Synonymous
I know all about it, see?
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2000
- Messages
- 1,119
Got back this past Saturday from a very nice trip, staying at Beach Club Villas. Here are my thoughts on where we ate, with more or less detail depending on how well I remember. Grades are based on what type of restaurant- not comparing Pecos Bill's to California Grille, of course.
Day 1-
Lunch at Beaches & Cream: Ugh. Why bother? The place is packed, the tables are tiny, and the food is just burgers and fries. The burger was quite good; not as good as Pecos Bill's. Fries were boring. The Onion rings looked better. Our waitress was very cranky. Can't blame her, working in that noisy, jammed place all day. We asked to move 2 tables together and they acted like we asked them to hand over the cash register, when a simple "I'm sorry, we can't do that" would have been sufficient. I liked my chocolate milkshake, although the chocolate is very strong and needs a little getting used to. It has a bitter taste, which I enjoyed after a few sips. All in all, this was a frustrating first meal. Frustration continued later in the trip, when anytime we wanted to come here for ice cream it was a big hassle getting a table. The place is just way too small for the demand and desperately needs expanding. They should take over the arcade, as was done at Wilderness Lodge with Roaring Forks.
Grade: C-
Dinner- Room service at Beach Club Villas. Good pizza, great clam chowder, nice burger (better than Beaches & Cream.) The chicken wings weren't bad (high praise from a Buffalonian) Not much else to say- it's just room service.
Grade: B+
Day 2-
Lunch at Pecos Bill's in MK- I always enjoy Pecos Bill's food. Again, it's just hamburgers and fries, but they are very good for a fast food restaurant. The fixings bar is nice, although there's nothing exotic available, just standard hamburger toppings. The tables inside can get VERY noisy, because of the acoustics, but all of the tables outside had bird droppings on them, so we braved the noise. It wasn't too bad this time. If you're looking for a quick lunch in MK, this is a good choice.
Grade: B+
Dinner at Marrakesh- DW and I had eaten here long ago on our first trip together to WDW and were disappointed with the food. Since then, I've always wanted to go back and we finally did. I'm glad. When we first came in, the host tried to seat us up on the top level, far from the dance floor. We asked for a closer table and were seated right next to the dance floor. This was great, because our 5-yr old DD and her cousins were made part of the belly-dancing show later on. The dancer did a great job with all of the kids and everyone had alot of fun. The music was great, very exotic. I think Morocco is the most beautiful WS pavilion, and this restaurant is really gorgeous inside. It's worth a try just for the atmosphere. Rich mosaics, intricately carved woodwork; just beautiful. The food is okay. It's not "weird" food, as you might expect. Just chicken, beef, lamb or seafood with spices. I actually thought it was a little bit bland, compared to some other eastern cuisines, but I suppose they have to tone things down for theme park crowds. I did enjoy the beef rolls with cinnamon and powdered sugar as an appetizer. I ordered the "Night in Casablanca" combination. This included lamb, which I never really like very much. The chicken shish kabob, though, was very tasty, with a nice, spicy sauce. It also included a seafood item, but I can't remember the specifics. It was good, though.
Grade: B+
Day 3-
Lunch at Brown Derby- Tuesday was a hot, hot day at MGM. Luckily, it wasn't crowded, so we were able to duck into Brown Derby without PS and didn't have to wait. This restaurant was a very pleasant surprise. The atmosphere was upscale and relaxing; a nice escape from the theme park. Three of our party had the Cobb salad and all enjoyed it. I had soup (can't remember what it was, I'm afraid) and the Chicken and Chorizo Chesadillas. This was a nice, light lunch, very enjoyable. THe Strawberry Daquiri helped.
