Over a dozen visits & still new restaurants to try: 2 Adults March '12 Dining Review

[kittylady1972]

Mar 6: Captain Cooks (breakfast)

Ok, I will be the first to admit I'm not a huge breakfast fan. I skip it way too often. Plus when I DO eat breakfast I am a total meat and eggs person. Give me some scrambled eggs or an omelet. Don't forget the ham in my scrambled eggs and add some bacon, sausage and/or scrapple to that! I rarely eat any kind of sweets for breakfast (pancakes, waffles, french toast) but I do make an exception for DONUTS and TONGA TOAST!

Yes we tried Tonga Toast back on a trip to the Kona Cafe for breakfast several years ago and since I learned we could get it for MUCH cheaper at Captain Cooks, we make special trips to the Polynesian just for that reason!

So, that's what I was after but it's a BIG portion even at Captain Cooks, so Frank and I split the tonga toast. I added some bacon to mine and got an orange and some milk. Frank got the Bounty Platter. I only have a photo of my food:

And a closeup:

And the inside with it's banana goodness:

Frank mentioned it did not have as much of a banana taste as he remembered but I enjoyed it. It never disappoints and for the record it does not need added syrup...it's just PERFECT by itself!

We selected an outside table, which we regretted because we were constantly bothered by ducks and birds who were begging for food.

Total bill here was $28.47 for the two of us for breakfast. Frank did get THREE drinks with his meal: Coffee, water and some kind of large bottle juice drink. I got my meal plus the orange and a milk. There is no TIW discount but considering we paid about $1 more for our meal at Kouzzina (a table service restaurant) and that wasn't NEARLY this amount of food or drink, I'd say it was pretty good. We would (and will) definitely make a return trip here!

 

[kittylady1972]

Mar 6: LeCellier (lunch)

We last ate at LeCellier back in November 2007...when we were on the dining plan AND they included an appetizer. We had dinner and enjoyed it. I could not believe I snagged a reservation for it for this trip just a few months in advance. At one point I even got a dinner reservation reserved, then we saw the dinner prices and holy cow! No thanks...we'll stick to lunch!

We had a 2:45pm reservation and lunch ended at 3pm so I was a bit concerned that we might somehow get stuck with dinner prices. We actually arrived at the podium around 1pm or so (I think) that day as I was going to see if they could take us earlier. She was busy telling one man there that they had no walk-ins available. She told us they were running 20-30 minutes behind on reservations and they were hoping to catch up so we should return closer to our reservation time. Oh well...so much for eating earlier!

I think we returned around 2:15pm and figured we'd just wait it out. At that time we were still told they were running 20-30 minutes behind so I figured we'd be in for a wait. I sat down with my pager near the entrance and Frank wandered off to find a restroom. He wasn't gone five minutes when the pager went off! I told the woman seating us I was waiting on him, but he came from inside the restaurant restroom as we walked inside so that worked out!

We were seated in the middle and next to a nice couple...almost felt like we were having dinner with them too! There was a family behind Frank with three small kids...and they were screamers! There was another family in the corner behind him...also with some loud kids. Now don't get me wrong...we have three kids ourselves and we've dealt with our share of restaurant issues where we've taken turns removing our kids from the restaurant, and I could tell the family behind my husband was truly overwhelmed with their three kids...all I would say under the age of 3 or 4. There were two little ones in a high chair on each side of dad and mom was in the booth with the older one...who enjoyed screaming and crying. We would later learn that when she planned this vacation she was supposed to have help...her parents, his parents and some other relatives...but they all bailed and she and her husband decided to chance it. The woman sitting next to us said it seemed like perhaps she needed them all there with her...but not in a mean way!

