Thanks. I hope I don't turn you off of Flying Fish but (spoiler alert) it's not going to be a great review. Most of my reviews on this post have bordered on sycophantic. But if there is one negative review, it will be Flying Fish. Hopefully, I just was there on an off-night.
7 nights of Disney dining with Yacht Club Concierge level (UPDATED 2/24)
- Thread starter GoBirds
- Start date
Thanks. I hope I don't turn you off of Flying Fish but (spoiler alert) it's not going to be a great review. Most of my reviews on this post have bordered on sycophantic. But if there is one negative review, it will be Flying Fish. Hopefully, I just was there on an off-night.
We love chef mickey for breakfast aswell. Great pics of the baby with the characters
Thanks. The characters went out of their way to interact with the baby, which we really appreciated.
Sorry I've been away for a few days ... work has been hectic!
So, after our day at Magic Kingdom, we returned to the Yacht Club mid-afternoon for some pool time and some Club Level snacks!
The Yacht and Beach Club share a pool called Stormalong Bay, which is a very cool pool complex that is legally classified as a "water park." There is a pool bar/restaurant called Hurricane Hanna's that serves quick-service food and .. of course .. alcohol!!
So, after I took DS7 and DS4 for a swim, we sat at one of the poolside umbrella tables. DS7 and DS4 each ordered the quick-service meal of a hot dog, fries, cookie and milk (one Quick Service credit each):
And DW and I shared a ...
After our pool time, we went back to our room to get cleaned up for dinner. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the "free" Club Level dinner appetizers which are offered every night starting at 5pm. The food is placed out at the Club Level lounge, and guests can feel free to eat it there, or fill up some plates (unlimited) and take it back to their room (we chose the latter). There is also unlimited beer and wine available with this.
Above we have a roasted red pepper dip and a smoked tomato dip, both delicious with the bread and crackers (I'm still dreaming about these dips
) We also have here the same olive salad that they serve at the Cape May clambake.
Next we have veggies with ranch dressing, tomato mozzarella salad, and those phyllo dough-wrapped appetizers which are sooooooo good but no one knows exactly what's in them.
Finally, we have the main event!!! On multiple nights, the Yacht Club puts out small dishes of lobster salad, free and unlimited for the taking!!!
This was delicious. We felt like royalty having this served to us "free" (DW: It's not free; Me: Yes it is
; DW: No it's not 
) Very tender and creamy and we felt like we were in New England. (shout out to Kelleigh 
)
And to top it off, they have this for the kids:
If you can't see it, this is grape jelly on the top, with peanut butter underneath, a plastic knife, and a bread roll. That's right ... make-your-own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The kids LOVED this!!!
So after some great Club Level appetizers, we took a stroll around the Boardwalk for our ADR at Flying Fish Cafe.
Next up ... Flying Fish Cafe dinner!!!
So, after our day at Magic Kingdom, we returned to the Yacht Club mid-afternoon for some pool time and some Club Level snacks!
The Yacht and Beach Club share a pool called Stormalong Bay, which is a very cool pool complex that is legally classified as a "water park." There is a pool bar/restaurant called Hurricane Hanna's that serves quick-service food and .. of course .. alcohol!!
So, after I took DS7 and DS4 for a swim, we sat at one of the poolside umbrella tables. DS7 and DS4 each ordered the quick-service meal of a hot dog, fries, cookie and milk (one Quick Service credit each):
And DW and I shared a ...
After our pool time, we went back to our room to get cleaned up for dinner. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the "free" Club Level dinner appetizers which are offered every night starting at 5pm. The food is placed out at the Club Level lounge, and guests can feel free to eat it there, or fill up some plates (unlimited) and take it back to their room (we chose the latter). There is also unlimited beer and wine available with this.
Above we have a roasted red pepper dip and a smoked tomato dip, both delicious with the bread and crackers (I'm still dreaming about these dips
) We also have here the same olive salad that they serve at the Cape May clambake.
Next we have veggies with ranch dressing, tomato mozzarella salad, and those phyllo dough-wrapped appetizers which are sooooooo good but no one knows exactly what's in them.
