"Hee hee hee, haw haw haw!" A vegetarian and a carnivore EAT again! COMPLETE!!!

[Libby_Darling]

Eating and Drinking Around The World (LONG!!)

Today was such a good day! We were up bright and early as I’d booked the Keys to the Kingdom tour for Ben’s birthday and we were on the 9am tour I’m not going to go into detail but the tour was INCREDIBLE!! We’re obsessed with Disney history and all things Walt so it was the perfect activity for us We’re going to do the Marceline to MK tour in December and we can’t wait!! We had lunch at Columbia Harbour House which was SO GOOD; I got the fried shrimp and Benj got the lighthouse sandwich. No photos I’m afraid but we did go back there for dinner later on in the holiday

So, after the KTTK tour, we headed back to the room to put jeans and jumpers on as it was chilllyyyy, and then headed off to Epcot for an afternoon and evening of eating and drinking around the Food and Wine Festival. This is honestly one of our favourite things to do in WDW and we can’t wait to do it again during our wedding/honeymoon trip

We got it EPCOT and it was amazing to be back, with a whole evening of eating and drinking funs stretching out ahead of us! I think it was this day we first met this super cute CM at the Epcot entrance; we can’t really remember much but we basically saw her every subsequent time we were at Epcot and she was always really friendly and we’d always chat to her about her plans. She was really really short and petite and she only looked about 15 bless her! On our last night, I ran back and hugged her as I realized we wouldn’t be seeing her again! I’d love to see her when we go back, she’s an amazing CM

We got some PP photos taken at the entrance I love these ones!

We strolled through Future World quite quickly, heading straight for WS. It must have been about 4/4.30 by this time so we had lots of eating and drinking to do before the park closed at 9! First things first though. We wanted to do things properly this time so we decided to walk to the Festival Center first, to pick up our passports, load some money onto giftcards and get our bearings for the festival organized or what! The Center was pretty far away from the entrance to WS but we found it, pausing to watch these guys en route:

Once at the Centre, we had a wander around, looking at all the cute F&W festival themed stuff you could buy. We were tempted by sooooo much stuff and I was going to get the cookbook but I didn’t in the end ☹ I loved all the aprons and glasses etc but I think we just weren’t feelin it enough to actually buy it, if that makes sense? However, we got our passports and maps We then queued up to put $100 each on a giftcard wristband thingy This was from our $200 giftcard we got when booking the holiday (well technically we didn’t get it then we just had to get it the other day which as you’ll recall was a bit of a faff!) so it didn’t feel like it was coming out of our actual spending money! So that was nice. We’d seen people using wristbands the previous year and it really seemed like the way to go, soooo much easier than faffing about with money!

All ready and loaded up, we hit the festival! As we were walking through the gateway, I spotted a woman walking around with a much larger glass of white wine than I’d seen at any of the booths. But, where did she get it from!? I made a mental note to check all the booths and keep my eyes peeled for one that size, ain’t nobody got time for the teeny glasses they give you! Well, obviously I do have time for them as I had loads. But they’re like shots really, aren’t they.

We decided to start at Terra as it was first haha, and we’d both really been looking forward to it.

I love me some fake meat! First though, Ben nipped to Canada to get a Moosehead as it’s his fave and we were so close! The queue was pretty short at terra and we had our food in no time. I got the Chilli Colorado avec a cheeky glass of Pinot and Ben got the Trickin’ Chicken

Trick’n Chick’n Curry with Basmati Rice featuring Gardein™ Chick’n Breast - $3.75

Chili Colorado with House-made Chips and Cashew Cheese featuring Gardein™ Beefless Tips* - $3.75

We both loved these! I thought the chilli had a very meaty texture, similar to Quorn meatballs etc. The flavor was really good and the housemade chips were aaaamaaazzziiiiing The cashew cheese sauce was lush too, mmmMMM I was a happy girl

Next up was Brazil Ben couldn’t have anything here (well, he may have had a drink ) but I chose the scallop (singular!!)

