The Deluxe Dining that defeated us ...a German perspective! (FINISHED!)

[Queenofallthings]

I'm all caught up!!!

We ate at Sci Fi in 2000 when we were there and had horrible service so we have never been back.....but we're booked this year!!! My DD really loved the setting so she asked if we could go this summer. I said of course we can!!!!

Your review of the California Grill brought a tear to my eye....the view and your words really choked me up....I have never eaten there, but I am seriously considering it now!!

Love love love Coral Reef, we have done it on every trip....and this summer we are booked twice to go We both love it!!!

I am really enjoying your review, can't wait for next installment

 

[MickeyNicki]

Cannot wait to hear what you think about San Angel Inn!

 

[Isthatyoutiger]

I finally got caught up with your review.

I can't wait to read more.

The California Grill is the best You had a great view from your table....The last time I went to CG we watched the fireworks from the balcony area. It was awesome.

The Sci-Fi is a great place to eat. I love how it is set up.

The Coral Reef looked really nice. I have never been there Maybe I will give it a try next time.

I can't wait until my trip in August gets here.

Keep up the great work on these reviews.....I can't wait to read more.

 

[Flossbolna]

Your Coral Reef review sounds great. You ordered exactly the dish I would get, too. It sounds so American to me! How were the cheese grits?

Regarding early February (before Presidents Day), I think it is a combination of the following:

• value season at WDW, therefore hotel rooms are much more affordable,

• the crowds are not heavy (if you know the touringplans crowd calendar: 4-7, we even once had a day with a 3 last year!!)

• weather in Florida is great, not humid, but warm and generally not too hot (I would say between 20 and 28 °C). I would say like a nice May in Germany. We always had days which were feeling rather hot, so swimming was always possible. You can get a few cooler days, but those were generally sunny. We also had twice a rainy day, but those were still warm.

• weather back home is horrible and by that time I really am ready for the winter to be over.

To me this sounds pretty convincing!

 

[jennyf10]

Cannot wait to hear what you think about San Angel Inn!

Me, too!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Those mice were so cute - what a pity they weren't around anymore when we were there!
On the other hand, my Prince Charming was cuter

I noticed right away that your PC was way cuter!

Can't wait to hear about San Angel. We keep meaning to try CR-your review make it sounds great!

 

[jenmpa]

My family and I are going to the Coral Reef for the first time on June 15th. I'm looking forward to trying the Blackened Catfish...looks yummy. Just curious, did the Chocolate Wave have the brandied cherries on them? It doesn't look like it from your picture. Can't wait to try this dessert, too!

 

[annichan]

Hi everybody and sorry for not upgrading for a few days - DH and I went away for the long holiday weekend and have just come back. Not sure I will manage another upgrade tonight, but surely tomorrow!

Love your reviews and pics!

Thank you!

Glad you enjoyed your meal at Coral Reef. We enjoyed it on our last trip.

Yes, I am still trying to put together a list of my favourite WDW restaurants, but I already know that the Coral Reef will be fairlly near the top of that list.

I'm all caught up!!!
We ate at Sci Fi in 2000 when we were there and had horrible service so we have never been back.....but we're booked this year!!! My DD really loved the setting so she asked if we could go this summer. I said of course we can!!!!

Sorry you had a horrible server there, I am keeping my fingers crossed for you that you will get someone nice this time, like Jannelle!

Cannot wait to hear what you think about San Angel Inn!

I'll post it by tomorrow, I promise ...

I finally got caught up with your review.
The California Grill is the best You had a great view from your table....The last time I went to CG we watched the fireworks from the balcony area. It was awesome.

Yes, we never did get to check out that balcony area - will do the next time we dine there!

Regarding early February (before Presidents Day), I think it is a combination of the following:

• value season at WDW, therefore hotel rooms are much more affordable,

• the crowds are not heavy (if you know the touringplans crowd calendar: 4-7, we even once had a day with a 3 last year!!)

• weather in Florida is great, not humid, but warm and generally not too hot (I would say between 20 and 28 °C). I would say like a nice May in Germany. We always had days which were feeling rather hot, so swimming was always possible. You can get a few cooler days, but those were generally sunny. We also had twice a rainy day, but those were still warm.

• weather back home is horrible and by that time I really am ready for the winter to be over.

To me this sounds pretty convincing!

Absolutely! So who knows, our third trip might be in February ... But first, we have planned our 2010 Disney stay a bit further, and ended up booking our first ever Cruise ... and it's going to be a Disney cruise! We will combine that with probably a 9-day stay at the World next October, so I can start counting the days again . I can't believe what cheap airfare you got, though! Wow!