Anyway despite the screaming we still planned to eat. We started with the breadsticks...oh did I mention right before eating here I just HAD to get a Mickey Pretzel at the American Adventures booth? Yep...didn't finish it but had to try it so it was still sticking with me. We both ate the pretzel bread but mostly left the other bread alone. Our server (who was GREAT...wish I could remember her name) asked at one point if we wanted more pretzel bread but we declined. We each had the cheddar cheese soup and while it was good...it just didn't win us over as we remembered from before.

We had the same main course:
Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon - with wild mushroom risotto, white truffle and herb butter sauce $26.99

I requested mine without the risotto, knowing I wouldn't eat it. She kept asking if I wanted something in it's place and rattled off all kinds of other sides, none of which appealed to me. Then I think she mentioned broccoli at the last minute...and I was sold on that.

Frank loved the filet and everything with it. I enjoyed mine as well. Yet the filet was nothing over-the-top fantastic, it was a little bit on the tougher side. We cleaned our plates though!

When asked about dessert, I just knew I did not have ANY room! Frank I think did order something...but I can't recall what it was at all but he seemed to enjoy it. I decided, since we were going back to the room, to get the Chocolate Moose to GO. Here it is:

I should mention that RIGHT after she put it on the table I ended up knocking it onto the floor. It was still in the box and it landed right-side-up...but I think I ended up dropping it again later and it separated a bit and broke an antler. I ate it later that night for dessert in our room...and it was FABULOUS!

Oh and also our waitress brought out to me a plate full of whipped cream with sprinkles and a candle in it for my birthday! She didn't want to put a lit candle in my moose in the box, so she figured this was better. Even though I had no room for dessert, it was nice she thought of this little sentiment and the whipped cream was a nice and light sweet finish to my meal!

Overall total here with appetizer soups, drinks, food and dessert came to $85.99 (yes for LUNCH!) and that was with our discount. We had a bit of an issue with payment that eventually got fixed. I had paid with a pre-paid Visa Debit card which had $82.06 left on it (I know because I had to leave the restaurant to use my phone to call the company to check on the amount) and so we gave her the card, told her to charge that amount on it to use the rest of it up, and then handed her $20 to take the remaining amount out.

She returned with our bill...and NO CHANGE? We were both like...um what happened? I said something and she said yes you had a few dollars remaining...well okay so we should have had about $15 or more in change then. She already GOT a tip with us using TIW card...and now she had another $15 to make that about a $30 tip on our $85 meal. Eventually we sat there, trying to figure out how to approach her, when she came back and seemed to realize her error. We told her to just give us $15 in change...the rest was hers (so that was an extra few dollars for her on top of the $15 tip already) and we were on our way.

Would we return here? Honestly I don't think so. I was glad that we tried it again, but for those prices I expected to be more impressed. There just wasn't anything, not even the soup, that compelled me to return.

 

[Lidian]

Loving the reviews! Making me hungry though ...

 

[rdsx28]

I agree I think Le Cellier is really nothing special. Yes, it was a good deal when it was on the meal plan and it was 1 table service. Word of mouth made this place really tough to get into. I would NEVER pay 80 plus dollars for lunch there to be honest. You can probably get a just as good if not better steak meal at the Longhorn or similar. Now that it is 2 table service on the DDP I would really never go back there. I agree their desserts were always delish!

 

[kittylady1972]

Mar 6: SANAA (dinner)

We arrived and there was really no wait at all, but we had two friends meeting us so we did wait a little bit for them. We were seated in the middle of the restaurant for dinner. Now I know one of the cool things about this restaurant is that you can view the animals...but our reservation was at 7:45pm so it was pitch black and NO animals could be seen.

My stomach was a bit uneasy so I had ginger ale for my drink, while I think my friends each chose a wine selection and DH stuck to soda. Our server was really great here, very friendly so when it came time to order I relied on her for some help. I knew we wanted the bread service to start...but was undecided on WHICH 3 breads or WHICH 3 dips so she helped with that. So let's see if I can recall what it was based on the menu.

Breads: We got the Naan, the Onion Kulcha and maybe the Papadum?? Not sure about that last one.