Seared Scallop with Ragout of Tomatoes, Peppers, Hearts of Palm and Steamed Rice – $4.25

This was really nice, the scallop was very well cooked and I loved the flavor of the ragout. This was gone in like, 0.5 seconds

My next photo is of these two very enticing glasses of white wine…no idea which booth they came from though, sorry! I’m thinking one right after Brazil…but who knows!

So we’d already had a few drinks and things were going really well. We then came to Singapore and Ben got excited as he’d read online that the Singapore Sling was quite strong. We ordered two. QUITE STRONG? Holy alcohol content, was it strong! It must have been about 80% alcohol, I was loving it It tasted gross and I had to hold my breath as I drank it but it made such a pleasant change from the usual weak Disney cocktails! Ben didn’t enjoy it at all, but he did finish it. We’re so brave.

We spent a little bit of time in Norway watching Maelstrom; the queue was like 30 minutes so obviously we weren’t going to do that. Although obviously now I wish we had, as we never will again!

Norway is a really beautiful area and I really vividly remember spending some time here, looking at all the gorgeous scenery, sipping our ridiculously strong drinks and just taking it all in. Ohhhh what I wouldn’t give to be back there right now.

So next up was China,

where I got the potstickers and, as documented in this photo:

Another alcoholic beverage. That’s definitely my hand, but I can’t remember what it was Looks like a mango something or other, maybe?

The potstickers were really nice and I pretty much inhaled them; I loooove potstickers though (see ‘Ohana dinner!)

Doesn’t look like Benj got anything here and if I remember correctly, he was holding out for the cheese-based snacks that seem to all be concentrated near the Germany pav.

I also got a keilbasa thingy, from Poland!

Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream - $5.25

And Benj got the veggie one, Zapiekanki (Toasted Mushroom, Caramelized Onion and Cheese Bread with House-made Ketchup)

Now, when we got these snacks we were able to grab a table (very rare during F&W) and not long after we’d sat down, a couple of lovely ladies joined us. One was brunette, one was blonde and there was more than a hint of ABBA about them. Obviously, we got chatting, as you do when you’re sat in very close quarters. Turns out they were sisters! And, we got their whole back story! They were originally from Norwich and they had moved to Florida in 1982 to work in the UK Pavilion for the opening of EPCOT!

HOW AMAZING!

I was so in awe of this amazing fact. And it got better! They had both met their English husbands AT the R&C back in the day, and they never went home! They now all lived in Orlando. How adorable is that. Now, due to a serious timelapse and my awful memory, in my mind I have them looking like Kim and Kyle, the 2 sisters from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (great show ) anyway, they were really sweet women and as the drinks were flowing, we all got on really well. One of them works at Animal Kingdom Lodge now, how cute! Love that they were like, life-long CM’s!

After a while, we were ready to move on so all said goodbye and continued on our separate ways. I have in my notes ‘Ben bought me a wine’ so that was very nice of him! Lol. Not sure why I felt the need to write that in my notes.

I got another glass of white wine and this cheesy thing, which I believe is Schinken Nudel (Pasta Gratin with Ham & Cheese) - $3.25.

I took some photos to try and capture how unbelievably beautiful the sky was looking. I mean seriously, how amazing?

It was getting to about 7.45 by this point and we decided to watch Survivor at 8. Obviously I needed some snacks for this, so I left Ben queueing at another booth and walked to France by myself. I wanted a Kir Royale!

I also accidentally got the beef dish, AND a crème brulee. Greedy. The crème brulee might have been for Ben, I can’t really remember. Anyway, the nice CM gave me a tray for the food and I held the Kir Royale in my hand…before dropping it on the floor 0.2 seconds after he gave it to me. Urghhhhh butterfingers! Hhe was really nice though and gave me another one straight away, bless him! With my tail between my legs, I walked back to the theatre, tightly clutching onto my tray and drink. Ben met met outside and we headed down to find a spot. We got a cute little bench at the back and we had an amazing view! It was really busy and there were some die-hard fans right at the front, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Benj had got himself a jalapeno pretzel from America and a beer so he was a happy boy

Boeuf Bourguignon (Braised Short Ribs in Cabernet with Mashed Potatoes) - $5.50

Crème Brûlée au Chocolat au Lait (Chocolate Milk Crème Brûlée topped with Caramelized Sugar) - $4.00

Kir Royale!