Me, too!

I will be soo busy upgrading tomorrow ... But today, the weather is just too nice, I want to sit in the garden ...

I noticed right away that your PC was way cuter!

Yes, he seems to age rather well, doesn't he?

Just curious, did the Chocolate Wave have the brandied cherries on them? It doesn't look like it from your picture. Can't wait to try this dessert, too!

Hmmm ... ... I think there were no cherries on top - or maybe DH ate them lightning quick while I was getting the camera ready ...

 

[MickeyNicki]

I'll post it by tomorrow, I promise ...

Ok not to rush you but I will be eating there this weekend!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

My own dessert is a bit of a mystery to me at the moment: I know (both from memory and what is written on the bill) that I had the "no sugar added" dessert, however I cannot really believe it is the one currently on the menu, the Chocolate Temptation. To be sure, there was chocolate in it, but it was all white chocolate … Help, does anyone happen to know what I ate?

I don't know if anyone's posted what this is yet, but I had the same dessert when I was there. I have the menu around here somewhere, I'll post what it is when I find it.

 

[sctigger]

Haven't been able to make up my mind on the Coral Reef. Your pictures and review on the restaurant are pushing me toward finally trying it. Thanks

 

[Flossbolna]

Absolutely! So who knows, our third trip might be in February ... But first, we have planned our 2010 Disney stay a bit further, and ended up booking our first ever Cruise ... and it's going to be a Disney cruise! We will combine that with probably a 9-day stay at the World next October, so I can start counting the days again . I can't believe what cheap airfare you got, though! Wow!
...

Disney Cruise sounds wonderful!! I haven't done one yet, but I am sure one day I will! For the airfare I recommend signing up with kayak.com. They have a German subsidiary. You can set up an account and they will email you everyday what the cheapest flight is on the days you want to fly. We got the cheap flight because there was a promition going on just for one weekend with 40% off!

 

[annichan]

Ok not to rush you but I will be eating there this weekend!

Okay, thanks for not rushing me - here you go!

I don't know if anyone's posted what this is yet, but I had the same dessert when I was there. I have the menu around here somewhere, I'll post what it is when I find it.

Oh yes, please let me know what this is, nobody has told me yet!

Haven't been able to make up my mind on the Coral Reef. Your pictures and review on the restaurant are pushing me toward finally trying it. Thanks

That's great, I hope you will have fun there!

Disney Cruise sounds wonderful!! I haven't done one yet, but I am sure one day I will! For the airfare I recommend signing up with kayak.com. They have a German subsidiary. You can set up an account and they will email you everyday what the cheapest flight is on the days you want to fly. We got the cheap flight because there was a promition going on just for one weekend with 40% off!

Thank you about the tip - will definitely try kayak.com!

 

[annichan]

Our reservation at San Angel Inn was for 8:00.

By 7:30, my feet hurt horribly, and DH was not feeling so grand altogether (he might have caught just the smallest whiff of my stomach bug that day - it was gone the next, though). Thus, we dragged our exhausted selves up to the San Angel Inn check-in counter half an hour early and asked whether there was a chance of getting a table straightaway.

As I am an annoying little thing who always wants it all, however, I also asked whether we could also possibly have a table right by the water. The answer was: "I don't have any now, but as you have "honeymoon" on your reservation, we guarantee a waterfront table for your reservation time anyway. So if you can wait until 8:00, we will seat you right by the waterfront."

Oooh, big dilemma – we were so wasted , but I so wanted to sit right by that volcano! It took me a moment to convince DH who really rather wanted to have some food and be out of there and back by the pool as soon as possible. Sweet husband that he is, however, he let himself be convinced and we agreed to wait for half an hour .

So we went on the Three Caballeros boat ride … and looked around the shops … and waited … and waited … and waited. Poor DH was starting to go a bit pale around the nose by 8:00, and at 8:10 FINALLY our beeper went off. So we hurried back to the check-in counter, only to be seated … -
NOT by the waterfront!!!

I was so mad, I wanted to complain at once, but DH stopped me and said that he didn't want the hassle and just wanted a quick meal, and he couldn't have appreciated the volcano anyway (aww, there went my romantic dinner for two …). So we left it at that. In fact, there was really only one table between us and the volcano – but still, when I think we could have had a table almost 40 minutes earlier, this was just not good enough.

