2 out of 5 picky eaters - did we make everyone happy? COMPLETED 3/8

[jmm476]

We had a 7:45 reservation at Tutto. We arrived about 10 minutes early and were asked to sit in the waiting area. About 5 minutes later they called our name and we were seated at a table that was part bench/part chairs. I think our server's name was Paolo, it was one of those instances where the name tag didn't match what he said. He was from southern Italy if I remember correctly. He asked if anyone had been to Italy and I told him he had been to Rome. We chatted briefly about it and then he said he and his wife had moved here a few years ago. In any case, he was nice and took good care of us during dinner. No complaints on the service here at all!

They brought out 2 bread baskets. I don't remember exactly what was in them, but it was a mixture of different items and I think I tasted every single type in there. They were all delicious. There were also 2 types of olives put on the table. I don't normally like olives, but these were different from any type I've had before. The one kind was almost hard to bite through and you had to really chew around the pit, but it was a nice salty flavor. Sorry I forgot to take pictures until our entrees came out! We also ordered a bottle of wine to celebrate DH's birthday, but I don't even recall if it was white or blush, so I certainly don't remember the name! It was a nice addition to the meal though.

Here's what we ordered:
DH and DD: the lasagna or lasagne classico as our server called it. They both absolutely loved this lasagna! In fact, my husband says he'll never eat another lasagna again. Certainly words of praise from someone who doesn't like tomato sauce. Both he and DD agreed that the meat was not just your usual ground beef, but must have had other meats mixed in because it was so flavorful. They both gave it a 10 out of 10 and was their favorite dish of the whole trip! I tasted just a bite and thought it was really great also.

DM ordered chicken parm. She orders this at every Italian restaurant, she's very picky! She enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't like most chicken parms, the piece of chicken actually had the bone coming out of the top like a little decoration. I don't usually order chicken when eating out because I find it gets dried out and ruins the texture, but this was perfectly moist and delicious (I helped her eat a little bit of it because the portion is enormous!) DM gave this a 9, said it was one of the better chicken parms she's had.

DS ordered the penne caprese
This was penne in a light tomato sauce with bits of fresh mozzarella. She really enjoyed it, but I think she was envious of our other meals on the table. She finished the whole dish though and then tasted everyone else's, so it would be a good meal if you didn't want to eat something really heavy. She gave it an 8 out of 10.

And I ordered the gnocchi verde
This is spinach gnocchi in a cream sauce with cheese melted over the top. It was delicious! The gnocchi weren't super heavy and the cream sauce was so good. I gave this a 9.

After our entrees, we were too stuffed for dessert. I find this one of the bonuses of not being on the dining plan. I always felt obligated to get a dessert and then would make myself sick trying to eat one. Since I finished every last one of my gnocchi and tasted everyone else's dishes, I was just the right amount of stuffed! I was slightly disappointed that DH's birthday wasn't even mentioned since I had put it on the reservation. However, DH would have been upset if anyone had made a fuss over it, so he was happy with just a toast among the family. Other than that, our meal at Tutto was wonderful. I would highly recommend this to anyone and our 2 picky eaters were extremely happy with their meals, so that's a bonus!

Next up - breakfast at Roaring Fork

 

[wdwfanatic316]

Great reviews! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Disney Commando]

My wife would like this, Myself I would most likely be compared to our husband, so I know where your coming from trying to cater to the pickey eater My son would have his pasta plain, I myself would have to have plain chicken or steak, like your DH I'm a meat and potato kind of guy, although I will do mashed potatos

 

[jmm476]

Great reviews! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for joining!

My wife would like this, Myself I would most likely be compared to our husband, so I know where your coming from trying to cater to the pickey eater My son would have his pasta plain, I myself would have to have plain chicken or steak, like your DH I'm a meat and potato kind of guy, although I will do mashed potatos

I'm trying to remember if any of us made special requests at Tutto, but I don't think we did. I'm sure they would do their best to cater to you, especially if it's something as easy as leaving sauce off or on the side. At least you eat potatos!

 

[jmm476]

This will be a quick one since there isn't much to report on. Roaring Fork is the CS restaurant inside the Wilderness Lodge. They have a decent variety of foods to choose from, but not as many as they do at Pop Century for example. I stayed at Pop in September 2010 and was amazed at the variety and quality of the food there, so it's hard to compare after that experience.

Anyway, it's great if you're staying at WL to just pop down to RF for a few items. They have some seating there, but I also noticed a lot of people taking their food back to the room. Also, they have tables outside, but it was so cold every morning of our stay, we always ate inside.