God we must have spent sooooo much money this evening! We enjoyed watching Survivor even though obviously we only knew 1 song. Well Ben probably knew a few more because he’s a music person and just generally knows most songs.

Bad photos of Survivor

We were then only about 10 minutes from Illuminations so naturally that was the next thing to do! We managed to get a little spot right in front of the water to watch the fireworks which was really good. Unfortunately, I still wasn’t a huge fan ☹ Ben really loved it but I just can’t get excited. I think Wishes is 1000000000x better. #sorrynotsorry!

The park started to empty once the fireworks finished so we made a move too. But, we weren’t quite ready to go back to the room yet! So, we walked through the International Gateway towards our favourite, the Boardwalk It was a lovely, peaceful stroll over the bridge and we really enjoyed it. We got to the beach and grabbed a couple of loungers to, well, lounge on for a bit.

Benj made me a sand picture, cutie

In case you can’t read it, it says B+L 19/10/13 which is the date we got engaged LOVE!

A lovely end to a fabulous evening!


The Verdict

Eating and drinking around the WS is one of our favourite things to do in WDW; it has to be a wedding dress!!

 

[Vernie822]

Bummer, so sorry you guys didn't enjoy Sanaa. We are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge in November so I just booked it this morning for us to try! Though we've never had Indian food so I don't know how it will pan out - I'm in it for the bread appetizer.. looks delicious!!

I would've immediately known if I had a regular coke, too. I get that servers make mistakes but I would have been equally as annoyed.

At least the view was great!

 

[JKSWonder]

The Kir Royale! I make a beeline for that one each trip too.

 

[princess aleya]

I absolutely loooove your review!!! I just hoped over to start reading your wedding/planning review, can't wait t hear more about that too!!

 

[AllyinWonderland]

That is such a bummer about Sanaa, I have heard great things about it but we have never been there. It looks like you guys had a great night at Epcot though!

 

[Avery&Todd]

Oh my goodness - I just LOVE LOVE your reviews!!

I'm hoping that in between the end of this trip and the wedding you and Benji can take another trip (somewhere) so you can write about it here too!

 

[happy2012]

I'm all caught up now. It looks like Epcot was a blast!!! I like how you 2 enjoy all of the things outside the parks as well. We try to do that too. Disney has so many beautiful things to be seen!!!

 

[Beth06015]

Saanaa

We had an ADR for Saanaa this evening at 6.30 and we wanted to get to Kidani Village in plenty of time.

We got the bus to KV and had a little wander around. It’s really cute! Obviously very similar in theming to AKL but on a smaller, cuter scale. It was obviously cocktail o’clock and we were both looking forward to drinks at Saanaa’s lounge.

It was very cute in here too, dark and cosy!

We nabbed a super comfy corner sofa and I’m not ashamed to say I took my trainers off and kicked back! Ben had a frozen mango margarita (2nd of the day, good man) and I came over all cultured and ordered the Saanaa wine flight! It was $17 and I really, really enjoyed it. I don’t know much about wine and am your standard ‘glass of house white please’ girl, but I loved reading the little descriptions and seeing if I could taste the different flavours in each. I was impressed with the size of each pour and would really recommend the flight

Once we’d finished our drinks, it was about 6.20. We walked to the podium to check in for our din dins and were given a buzzer which we could go outside with. So we did! We walked out to the viewing platform and watched some of the animals, which was lovely. Such a special resort! One of the little antelope thingies was going absolutely cray cray so we watched him careening about haha, must have just had a great day!

My camera was critically low so I had to calm down with the photo taking so I’d be able to take some at dinner!