Sorry to anyone who wanted to read a favorable review, but by this point you will already have guessed that that won't be forthcoming . The tables were really close together so we felt quite crowded, it was loud, dark and not properly air-conditioned, so too warm (I don't know whether that was accidental, or whether it was supposed to remind us of the real Mexican evening temperatures).

Our server was nice, though (if a bit hurried), and she took this picture of us (you can see we're not completely happy, though):

Now for the food – and that is the better part of the review . I would like to start by saying that I do not usually eat at Mexican restaurants so I can't compare this to any Mexican dining experiences outside of Disney World (except for some fajitas I made myself from a recipe in a Jamie Oliver cookbook, and those were delicious! ).

The server started our meal by putting an absolutely enormous amount of tortilla chips with dip in front of us, which DH then proceeded to finish off laughing:See, he didn't really feel ill, he was probably just tired). They were nice, but tasted like the tortilla chips you would get in any cinema – the dip was more spicy, though.

For appetizers, we both decided on the Ensalada de la Casa – "Mixed greens with Jicama, spicy pumpkin seeds, fresh cheese, orange wedges, cilantro, mint, and honey mustard dressing". Now that I am copying the information from the menu it sounds really good, and I admit that I don't remember it NOT being good – but the truth is that I actually don't remember it at all, so it was probably nice but not breathtaking.

As an entrée, I had the Puntas de Filete en Salsa Guajillo ("Beef tenderloin tips sautéed with fresh onions and chile Guajillo sauce, served over corn tortillas, black beans, and fresh cheese") as I had heard several nice things about them here on the boards. I really liked those – just the right amount of spicyness!

DH had the Filete Motuleno ("Grilled beef tenderloin with beans, Oaxaco melted cheese, Ranchero sauce, Pablano peppers, and fried plaintain"). He said it was very good, but I didn't ask him to try it – sorry about this rather uninformative review, but we were both a bit cranky that evening (as you may have guessed already ) so we weren't paying as much attention to the whole reviewing thing as we should have.

After the entrées my poor DH said that he had patiently waited for the table that I wanted and that he didn't care about anyway – but now he wanted to go home, so would it be terribly bad for me to skip dessert?

What can I say – I can have dessert any day, but pass up a chance to make the love of my life a bit happier?
So out we went without desserts, and I am pretty sure that this was the last time during this vacation that we did that!

My conclusion about San Angel Inn: Really strange check-in management; beautiful but very cramped setting; nice but not extraordinary food. We won't be back. If you are going – go when you feel well and you're not cranky, then you may be able to enjoy it more than we did .

Coming up next: Dinner at the Flying Fish Café …

 

[MickeyNicki]

Thanks for the review of SAI...I was not wanting to eat there but DH is requesting it...I can only hope he isnt "feeling it" that night and I can change it to something else

 

[ChelleinNC]

I've never had a desire to eat at SAI and I still don't Doesn't sound bad, just not worth missing something that would be good

Can't wait to hear about Flying Fish!

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

I caught up!

Great reviews so far!

 

[mom2twokids]

Thank you SO much for your reviews! I have really enjoyed them and I can't wait for the rest. I love all the photos you have taken and I really appreciate it. You have helped me plan our trip in many ways!!

 

[annichan]

Thanks for the review of SAI...I was not wanting to eat there but DH is requesting it...I can only hope he isnt "feeling it" that night and I can change it to something else

I'm sorry not to be able to give you a nicer review, I know you were waiting/hoping for it . Maybe just go there for drinks? They are said to have great Margaritas ...

I've never had a desire to eat at SAI and I still don't Doesn't sound bad, just not worth missing something that would be good

I think that actually sums it up pretty well ... It's not really bad at all, just not really worth wasting one precious dinnertime for, either.

I caught up!
Great reviews so far!

Thank you! When I started this review, I would have never thought that so many people would actually be reading and liking it!

Thank you SO much for your reviews! I have really enjoyed them and I can't wait for the rest. I love all the photos you have taken and I really appreciate it. You have helped me plan our trip in many ways!!

I am truly happy (and a bit flattered) to hear that! Prior to our trip, I spent SO much time here on the boards and the dining reviews were such a help to me, that I am thrilled that I can give something back and be helpful for somebody's planning!

 

[Golf4food]

Thanks for the review of SAI...I was not wanting to eat there but DH is requesting it...I can only hope he isnt "feeling it" that night and I can change it to something else

You should still give it a try. Has your DH never eaten somewhere he didn't really want to go just because you did? Hmmm? (Gotta stick up for other Disney DH's - besides, our own experience with SAI was more positive.)