2010: A Year of Wine and Disney Trip Report- Victoria and Albert's Part 2 6-7!!

[Fairy Godnana]

Glad you're back and glad you weren't directly in the flood! I'm looking foward to more reviews from both trips!!

I can't imagine trying to recover from a flood in my home. Several years ago we had a 'small' flood and a friends beauty salon had about three feet of water in it. I was helping her clean the cabinets in the back and a small snake rolled out with the towels that I had in my hand-- needless to say we were through!!!

 

[anthonut]

Enough flood craziness, let's get back to some reviews

After spending the bulk of the day at DHS I went back to POR to relax a bit and freshen up. I went back to DHS to use up a final Tower of Terror FASTpass I had been hoarding and then took a leisurely walk to the Boardwalk. My colleague who was also at the World and I decided that if he could get free we would try ESPN Club for dinner. I was a bit concerned that you could not make ressies for ESPN given the crowds I was seeing at the parks. We did decide to eat here Monday, though, as it avoided any of the NCAA tournament nights. We only had to wait about 15 minutes before being seated. There are definitely a ton of TVs in the place and I'm sure if there was actually some interesting sports events it would have been great. I don't remember anything of particular interest on that evening, however.

There are no photos of this meal. Felt a little odd whipping out my camera to take pics of food while dining with non-family members

We started off sharing the Macho Nachos for Two. I mean what else would be fitting for two dudes at a sports bar. We did get them sans jalapeno's, which was probably a good thing. I think some of the chili on top already had a little kick. Overall, nothing great about the Nachos but still tasty and a good appetizer size for sharing.

It was nice to have the appetizer to gnaw on as it seemed the service was a bit lacking. It took a while to put in our order and our server took a long time to come back and check on how things were. I don't know if they were understaffed that evening but even with the 15 minute wait we saw tables left unbussed for long periods of time before new patrons were seated.

Along with the Nachos I ordered an ESPY (Absolut Mandrin, Peach Schnapps, Orange and Pineapple Juices, and Sprite). I expected it to taste more citrusy than it was. I'd definitely try something else should I find myself back here.

For an entree I had the Triple Play Turkey and Brie Sandwich. I wasn't terribly hungry so this was a good choice. Everything was fresh, and I like both turkey and brie. Sort of tasted a bit like Thanksgiving on a sandwich with the cranberry mayo. I had the cucumber salad instead of fries and that was a nice light alternative. Much like the Nachos, there was nothing particularly outstanding about the sandwich, but also nothing bad. It was good food for the price.

Other than some service issues, it was a nice dinner. It was great to meet up with a friend and share some sports time If you don't have reservations for dinner and in the vicinity of ESPN, its not a bad choice, as long as no major sporting event is on at the time. The prices are reasonable and food is decent.

 

[anthonut]

After a morning wandering around the Magic Kingdom, including a nice meeting with PUSH, lunch time was rapidly approaching. I had to make a decision of whether to keep my noon ADR at the Wave at the Contemporary or finding something smaller in the park. The major factor I was weighing was that evening's dinner at Victoria and Albert's. My seating at V&A was at 5:45pm and I knew it would be a gastronomic extravaganza. In the end, sparing my belly for dinner won out over trying a new restaurant.

I decided to check out the fare at Cosmic Ray's as I was already in Tomorrowland. Others have seemed to like this CS location, so what the heck.

I ordered the Greek Salad:


After slight difficulty locating salad dressing (it's available behind the counter, though the CM taking my order did not know that) I sat down to enjoy my light lunch.

The salad greens were crisp and there was a variety of items such as cucumber, olives, tomato (more like a pico), feta cheese and peppers. Nothing all that exciting, but it was a good meal to hold me over til the greatness coming that evening.

I grabbed lunch not long after Ray's opened so it was not crowded at all. I was able to just relax in the large seating area and listen to Sonny Eclipse play some tunes:



Sonny adds a lot of fun to the atmosphere, though I did feel a slight flashback to my childhood spending time at Showbiz Pizza Place

 

[homeschool101]

Sounds like you're going to have a great time! I'd like to know what you think of Kona, as we've never been there before.