Our buzzer then buzzed and we were led to the absolute most PERFECT table, I was over the moon! Right in the middle of the restaurant, next to a huge window Such a treat! I was glad it was an early ADR and still light outside as we had such a beautiful view. However, this is where the highs of our evening came to a grinding halt

Our server was called Danielle – she was nice and bubbly, but reaallllly not very good! We ordered drinks; a diet coke for me and a Tusker beer for Ben. When they were bought out, I could immediately tell I had a coke and not diet coke. I actually don’t like the taste of normal coke and much prefer diet coke. Obviously it wasn’t for diet reasons as I never hold back food wise, I’ll order a diet coke with my Quarter pounder cheeseburger meal haha, you feelin’ me? So I wasn’t impressed that she’d got that wrong as it’s pretty simple, but it wasn’t a big deal. When she came over again, I asked her if it was normal coke as I’d ordered diet, and she was really apologetic and bought me out a diet straightaway. Mmmm, much better! She didn’t take the normal coke away though…it was just hangin’ out on our table haha, taking up precious space! Danielle then asked for our food orders and weirdly, didn’t write anything down! Like, not a single thing. Hmmmm, I had a bad feeling about this!

You can see our view here

We decided to pay OOP for a starter here as we were both starving marvin. We ordered the bread service with 3 different naan breads. It was pretty tough trying to decide which dips to get; they all sounded really good! After much deliberation, we opted for the garlic pickle (my choice, I live and die for Garlic <3), jalapeno lime pickle (Ben’s choice) and hummus (joint ) Danielle bought them out and shocker, it was all correct! I was pleasantly surprised.

They were all delish and my favourite combo was the garlic pickle with the plain naan, mmmmmm! It was all good so far, we were enjoying the food and the relaxed atmosphere and all was good.

Our main courses were then bought out. I chose the duo of curries; paneer tikka and butter chicken, with the 5 grain pilaf. Ben ordered the Paneer tikka and the chickpea masala, again with the pilaf.

So Danielle brings out our dishes and straightaway, I think somethings up. Bear in mind I’ve spent like 4 years reading reviews of Disney food – that’s a lot of lunchbreaks I can pretty much recognise most dishes from most Disney restaurants, and I know a bowl of basmati rice when I see one! Both our dishes had basmati rice. Unless I was massively mistaken. Hmmm, what to do, what to do? Was it possible she’d got it wrong…twice? Had they run out of 5 grain pilaf? Was that 5 grain pilaf and my whole life had been a lie!? I threw caution to the wind and said to Danielle, ‘is this the pilaf?’ And she said, WEIRDLY, ‘oh you got me again! Did you want to try the pilaf?’

Ummm yes, that’s why we ordered it…I said yes please, she disappeared and came back with one bowl of the pilaf…even though Ben wanted some too! Grrrrr Ben wasn’t fussed though and just ate my rice as well as his, while I had the pilaf.

So, with all rice correct and accounted for, it was time to eat. The food was…okay. It wasn’t amazing. Maybe we are spoilt with delicious Indian food over here? We have an amazing posh Indian near us which puts so much flavour in their dishes; I could literally drink their lamb passanda gravy. And, if I’m honest, I have. So not sure if we’d been spoiled, or the food just wasn’t that great. Neither of us were fans though which is VERY unusual – Ben is an easy boy to please, he likes everything! Unless it’s got meat in, obvs. The butter chicken was bland and watery, and the paneer was completely tasteless. I had to put salt on it!

My food, with the pilaf that clearly isn’t a pilaf

I don’t have a photo of Ben’s I’m afraid, must have just completely given up haha!

So we were disappointed with the food I was annoyed with the service too, she really wasn’t very good. She didn’t check on us again after Pilaf-gate and we were just feeling a bit fed up. So fed up in fact, that we skipped dessert! CRAZY TIMES! I know. But, none of the options were jumping out at us and I was feeling so exhausted. We didn’t really want to stay and have to give her a bigger tip, as bad as that sounds. We did leave her 18% though but we both agree it should have been less.

So it was a disappointing meal. Not sure if we’d go back, definitely not for a while!

The Verdict

I didn’t really enjoy this meal Bad service and the food is better at our local takeaway :O Although the location and view can’t be beaten!