This particular morning, we had 2 plain bagels with butter, 2 muffins I think they were blueberry but I'm not 100% sure, and DS ordered oatmeal with fruit. Almost everything we ordered was self serve except DS had to get her fruit from someone behind the counter for her oatmeal. They had a nice selection of berries: strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. All of them seemed good and fresh.

It was a decent quick breakfast before we headed off to MK for rope drop!

 

[jmm476]

We spent most of the day at MK and since we had a light breakfast and didn't eat lunch until the parade, we had a few snacks throughout the morning and early afternoon.

We ordered chocolate chip cookies and hot cocoa from a cart that was between pirates of the caribbean and pecos bills. The cookies were good, although nothing out of the ordinary. They were pre-packaged but I can't remember if the packaging said anything on it. The hot cocoa was great on a cold morning like that day, I think it was hovering around 45 degrees. I know that should seem warm to someone coming from a Buffalo winter, but we hadn't packed appropriately and my layers were not enough!

Next we stopped at the Lunching Pad around 1 since we were hanging around Tomorrowland. DD and I each ordered a cream cheese pretzel, while DM, DS and DH ordered regular soft pretzels. I thought I would have another experience like the jalapeno cheddar pretzel at AK, but I was wrong! The first bite I thought I liked it, but by the third and fourth bites I felt like I was eating glue or something. I really like cream cheese normally, so I don't know what they do to make it "sweet cream cheese" but it really turned me off. I tried to make DH eat mine, so I could have his regular soft pretzel, but he doesn't like normal cream cheese so he wasn't going anywhere near this one!

DD liked it though. He gave it a 6 out of 10, said it was just above average for a snack. I think I would have to give it a 2.

Next up - lunch at Pecos Bills

 

[Disney Commando]

I like your DH he sounds alot like me, most of the stuff I also eat is plain My fav pretzel is in Epcot in Germany

A funny note my 5yr old son dropped his popcorn in the MK (not alot left) a CM manager type came up to us and offered him anything at the next snack cart he got a bonus ice pop I kinda felt bad that he made a mess and before I knew it someone was sweeping it up, I was amazed how quick someone was on it

Following what is on your DH menu, seems like I'm not the only pickey eater guy out there

 

[jmm476]

I like your DH he sounds alot like me, most of the stuff I also eat is plain My fav pretzel is in Epcot in Germany

A funny note my 5yr old son dropped his popcorn in the MK (not alot left) a CM manager type came up to us and offered him anything at the next snack cart he got a bonus ice pop I kinda felt bad that he made a mess and before I knew it someone was sweeping it up, I was amazed how quick someone was on it

Following what is on your DH menu, seems like I'm not the only pickey eater guy out there

We'll have to try the German pretzel next time we're in Epcot. I'm pretty sure DH had at least one pretzel a day during the trip. That's great about your son's popcorn. It's that special treatment from the cm's that makes a trip that much more magical!

 

[jmm476]

So we thought we would outsmart the lunch crowd by eating a pretty late lunch. And we had a late reservation at Artist Point that night! We wandered into Country Bear Jamboree as everyone else was lined up for the parade and when we left the bears, we walked right into Pecos Bills. We placed our order, then DS and I watched part of the parade while everyone else waitd for our food. We were having fun outside, but apparently there were problems inside. I guess there was some confusion over where the veggie burger is actually prepared or supposed to be available or something? I know that DD was pretty ticked by the time we sat down to eat. He wasn't really thrilled with the burger once he did get it anyway. He gave it a 3.

DS and I both ordered the taco salad. It comes out with meat in the shell and then you put your own toppings on it. I thought this was a nice touch since you could decide how much lettuce, tomato, cheese and salsa you wanted on it. However, when we started eating, I realized how greasy the beef was. It made me a little bit sick to my stomach, since I'm not used to eating greasy foods at home. Still, I ate the whole thing, including most of the shell because I was starving. We agreed it rates about a 4 due to the amount of grease. We've had much better taco salads elsewhere.

DH ordered a plain cheeseburger with fries, which he took to the topping bar for lettuce and mushrooms. I don't think he added anything else. He said it was a decent burger, but he wasn't crazy about the wheat bun. He gave it a 6.

DM ordered the chicken wrap with apple slices. She said it was just ok, and didn't come anywhere close to the chicken sandwich we had at WPE. She wouldn't even justify this one with a rating.

Our thoughts on Pecos Bills? Ok if you're stuck there with a parade going on. But I think next time I'll force everyone to go to Columbia Harbor House, which is my favorite CS in MK. The food just seems fresher there and the cm's working there seem to go above and beyond (IMO).

