Boma, Spoodles, Le Cellier & More... OOP & DDP UPDATE 7/21 w/Chefs De France

[Anc96]

I have a few dining reviews.. All from memory and I did not take pictures. Yes, I should have... but I wasn't planning on reviewing them. These are quick reviews giving my opinion on taste and value.

10 nights off property and I had 10 nights on property with the dining plan.
Myself, and my daughter w/kids meals.
My daughter knows at any time she can choose something from the regular menu and I'd pay OOP. She chose the kids meals every time. Next year she'll be a "Disney adult"... I doubt I'll do the ddp then since I'm pretty sure she'd still prefer the kid's meals.

Boma
The first place we ate on property was Boma. We ate there before we were staying on property because we love it there. I had an adr for our first night in Orlando, June 13th. But because of an 8 hour flight delay, we had to change our reservations for 2 nights later.

We didn't have to wait long for our reservation since it was an early one and they were just opening. Our server was Kea, she was wonderful!
I started with the carrot ginger soup! I love this soup. It's funny I never think I'm going to like it again as well as I remember liking it.. but I always do! Yumm!!
I had some flatbreads and the sauces, and the watermelon rind salad. The prime rib was tender, and I added the red spicy paste stuff they have there (I don't remember what it's called). I only use a little because it's SPICY! But delicious!. The salmon was perfectly cooked too!
My daughter had mac & cheese.. and the cinnamon rice. She picked at a bit of my prime rib too, but that's about it. She always says how much she loves Boma too..lol, it must be the atmosphere because she seems to eat the same stuff at other places (this will change at our next ressie at Boma!). The cinnamon rice is different though and she loves that.
Now dessert time. I was anticipating zebra domes, but thought I'd ask which chef was working tonight. When our waitress came I asked, and she said chef TJ was not working. Oh well. I told her I was hoping for fried oreo cookies. She smiled and said she was sorry. Then she noticed my b-day button. She was really sweet and said she would go talk to the chef who was on that night. In just a few minutes she came out with deep fried oreo cookies for us!! Chef Frank came out and introduced himself and I thanked him for the treat. They were DELICIOUS! And Chef Frank is really cute too.. shhh, don't tell him I said so!
This is what a fried oreo cookie lookes like:

It's the first time I've been in the World around my birthday time. This was a great treat!

OOP cost including tip = $50.00.

 

[Anc96]

Spoodles
The next place we ate was Spoodles (about a week after Boma). We are still off property at this point.
We went to the Beach Club so I could show my daughter the pool and watch her drool over it. She didn't know at the time that were were due to check in there in a few days. We took the boat to the Boardwalk, we were hungry and decided to have dinner at Spoodles.

We started with the Crispy Fried Calamari. We both like calamari and figured on sharing it. It comes with a relish, that neither of us liked. The calamari was overcooked and tough. Big thumbs down from both of us. We ate at the Macaroni Grill the week before and had calamari to die for! It made this look like Gorden's frozen fish or something equally unappetizing.
I looked over the menu and didn't see too much that appealed to me. I finally choose the Lemon-Garlic Shrimp linguine for an entree. Very good. The sauce had a nice light lemon flavor with lemon rind here and there. The shrimp were plentiful and tender. A very nice dish and generous serving, my daughter ate some of it too.
She ordered off the kid's menu, Mac & Cheese. She picked at it. She liked my food better.. and there was plenty of mine to share.
There's also something on the receipt that says "km chicken noodle".. she must have ordered soup. I don't remember, but it's something she would order.
We both usually order diet coke. Mine was $2.19, dd's apparently isn't charged or is a part of her meal.

For dessert I ordered Vanilla Crème Brule... I LOVE crème Brule. This I didn't love.. but it was ok.
My daughter had an ice cream sundae. Normal Disney toppings. She liked it.

My entree was very nice.. not worth a trip back just for that unless I had a craving or something. The service was lacking. Our server was Said and he wasn't attentive at all. He didn't come back to see if everything was ok. As a matter of fact, he didn't come to our table at all except to take our order and give us the check. The person who brought our dishes was friendly.
We decided that night to cancel our ADRs for Spoodles when we checked in on property and on the dining plan. I would be willing to try it again on a future visit though.

Total OOP cost was $42.00 including tip.

