This was the night that it poured down rain so hard during IllumiNations that the rain bounced off the ground and up under our pochos soaking us from below, and also seeped inside around our faces and necks no matter how tightly we pulled our pochos around us. It was so funny! After IllumiNations, we walked...er...waded our way out the International Gateway and splashed on wet feet over to the back entrance of the YC for our 9:30 ADR at YSH.
It took us a few minutes to locate the restaurant. After drying ourselves off as best we could with the complementary towels that had been invitingly set out in baskets, we solicited the help of the concierge, and discovered that the restaurant is located toward the BC end of the YC, and we probably could have saved ourselves jumping a few puddles. But that wouldn't have been nearly as fun, so we didn't mind!
I have to apologize that I cannot find our receipt for this dinner!
It makes me sad because our server was easily the best of the trip, but I can't tell you her name...and also I can't give you the cost details. I know I had at least two delicious glasses of wine, and Aladdin may have enjoyed a wine with his steak, but we can't remember for sure. Rest assured that we unanimously agree that whatever we spent OOP that night for this meal was WELL worth it for one of the best meals we have enjoyed together, EVER! It was also well worth the 2TS credits per person. Anyway, thanks to our photos, we can remember what we ate!
First, the heavenly onion bread:
Its reputation is well deserved, my friends. This might very possibly be the most delicious bread product on the planet. I specify when I say "bread product," because I now know what is the very most delicious food item on the planet...and we're coming to it...wait on it...
This isn't it, but these were good, too...the other kind of rolls:
These paled compared to the onion rolls, which is unfortunate, because I believe that in any other setting, these would be great. I actually preferred the roasted garlic (I didn't get a good pic of that) on these, because I thought the onion rolls stood up on their own.
This is my Lobster Bisque:
It was creamy and a little spicy and loaded with lobster...excellent! (Can you see the lumps of lobster meat?!)
Belle's Beef Pot Stickers:
These had a soy glaze with earthy mushrooms. They were quite delicious, but probably the least inspiring dish we tried that night.
Aladdin's Mussels and Clams:
That is a squash blossom on the top. He loved these, and they came in a very tasty tomato broth...the plain bread rolls were perfect for sopping up the extra sauce.
Hercules' Artisan Cheeses:
This was easily the best cheese plate of the trip, and probaby ever! Each cheese was better than the last, and we even enjoyed the cheese in the jar with the oil that has gotten a bad rap here on the DIS. I would eat that oil-soaked cheese now, if I could! The plate was beautifully presented and Disney-magical!
I didn't have much luck getting good pictures of menus on this trip, despite many valiant efforts, but this cheese assortment was so good I went a few extra miles to make sure I had descriptions for posterity:
For her main, Belle chose the Handmade Ricotta Cavatelli:
These were spectacular! She loved them (we all did!) and would order them again in a minute.
This is Aladdin's meal, I'm pretty sure it's a Porterhouse:
He subbed his side for creamed spinach. My family loved the spinach, but I wasn't a big fan...there was something vaguely fruity about the sauce on the spinach, and I thought it was a little too watery. He ordered his steak as we all do, medium rare, and it was perfect. There was nothing left on this plate except the bone!
This is my steak:
I could have sworn I ordered a filet, but this is clearly a strip? It's not usual for me to order a NY Strip Steak, but I'm thinking our wonderful waitress suggested this instead of the filet. Anyway, it was outstanding, one of the best steaks ever, and the sauce was to die for, a scrumptious peppercorn brandy sauce. I didn't sub out my side, which was a wonderful potato gratin. I left nothing on the plate!
This is Hercules' plate:
OK, none of us can remember what kind of steak this was (dang the lost receipt!!), but I'm thinking perhaps it was the Boneless Ribeye? It probably wasn't a filet..especially since I'm thinking the waitress talked me out of the filet. He loved his steak like Aladdin and I did, but the REAL show stopper here is the side dish, which was a divine-intervention-inspired substitution. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I present to you the very most delicious tasting thing on the planet earth, the Yachtsman Steakhouse's Truffle Macaroni and Cheese. There is nothing better. The rest of my dining report will be sadly, nay, woefully, anti-climactic. In fact, I fear my whole life of eating will be bereft. I am sorry for you if you have never tasted this. I am sorry for me that it will be way too long before I can enjoy it again. This whole thing is turning way too sad, so I will move on, but please know...IT'S AMAZING!!! I am done here.
I guess I should also mention that we did order dessert...though we were mostly too full to finish them!
This was one of the few restaurants the whole week where our celebrations were acknowledged, and we received this as we ordered dessert:
These were delicious jellied fruit candy and dark chocolate salted caramels. Mmmm...
My dessert. This might be what's called Trio of Valrhona Chocolate:
The description on the allears menu says peanut, espresso and salted caramel, and that sound like what this tasted like. It might be something altogether different that is no longer on the menu. I seem to remember peanut, chocolate and caramel flavors. Whatever it was, it was a great combo of sweet and salty. We loved it.
Herc's Flourless Chocolate Cake:
This was so rich and maybe a little bit spicy, and that is a mango salsa that was very refreshing and cut the rich chocolate. So delicious!
Belle's Lemon...Cheesecake? Panna Cotta?
Served with raspberry coulis and gelato. She loved it!
Aladdin's Yachtsman Sundae:
A trio of gelato with amarena cherries and whipped cream. He ate it all.
We practically closed down the place, I think there was one couple still settling their bill when we left, and thankfully the skies had cleared so we could enjoy a nice walk over to the front of DHS (EMH night), where we could catch a bus back to the Poly. We were thoroghly thrilled with our meal at Yachtsman, and this would be on the top of our list of signatures to which to return. It was easily the best signature meal of our trip, and possibly the best signature dining experience we have ever enjoyed (at least tied with, and maybe even surpassing, our first CG meal).
Our rating of Yachtsman is unanimous!
An easy 5/5
Coming soon...our day at Animal Kingdom!