Next up - Artist Point with pictures!

 

[jmm476]

We had 9:20 reservations at Artist Point, inside of the Wilderness Lodge. We arrived a few minutes after 9 and were given a buzzer to wait. The restaurant was less than half full, they close at 10 and the last reservation accepted, at least during the week we were there was for 9:30. We waited in the Territory Lounge, which is the bar area that is just down the hallway from the restaurant. After waiting about 10 minutes, we were taken to our table.

I wish I had snapped some pictures of the inside of the restaurant, it's beautiful inside with really high ceilings and windows on 2 sides that overlook the pool and courtyard area of the hotel. We were all pretty tired at this point, so DS and DM just ordered appetizers to eat since it was so close to bed time. I consider that a bonus of not being on the dining plan, although I'm sure some people would disagree. We didn't order an appetizer for the table since 2 were getting appetizers for their dinner. I'm pretty sure the server brought bread to the table, but I can't remember it and I didn't take a picture. Looking at the pictures, they must have because I see butter on the table. Looks like black sea salt on top of it?

DM ordered their famous smokey portobello soup. I kind of talked her into it, saying it was one of their signature dishes. She must not have read the description though because she told me after it arrived that she doesn't care for cream soups. Add that to the list of things she doesn't like! She gave it a 4. I tasted a few spoon-fulls and I thought it was great. I would definitely order that as an appetizer if I get back to AP. I give it a 9. Sorry the picture isn't great.

DS ordered an appetizer that I don't see online, so I don't have a whole lot of information on it. It was a squash risotto with pork belly. It looked delicious, but she wouldn't let me have any. She rated it an 8.

DH ordered the seared day boat scallops and he loved it. I tasted a scallop, which I can get picky about, and I thought it was really good also. The scallops are served with Whole Wheat Soba Noodles, Baby Bok Choy, and Hong Kong Vinaigrette. Yummy! We both give it a 9.

DD ordered another one of their "famous" dishes, the grilled buffalo steak. It was served with macaroni and cheese. DD has had buffalo before and he knows that it's very lean. This piece did have a chunk of fat in one corner, which he thought was weird, maybe it depends on the cut? In any case, he liked the steak, gave it a 9.5. I tasted it and thought it was just like a beef steak. The macaroni and cheese wasn't your standard Disney kids-menu mac and cheese. This had a number of different cheeses and was covered with breadcrumbs. It wasn't great and most of it went un-eaten, although I ate more than DD did.

Lastly, I ordered another signature dish, as recommended by our server, the cedar plank roasted king salmon. The presentation of this dish was great, they bring it out on a piece of cedar and then transfer it to your dish. It was served with vegetables and I ate every last morsel on the dish. I thought it was terrific and miles ahead of the salmon I was served at Chefs de France in September! I give it a perfect 10.

Even though it was getting really late at night and we were all tired, DM and I just had to order dessert. She ordered an apple tart that had caramel sauce on it and ice cream on the side. I didn't taste it, she said it was ok and DD had to help her finish it.

I ordered the Artist Point Cobbler. It had blackberries, blueberries and raspberries with a nice cobbler crust on it. It was served with blackberry ice cream and I finished every last bit of that too. It tasted really fresh and it was straight out of the oven, as the ice cream was melting all into the cobbler. I can almost taste it now.

I loved Artist Point and so did DH. The rest of the family thought it was ok, and really pricey. I wasn't paying the bill, so I wasn't concerned about that so much! I think it would be a very romantic dinner for 2 on a future trip if the opportunity arises.

Next up - more snack items and Rose & Crown

 

[dalepool]

Hi there, I am enjoying your reviews . The pictures are so clear -- looks like I am at table with you.

I wanted to take a minute to say you better love that king salmon . The King is the grand daddy of them all. Wild caught and will taste so much different then say the salmon at Chefs if they use the farm raised salmon. I would think they do to keep cost down. The meat will be more red and firm with wild caught. I think farm raised is good --- just wild is that much better. If I have a choice I would always pay extra for wild caught.

If you ever get a chance to try North West Spring Chinook -- melt in your mouth to die for Yummie --.

Keep those reports coming

Patty

 

[Disney Commando]

With such a exotic menu at AP, I was wondering if what we would order would be covered, I can say I was not disappointed

My wife would order the salmon, and I would try the buffalo steak (always wanted to try buffalo, since I'm told it is like high grade beef)

I'm usally on the DP, but I pay out of pocket for Sig dinners, since I can get a better value with 2 single credit dinners

You took a big risk going to AP with pickey eaters, but you were able to pull it off with everyone enjoying thier meal

Great Review

 

[jmm476]

Hi there, I am enjoying your reviews . The pictures are so clear -- looks like I am at table with you.

