11 nights of fine dining bliss... How do I go back to MY boring cooking now??

[CJK]

Anyone up for a short, sweet, to the point, dining report? You're in luck!

If you're looking for gorgeous pictures that will make you tear your kitchen apart looking for a snack.........you may want to check out some of the threads beneath this one..

We did something new this year and left the camera behind! We figured after 20 plus trips, why bother, right? It was liberating, though I confess to missing having some pictures now.....

At any rate, here's the list of our restaurants. I was travelling alone with my hubby, so no character meals or buffets on this trip.

Cast:
GoofyGal (me) VERY adventurous eater loving everything from Indian food, to Greek food, to seafood, to a good ole fashioned hamburger!

GoofyGuy (hubby) Becoming more adventurous as the years go on, but he still can't stand seafood and would rather a burger over curry any day!

Table Service Restaurants for Review:

Grand Floridian Cafe
Kouzzina
Narcoossee's
Jiko
The Wave
Saana
Flying Fish
Tutto Italia

If anyone's still reading this, grab a snack, a comfy chair and enjoy the ride!

 

[luvpooh]

sounds good, you have some good places on the list. I look forward to reading your reviews!

 

[ToyStory]

Looking forward to your reviews, especially for Tutto.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I didn't really use my camera that much either. I did still take pictures of my food, but other then that, I didn't take many at all.

 

[TigerKat]

Great line-up! We don't do buffets or character dining so your reviews will be right up my alley!!!!

 

[CJK]

I wanted to mention that we were on the dining plan, so every meal includes an entree and dessert. In some cases we ordered an alcoholic drink and appetizer.

After years and years of walking by GFC and saying, "let's eat there sometime", we finally took the plunge! I was eager for dh to try the chocolate fondue since he still mourns the loss of it from Wolfgang Puck Cafe in Downtown Disney!

We were taken to our table within a couple minutes of checking in. I was surprised to see how busy it was at 5:30pm at night. We were meeting with another couple for this meal, so we busily started chatting. Within the first 10 minutes of sitting down, there were FOUR interruptions from all the wait staff, asking us to join them in the singing of "Happy Birthday" to various tables around us. Rather than just go ahead and sing, they make a BIG announcement, asking for everyone's attention, EVERY time.

I was beginning to worry about our decision to eat here... It was very annoying. Fortunately, those four interruptions were it for the rest of the evening. Thankfully! Onto dinner. Dh ordered the New York Strip, and I ordered the shrimp and penne pasta.

Dh LOVES all things meat, and has ordered many steaks in various Disney restaurants over the years. He didn't really want to eat at this restaurant to begin with, but finally agreed to go. Well.......he LOVED his New York Strip! He said that it was cooked to perfection (medium for him), and it was so tender and juicy. He loved the seasonings too. By the end of the trip, he still insisted that this meal was his favourite of the trip! What a pleasant surprise!!!

My penne pasta was fine, but nothing special. I found the penne sauce a little dull, but there was lots of shrimp to make up for it. I ended up eating only half of my meal. It was okay, but if we ate there again, I'd order something else.

For dessert, I always want us each to order something different, but this time (and only time!), we ordered the same thing. We got the infamous chocolate fondue dessert! The dessert included a little bowl of chocolate, with different kinds of fruit and marshmallows on the plate. I was really hoping dh would like it, but no such luck. The chocolate had an orange/citris twist to it and dh just didn't like the combination. I even gave him all of my fruit in exchange for his marshmallows (he's a fruit maniac!!), but the chocolate itself is what was the problem. As for me, I LOVED it. I found the chocolate rich, but not too rich due to the citris twist.

GFC was a pleasant surprise for us. I'm glad we gave it a try.
Next stop: Kouzzina!!!

 

[BriarRosie]

Nice start so far! I have not tried Grand Floridian Cafe yet, but it's still on my radar.

 

[CJK]

Thanks for the nice comment!

I was SO excited to eat here, despite some of the negative reviews I had read about this restaurant. I'm a fan of Cat Cora, so I just had to give it a try. I had tried to get an ADR a few weeks prior to our trip, but no such luck. One week before our trip, I thought I'd try one last time, and success!!! We even got the time we wanted!

We were seated within 5 minutes of checking in at the desk. The restaurant was very crowded, but we were seated in a nice booth in the far corner of the restaurant. It felt quite cozy.

