drinks and just as we were finishing off the buzzer sounded

We were led to a really nice table by the window which I was excited about as I knew we would get a great view of Wishes

IMG_4045.jpg


Window View

I really liked the atmosphere in Narcoossees.

It was elegant and yet very relaxed and I loved the huge windows; I can see why this is a popular spot to watch the fireworks

Our server was soon with us to take our drink orders and make some menu suggestions

Whilst waiting for our drinks we were given some warm sourdough bread.

IMG_4046.jpg


Warm Sourdough

DH really got a taste for sourdough on this vacation so really enjoyed this. I can’t really remember too much about it but I think it was good

Whilst we were munching on the bread I also enjoyed a glass of this

IMG_4049.jpg


Fairy Tale by Iron Horse, Celebration Cuvée Brut

DH really wanted an appetiser but I wanted to save room for my entrée so he went ahead and ordered this

IMG_4048.jpg


Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Grilled Zellwood Corn Relish and Ancho Chili Sauce

He loved this :cloud9:

For some reason I didn’t try any of his dish but DH raved about it saying that it was packed full of crab with no filler and the breading was perfect.

The corn relish was also a big hit and although he doesn’t usually enjoy too much spice he felt that the chilli sauce provided a nice little kick

We never felt rushed at Narcoossees and felt that the meal was really well paced.

We like to have a bit of a gap between appetisers and entrees and that’s exactly what we got

Next up the entrees

First here is my choice;

IMG_4050.jpg


Steamed Whole Maine Lobster Baked Sherry-Cheddar Orecchiette Pasta and Delta Asparagus

Pretty much as soon as I had taken this photo, the lights dimmed and Wishes began

It was lovely to enjoy dinner with the fireworks as a backdrop but I must admit I spent most of the time concentrating on my dinner, knowing that we would have plenty of other opportunities to watch the show

So what’s the verdict?

Well I thought that my lobster was just ‘OK’

I did expect it to be quite firm and our server had already made us aware that the lobster served here did have a ‘slightly chewy texture’ so I am sure it was correctly prepared but I have enjoyed other whole lobsters more

The pasta had a great flavour but sadly was a little on the dry side but the asparagus was perfectly cooked and one of my favourite vegetables

And for DH ......................

IMG_4051.jpg


Surf & Turf Medallions of Filet Mignon, Lobster Tail, Duchess Potatoes, Wax Beans and Béarnaise Sauce

DH really enjoyed his choice; he said that the steak was really tender and he particularly liked the firm texture of the lobster so I think it’s purely down to personal preference

The one downside of his dish was the duchess potatoes which were really dry so it seems like both of our side dishes were a bit of a let down.

The béarnaise sauce and beans were both perfect

Our server tonight was lovely by the way, attentive but not intrusive and seemed to be very experienced in her role.

She really helped to enhance the experience which is exactly what a good server can do

Next up dessert;

IMG_4052.jpg


Almond-crusted Cheesecake - with lambert cherry sauce

This was my choice and I have to say I didn’t enjoy it :sad2:

I thought that it would be a regular cheesecake with an almond crust but in fact it is an almond flavoured cheesecake with an almond crust

Now I really like the taste of almonds but this to me was total almond overload!!

The saving grace of the dish for me was the cherry sauce which was yummy!

Here is DH’s choice, isn’t it pretty?

IMG_4053.jpg


Florida Strawberry-Lemon Tart finished with Strawberry Sauce and Whipped Cream

DH ate every last crumb, he loved it but said it wasn’t as ‘lemony’ as he expected

We both really enjoyed our evening at Narcoossee’s but it didn’t ‘wow’ us

Would we go again?

Probably not, it’s not that anything was particularly bad but with the exception of the crab cakes every dish we tried needed just a tiny tweak to take it from OK to excellent

Coming Up Next ………… Earl Of Sandwich & Captain Cook’s
 
The atmosphere at Narcoosees is wonderful, but DBF and I were also both disappointed in our meals too. (We both had the Surf and Turf.) Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy all of your meal either :(
 
Am glad you enjoyed Narcoosee's but it's a shame it did not have the wow factor. I have to say though DHs appetiser and dessert look yummy! :)
 
Too bad Narcoosee's wasn't as spectacular as it should have been. Your desserts do look very pretty though!
 
You are not the only one to say that the Duchess potatoes were dry. I just read a trip report earlier concerning CRT. They served Duchess Potatoes as well, and the entire serving of potatoes could be lifted from the plate with a fork. Hmmm, I'm not a cook but I'm wondering if they were left out to long.

Great trip report!!

:cool1:
 
Wow, I've never seen any 100% positive comments about the Narcoossee's lobster or surf n' turf. You'd think for a plate that costs almost $60 that they would really get it right. I like Narcoossee's, but I'll probably stick to the crab-crusted halibut/flounder/mahi mahi.

And I agree with you that the almond-crusted cheesecake isn't my favorite dessert. I prefer the chocolate mousse dome or the mango sorbet (although the strawberry-lemon tart looks delicious!)
 
At least you had good service at Narcoossees - we enjoyed the food but the service was bad! A shame as we liked lots of other things about the restaurant.

Everyone has different experiences - that's what's makes reading the food reviews so interesting!:goodvibes
 
Another report from Linda! :woohoo:

I've just read the whole thing from start to finish and, I must say, you're doing an excellent job. I can't wait to read more!
 
Loving your reviews so far! I'm sorry to hear about your experience about Le Cellier - I've never been but heard it's one of the most popular, so I'm surprised to hear negative reviews!

Narcoossee's looks pretty good, we are going there for our first night in Disney and I'm looking forward to it :)

And congrats on your first S'mores! Aren't they yummy?
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top