 

[Anc96]

Cape May Cafe
Finally on property. June 23rd.
Our first ADR was for lunch at Le Cellier. We had to cancel that one because my daughter had gotten hurt and was a bit upset. I make a quick ADR for Cape May for that evening since it's right in the resort. I figured she'd feel better by then.
We waited only about 15 minutes. It was pretty crowded. I hadn't realized how popular it was.
We were seated in a nice quiet area and went right up since we were hungry!
I like clams. I was brought up by the ocean and I'm used to nice fresh clams. This was a clam bake buffet so I was looking forward having them.
Well.. I was disappointed. They weren't bad.. but they weren't yummy either. They were the tiniest I'd ever seen, and you really had to search for them since they'd all fallen out of their shells. They were somewhat overcooked, but I think because they were so small it didn't seem as bad as they might have if they were larger. They were in a garlic butter, but they were not very flavorful at all. I didn't try the mussels. There weren't any on the buffet when I went up though there was an empty pot for them.
The ribs were tough.. took one bite and didn't eat anymore. My daughter wouldn't eat them either and she loves ribs.
I thought they were supposed to have prime rib but I didn't see any. They did have strip steak, I tried a piece of it and that was pretty tasty. The asparagus was very good. Cooked tender.
We skipped dessert.
As we were leaving I saw a dessert that looked good though and I had a tinge of regret not trying it. It looked like some kind of raspberry/chocolate cheesecake tart.

We went upstairs to rest since my daughter's foot was still hurting her. When we peeked into the lounge, dessert had been put out. There were those raspberry/chocolate looking things! So I got to try them after all. They were very good.. They were mousse, not cheesecake. They also had berry tarts, which were very good too. I'm assuming they get their desserts from Cape May Cafe. Later in the week the lounge had clams and they had ribs another night. Both were considerably better than the clams and ribs downstairs at Cape May. The clams were bigger and very flavorful, and the ribs were falling off the bone tender and delicious.
Maybe I hit the restaurant on a bad evening? But still.. we didn't go back since we didn't like it at all. Maybe I'll chance it another visit.

2 TS Credits (Mine & DDs)
The bill was $47.31
I left an extra $5

 

[Anc96]

Le Cellier
The next night we were scheduled for Jiko, but I was lucky enough to get to share an Illuminations cruise that night, so I cancelled our reservations. I instead was able to get Le Cellier for a late lunch.
I'd heard so much about this place I couldn't wait to try it!

I had a bit of a hard time with the hostess cm Courtney. She said she couldn't find my reservation. I saw it and pointed it out, and that it was misspelled. My last name ends in an "s" and instead it ended in an "a". Also the first name was not mine, but rhymed with mine. Both my first and last names are unusual. She wouldn't give in.. said it wasn't me. Hmmm.. ok. I have the res.#. But there was an extra 5 in the begining. Sigh. I was really loosing patience with her. I called the conceirge desk (they made the appointment for me) and asked them to please check the reservation for me. The conceirge asked me to put the cm/hostess on the phone. After a few seconds she hung up and thanked me for checking that for her... . I said "did I have a choice?". My daughter and I were really very hungry, and I really wanted to try this place, or I probably would have walked out after complaining to her supervisor.
So, we were seated quickly.
Our server, Valerie, was very good and very knowedgeable about the menu. Since everything looked good to me I asked what she recommended and went with that.
She suggested, so I choose, the Duck Two Ways - duck confit and seared smoked duck breast with chambord syrup, to start. Wow, this was fantastic! I loved the duck confit.. my daughter shared the duck breast with me. It was wonderful!
I almost choose the cheese soup since everyone raves about it. My daughter had that. I tasted it, and though I liked it, I am so glad I took the server's recommendation and got the duck. My daughter loved the soup.

I was a bit put off because we had just gotten our appetizers when they brought over our entrees. I would have said something but the guy put the plates down and left too quickly. Luckily our server was watching and came over to take them away and keep them warm while we enjoyed our appetizers. She said some of the other staff were new and she appologized.

I had the New York Strip Steak - with balsamic red onions, watercress and cream cheese mashed potatoes and finished with veal demi-glace. I substituted for the cream cheese mashed potatoes instead of the yukon. They sounded better to me.
I was a little concerned that after taking the dishes back and keeping them warm would overcook the steak.. but I had no need to worry. The steak, medium rare, was perfectly done. It was really good! Great flavor, I guess from the demi glace.. the potatoes were also extremely good! It was a large steak and my daughter tried to help me finish it. I had tried to convince her to get a steak (she's normally a chicken person, not steak) since they do have one on the child's menu too, but she wanted mac & beef. She enjoyed it too, but after trying my steak she said next time she would order one.
There was still some steak left.. but not a bit of potatoes! I was pretty full, but was looking forward to trying the creme brule.
I got the sampler with maple and vanilla. I loved them both. Very good creme brule! The custard was so creamy.. and the topping was perfectly crystalized! Just the right amount of serving too.
My daughter got the usual kid's sundae. She was happy.