Our waitress was lovely, and chatted us up a bit, and talked about how Cat Cora carefully chose which entrees she wanted included on the menu. She made a few suggestions and let us go over the menu a little longer while she got us our drinks.

We both ordered the Mega-Berry Smoothie (included on the DDP). They were delicious! Dh ordered the Wood-grilled Flank steak (notice a theme with him yet??) and I ordered the slow-cooked lamb shank.

Dh enjoyed his flank steak. He was surprised how spicy it was, but thankfully he enjoys spicy food. I doubt non-spicy lovers would have been able to eat it!! It was cooked well he said, but he didn't like the flavour as much as the steak at GFC.

I absolutely LOVED the lamb shank. It was my FAVOURITE dish of the trip!! It was so tender and flavoured to perfection. I told our waitress that it was the best lamb I had ever tasted. I was so disappointed when my meal was finished!!

For dessert, dh ordered the chocolate budino cake and I ordered the baklava. I should mention that dh is not a dessert guy. Give him a bowl of fruit and ice cream and he's happy. His reviews aren't really fair in my opinion, since there's not much that he'd love anyway!! He thought the chocolate budino cake was "fine" as he put it. I tasted it too and thought it was good, but reminded me of all other lava cake desserts in other various Disney restaurants. My baklava was very tasty and moist. However, I was so full, I got it packed up and had it for breakfast the next day! Nothing like starting off the day with a sugary, sweet pastry!

We thoroughly enjoyed Kouzzina. I particularly loved it due to my AMAZING lamb. A busker from the boardwalk even came into the restaurant and entertained the guests while they dined, so it was almost like dinner and a show! If you like food that's slightly different from the ordinary, definitely give Kouzzina a try. We'll definitely be going back!

 

[CJK]

Today we were celebrating our 11th anniversary, and I couldn't think of a better place to do it, than at Narcoossee's! We checked in about 10min before our ADR time and asked if it were possible to get a window table. We were told yes, but we would have to wait for it. Not a problem for me as I just love going out on the deck and enjoying the view. The place was really hopping so we knew we'd definitely have a bit of a wait on our hands.

In exactly 30min, we were led to our window table which had a great view of the MK. We had timed our reservation so that we'd be there for Wishes! We had never seen Wishes from Narcoossee's so we were quite excited. We sat for almost 10 minutes with no one coming to our table. When our sever, Steve, finally arrived, he couldn't have been more uninterested in being there. I love getting engaging waitresses/waiters, so I admit to being a bit disappointed. I tried not to let it bother me. I ordered a rum fruity drink with the lighted ice cube in it. For the life of me, I can't figure out the name of it. It was pretty sweet, but still quite good. Dh ordered a raspberry smoothie (non-alcoholic) which he absolutely loved.

For our entrees, dh ordered the filet mignon and I ordered the whole Maine Lobster. Steve unenthusiastically brought us our bread (slowly I might add). A few minutes after ordering, the lights dimmed and Wishes began! Oh what a wonderful view we had right from our table! About 5 minutes into the show, our entrees arrived. We were quite surprised, because we thought they would wait until the fireworks were over (like they do in California Grill). It was distracting to have to eat our meals while they were hot, while still trying to watch the fireworks at the same time.

Dh enjoyed his filet mignon, but nothing about it really grabbed him this time. It was cooked well, but the flavour was mediocre he said. My lobster was quite good. However, I found myself still hungry after eating it, since there didn't seem to be much meat to it. I LOVED the potato gratin though!

Since I hadn't had a non-alcoholic drink yet tonight (included on the DDP), I decided to order a mango smoothie. When I ordered it, Steve looked at me like I had suddenly grown another head. He was visibly shocked and put out by it. He simply said, "all right" and walked away. Since when is ordering a drink a bad thing to do?????

I was now quite annoyed with Steve, but didn't want to make a big thing out of it. I did notice that some tables around us were also raising eyebrows about our darling Steve. Anyway, dh ordered the mango sorbet with fruit for dessert and I ordered the infamous almond crusted cheesecake. We failed to notice that dh's dessert was sugar-free!! He doesn't like sweet desserts, but this was too tart even for him! Thankfully I was too full to eat most of my dessert, so I let him eat most of it. The cheesecake was FANTASTIC!!! Dh even loved it too, so two big thumbs up from both the dessert lover and even the non-dessert lover!!

