Insanity Vol 4. - Brief sanity break in the middle of chaos - California Grill

[MickeyNicki]

Hi Melissa! Great reviews so far...love the new Narcoossee's menu and now I am stuck, do I add it back in to my plans??? Cannot wait for more

[Dis_Yoda]

Originally Posted by DonaldDoleWhip

I'm really enjoying your reviews - the banana chocolate crème brûlée looks awesome! The rest, not so much. I think I'd also prefer the duck pot stickers over pork, since duck is generally harder to find on Disney menus and has a richer flavor.

Still, just looking at that dessert makes me want to fit in Kona soon. If only we could extend our May trip so I could fit in everywhere

I'm glad you are enjoying my reviews! Duck has been disappearing from anything outside of the signature menus. You can get desserts to-go from Kona from the sushi bar if you ask nicely. Sometimes they are too busy for you to do that though.

Originally Posted by cbg1027

Thanks for posting the link on our Facebook group. I hardly ever get on the boards anymore, so I don't think I would have found this otherwise!

Yeah I forgot about posting until someone else posted theirs. Glad you made it here!

Originally Posted by Tink rules

Hi!

Originally Posted by franandaj

I'm so glad that I got in your review! Narcoosee's looks fabulous. I hope to go there someday!

I see that you aren't going to F&W this year, that's too bad, but you are going on the Fantasy! Awesome!

Looking forward to the rest, and counting down the days until I'm back!

It does look like we aren't going to F&W this year but you never know, I may be able to get in a short weekend trip but we'll see what happens. It will really depend on the events that are announced. It will be no time until its your trip!

Originally Posted by MickeyNicki

Hi Melissa! Great reviews so far...love the new Narcoossee's menu and now I am stuck, do I add it back in to my plans??? Cannot wait for more

Thanks for joining in! What all do you have in your plans for your next trip?

[Dis_Yoda]

Le Cellier

Somehow in my midst of planning a trip just a couple of weeks before it happened, I got a dinner reservation at Le Cellier.

I apologize for the really bad photos - I was using my cell phone which probably wasn't the best choice for this meal.

I was sat within 5 minutes of checking in at the podium and led to a two seat in the corner as you walk into the dining room. It was nice to finally have a meal there where I don't feel like I'm on top of other patrons.

Menu


I went with the cheese plate for my appetizer.


I asked for no blue cheese and was given extra cheddar.

For my entree I went with the 'signature' Mushroom Filet.


The steak was very tender and the risotto was not as salty as it can be on occasion.

For dessert, I had the Trio of Chocolate


The bar portion was really tasty with the light peanut flavor throughout. The sorbet was light but rich at the same time.

[Dis_Yoda]

Sunshine Seasons

For Breakfast, I decided to use a snack credit on something unhealthy.



I forgot how these treats tend to get stale. I had about a third until it was just too much and I decided to call it quits and go on my day through the parks.

[Singinglizzie]

Thank you for taking the time to post your pictures and review. I enjoyed reading them!

[Dis_Yoda]

Via Napoli

Lunch on Saturday, I checked in at noon for Via Napoli. I was sat in the back corner of the restaurant.

During the F&W Festival this year, at the Beer Tasting, the arancini we were given for the first course was enjoyable enough. As I was on the dining plan, I figured it would be the best choice for my appetizer.



They were alright. Not as good as what I remembered from October. I only ate one of them as I knew I had pizza and dessert coming.

For my entree, I went with a basic pepperoni pizza.



As all their pizza I have had, it was very enjoyable.

For dessert, I went with the tiramisu.



Overall, this was a decent meal. My waiter was charming and on top of things.

It was starting to rain & looking at the weather it was going to be a very wet & nasty afternoon. I headed back to the room to drop off most of my stuff & headed to AMC to catch Mirror Mirror @ the Fork & Dine. I was able to have cocktails while I watched it so worked for me! I didn't have any of the food as I was still full from lunch & knew I would be having dinner somewhere undecided sometime that night.

[Linda67]

Just caught up with your wonderful reviews
I love the pizza at Via Napoli

[vettegirl]

Wow that pizza looks so good!

[jacksmom]

Great reviews!

[vinotinto]

Great reviews (as usual)! A few comments:

1) Agree with pp about the Narcossee prices. A year and a half ago, the whole crispy snapper was something like $35 (I know cause I ordered it - it was delish). It's now $49. That's way more than inflation. And $49 for snapper is crazy. I love, love, love whole snapper, but that really is out of whack.

2) I'm not usually a big steak or filet or beef eater (I'll have it once during a 7 or 8 night stay), but the one from Narcoossee looks great. Love the little mushrooms. The dessert looks amazing too. I wish I could fit Narcoosee in our next trip, but we can't, so it will have to wait.

3) Is it me or is the Le Cellier dinner menu less 'daring' than when it first opened? It seems that when they first opened they had multiple very interesting dishes. Now it seems it's more of the usual Disney stuff: a chicken dish, a salmon dish, a short-rib dish, a steak dish, etc.