It’s a fins

I'm sad you didn't have a great time at Sanaa! We want to fit it in and go after AK one day. The wine flights look awesome -- do you know if they're just available in the lounge or you can order them with dinner? I'll be traveling with two little ones.

 

[Libby_Darling]

Bummer, so sorry you guys didn't enjoy Sanaa. We are staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge in November so I just booked it this morning for us to try! Though we've never had Indian food so I don't know how it will pan out - I'm in it for the bread appetizer.. looks delicious!!

I would've immediately known if I had a regular coke, too. I get that servers make mistakes but I would have been equally as annoyed.

At least the view was great!

Aww I would def try it! I think we just got unlucky with our server, and the food just wasn't as amazing as I thought! We'd probably go back in the future though, I'd never write it off! Indian food is amazinnggggg, I hope you enjoy! Yeah it was annoying, just cause she hadn't written it down! Who does that!? Thanks for reading along and commenting! xxxx

The Kir Royale! I make a beeline for that one each trip too.

Yummyyyy!! xxxx

I absolutely loooove your review!!! I just hoped over to start reading your wedding/planning review, can't wait t hear more about that too!!

Thank you so much! Ooh glad you like the wedding planning one too, I've got a lot of threads going at the moment haven't I haha!! xxxx

That is such a bummer about Sanaa, I have heard great things about it but we have never been there. It looks like you guys had a great night at Epcot though!

It really was a bummer Never mind, Epcot definitely made up for it!! xxxxx

Oh my goodness - I just LOVE LOVE your reviews!!

I'm hoping that in between the end of this trip and the wedding you and Benji can take another trip (somewhere) so you can write about it here too!

WELL it's funny you should say that because we have actually booked for 2 weeks at Christmas to do our wedding planning bits!! I can't quite believe it still, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!! We're staying off site so mainly eating off-site but if people are interested I will do a dining review!! Lots of Red Lobster and Olive Garden hahahah!! xxxxxxx

I'm all caught up now. It looks like Epcot was a blast!!! I like how you 2 enjoy all of the things outside the parks as well. We try to do that too. Disney has so many beautiful things to be seen!!!

Yay! Oh yeah we love it!! The parks are only a small part of what we love about WDW, we love just being there! Disney is just the best place in the world Thanks for reading along and commenting xxxx

I'm sad you didn't have a great time at Sanaa! We want to fit it in and go after AK one day. The wine flights look awesome -- do you know if they're just available in the lounge or you can order them with dinner? I'll be traveling with two little ones.

It was such a shame Yes it was on the main restaurant drinks menu too! Hope that helps xxx

 

[Libby_Darling]

California Grill

We spent the morning at Typhoon Lagoon and I’m afraid I didn’t take my camera, but we did have a cheeseburger CS meal each for lunch which was delicious and much-needed! We got back to the room mid-afternoon, chilled for a little while and then got ready for our big posh dinner at California Grill. We were so excited to eat here; we’d visited in 2011 and loved our meal so we were excited about the refurb!

All dressed up

*gets dragged out the door by Benj*

We got the bus to MK and then very excitingly, the monorail to the Contemporary I looooove that monorail! We were excited to have a little wander around the Contemps because although we’d been in 2011 for CG, I wasn’t all into the history of WDW then so I was looking forward to this because obviously the Contemporary was an opening day hotel

It really is a lovely hotel and I liked it a lot more this time – in 2011 I thought it was a bit bleak and soulless but this time I appreciated the minimalist design a lot more. As we walked around, I was trying to remember a photo I swore I’d seen that was Walt standing on the land the Contemporary would be built on, with some of the other guys on the management team. I thought I’d read somewhere that there was a plaque or something at that spot today that you could go and see. So we were both looking around for something like that….no luck. I then decided to ask a passing CM stood in a group down in the lobby and they were all stood staring at me like I’d lost my mind hahaha! I seriously might as well have asked if Walt was in the Contemporary that day!!!

Anyway, no-one knew what I was talking about The convo got way awkward because one of the CM’s was like ‘there’s a statue of Walt’s head at MGM Studios if that’s what you mean…’ errrr no love, firstly that’s quite clearly not what I mean, and secondly it isn’t called MGM anymore and hasn’t been for some time!!