This was easily one of the best meals I had at Disney.. I'd rate it 2nd, only our second visit to Boma was better.

2 TS Credits
Bill Total: $69.77
I left $6 extra tip

 

[Anc96]

Biergarten
The next night was the Biergarten. I need to be fair about this place. I don't like this type of food, but my dd loves it. We went here for her. We both enjoy the ambiance and show. And, we like sitting with other people. We've always been lucky and gotten friendly people. Tonight was the same. Great table-mates!

I tried a bit of the schnitzel and some of the veal sausage. I guess they were good for what they were. I did like the spatzel with (I think) the burgundy sauce. I didn't really care for any of the desserts. They were too sweet to me.
My daughter had a ball with all the sausage (hotdog) type stuff. They even have a salad that has sliced baby hot dogs in it. This is one of the few buffets where she'll eat off the whole buffet, not just the children's section. She didn't care much for the desserts either though, but did say the strudel was ok. I didn't try it.
Oddly enough, the thing I thought was the best was the mac & cheese. It looked different than other places. It was very creamy and cheesy. I even got another helping. Go figure.

If you like this kind of food I'm sure you will enjoy this place. The atmosphere is really nice and the show is fun. Let your little ones go up and dance.. go with them!

Oh and the server, Dennis, was very good. Very attentive, polite... fast.

2 TS Credits
Bill Total: $49.77
Extra $5 tip

 

[Anc96]

Crystal Palace
Now for our old favorite, Crystal Palace. We come here every visit. Pooh is my daughter's favorite character.
I always enjoy the food at Crystal Palace. I love the salads! They have a shrimp with mango salad that's wonderful, and mixed greens with an orange sesame vinaigrette.
They have spoon corn bread that's a bit spicey and so delicious.. I love it. And also prime rib. I asked for rare, it was a bit more well done than I like prime rib, but very tender.
The cinnamon rice is always good (my dd loves this). I also had the adobo pork, very good. I got my daughter to try this and she went up to get more. I know they used to have some kind of curry chicken. I didn't see it this time, I usually love that.
They have a vegetable mix that is in some kind of sauce and they are delicious! I hate mushy veggies, and they make them slightly passed crisp. Perfect. Love the green beans too.
I ate a lot here.. I couldn't touch the dessert. My daughter had a bit of the banana's foster, but not much. We were both stuffed.

Not gourmet food, but very flavorful and a nice variety. The character interaction is wonderful here. It's where I get the best pictures! We will continue to visit Crystal Palace every time we go to the world!

2 TS Credits
Total Bill $45.77
$5 extra tip

 

[Anc96]

Coral Reef
Once again we go here for my dd. Who wouldn't love the atmosphere. The food seems to be hit or miss for me.

Review:
I missed this night on the appetizer. I choose the surf & turf. 2 shrimp on some kind of slaw, and 2 pieces of meat on a skewer. The shrimp were very bland. The meat tough. I didn't eat it. The slaw didn't seem to match the dish. It was just odd.
DD got the lobster soup. Small bowl but very rich. We shared it. I've had it before and enjoyed it.
I got the blackened Catfish for an entree. I've had it before and I've always liked it. It was a bit spicier than I remembered, but still very good. The cheese grits are a nice compliment. I really like this dish.
My daughter got the chicken breast. It's plain, just how she likes it. She even eats the veggies here so that makes me happy.
For dessert I got the chocolate wave. Still as delicious as ever.
DD had the sundae. Same as all the kid's sundaes.

Except for my appetizer.. very good meal.

Rant:
Atmosphere.. still as beautiful as ever.. but the noise level seems to have gotten MUCH higher.
And, children have always flocked to the front of the aquarium, but it seems as they are getting more rude, and the parents less caring! A CM had to go and ask parents, TWICE, to get their children down off the ledge of the aquarium as they were standing up on it! (those who don't know, this is a high ledge that you need to climb up to, and not intended for standing at all). These parents were on the next tier up.. not nearby at all. They seemed annoyed that their children weren't permitted to climb around the restaurant.
One child (different family) pulled a chair from a table where people were sitting and stood up on that! He was literally standing on a chair right at a table where a couple was eating. The parents were sitting not too far away and allowed this. I'm really appalled that people allow such rudeness with children. The fact that Disney is a place for children (of all ages!) is not an excuse to leave your manners at home. If a child wants to press his little face up against the aquarium glass.. I can't fault him/her for that.. but find an empty spot, not someone's table! Groups of children were pushing each other trying to see better, bumping into people eating there. People need to control their children. This is by far the worst I've seen children act at Coral Reef... It was rediculas!