Dips: Roasted Red Bell Pepper Hummus, Mango Chutney and Garlic Pickle (I think)

I enjoyed the Naan the most, but tried the others. I can't recall which sauces were the best but they were all okay. We probably liked the Mango Chutney the least.

My husband also ordered the lamb kefta kebobs...he enjoyed them, but he loves lamb. Me...not so much.

For our meal we split the pick two Slow Cooked in Gravy, Simple and Well Seasoned. Each couple split their own so Frank and I got the two and my friend and her husband also got two. We both got them with the basmati rice (not the five-grain pilaf) and it was really good.

Our was the Beef Short Ribs and the Shrimp with Green Curry Sauce. They were both EXCELLENT and not too spicy. I'm not an adventurous eater at all but I really enjoyed these.

Our friends ordered the Spicy Durban Shrimp and I think the coconut-curry lamb. They RAVED about the sauces on one of these...I wish I could remember which one.

We all skipped dessert...there was so much food and I took most of the bread home.

I think the food was quite good here but we probably would be better having our own portions. We were full but that was just because of the bread service and starters. I think we will definitely try to visit this one again in the future.

Total bill here was $43.81 with tip.

 

[Lidian]

Thanks for the review! Sanaa is on my list of possible eateries for our 2013 trip!

 

[kittylady1972]

Mar 7: Marrakesh (lunch)

We had plans this evening for the Dessert Party and wanted to save some room for that...but we were quite hungry and in EPCOT so we decided to pop over to Marrakesh for lunch...no ADR here!

We arrived a bit early and the restaurant was open but not seating people quite yet. So we put our name down and then browsed the menu. Just so you know, outside of the restaurant (which is tucked in the back of Morocco) they have a full-color menu which shows you almost all of the menu selections in picture form. So for those unsure about trying it...it's worth checking this out first. I'm not an adventurous eater at all...but I was up for it!

Pretty soon we were seated and the restaurant was nearly empty...so no belly dancing for us! I was okay with that...but I'm sure my husband would have enjoyed it.

We ordered drinks and then decided to split this appetizer:
Goat Cheese with Crispy Bread for Two - mixture of cheese and kalamata olives served with tabouleh, red pepper sauce. and balsamic vinegar reduction $13.99

Before we finished it, I snapped a photo:

This was REALLY good, especially if you enjoy goat cheese which I've recently acquired a taste for...thanks to the California Grill and their Goat Cheese Ravioli!

For our meal we decided to split this:
Sultan's Sampler - grilled brochette of either beef or chicken served with a Beef Brewat Roll and Chicken Bastilla served with vegetable couscous $21.99

No photos but like I said...you can see them there. I believe we got the grilled BEEF brochette. I enjoyed the light taste of the Chicken Bastilla overall. I tasted the beef which was also good. It probably wasn't quite enough food for us, but we made it work. My husband did not feel like the food had enough flavor for him overall.

I think I'd love to try this again though, and maybe order our own thing next time.

Total cost was $43.30 with tax and tip and our TIW discount applied.

 

[kittylady1972]

Mar 7: The Plaza (dinner)

Since we had plans for the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party at MK, I went ahead and made a reservation here for the first time for dinner. I knew I'd probably be a bit disappointed that we would not be getting dessert here too...but I was still looking forward to it.

We arrived and checked in and were seated within about 10 minutes. This is a small restaurant for sure but we loved the atmosphere. We got a seat along the window that faced the Castle...AWESOME!

I wish I could tell you the name of our waitress...so you could avoid her! She was OKAY...but I had an issue with her. We noticed the waitress at the table next to us was just so much better. When a new group sat down she went over the specials...our waitress didn't even mention the specials! When I heard them later I was disappointed...since I remember hearing a few things I might have tried! But anyway...back to the food!