 

[anthonut]

Ok, back to the show I will work to get V & A done before I leave on Wednesday for my summer trip.

So when I left off I had a light lunch of a salad to leave room for this wonderful meal. I left the park around 2:30 so I could go back to the room and change into my evening attire. I'm guessing this will be one of the only times I pack dress shoes, slacks and a sport coat merely for a meal. Any way I took a cab from POR to the Grand Floridian. I arrived a little early so I explored the grounds a bit and just hung in the lobby. The band was playing, which added to the atmosphere for the evening:



I finally arrived at the doors to the restaurant and was led by the maitre d' to my table for one. I was on the left side of the restaurant as you walk in directly facing the harp player. This was nice as it added some entertainment and allowed me to chat with the harp player throughout the evening.



I found it interesting that he played without shoes. He would sit down, remove his shoes, play a few songs, put his shoes back on and leave.

As I sat down, the server provided the same small stool provided for women's purses, but this time for my gargantuan camera setup no pic of that though. Here is the initial table setting of the display plate.



Here is the personalized menu closed:



And open:


Ok, going to continue this in the next post. Hit the post reply instead of preview button

 

[anthonut]

Ok, sorry for the posting snafu

Anyway, I was hemming and hawing whether to get the wine pairing or not. I finally decided lets just go all out and do it. Nothing better than having wine specifically paired with each course. For the initial course, the Amuse-Bouche, I was served a glass of Tattinger Prestige Cuvee NV.



Finally I present to you the first photo of food - the Amuse-Bouche:




While no official name is given on the menu, I called this a sampling of Salmon In the upper left is salmon with celery root puree (I think, can't fully remember the name). This was slightly warm and very creamy. Wonderful flavor of fish. To the right of this was a salmon custard served in an egg shell. This too was warm and just perfect. Not overly eggy in flavor. It was very light in texture and whipped up with a lot of air. In the bottom left is a salmon panna cotta. What a beautiful presentation. Once again very flavorful and downed in a single bite. Finally on the lower right is a small blini with creme freche, a slice of caper and a bit of caviar. This was amazing. I really don't think I can describe how much flavor was in this small bite. Make me 5 of these and I could have called it a meal right then and there. What an awesome start to this meal.

To be continued...

 

[anthonut]

After the Amuse-Bouche came the first of the three bread servings:



This was a french roll with a perfectly flaky crust and nice body on the inside. I don't remember anything particularly special about the butter served with this other than I loved it

Next up was the first appetizer. I chose the Maine Lobster with Watermelon Radish, Kohlrabi and Vanilla Aioli:



Wow, wow, wow. After the burst of flavors in the Amuse I should have known that it was only the start, but this was incredible. I actually picked up the plate and admired the dish from various angles The nice chunk of lobster was great, but I didn't realize that inside the expertly crafted radish container would be a cold lobster salad which is where the Vanilla Aioli came into play. The Kohlrabi was crisp and a little spicy (in the way that a radish can be "spicy"). This married well with the watermelon radish as it was slightly sweeter than a typical radish. It gets its name from its look and not its taste.

This was served with Baileyana Chardonnay "Firepeak Vineyard," Edna Valley 2006:



Next up was second appetizer. For this I chose the Diver Scallops with Flordia Corn and Chorizo Sauce:



Once again simply amazing. This scallop was popcorn crusted, which was actually popcorn finely ground to provide a crust on the top and bottom of the scallop. It was seated on a small corn cake with a few kernels of corn and finished with both corn and chorizo sauce. I don't think I've ever eaten a better scallop. I sliced it thinly (it cut like butter) to savor as many bites as possible. I think next to the entree this was my favorite course, which is saying something as they were all delicious. This was served with Michel Redde Sancerre "Les Tuilieres", Loire 2007.

Ok, more coming soon. I leave on Wednesday morning for a 5 day trip to the world. Having a very difficult time not booking another ressie at V & A looking over this food.