Sorry for the rant. My meal was not disturbed by these children as I wasn't right against the aquarium... but the behaviour was disturbing.

All done now...

2 TS Credits
Bill total $52.63
$5 extra tip

 

[Anc96]

Boma
Here's the highlight of our dining experiences. Back to Boma!
Tonight a friend was joining us for dinner.. ILuvChefMic. We met at AKL and were seated within minutes. Our server, Alicia, was fun and teasing us from the begining.
I told her how Chef Frank had made me the deep fried oreo cookies almost 2 weeks ago. I asked if Chef TJ was working and if she thought he might make some for ILuvChefMic. She said he was working, and she winked and said she'd talk to him.
We went up for our first round of the buffet. I again had some prime rib with the spicey red paste, and had some watermelon rind salad on the side of it. I was disappointed a bit that there wasn't any carrot ginger soup that night, but I substituted some kind of white soup that started with an "M" that I couldn't pronounce. It was very good.. I was happy.
Before we could go up again Chef Frank came out to say hello. He remembered me from my b-day 2 weeks before. He chatted a bit, then Chef TJ came out. I'd never met him before, but I'd read about him on the Disboards and Allearsnet, and I was really happy to meet him. He was so wonderful and friendly! He sat with my daughter and asked her about her favorite foods. She said pork (plain), rice, corn.. he asked if she liked shrimp and she lit up. She loves shrimp... plain of course. He told us not to eat anymore and he'd be back.
I knew he'd be making something special, but was a little worried it'd be.. well, plain! If he was making it for my daughter she likes things bland.
I had no need to worry. He returned with a huge work of art! It's the only way to describe it. About 1 1/2 feet high with waves of some kind of crisp bread surrounding it. Skewers of shrimp extending from top to bottom. Pork ribs circling the bottom. Mounds of fried rice noodles in the middle with a relish/chutney type substance with corn and possibly red cabbage? I don't know, but it was as delicious as it was impressive and beautiful! He pointed out one side and said that was my daughter's side.. no sauce!..lol.
This is about where I discovered that I'd forgotten to bring my camera!! I was so upset. ILUVCHEFMIC did have hers but her pictures didn't come out well. I did take a few with my cell phone, and the lens was wet I later noticed But, I will share the pitiful pictures I did take...

Chef Tjetjep Sudiswa (Chef TJ)

I dont' know if you can see the shrimp skewers, and the ribs circling the bottom:

The middle was the fried rice noodles drizzled with some delicious sauce... It was truly a work of art! I am so sorry that we don't have decent pictures.

We ate the WHOLE thing!! We didn't think we could since we'd already had a trip up to the buffet, but the tastes were incredible! The shrimp had a wonderful flavour in whatever sauce they had on them. The ribs fell off the bone and it seems like they were marinated, but there wasn't time. The flavour of the sauce was all through the meat, not just brushed on the outside.
Even my daughter was tasting everything. She loved the pork and the rice noodles. She didn't leave one shrimp left and I think there were 10 per skewer. I ate most of the relish/chutney because it was a bit spicier and I like spicy!.
We all thought we were in heaven. We were stuffed... but then he brought dessert. The deep fried oreo cookies! Piled high on a skewer drizzled with chocolate... decorating the plate was chocolate decoration and truffles! It was such an impressive presentation. Did I say we were stuffed?? Well we had no trouble finding room for dessert!

notice the people at the next table staring at it.. and I think, drooling!

This was by far the best meal we had! We have always loved Boma.. and now it will be an even more special place for us. My daughter was so thrilled that Chef TJ made this for "her"... and for her to share with us!

We had more than our fair share of magic in our 3 weeks at the World this year. Thank you Chef TJ for contributing so much to our experience!

Alicia, our server, was so wonderful, by the end of our meal (we were there quite a while) we knew we were going to miss her!