We got drinks and then I ordered:
Plaza Club - smoked ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise layered on toasted multi-grain bread $11.49

Want to see a photo?

Can anyone tell me what is missing here? Anybody? Read the description again and then look closely...because I'll tell you that I was so in AWE of the size of the sandwich that even I did not notice the missing element until after I had eaten at least 1/4 of it!

If you guessed HAM...ding ding ding! Yep I ordered the club...but what I really got was a turkey sandwich...which is the same price and also has bacon on it. It was really, really good though.

My husband ordered:
Angus Chuck Cheeseburger - served on a flour-dusted kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, and onion. Choose from the following toppings: Cheddar, American cheese, Bacon, Grilled Mushrooms and Grilled Onions $13.99 (Veggie Burgers available on request.)

Here you go:

Now he had to smoosh it down a bit to eat it but trust me when I say it was also BIG and he really enjoyed it. I don't think he got the mushrooms on it but he did get everything else.

Total bill here came to $29.38 and I see that I didn't even have a drink...just plain old water. TIW discount is included in that price as well as tax and tip. I don't think we tipped her any extra.

We would DEFINITELY return here for lunch or dinner. It was just a nice place with some wonderful food and not terribly pricey for what you were getting and I'd love to try some desserts here. The table next to us all got desserts and they looked AWESOME!

 

[chinarider]

Mar 7: The Plaza (dinner)

Since we had plans for the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party at MK, I went ahead and made a reservation here for the first time for dinner. I knew I'd probably be a bit disappointed that we would not be getting dessert here too...but I was still looking forward to it.

We arrived and checked in and were seated within about 10 minutes. This is a small restaurant for sure but we loved the atmosphere. We got a seat along the window that faced the Castle...AWESOME!

I wish I could tell you the name of our waitress...so you could avoid her! She was OKAY...but I had an issue with her. We noticed the waitress at the table next to us was just so much better. When a new group sat down she went over the specials...our waitress didn't even mention the specials! When I heard them later I was disappointed...since I remember hearing a few things I might have tried! But anyway...back to the food!

We got drinks and then I ordered:
Plaza Club - smoked ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise layered on toasted multi-grain bread $11.49

Want to see a photo?

Can anyone tell me what is missing here? Anybody? Read the description again and then look closely...because I'll tell you that I was so in AWE of the size of the sandwich that even I did not notice the missing element until after I had eaten at least 1/4 of it!

If you guessed HAM...ding ding ding! Yep I ordered the club...but what I really got was a turkey sandwich...which is the same price and also has bacon on it. It was really, really good though.

I dont see tomato either

 

[Schmoodle]

Hello, fellow-Marylander! I am enjoying your reviews, thanks for taking the time to write them up. I've wanted to try Flying Fish, but haven't gotten there yet. I would never have ordered a crab cake there, but if you say they were good, I definitely trust your judgement.

 

[vettegirl]

Thank you so much for the Sanaa review, we are dining there for the first time next month and cannot wait!

 

[Suzanne033]

I am patiently waiting for your review of the Tomorrowland Dessert Party. I have booked it for DD and myself in June. Can't wait to see your take on it.

 

[Linda67]

Really enjoying your reviews

 

[kittylady1972]

Thank you so much for the Sanaa review, we are dining there for the first time next month and cannot wait!

You are very welcome...thanks for reading! I have to admit Sanaa was the one place I've heard great things about but I was really sure I would not like ANYTHING there...I'm SO picky. I was very pleasantly surprised and think we might have to make a return trip there for sure!

 

[kittylady1972]

I am patiently waiting for your review of the Tomorrowland Dessert Party. I have booked it for DD and myself in June. Can't wait to see your take on it.

Thanks for reminding me to get myself back over here. I am going to finish this whole thing RIGHT NOW!

 

[kittylady1972]

Really enjoying your reviews

AWESOME! Thanks for reading!

