Day 18 - Part 6 - Victoria and Albert's - the best dining experience of my life
We rested at the Animal Kingdom Lodge that afternoon and then made our way to the Grand Floridan for our 6pm reservation at Victoria and Albert's. We knew it would be a good evening when, as driving into the Grand Floridan we told them we were eating at Victoria and Albert's, and he informed us we could use valet parking. Our valet met us at the entrance and welcome us to Victoria and Albert's, calling us Mr and Mrs Beaney as he did (Side note - I still find it weird when someone refers to me as Mrs Beaney, even though I have been married for over 5 years now)!
The CM on the entrance also mentioned that they liked my dress, which was nice to hear as I got REALLY dressed up for V&A's.
When we arrived we were shown straight to our table and my chair was pulled out for me and Jared's camera bag taken and sat on a little pouffe near his chair!!
Our maitre'd then asked if I was cold and wanted a shawl and went out and bought me back the softest most beautiful cashmere shawl I've ever worn (seriously I wish I could have kept it!). Not to mention, that anytime I went to the toilet I had a fresh napkin waiting for me when I came back and my seat was pulled out for me by the staff at the restaurant. The service at V&A's was outstanding.
Everything about the room was elegant and refined, yet there was a warmth to it all that made it feel not at all stuffy.
We met our waitress, Amy, who explained to us that we would be eating seven courses and that we would be provided with personalised menu's, mine tailored to my dietary requirements (no seafood, cumin, curry or chili). Jared's personalized menu actually said Happy Birthday on it - which was a gorgeous touch.
While we were looking through our menu's and deciding what to order we begun listening to the Harpist and realised she was playing Fred Jones Pt 2 by Ben Folds. Now Ben Folds is Jared's favourite musical artist of all time (he loves that he's a rock pianist; Jared's main instrument is also piano). We were so excited to hear some Ben Folds played on the harp and were really enjoying all of the Harpists songs. She played Gone by Ben Folds also along with other popular songs like Fix You by Coldplay, Thinking out Loud by Ed Sheeran and some Disney numbers including Let it Go, A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes and When you Wish Upon A Star. We enjoyed passing the wait between courses by trying to pick which song she was playing!
Anyway we finally choose what we would have for each course and relayed that to our wonderful waitress Amy. Not long later our first courses came. Mine was Poussin (chicken) with marble potatoes and Balsamic Froth
Jared choose the Colorado Bison with Black Radish Slaw and Kumquats
Wow, were those cold appetisers delicious!! I was in heaven. I was a little worried about eating at Victoria and Alberts as I normally not the biggest fan of really fancy food but I have since realized that this kind of good food is exactly the kind of thing I enjoy, an amalgamation of flavors designed to go well together creating an amazing dining experience!
I also forgot to mention Jared had decided to have the wine pairings with his meal and he was so glad he did as the New Zealand Jules Taylor Savignon Blac Marborough 2014 he had was AMAZING. He loved it so much he wants to track it down now that we are home!
For our next course Jared had the Masage Crusted Maine Scallop with Coconut Curry Broth
I ordered the Roasted Duck with Fennel and Leeks Al'Orange which was also extremely delicious. It was my first time trying duck.
For the third course Jared ordered the some kind of beef dish but I cannot for the life of me work out which dish it was on the menu (sigh)
And I ordered the Truffle and Mushroom Gnocchi which was so so so amazing!
We had finally arrived at the main course at Jared ordered the Ash Crusted Lamb Loin and Belly
I had the Veal with Black Truffles but I can’t seem to find a photo of it – either way it was amazing.
Up next was the cheese platter which had the most amazing dried fruit strap on it which went so well with the cheese!
While we were waiting for one of our courses we got to speak with the Harpist, Elizabeth, who Amy bought over because we had raved to her about how good she was and how much we loved that she was playing Ben Folds. Elizabeth wanted to thank us for listening and was glad to hear we were enjoying her music. She told us she knew basically all of Ben Fold's songs on the harp (as he was also one of her favorite musicians). Later on when Amy came back over we thanked her for telling Elizabeth to come over and lamented how we hadn't thought to ask her to play our song, which is The Luckiest by Ben Folds and so Amy went back over to Elizabeth and requested Elizabeth play the song for us. Between our main courses and dessert we suddenly recognized our song being played and it bought tears to our eyes - it was so beautiful on the harp and we felt a little emotional to hear the song I walked up the aisle to playing as we ate a wonderful romantic meal for two at the nicest restaurant we've ever visited. It was so perfect! After dinner Elizabeth came back over to our table and we thanked her profusely for playing our song, Jared even showed her his wedding ring which has 'I am the Luckiest' engraved on it. She excused herself for a moment and came back with a copy of her CD for us, which included her version of the Luckiest and gave it to us, thanking us again for being so complimentary about her music! It was the sweetest thing and we were so blown away by her friendliness and generosity and so excited to have that version of our song to listen to over and over so we could remember such an amazing evening together.
Anyway, I will now get back to the food part of the evening (I skipped to the end of the night because it made sense to mention everything about Elizabeth and her wonderful music together). Now though, we were waiting for our dessert to arrive and as we were waiting Jared was bought a special coffee peculator to make his coffee to go with his dessert.
The percolator worked differently to most in that if had a funnel that allowed the hot water and steam to rise up into the coffee but not over whelm it. Then, when the coffee was brewed, the suction in the funnel was reversed and the coffee was bought down to the lower pot ready to be poured. Jared had lots of fun watching the percolator do it's thing!
I felt left out, but not for long as I was bought earl grey tea in a similar percolator
Relaxing before dessert in my cashmere shawl!
Sipping my yummy tea!
Finally dessert arrived. Jared had ordered a chocolate souffle, which he said was amazing, and I of course, had more creme brulee and it was even better than the night before at California Grill!
The last part of the meal included a few chocolate liqueurs (most of which were too much for me).
At the end of the evening we were comfortably full but not stuffed like we were after our evening at Palo (maybe that meal expanded our stomachs) and we decided to take a few more photos of the restaurant before leaving.
On our way out Amy bought us a little package of things to take home which included a date loaf birthday present for Jared and a beautiful red rose for me, which Jared can be seen holding in the next picture, along with our valet stub and advice that the valet was already bringing our car around!
The meal took a little over 3 hours, but it felt much quicker than that to us. We are usually very quick eaters and so we were surprised by how nice it was to enjoy a meal over such a length of time.
Overall our experience at Victoria and Albert's was nothing short of excellent. Of course the experience is very expensive (I think with one lot of wine pairings the cost was about $500 for the two of us - with tip) but the food is also completely top quality and what you would expect from such an expensive restaurant. The atmosphere was extremely elegant, without being stuffy, and the wonderful staff were so amazingly friendly and attentive and made you feel right at home. I was worried about how I would like the really fancy chef created food, but found I absolutely loved it, and the way the flavors chosen mixed together so well. Plus the wonderful harpist, who helped create the beautiful romantic atmosphere, was such a trip highlight for us. I have no hesitation in saying that this was the best meal of my life and would highly recommend this as a romantic evening to anyone! We had been treated like royalty and we left feeling extremely happy and content...
Continued in Next Post...
. Your pictures are fantastic. Love the different perspectives. Love the aerial view of Orlando. That must have been amazing. Can't wait to read more.