I wanted to take a minute to say you better love that king salmon . The King is the grand daddy of them all. Wild caught and will taste so much different then say the salmon at Chefs if they use the farm raised salmon. I would think they do to keep cost down. The meat will be more red and firm with wild caught. I think farm raised is good --- just wild is that much better. If I have a choice I would always pay extra for wild caught.

If you ever get a chance to try North West Spring Chinook -- melt in your mouth to die for Yummie --.

Keep those reports coming

Patty

Hi! I'm glad you're enjoying the pictures, I wish I had more of them to post.

I think this was my first king salmon experience. I usually eat salmon smoked or raw (in sushi). When I ordered the salmon dish at Chefs during the last trip, I really wasn't thrilled with it, it didn't have much taste to it at all. But the salmon at Artist Point was amazing! I would eat that over and over.

I will have to keep an eye out for North West spring chinook. I doubt there are many places in Western New York that would serve that, but you never know!

 

[jmm476]

With such a exotic menu at AP, I was wondering if what we would order would be covered, I can say I was not disappointed

My wife would order the salmon, and I would try the buffalo steak (always wanted to try buffalo, since I'm told it is like high grade beef)

I'm usally on the DP, but I pay out of pocket for Sig dinners, since I can get a better value with 2 single credit dinners

You took a big risk going to AP with pickey eaters, but you were able to pull it off with everyone enjoying thier meal

Great Review

You and your wife would not be disappointed! The buffalo is just like a perfect cut of beef. I agree with you about the signature dinner on the dining plan. We stayed away from signature restaurants when we had the dining plan, because we didn't feel it was worth 2 credits on the regular plan. If we were going to upgrade to the deluxe dining plan, that might change our minds.

Well AP made one picky eater happy (DH), my mom wasn't thrilled with her meal. But that really was my fault for talking her into the mushroom soup. The real test was Rose & Crown...

 

[jmm476]

We had breakfast at Roaring Fork again, it was very convenient as our meeting place in the morning. Even though our rooms were only 2 doors apart, it was obvious by our third day that some people were going to be early risers and some people (DH and DS) needed another 30 minutes of sleep. So the rest of us found our way to RF to eat breakfast and wait. That morning I wasn't feeling very well, I think I had come down with a bad cold, which was affecting my stomach pretty badly. I managed to only eat a few bites of banana before I found my way to the mercantile to load up on cold and flu medicine.

DS and DM got the oatmeal with fresh fruit, DH had a plain bagel with butter and I can't remember if DD got anything besides a cup of coffee.

We made our way to Epcot that morning and arrived a few minutes before the park opened at 9. We had an early dinner reservation that afternoon at 4pm at Rose and Crown (I wanted us to have some time at DHS that evening), so the family grabbed some snacks around noon. DS got an order of churros with caramel sauce. She said they were ok. I normally love churros, but my stomach still wasn't feeling up to eating anything. I was just hoping that it would feel better by our dinner reservation. DH got another pretzel from a cart in Future World as we were waiting for our FP return time at Test Track. I'm not sure what DM and DD got, as we split up for a little bit.

After we met back up, everyone decided to partake in some beverages at the cart in Mexico. DM and DS split a strawberry margarita, DH got a regular margarita and DD got some kind of beer. They only sell 2 at that cart, but I can't remember which he ordered. DM and DS complained that the margaritas were "too strong" which I know isn't usually a complaint at all and definitely not at the margarita cart! I didn't want to upset my stomach any more so I sat this out as well. I do know that by the time we showed up to our Visa card picture 20 minutes later, everyone was very happy and a little bit giddy (except me of course!).

Next: Rose and Crown

 

[jmm476]

We had the first dinner reservation possible, at 4pm. We checked in about 10 minutes to 4 and were given a buzzer and asked to wait as they worked out an issue with their system. Another party behind us was told they had to switch the system over from lunch to dinner and would have to wait also. So we stood there and waited for a while. In the meatime other parties are checking in and being sat. Then everyone else around us is called up. We're still standing there (in the rain of course) waiting to be called 20 minutes later. Then my mom heard one of the cm's say that everyone who was waiting had been seated. Not sure why they would say that when there were 5 of us standing in plain view holding a buzzer? She walked up to the podium and reminded them that we were still there. At that point, they started apologizing and found us a table right away. The restaurant was less than half full and many of the people there were finishing their lunches.