 

[kittylady1972]

Hello, fellow-Marylander! I am enjoying your reviews, thanks for taking the time to write them up. I've wanted to try Flying Fish, but haven't gotten there yet. I would never have ordered a crab cake there, but if you say they were good, I definitely trust your judgement.

Well HELLO THERE!!!

Thanks for reading. I must say Flying Fish was pretty good and definitely worth a return trip for us. I just wish I had enjoyed my dish more, but it just wasn't something I enjoyed based on some of the ingredients. I'm just too picky! My husband's meal was GREAT though...yes INCLUDING the crabcake! Obviously it is NOT a Maryland Crabcake and my husband had SERIOUS reservations about ordering the pre-fixe menu just because of that one item. It might not have had the jumbo lump crabmeat *WE* as Marylanders come to expect, but it still had a GREAT flavor and was not a lot of filler...very important. We'd definitely order it again!

 

[kittylady1972]

March 7: Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party

Ok, I knew for my LAST night of my birthday celebration I would want to enjoy something extra special. I had one signature meal earlier in the week, and so I decided the TT Dessert Party would be an AWESOME last night, watching the fireworks in Magic Kingdom while enjoying dessert...what is NOT to like there!

Now the start time was 7:05pm and I know that we arrived not too long before that time. The reason I know that is because I remember the LINE there for it. My husband was so worried we would not get a good seat, but there was no need to worry about that...they PRE-ASSIGN the tables!

As a party of two, we were seated right in the front of the terrace that overlooked the castle. The view:

Now as you can see, there were some people lined up along the rails and yes that did happen later as well, but it was never totally out of control. Mostly parents with young kids as the rest of the tables were under the overhang and towards the back. I'm sure you could probably still see the castle and fireworks from those tables...but no matter.

Ok, so for the food. I have to admit...I'm a big chocolate fan so I was mostly looking for those desserts giving me the most chocolate. I LOVE chocolate covered strawberries and the ones they had here were OUT of this WORLD! They were HUGE!

So yes...I had a few of them:

My advice if you love those...get them first as they went QUICKLY and they were not replenished. Frank and I both filled up our plate with desserts first, put them down, then went back and got some drinks. It was a chilly evening and we had just emerged from Splash Mt (bad move for late at night, we know...but we had to ride it!) so we went for warmer drinks...coffee and tea. We also got milk though. I am sure there was also water and maybe lemonade??? Can't recall.

Here is our first plate:

Closer:

Ok so besides the HUGE strawberries I had a little chocolate mousse cup as well. It was pretty good. There was also some kind of chocolate and maybe peanut butter brownie thing. I seem to recall it being a bit dry...so I didn't eat much of it. I would have been happy with just the strawberries and mousse and I am pretty sure that's what I stuck with for the most part...besides the hot tea!

Frank had some other things...NON-CHOCOLATE things and I have no idea what they were but he seemed to enjoy them.

Now obviously you really don't pay these prices for just the food. It's the atmosphere and the view...and they did not disappoint. We had never seen the new castle show and we were just blown away by that! We had a hard time making out the photos on the castle from that distance but it was still very cool. The fireworks afterwards of course were as awesome as ever.

So I will say that they had a pretty good variety of desserts and even had somebody hand-scooping ice cream and I think they had some toppings for sundaes. We did not try them. There were cookies and other brownies...standard fare that we didn't waste our time with either. Plus for our particular viewing (and I'm not sure if this is still happening) we had a CM come up to us with the glow characters like the kids get in their glow drinks in restaurants. He said they were testing it out and let each of us have a glow character. So I got Tink and DH got Buzz. I thought that was pretty cool.

Would we do this again? ABSOLUTELY! I would love to have the kids enjoy this special event with us, even though I know it's a bit costly. I'd almost prefer this over a character meal quite honestly, since it is a little cheaper than that at this point. Of course, we had some cooler than usual weather so I don't know what it would be like on warmer weather nights.