2 TS Credits
Bill Total $40.45
Left $20 for Alicia


Left to review, Ohanas, Chefs De France, Garden Grill.. will be done soon-ish

 

[wideeyes]

Thanks for the review, Boma sounds great lokking forward to more

 

[disneyjunebug]

Fantastic review!! Looking forward to more!

 

[Ishy]

I too enjoyed Boma's but all I had was a cranky family! (Some days I threaten to change our last name to the bickersons).

You have me rethinking my capemaycafe ressies.... I will have to think on that. I love the beachclub too. Did something simalar to my son in 2005 - I won a three night stay at the celebration hotel and airline tickets. Couldnt get air and hotel to sync up availability wise (what I won was a voucher for each) - so we flew down a day early. I had to pay for tickets and car rental and food and my son knew it was a tight budget - he said - where we staying the first night? (we couldnt check into celebration hotel until the following night) - I said motel six. No pool, no air conditioning. Just a bed and toilet. What I did was rent points via the DVC board here and got a night at the beach club. Arrived early - he has always drooled over the pictures of StormAlongBay and nearly passed out when we drove up... he said "this is motel 6?" hehehehe... swam for two days in that pool. I swear I could just stay there for a weekend and he would be happy doing nothing else. Pools are so important to us on vacation.


Thanks,

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks for the great Reviews. I have to agree with you about Boma. It is the only buffet that we really look forward to on each trip.

 

[robin09]

OK, officially getting nervous about Cape May Cafe. I have my ADR set in august for this. I am the only one in my family who really likes seafood. DD loves thes character meals, DH loves meat and potatoes. This was the only place for me in 6 days of Disney. Reviews are not looking too good...

Love your reviews and thankyou for taking the time !

Cape May Cafe
Finally on property. June 23rd.
Our first ADR was for lunch at Le Cellier. We had to cancel that one because my daughter had gotten hurt and was a bit upset. I make a quick ADR for Cape May for that evening since it's right in the resort. I figured she'd feel better by then.
We waited only about 15 minutes. It was pretty crowded. I hadn't realized how popular it was.
We were seated in a nice quiet area and went right up since we were hungry!
I like clams. I was brought up by the ocean and I'm used to nice fresh clams. This was a clam bake buffet so I was looking forward having them.
Well.. I was disappointed. They weren't bad.. but they weren't yummy either. They were the tiniest I'd ever seen, and you really had to search for them since they'd all fallen out of their shells. They were somewhat overcooked, but I think because they were so small it didn't seem as bad as they might have if they were larger. They were in a garlic butter, but they were not very flavorful at all. I didn't try the mussels. There weren't any on the buffet when I went up though there was an empty pot for them.
The ribs were tough.. took one bite and didn't eat anymore. My daughter wouldn't eat them either and she loves ribs.
I thought they were supposed to have prime rib but I didn't see any. They did have strip steak, I tried a piece of it and that was pretty tasty. The asparagus was very good. Cooked tender.
We skipped dessert.
As we were leaving I saw a dessert that looked good though and I had a tinge of regret not trying it. It looked like some kind of raspberry/chocolate cheesecake tart.

We went upstairs to rest since my daughter's foot was still hurting her. When we peeked into the lounge, dessert had been put out. There were those raspberry/chocolate looking things! So I got to try them after all. They were very good.. They were mousse, not cheesecake. They also had berry tarts, which were very good too. I'm assuming they get their desserts from Cape May Cafe. Later in the week the lounge had clams and they had ribs another night. Both were considerably better than the clams and ribs downstairs at Cape May. The clams were bigger and very flavorful, and the ribs were falling off the bone tender and delicious.
Maybe I hit the restaurant on a bad evening? But still.. we didn't go back since we didn't like it at all. Maybe I'll chance it another visit.

2 TS Credits (Mine & DDs)
The bill was $47.31
I left an extra $5

 

[TigerKat]

Enjoying your reviews - can't wait for more!

 

[John's Mom]

Thanks for sharing your great reviews!

 

[Busymom85]

Great reviews! We are going to Boma's the first time in Dec. I can't wait.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Enjoyed the reviews. Too bad about Coral Reef--out of control kids seem more common at restaurants these days.

 

[Beep]

Thanks for the reviews, I really enjoyed reading them. We are going to Boma for the first time in September for my OH's birthday so I was really pleased to read great reviews.

 

[Luv2CDisney]

Thanks for the review on BOMA ....we are going to try it this trip. I am getting very excited about trying this new place. Thanks!

 

[Schucraig]

Great reviews and pictures!