While we were figuring out how much to tip Steve, we noticed a table across the aisle from us. The gentleman flagged down a hostess and exclaimed that they had been there for 10 minutes and no one had come to the table yet. Within 2 minutes, a manager came over and apologized, took their drink orders, brought them bread and their drinks. Steve finally made his way over and did not apologize. The man and woman looked quite understandably annoyed!! I wonder if the manager talked to Steve?? The server we had at the GFC was very friendly and efficient. I wondered how on earth Steve got a job in a signature restaurant while the other CM worked at GFC?

We still enjoyed our dinner, but Steve certainly soured our experience. Next stop is The Wave!

 

[natalielongstaff]

great reviews so far

 

[Calgary DISHeads]

Today we were celebrating our 11th anniversary, and I couldn't think of a better place to do it, than at Narcoossee's! We checked in about 10min before our ADR time and asked if it were possible to get a window table. We were told yes, but we would have to wait for it. Not a problem for me as I just love going out on the deck and enjoying the view. The place was really hopping so we knew we'd definitely have a bit of a wait on our hands.

In exactly 30min, we were led to our window table which had a great view of the MK. We had timed our reservation so that we'd be there for Wishes! We had never seen Wishes from Narcoossee's so we were quite excited. We sat for almost 10 minutes with no one coming to our table. When our sever, Steve, finally arrived, he couldn't have been more uninterested in being there. I love getting engaging waitresses/waiters, so I admit to being a bit disappointed. I tried not to let it bother me. I ordered a rum fruity drink with the lighted ice cube in it. For the life of me, I can't figure out the name of it. It was pretty sweet, but still quite good. Dh ordered a raspberry smoothie (non-alcoholic) which he absolutely loved.

For our entrees, dh ordered the filet mignon and I ordered the whole Maine Lobster. Steve unenthusiastically brought us our bread (slowly I might add). A few minutes after ordering, the lights dimmed and Wishes began! Oh what a wonderful view we had right from our table! About 5 minutes into the show, our entrees arrived. We were quite surprised, because we thought they would wait until the fireworks were over (like they do in California Grill). It was distracting to have to eat our meals while they were hot, while still trying to watch the fireworks at the same time.

Dh enjoyed his filet mignon, but nothing about it really grabbed him this time. It was cooked well, but the flavour was mediocre he said. My lobster was quite good. However, I found myself still hungry after eating it, since there didn't seem to be much meat to it. I LOVED the potato gratin though!

Since I hadn't had a non-alcoholic drink yet tonight (included on the DDP), I decided to order a mango smoothie. When I ordered it, Steve looked at me like I had suddenly grown another head. He was visibly shocked and put out by it. He simply said, "all right" and walked away. Since when is ordering a drink a bad thing to do?????

I was now quite annoyed with Steve, but didn't want to make a big thing out of it. I did notice that some tables around us were also raising eyebrows about our darling Steve. Anyway, dh ordered the mango sorbet with fruit for dessert and I ordered the infamous almond crusted cheesecake. We failed to notice that dh's dessert was sugar-free!! He doesn't like sweet desserts, but this was too tart even for him! Thankfully I was too full to eat most of my dessert, so I let him eat most of it. The cheesecake was FANTASTIC!!! Dh even loved it too, so two big thumbs up from both the dessert lover and even the non-dessert lover!!

While we were figuring out how much to tip Steve, we noticed a table across the aisle from us. The gentleman flagged down a hostess and exclaimed that they had been there for 10 minutes and no one had come to the table yet. Within 2 minutes, a manager came over and apologized, took their drink orders, brought them bread and their drinks. Steve finally made his way over and did not apologize. The man and woman looked quite understandably annoyed!! I wonder if the manager talked to Steve?? The server we had at the GFC was very friendly and efficient. I wondered how on earth Steve got a job in a signature restaurant while the other CM worked at GFC?

We still enjoyed our dinner, but Steve certainly soured our experience. Next stop is The Wave!

I totally agree how poor service can ruin a meal. I can put up with mediocre food and great service - but it's just not the same the other way around. I've been reading enough bad reviews on the service at Narcoossees that we cancelled our reservation. I worked my way through university serving tables and it's makes no sense to me when people give bad service as that's how you make your money

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Great reviews. I normally skip if there are no pictures but I am really enjoying yours. So glad you liked Kouzzina. We are eating there in Dec. I hadn't heard that the steak was spicy. Something I will have to warn DH about since spicy food is sometimes a hit or miss with him. Can't wait to hear about The Wave. We are eating there too.