 

[kittylady1972]

March 8: Coral Reef (lunch)

So I must admit...I had really mixed feelings about this one. It was our last day at the parks and we had a flight to catch later, and I remember reading the service at this place can be a bit slow. I had an ADR at one time, and cancelled it. I actually had a planned ADR for Le Chef de France this day...but I just wasn't feeling the need for French Onion soup on this, the warmest day it had been for us for the trip. A nice, cool restaurant sounded much better.

The other reason...well I'm from Maryland where I can get GREAT seafood at any time so to me I am sure Coral Reef would not deliver in the seafood category either. Still...we decided to try it.

We approached Coral Reef and saw people sitting around. I asked how long for a party of two and they told us I think 30 minutes or more. Frank really didn't want to wait...but I said let's just see what happens. We put our names down.

Not FIVE minutes later...our names were being called! YIPPEE! And we were taken down to the front and right here:

So there was one table next to us up against the aquarium and then our table and they were pretty close together here. I'll admit it was a cool view!

Since we'd be on a flight later and not get a good meal...we decided to splurge here and we each got our own entree! I started out with this:

Winter Green Salad - blue cheese, fresh pears, candied walnuts and blood orange vinaigrette $6.99

I have recently acquired a taste for salads with salty and sweet combined and light dressings over my usual creamy ranch or bleu cheese or evil caesar dressings! This salad totally hit the bill and it was WONDERFUL!

For my meal, I chose this:

Seared Scottish Salmon - on lemon and pea risotto with bay scallops and citrus oil $22.99

I told the waitress I did not want the risotto...but would I still get the scallops! NOPE...they were part of the risotto unfortunately. That's okay...I'll still skip the veggie and she rattled off options and mentioned broccoli last. Well I LOVE broccoli (go figure...Ms. Picky Eater loves broccoli and spinach!) and so I had that instead. It was all delicious. The salmon was cooked perfectly and had a great flavor!

Frank chose this:

Grilled New York Strip Steak - served with horseradish smashed potatoes, and marketfresh vegetables $31.99

Now Frank actually asked the waitress what she recommended. I want to say he was trying to decide between the steak and something else that I can't recall. She actually told him the steak was good...and I remember hearing the same thing...or reading it here...WHATEVER! He LOVES a good steak...so he got it and ordered it I think medium or medium rare.

Well I will say that he said the steak WAS good...but it was overcooked. Since we were kinda short on time he didn't bother to send it back. He is sure he would have liked it much more if it hadn't been overdone...I think he said it was closer to Medium Well or Well which is just not how he likes it. I think he ate the sides too...can't recall.

Lunch was finished and we were pretty well stuffed...and then our wonderful waitress brought out this:

Closeup:

Ok chocolate girl here ALWAYS has room for dessert...especially chocolate and FREE dessert for her birthday!

This was of course the famous Chocolate Wave and I did share it with my husband and we both enjoyed it immensely. I'd almost return JUST for this dessert!

Overall I think our service was pretty good. I don't recall thinking too often "WHERE IS OUR WAITRESS" and it was clearly packed. The food was just OUTSTANDING and a perfect last meal at Walt Disney World for my birthday! I have a kid who LOVES fish and I think I'd have to try to make a trip here just for him too. So many more places to try at Disney and our next trip there in November is such a short one for the parks...not sure we can fit all of our restaurants in there!

Total cost here was $74.25 which included our TIW discount. I know I've read good and bad reviews here but based on our visit I'd definitely return!

 

[Lidian]

Glad you enjoyed the dessert party. I've read many posts about people being sat towards the back and could barely see the castle and NO fireworks because of the overhang (thus having to stand at the railings). I guess it would sort of depend on people's heights ... as heights would play into views.

The treats looked yummy! They must give their strawberries steroids.

I'd love to do this one year ... but not sure when we'd be able to justify the price to afford it. Next year, our family size will be 5, so that really adds up.