So we weren't off to the greatest start but our server, Ray, was terrific. She answered a couple of questions that we had about the menu (mushy peas description included) and told us a little bit about the part of England that she's from. Bread and butter was brought to the table. I snapped a picture of the one piece that was left as the rest of the family had grabbed them like vultures the second it was placed on the table. I guess they were hungry!

DM thought it would be cute to make a little Mickey head with the butters.


DD decided we should start with the cheese and fruit plate. There were 3 cheeses on the plate - blue cheese, Irish cheddar and brie. It also came with grapes, a few crackers, pieces of bread, dried cranberries and onion jam. DD loved the onion jam! I liked the Irish cheddar and blue cheese quite a bit. At least I thought it was blue cheese. The menu on all ears says it's stilton. Whatever it was, it was strong but very good spread on a cracker. I was finally able to eat again and I was hungry. Sorry I forgot to take a picture, but I was ready to dig in when Ray brought that plate out and didn't think of it until everything was gone!

For our entrees, DS and I decided to split our 2 entrees. She ordered the chicken and sweet potato pillow. It's roasted chicken with a sweet potato pillow and red cabbage. I don't think we really touched the red cabbage, she didn't want to eat it and I was too full by the time I got my half of her plate. The chicken was nice and juicy. The sweet potato pillow though... I'm not really sure what to think of it. I thought it tasted more like butternut squash than sweet potato. It kind of seemed like baby food to me, inside of a puff pastry. Of course, my taste buds might have been off given that I wasn't feeling well and was taking medication every few hours. DS rated the dish a 9.

I ordered the vegetarian shepherd's pie to split with DS. It was corn, peas and mushrooms in a light broth covered in mashed potatos and cheese. It came with a side salad of mixed greens and portobello mushroom. The greens were wilted and peppery, I loved every bit of it. I thought the shepherd's pie was great on my sensitive stomach. I don't want to say it was bland, but it didn't have a strong taste by any means. I rated it a 7.5. DS agreed that it wasn't anything spectacular, especially compared to the 2 dinners preceeding it, but it was decent.

DM ordered the mixed greens salad. Being the picky eater that she is, none of the entrees on the menu appealed to her. She was between ordering a salad or soup and then planned on getting some sweet when we left for dessert. She said the salad was good, but just your average salad. She didn't like that it came out with a hardboiled egg on it, but DD and I took care of that for her!

She also ordered a vanilla milkshake, which she really enjoyed. It helped to fill her up too.

DD ordered the shepherd's pie. It's ground lamb according to the all ears menu, but he thought it tasted like ground beef. We were both suprised that peas weren't in his. We thought peas were traditionally inside shepherd's pie and that was the reason he didn't order mushy peas on the side. He rated it a 7.

Lastly, my other picky eater, DH, also had a problem with the menu. I told him to order the fish and chips, since he likes fried fish and french fries. He said it was ok, but he likes our fish fries in Buffalo better. He gave it a 7.

I should mention that for once, I didn't taste anyone else's entrees besides DS's that we shared. I guess they were afraid of catching my germs.

Our final thoughts on Rose and Crown... the service (excluding the check in/seating confusion) was excellent. Ray was very friendly and really wanted to make sure we enjoyed our meal. The food got really mixed reviews depending on who you asked at our table. I thought it was great, but that could have been my stomach issues thanking me for not feeding it anything spicy or tough to digest. DM and DH weren't thrilled, which was no big surprise given their picky eater status! DD and DS thought it was ok. They would go back, but there are other places they want to try first. If we were to head back in warmer weather but not really hot, I think it would be nice to sit on the patio and look out over the World Showcase.

Next up - our last day! Breakfast at Roaring Fork and lunch at Backlot Express

 

[sophie832]

It's hard when you have picky eaters, so I commend you for trying to please everyone! DH and I are big fans of R&C. We have always had very friendly servers and great food. DH loves that sweet potato pillow so much, that I don't think I could even tell him someone didn't like it...it would probably drive him crazy We've only tried two dishes there, so it's nice to see pictures of other food.

Enjoying your reviews

 

[Linda67]

Loving your reviews
Well done for managing to cope with picky eaters !
Looking forward to reading more

 

[Tinker12]

I LOVE Rose and Crown. It's a must for every trip!

Great reviews and pictures! Thank you for sharing.

 

[LoriJune]

I'm loving your report! Ever find out about the WPE tipping? That's one of our next stops so I'm interested too.