4) Kona - we also had lunch and our experience was very similar. Desserts were good, but the rest of the meal was of similar quality to 'insert-your-local-Pacific-restaurant-here.' I can't even remember what we ordered for apps (must have been quite forgettable). We thought about dinner here for our upcoming trip (on our MK day) and quickly decided against it, even though it would have been a convenient option.

All right, I'm looking forward to hearing where you ate on Sunday.

[Dis_Yoda]

Originally Posted by Singinglizzie

Thank you for taking the time to post your pictures and review. I enjoyed reading them!

Glad you are enjoying them!

Originally Posted by Linda67

Just caught up with your wonderful reviews
I love the pizza at Via Napoli

I love Via Napoli - I really wish we had somewhere around where I lived that had decent pizza as everything is pretty much chains.

Originally Posted by vettegirl

Wow that pizza looks so good!

It was great!

Originally Posted by jacksmom

Great reviews!

Thanks for reading.

Originally Posted by vinotinto

Great reviews (as usual)! A few comments:

1) Agree with pp about the Narcossee prices. A year and a half ago, the whole crispy snapper was something like $35 (I know cause I ordered it - it was delish). It's now $49. That's way more than inflation. And $49 for snapper is crazy. I love, love, love whole snapper, but that really is out of whack.

2) I'm not usually a big steak or filet or beef eater (I'll have it once during a 7 or 8 night stay), but the one from Narcoossee looks great. Love the little mushrooms. The dessert looks amazing too. I wish I could fit Narcoosee in our next trip, but we can't, so it will have to wait.

3) Is it me or is the Le Cellier dinner menu less 'daring' than when it first opened? It seems that when they first opened they had multiple very interesting dishes. Now it seems it's more of the usual Disney stuff: a chicken dish, a salmon dish, a short-rib dish, a steak dish, etc.

4) Kona - we also had lunch and our experience was very similar. Desserts were good, but the rest of the meal was of similar quality to 'insert-your-local-Pacific-restaurant-here.' I can't even remember what we ordered for apps (must have been quite forgettable). We thought about dinner here for our upcoming trip (on our MK day) and quickly decided against it, even though it would have been a convenient option.

All right, I'm looking forward to hearing where you ate on Sunday.

1. The prices are insane nowadays. Spending almost $50 on a filet that isn't anywhere near what I would get at Morton's or the Palm just doesn't sit right with me. But its Disney and thats why they get away with it.

2. The steak was really good. I tended to over eat on steak during this part of the trip as I had a lot of pasta and chicken when I was in PA and I knew I would be eating a lot of bar type food with my coworkers at the convention.

3. It is less daring. Most of the menus tend to have different versions of the same type of meals it seems.

4. I tend to keep it into rotation just because of the desserts. Luckily because of the Sushi Bar - I've been able to just go for desserts a lot easier than in the past.

[Dis_Yoda]

Jiko

I originally had no plans for dinner on Saturday. I had originally planned on walking around Downtown Disney after the movies and getting something to eat somewhere around there; however, it was raining and walking around in the rain was not something that I felt like doing. I returned to the hotel, read some more of the Hunger Games trilogy, and debated on what I wanted to eat. Finally around 7:00pm, I decided to try to get into Jiko and if that didn't work, figure something else out.

I was able to get into Jiko quickly as I showed up. I had about a 20 minute wait in the bar while I waited to walk in. I enjoyed a glass of wine - Posthouse Virgins. I fully admit I ordered it because of the name. It was a dense blend that I knew would work for whatever I decided to order that evening whether it was spicy or meaty.

I was sat in the middle of the restaurant & quickly was greeted by my waiter.



I always love their bread with the tamarind butter.

Of the options for appetizers, I went with the Crispy Beef "Bobotie" Roll


I always have enjoyed these. There is a little kick to the meat but its quickly cooled with the sauce and slaw that accompanies the dish.

For my entree, I decided against a beef dish as I had beef with my appetizer.

I had the Grilled Wild Shrimp Curry.



I really love the spices on this dish! However, it was entirely too much. Luckily I knew I would have a hotel at my next location and was able to package it togo & it was great at the Rosen Centre the next day while I waited for my co-workers to show up.

For dessert,
One Last Cup - Tanzanian Chocolate and Kenya Coffee Mousse with cinnamon mascarpone, nutty chocolates and "hot chocolate"



The mousse was great! Eating it with the mascarpone complimented the coffee in the mousse really well. I didn't really like the "hot chocolate" as it just seemed as a bit too much to have with the mousse.

[vettegirl]

Wow the shrimp curry dish looks soooo good! I think I need to plan a solo trip just to go there and try that dish

[mefordis]

I love your reviews! Thank you!

[Dis_Yoda]

Originally Posted by vettegirl

Wow the shrimp curry dish looks soooo good! I think I need to plan a solo trip just to go there and try that dish

It was really good! I hadn't had it in a long time so I'm glad I finally went back to it again.

Originally Posted by mefordis

I love your reviews! Thank you!

Glad you are reading along