Grade: A
Dinner at Flying Fish- To our great disappointment
DD insisted that she wanted to go to the Sandcastle Club this evening, so the grown-ups all went to Flying Fish. This is a restaurant I have always wanted to try, but never seemed to get around to. We were able to get PS on about an hour's notice. The atmosphere here is very hip and energetic, almost like California Grille, but not as loud. Our waiter was extremely friendly and helpful. Maybe a little too friendly, we ended up waiting for him a couple of times while he had long, involved chats with other tables. At one point, he heard us complaining about our waitress at Beaches & Cream and wanted all the details. We told him it was no big deal, but he insisted that if we were still talking about it it had affected our vacation and he would mention it to his manager. He may have been blowing smoke, I don't know. Anyway, we had a very nice dinner. I had "Our Lovely Soup," which changes nightly. I think it was a seafood bisque. Quite lovely. I also had to have the potato-wrapped red snapper, as I had been hearing raves about it here for so long. I did enjoy it but, honestly, it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. At first, when the coating was a little crispy, it was very good. But as the coating soaked up the wine sauce, it got soggy. In the end, it wasn't much different from a fish fry with wine sauce. Dessert for me was the warm valhrona chocolate souflee cake, with pistachio ice cream. Wow. This cake was so moist and rich. Just wonderful. I was skeptical of pistachio ice cream, but it was very mild, almost like vanilla, and a great compliment to the cake.
Grade: A-
I see this is getting VERY long, so I'll pick up in Part II
Day 1-
Lunch at Beaches & Cream: Ugh. Why bother? The place is packed, the tables are tiny, and the food is just burgers and fries. The burger was quite good; not as good as Pecos Bill's. Fries were boring. The Onion rings looked better. Our waitress was very cranky. Can't blame her, working in that noisy, jammed place all day. We asked to move 2 tables together and they acted like we asked them to hand over the cash register, when a simple "I'm sorry, we can't do that" would have been sufficient. I liked my chocolate milkshake, although the chocolate is very strong and needs a little getting used to. It has a bitter taste, which I enjoyed after a few sips. All in all, this was a frustrating first meal. Frustration continued later in the trip, when anytime we wanted to come here for ice cream it was a big hassle getting a table. The place is just way too small for the demand and desperately needs expanding. They should take over the arcade, as was done at Wilderness Lodge with Roaring Forks.
Grade: C-
Dinner- Room service at Beach Club Villas. Good pizza, great clam chowder, nice burger (better than Beaches & Cream.) The chicken wings weren't bad (high praise from a Buffalonian) Not much else to say- it's just room service.
Grade: B+
Day 2-
Lunch at Pecos Bill's in MK- I always enjoy Pecos Bill's food. Again, it's just hamburgers and fries, but they are very good for a fast food restaurant. The fixings bar is nice, although there's nothing exotic available, just standard hamburger toppings. The tables inside can get VERY noisy, because of the acoustics, but all of the tables outside had bird droppings on them, so we braved the noise. It wasn't too bad this time. If you're looking for a quick lunch in MK, this is a good choice.
Grade: B+
Dinner at Marrakesh- DW and I had eaten here long ago on our first trip together to WDW and were disappointed with the food. Since then, I've always wanted to go back and we finally did. I'm glad. When we first came in, the host tried to seat us up on the top level, far from the dance floor. We asked for a closer table and were seated right next to the dance floor. This was great, because our 5-yr old DD and her cousins were made part of the belly-dancing show later on. The dancer did a great job with all of the kids and everyone had alot of fun. The music was great, very exotic. I think Morocco is the most beautiful WS pavilion, and this restaurant is really gorgeous inside. It's worth a try just for the atmosphere. Rich mosaics, intricately carved woodwork; just beautiful. The food is okay. It's not "weird" food, as you might expect. Just chicken, beef, lamb or seafood with spices. I actually thought it was a little bit bland, compared to some other eastern cuisines, but I suppose they have to tone things down for theme park crowds. I did enjoy the beef rolls with cinnamon and powdered sugar as an appetizer. I ordered the "Night in Casablanca" combination. This included lamb, which I never really like very much. The chicken shish kabob, though, was very tasty, with a nice, spicy sauce. It also included a seafood item, but I can't remember the specifics. It was good, though.
Grade: B+
Day 3-
Lunch at Brown Derby- Tuesday was a hot, hot day at MGM. Luckily, it wasn't crowded, so we were able to duck into Brown Derby without PS and didn't have to wait. This restaurant was a very pleasant surprise. The atmosphere was upscale and relaxing; a nice escape from the theme park. Three of our party had the Cobb salad and all enjoyed it. I had soup (can't remember what it was, I'm afraid) and the Chicken and Chorizo Chesadillas. This was a nice, light lunch, very enjoyable. THe Strawberry Daquiri helped.
Grade: A
Dinner at Flying Fish- To our great disappointment

Grade: A-
I see this is getting VERY long, so I'll pick up in Part II