A Fantasy of Food and Wine: A tale of two trips

[jedijill]

Originally Posted by nanienamou

Awesome reviews! can't wait to read more!

thanks!

Jill in CO

[MickeyNicki]

Originally Posted by jedijill

What is wrong with Todd???? Remy is AMAZING and should not be missed.

Jill in CO

Honey I ask myself that exact question every day of my life

[jedijill]

Originally Posted by MickeyNicki

Honey I ask myself that exact question every day of my life

LOL. Well let me know when you want to ditch Todd and need a cruise/Remy buddy...I'm your girl.

Jill in CO

[Tracerr00]

Wonderful reviews!!! After reading about your Palo brunch, I am determined to get a reservation on our Med cruise! It looks amazing as does the champagne lunch. This makes me so much more excited!

I ordered the spinach and cheese souffle on the Magic and it was fantastic. Unfortunately my DD ended up eating most of it. I would have just ordered her one but the rest of our food came shortly after she ate it all anyway! But the next time I will know better!

Excellent reviews and pictures so far and have fun on your upcoming trip!!

[ses1230]

I loved your cruise pictures! We are going on a cruise in March and I feel like I have to start doing my research! I just have two questions - why did you have to sit through a sales pitch, and what is the DVC celebration? Thanks!

[jedijill]

Originally Posted by ses1230

I loved your cruise pictures! We are going on a cruise in March and I feel like I have to start doing my research! I just have two questions - why did you have to sit through a sales pitch, and what is the DVC celebration? Thanks!

The spa always tries to sell you products (its not run by Disney!)...you can simply write "no sales pitch" on your form and they should abide by it. The DVC Celebration is a meeting with the onboard DVC reps about the latest offers and news for DVC Members. There are also meetings for folks that want to learn more about DVC.

HTH

Jill in CO (although actually posting from AKV!)

[DLFan123]

Originally Posted by jedijill

California Grill

CG has always been one of my favorite restaurants in WDW. I love the food and the view. Tonight was going to be even better since I was sharing the meal with old and new friends.

After everyone arrived at the check in desk, we checked in a few minutes early for our 9:15 reservation. We were taken upstairs in the elevator and told we might have to wait 30 minutes for our table. We were already starving so not looking forward to the wait but figured we would watch the fireworks in the meantime. However, about 2 minutes late we were led to our table on the far side of the dining room (closer to the appetizer/dessert kitchen area.)

Sadly, things went downhill from this point. We were seated and we waited, and waited, and waited, and waited for our server to acknowledge us and take drink orders. After about 10 minutes of being ignored she stopped by and acknowledged us and finally 5 minutes after that we finally got drink orders taken. She returned with drinks in a reasonable time and we all placed our appetizer and entree orders. At that point I noticed that it was almost time for Hallowishes to start so we headed outside to watch. The deck was wet and there was some drizzle still in the air but not too bad. Hallowishes was amazing as usual. We headed back in and sat back at the table. (I was wearing new dressy flats tonight which I planned to wear throughout the trip so I could save on luggage space...new shoes plus water did not make my feet happy!)

We arrived back at the table expecting that our appetizers would appear soon. I ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger flatbread.

Bacon Cheeseburger . . . Wagyu Beef, Tillamook Cheddar, House-made Dill Pickles, Heirloom Ketchup



This was really tasty although a bit greasy for me. (Sorry, I took a bite before I remembered to take the picture!)

I don't have the pictures but I know that one of our party ordered the Dragon roll which was HUGE! He loved it. I know that someone else ordered the apple salad that I don't see on the menu any longer. The salad wasn't a hit. Someone else ordered the cheese plate and really enjoyed it.

Sadly, the service issues continued. We all finished our appetizers (it was after 10:30 at this point) and were waiting on our entrees. And we waited. And we waited. And we waited some more. (Remember, we had placed our entree orders at the same time we ordered appetizers.) I finally flagged down the server and asked her when we might be getting our food since it was so late. She made some excuse about because one gentleman in our party ordered 2 appetizers that was holding up the rest of our dinners. None of us understood what that had to do with anything but our entrees finally showed up nearly 1 1/2 hours after we first sat down.

Almost the whole table ordered the Oak fired filet.

Oak-fired Filet of Beef . . . Tillamook Potatoes, Blue Lake Beans, Bacon Vinaigrette, Teriyaki Barbecue



I loved this and glad I ordered it again. The filet was perfected a perfect medium. The potatoes were ok...more like a homemade casserole...the top layer of cheese was hard and I couldn't cut through it so I just ate a few of the potatoes underneath. Mine was served with brussel sprouts which were not bad.

Since I was using my deluxe dining plan, I ordered dessert with the intention of sharing with the table. I am apparently unable to order anything other than the Valrhona Chocolate Cake served with blackberry ice cream. This is so good if you love chocolate!



The server, obviously trying to make up the issues earlier, brought 3 or 4 pieces of the chocolate cake for the other couples at the table. Unfortunately, it was so late by this time that most of the cake went to waste (except the piece that was eaten by my friends 17yo son for breakfast the next morning!)

Overall, the food was great but we hit an off night with the service. They were already closing down the restaurant by the time we got finished and we were all so tired that we didn't try to flag down the manager. We had a nice chance to visit and get to know each other. I'm excited to see what changes that they make during the refurb planned for next year.

Jill in CO

Enjoying your reviews. It's too bad the service was sub-par, but I'm glad you were able to look on the bright side and enjoy getting to know new friends.