6 days(10/3-10/8)-cash customer reviews

[marksmith]

Just returned from a great trip and much fabulous dining. We always pay as we go and utilize the DDE for discounts on table service meals. I will cover the following table service restaurants starting tomorrow from our recent trip:

Narcoossee, Flying Fish, Artist Point, Brown Derby, California Grill and GF Private dining(not really TS, but oh well).

For tonight I will comment on the following recent eats:

Counter service:Colu
mbia house-always love it, our favorite CS; Cosmic rays-as always just average and way too crowded; Gasparilla Grill at Gf-ok on the first meal of the stay, but all the meals start to taste the same after a few trips. Flame tree bbq-love it love it-wish It was a little easier to get your food and find a seat.

F&W-had great hopes to eat more but DD started with a cold on the day we planned on doing the bulk of our grazing. We did try Spain-a much too small portion of almonds, cured meat and almonds. South Africa-Durbin chicken on a skewer-ok. China-Pot stickers-surprisingly very good. France-frozen dessert of some kind-nothing exciting and a pretty good Kir. Mexico-DD loved the generous chicken and cheese "quessidilla"-hold the sauce.

For DW-she made 4 trips to the champagne booth and loved them all. Canadian beers for me were great and we both always enjoy the rice pudding at Norway. Alot of fun-wish we had time for more(maybe next year).

More dining reviews tomorrow. I would love to answer any questions. Thanks

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reviews, thanks for posting.

 

[TigerKat]

Signing on.......

 

[marksmith]

Narcoossee-One of our favorite places. We usually stay at the Gf and love the convienence and ambience of this fine restaurant. We ate here this past April and were slightly disappointed. I think I made a bad entree choice. Anyway, this last meal did not dissapoint:

DW started w/ a glass of chalk hill chard, I w/ 2 miller high lifes on by deck overlloking the magic kingdom, but I digress. A very acceptable bottle of King Estate Pinot Noir and a shared app. of lightly fried oysters w/ 2 sauces was very nice(very light, not deep fried as many might think).

We followed w/ a salad of seasonal greens, maytag blue , I think apples and pecans for the DW-tasty and very nively prepared AHI tuna for me.

Entrees too were delicious-WILD king salmon for me-my favorite and Halibut for Dw-both really well prepared. DD had the kids steak-very good and generous(more on this topic to follow in future reviews). For some reason no dessert(not the DW's norm), but Mickey pops at Gasparilla for the girls.

glad we returned. Slightly unbalanced service, but an A rating w/ fireworks to boot. Pretty good fun. Happy to answer any questions. Next post on this thread-our first trip to Flying Fish!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

I'd love to hear about the GF private dining (I'm assuming ordered through room service?). We are staying here in two weeks, and I am a big fan of room service.

 

[marksmith]

One of the few signature restaurants we have never tried. We were very excited to try it this past trip. My brother traveled up from Naples for 2 nights to meet me, DW, DD. We took a cab from GF to Dolphin(where he was staying) and then a quick boat launch to the Boardwalk. While it was a Sat. 6:15 reservation, We were still seated very propmptly. Our server was very professional and the decor very fun, yet sophisticated.

On to the food. With many mixed reviews on these boards recently I had some trepidation, as to what would follow:

We started w/ a glass of Cakebread Chard for DW and me. Brother a couple of Tarpon Spoon brews. We enjoyed an excellent bottle of Ponzi Pinot Noir w/ dinner.


Our appetizer were Ahi tuna (carpacio style) for brother and me and heirloom tomato salad w/ balsamic reduction vinagrette. Both excellent. This was similar to the way Narcoosee prepared my App. Ahi, noted in my review above. I would give the nod to FF on this one.

DW and brother went with Potato wrapped snapper, the FF signature dish-really well prepared and tasty. I had the evening special. Thunder Fish-actually a whole fried yellowtail-absolutely delicious-perhaps my best dish of the trip.Again, a heads up to FF over Narcoossee(which too was excellent) for those of you keeping score.

DD had kids steak, generous but she did not care for the wood smoked taste employed at FF. Desserts, none again which I did not remember and actually shocks me, as we skipped 2 dinners in a row. We did not cheat ourselves in the parks during the day I can assure you, concerning our sugar intake.

Excellent meal across the board. I hope our meal is indicative of a consistent note from this kitchen. Next reviews will be Brown Derby and GF private dining, which I may start on a seperate thread. Any questions I would be happy to comment. Thanks

 

[mark smith]

bumping to orgonize complete reviews of recent trip