When we're lucky enough to be spending our anniversary in WDW, our anniversary dinner is always spent at California Grill. For us it's the most special restaurant in the World. I can't quite put my finger on what makes it so. I guess it's a combination of the terrific service we've always received, the excellent food we've always enjoyed, and the atmosphere which I've always found relaxing (especially when we were seated in the much-quieter wine room in 2010). We usually linger over our meal for up to two hours, just enjoying being there. I think my fondest memory involves sipping scotch and bourbon while looking out over the Magic Kingdom in 2009.
I'm just gonna put it out there for y'all now: We eat like pigs when we go there. As my husband put it in his trip report from 2010,
Warning: The amount of food consumed this night would have probably fed a small third-world country for an evening. The following is not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. It was our anniversary, and apparently, gluttony was on the menu.
We've always shared a flatbread, and in 2010 it was the Four Cheese. Yummy, as always. I'm wondering if we'll share a flatbread this time I'm intrigued by the cheeseburger one, as well as the chicken and bacon since we had one very similar on our honeymoon and I fell in love with it.
The deluxe sushi platter features two pieces of heaven, aka a shrimp tempura roll with mango, wrapped in soy paper. Honestly, I don't know what it is about this roll that I love so much...is it the mix of textures? The way the soy paper just melts away? The way the sweet mango pairs so unbelievably well with the slight saltiness of the tempura coating around the shrimp? All I know is that I darn near made a fool of myself when I tasted it for the first time. Like, gripping the table cloth and making strange animal noises. I'm serious. It was not my proudest moment.
I straight up almost said "No fair!" when I saw a young boy at another table with a plate of just the shrimp tempura roll. Had I known it was possible at the time I would have ordered the same thing as an appetizer.
During our 2010 trip, I did just that. I managed to share it with Rob because I'm generous and a very good wife.
Then came my favorite sushi roll ever (and I eat a.lot.of.sushi. in my day-to-day life): Spicy Kazan Roll.
Oh, goodness. How fortunate I am that Rob ordered this on our first trip. Its been a straight-up love affair ever since. For those of you not in the know, under all that beautiful crunchy goodness in the middle is a mini lake composed of spicy mayo sauce (which I could drink with a straw) and the cutest, sweetest little scallops you'll ever wrap your mouth around.
There is not a single thing about this roll and its presentation that I don't absolutely adore. Theres's no way we could ever share this
- Rob gets ugly over it. And if he tries to deny it, dont believe him. He's full of baloney.
For those keeping track, that's one roll apiece, plus a shared roll and a shared flatbread. And we hadn't even gotten entrees yet.
Up to that point, my dinners at CG had been straight-up sushi. On this trip, though, I felt the urge to expand my horizons a bit, and since I'd heard many good things about the pork tenderloin, I figured I'd give it a try.
And let me state with 100% seriousness that this was and is to this day the best entrée I've ever eaten. From start to finish the quality and preparation of the pork, the mustard rub, the amazingly creamy and cheesy polenta which left me wanting to lick the plate clean, the mushrooms in their glaze (I'm sort of a mushroom freak in the first place). Everything worked together perfectly and I ate way more of it than I thought I'd be able to handle since, let's face it, I'd already eaten more than my fair share before the pork even made it to the table.
Needless to say, I'll be ordering this next week. Oh yes.
Rob usually gets the filet (except for the time in 2009 when they had scallops with gnocchi and pears in some sort of bacon-infused sauce
...oh my lord
). The filet doesnt disappoint.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: With the exception of the bread pudding at Ohana and the little bit of cheesecake I managed to steal from Rob at Narcoossees, the desserts I've eaten in WDW restaurants have generally failed to excite me. Honestly, I'd rather order a cheese plate in most cases.
Does anyone know if the cheese plate at CG is available as a dessert? I think I've seen dining reports where that was the case. Regardless, while the desserts at CG are typically delicious, they just don't wow me.
But will I eat them? Sure. Because that's how I roll.
It looks like this meal will be much the same as the last, at least for me! And I'm totally cool with that. I'm a creature of habit, and I like to stick with what I know works. Rob is the same way. Which is why we keep going back to California Grill time and again.