Also another one informed me that Walt “wasn’t alive when the Contemporary was built."
Oh my goodness. DUH!! Anyway. The conversation wasn’t going anywhere so we thanked them and wandered off.

I then Googled it loaaads whilst we were having a drink and apparently I completely made it up! How funny!! Ohhh dear. Too much Disney research = complete invention of historic photos. We then walked around a bit more taking pics and just taking in the atmosphere, before heading over to the Wave bar for pre-dinner drinks. It was super cute in here with the blue lighting and I was glad I’d chosen this bar

It was quite quiet with a few people having a drinks and a couple of families having full dinner delivered which was a bit crazy? Each to their own though!

I chose a Magical Star cocktail to match the theming

Not sure what Benj got? Possibly a Margarita!

We stayed til about 7.30 and then decided to go and check in a bit early for our 8pm ADR. We went over to the CG podium and had an ADORABLE bubbly, blonde CM checking us in. She was so cute! I loved her! He loved our badges and immediately asked to see my ring and wanted to know aallll about the proposal Obviously I gave her a full run down haha! She then spent aaaages typing on her computer so I had a sneaking suspicion she was up to something. She handed us a buzzer and it went off immediately! Exciting!

We were led to the lift and taken up to the restaurant. As we walked through the restaurant I was just really hoping we’d get a good seat and luckily. We did! It was a nice 2 top, a good distance from our neighbours, in front of a door which led to the kitchen. It had Mickey confetti on aaawww, which we guessed was our friendly CM downstairs! The CM who led us to our table was really lovely and she was explaining all the new changes to us, which was nice. However, she then left…and all the trouble began!

The table next to us had a CM called Jason and he was AY-MAY-zing. So if you get him, you’re lucky. Unfortunately for us, Jason must have been maxed out with customers because we had…*drumroll* Roberto. Or, as we like to call him, the world’s grumpiest CM! He was, quite frankly, rubbish. He just had no time for us at all. And we were so friendly to him and we’d been looking forward to this meal for so long, and he pretty much ruined it for us He was really abrupt and quite rude when speaking to us; rushing us to make choices etc and not chatting with us at all. To really rub salt in the wound, there was a table of 8 behind us and he was like a different man! Super nice and chatty and they were all roaring with laughter the whole time! Grrrrrr again, some servers just think a table of 2 isn’t worth putting the effort in as the tip won’t be very big! The joke was on him as we’re big drinkers PLUS we each had 3 courses so the potential was there for a big fat tip! His loss though Anyway, getting back to the dinner.

First up, we ordered drinks. I chose a glass of Pinot Grigio (fave!) and Benj got a champagne cider, posh boy he is Here’s where the annoyance began! My drink was bought quickly but Ben’s then didn’t come for ages!? Nor did the bread! They both came at the same time, after we’d placed the orders for our starters….whaaaaat?

The bread! Good, nothing too notable? I’m a bread and butter fiend and will eat the two in pretty much any combination

My wine!

Handsome dinner date (slightly blurred, no flash!)

Mickey confettiiiii!

For starters, I chose the tomato flatbread as in 2011 it had been LIFE-CHANGING and I couldn’t wait to sample it again Ben chose the tomato heirloom salad and I was going to give him some slices of my flatbread cause I really didn’t need the whole thing!

The flatbread was….meh. It honestly just tasted like cheap cheese and tomato pizza, I was so bitterly disappointed it looks amazing but it was just so not good! There was none of the sweet, delicate tomato slices like the previous version, just a bland tomato chutney thing. Sigh. I ate a couple of slices and offered the rest to Benj as I was a bit fed up. Ben loved his salad though and said it was really, really good. So that’s something!

Oven-dried Tomato Flatbread Beefsteak Tomatoes, Mozzarella di Bufala, Aged Balsamic

Heirloom Tomatoes - Daily Variety with Grilled Bread, Baby Basil, ricotta, Blistered Shisito Vinaigrette

Our main courses were then bought out ridiculously quickly. I hate that! We barely had a chance to take a sip of wine before the mains were on the table and our starters had been whisked away. Never mind, stay calm Lib. So. For my main course, in a CRAZY move I chose the scallops instead of the fillet steak, having been wowed by the Raglan Road ones. I guess I just didn’t fancy steak and wanted to try something new. Bad move! The scallop dish was not good. The Raglan Road one was a THOUSAND times better. Every single bite of the CG one just tasted like smoked pork. I don’t know how that managed it. It was bland, boring and unimaginative. If I thought I’d been disappointed by the starter, turns out I didn’t even know what disappointment was! Ha

Look at it. It doesn’t even look like it compares to the RR one, right?

Georges Bank Scallops - Homemade Potato Gnocchi, Smoked Pork, Grilled Onions, Rapini, Parmesan Foam

Benj chose the vegetable pasta. I tried a bite and instantly fell in love, reeaalallly wishing I’d ordered that! However, Benj wasn’t that enamoured with it? He said it was okay, but nothing special. Funny how everyones tastes are different isn’t it!

Roasted Squash Ravioli - Root Spinach, Salsify, Petite Herb Salad, Sage Brown Butter, 15 year Balsamic

Roberto came to ask us how it was once, and that was the only time we saw him. We both had room for dessert (unusual!) so we got it Benj went for the cheesecake,

Meyer lemon mascarpone cheesecake with charred meringue clouds and a citrus cookie.

He thought it was meh Really unusual for him because he looooooves lemon cheesecake!

I chose the banana fritters. Now, these single-handedly redeemed the meal for me. There was a lot of pressure on this dessert, but it totally rose to the challenge.

Warm homemade banana fritters dusted with sugar and cinnamon and served with toasted caramel marshmallow and a trio of dipping sauces – peanut butter, salted caramel and chocolate.

They were amazing! Warm, crunchy, soft inside with an amazing roasted banana flavour. But, the sauces were the best bit! 3 OF MY MOST FAVOURITE THINGS IN THE WHOLE WORLD! As far as flavours go, I’d be hard pushed to choose between salted caramel and peanut butter. I love them both equally. These sauces were the bomb. Order this dessert!!!

Also, both our desserts had ‘Congratulations’ plaques on which was really really really lovely, AND Roberto also bought us two glasses of champagne! Blimmin eck, I nearly fell off my chair! I mean, he did just drop them at the table and leave, but still. However, we knew it was our lovely lovely CM friend from downstairs. What a lovely gesture and obviously the reason she was typing away on her little computer for so long Cute!

Hallowishes was on at 9.30 so we hopped out onto the balcony, not before I asked Ben very nicely if he wouldn’t mind asking Roberto not to clear my remaining fritters away as I still wanted to eat them when I got back!

Hallowishes was incredible, as always love seeing it from that perspective! Two drunk ladies came up to me at the end with a ‘Oh hey, it’s Ariel! ” haha We got back to the table and I quickly finished my fritters. We both cleared our plates which was pretty impressive! I was feeling sooooo full and sleepy by this point and feeling quite disappointed at the overall experience We just wanted to head off really and get back to the hotel. Buttttt, could we flag Roberto down? Could we flip! It seriously took about 20 minutes for us to even see him again, during which time our dishes weren’t cleared. I know I asked for them not to be cleared away during the fireworks but it was like 10.15 by this point. Even any other servers walking around didn’t ask if they could clear our plates! He then turned up and was more abrupt with us than he’d been the whole flippin’ night (←-not how I phrased it at the time) We asked if we could please have the bill and when he bought it out, he reminded Ben to add a tip!

ABSOLUTE LAST STRAW.

I was seething. Ben was seething. We have never left less than 18% for a tip, and 99% of the time it’s 20% plus. BUT, Ben said he was only going to leave a $20 tip. Clever boy. I completely agreed with him and was thrilled that he wanted to as he usually wants to just leave things and keep the peace. So, our bill came to about $180 (just worked that out but I think it’s pretty accurate) and we just left $20. As we got up from our table, our plates were STILL not cleared away. Craziness. I felt bad leaving such a small tip but he did himself in from the very beginning! On reflection, we could have asked for a manager to voice our concerns but I didn’t mind paying for the dinner because that’s what we go to Signatures for, we just didn’t feel he deserved a big tip. So I wouldn’t have wanted money off or anything, and we were just both knackered by the end I think. Perhaps Roberto was just having an off night, we don’t know. This was just our experience with him.

Before we left the Contemps, there was something we had to do. We nipped back down to the podium and I was thrilled to see our CM friend was still working She didn’t have anyone queuing in front of her so we bounded over and thanked her for all the lovely things she’d done to enhance our dinner She blushed, bless her, and looked really pleased that we’d come to say thank you We said goodbye to her and I was happy we’d been able to thank her


The Verdict

Hmm, tough one. We were massively disappointed with this dinner It cost a lot of money and our hopes had been so high – Roberto was an awful server and made us feel incredibly uncomfortable and unwanted. The food was also nowhere near as good as 2011 (bar the dessert!) It has to be a…

Eek!!!! Scathing review!!

 

[Avery&Todd]

EEEKKK!! You're going back for 2 weeks in December - YEAH for us!! and of course we want to hear what you guys ate!!

so sorry to hear that CG wasn't up to par - we've not eaten there, but I hear folks either love it or don't! Sorry you didn't!

 

[nco91590]

Ugh. That makes me nervous. DH and I look young but we're mid-30's. Going without the kids for our anniversary and doing a bunch of signatures. I would HATE to have crappy service. I'm a former waitress and a big tipper--it would be in their best interest to be nice to us

Yours is the second report of CM's discussing tips. SO RUDE. I would probably call them out. It's pretty much forbidden to talk about your tip to a table! People must be stiffing them a lot or something....

 

[JKSWonder]

I've heard a bunch of not so great reviews about California Grill. Mostly the service being hit or miss, but also people stating that they believed the quality of the ingredients used in the food prep there has gone down from what they remembered.

I've never been and it doesn't look like I'm going to any time soon!

It was nice the the CM hostess made sure your engagement was noted.

 

[vettegirl]

There is no excuse for service like that for sure. I am so sorry he made your dinner miserable. I know my DH would have spoken to the manager.

 

[Pfau]

I suspect he heard your accents and figured you wouldn't tip. Unfortunately, that's the stereotype. Boo on him and his GIANT loss!

So sad to hear your meals weren't as lovely as you had anticipated.

 

[followthatmouse]

I just love your reviews!

I'm so sorry you had a disappointment. We had a similar experience at CG in December. Our previous visits had been lovely. We anticipated another good evening. Alas, it proved to be our worst meal during our trip. My seafood risotto was bland and gluggy with six, count them six pieces of small, overcooked and tired seafood. Our table was just about the worst in the place. My view was the scullery service area and each time a person came past I was hit on the head or the shoulder, or in one instance, both. Worse, though, was the attitude of our waiter. He behaved as though we were keeping him from his real job, which was disappearing into the kitchens and forgetting our order. But, dessert almost made up for it!

 

[ksromack]

I am so happy to read your report.....i've loved your previous ones. I've been away for several years but am planning a last minute September 2015 trip for F&W (for the first time). Congrats on the engagement!

 

[TigerKat]

Unbelievable!!! We had Roberto last time we went to CG and it was bad enough that we haven't been back since. Our food was okay, not close to being memorable. He rushed us, left us feeling like he "tolerated" our table for two and completely ruined our evening. We contacted Disney Dining when we got home to voice our opinion and to our surprise were given a disney dining gift card.

We're going for 10 days in December, maybe we'll see y'all!!

 

[disnmooner2013]

That sucks your meals at California Grill and Sanaa were not that great. Disney restaurant depending on the time and server can be a mixed bag. Sanaa is my favorite restaurant in Disney World and my recommendation would be to try both again in a future visit. Love still reading your AWESOME trip report.

 

[RachelNinja]

I'm enjoying all of your reviews even on the non-Disney places!