Finally, we have the main event!!! On multiple nights, the Yacht Club puts out small dishes of lobster salad, free and unlimited for the taking!!!
This was delicious. We felt like royalty having this served to us "free" (DW: It's not free; Me: Yes it is
; DW: No it's not ) Very tender and creamy and we felt like we were in New England. (shout out to Kelleigh )And to top it off, they have this for the kids:
If you can't see it, this is grape jelly on the top, with peanut butter underneath, a plastic knife, and a bread roll. That's right ... make-your-own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The kids LOVED this!!!
So after some great Club Level appetizers, we took a stroll around the Boardwalk for our ADR at Flying Fish Cafe.
Next up ... Flying Fish Cafe dinner!!!
After our delicious pre-dinner snacks at the Yacht Club, we took a stroll around the Boardwalk for our evening ADR at Flying Fish Cafe:
Flying Fish Cafe is centrally located in the heart of the Boardwalk, making it a convenient dinner spot for visitors of Epcot or Hollywood Studios or the Boardwalk or guests of the Boardwalk-area hotels. It's an aesthetically-enticing restaurant, given its location and the appearance of the Boardwalk at night. DW and I had really been looking forward to this meal for a while for three main reasons. First, its location and appealing facade were always enticing to us. Second, Flying Fish was one of only two Signature Restaurants (the other is Artist Point) that we had yet to try in our three family vacations to the World. And third, we had read so many awesome dining reports about that potato-crusted snapper entree, that each of us were determined to order it on this trip.
Now, I know that, for those of you who have been following my reviews to date, my reviews have sometimes been ... glowing ... over the top ... sycophantic.
And that's by design; I've meant everything I've said so far. As I have said throughout this entire thread, Disney restaurants are better simply because they're Disney restaurants. I mean, where else in the United States can you go to really nice restaurants, which all have interesting and unique themes, and feel comfortable with three small children?? The entire aura of the World makes average food good, good food great, and great food euphoric. 
I say this because I know that some of you may have thought that I was incapable of a ..... bad (gasp) ..... dining review ..... 
So here we go. I've been dreading this report because Flying Fish Cafe was ... VERY disappointing! Now, let me first say that no Disney restaurant could ever be a truly bad experience for me. After all, we're on vacation and having a blast! Second, as I said before, no matter what a Disney restaurant puts out, I always will remember it a little more fondly than I would comparable food in Philly. Third, and this is really important, there were things I liked about Flying Fish and there were parts of the meal that were actually very good. But overall, I must say it was the worst of our seven dinners.
So let's get started. The first (very positive) thing about this restaurant, aside from its great location, is that they, like all Disney restaurants, were very accommodating in allowing us to bring our sleeping 6-month old into the restaurant in his stroller and park the stroller right at the table. Very convenient. Very Disney. Very appreciated.
Another positive thing is that our service was perfectly fine, and just as good as at any Disney Signature restaurant. Upon being seated, we were brought bread and butter and the kids were brought crayons and coloring menus.
At this time, our server also took our drink order, and DW and I each got a glass of wine. Sorry, no pics.
The bread and butter was good. Like most Signature restaurants, I thought I remembered the butter sprinkled with sea salt, but I honestly can't see any in the picture. Nonetheless, it was good, decent, Signature restaurant bread and butter.
For our appetizers, DW ordered the shrimp cocktail:
The presentation was nice ... three shrimp stacked atop a watercrest salad with cocktail sauce. But DW said that she just didn't think it was very tasty. First of all, it was only three shrimp (most restaurants would give you six). Second, she said that the shrimp and the cocktail sauce was just very ordinary. Nothing to remember or write home about. Basically, it was an average shrimp cocktail, the quality of which you could probably match at Red Lobster. Again, not terrible, just nothing special.
For my appetizer, I got the tuna tartare and tempura sushi roll:
The tuna tartare and wasabi cream atop the sushi roll was very good. But the tempura roll itself was a little soggy and not very tasty. And the sauce drizzled on the plate was just ... eh.
Now, for dinner, DW and I each ordered the potato-crusted red snapper:
Sometimes I feel that my reaction to a Disney restaurant is highly contingent upon my expectations. For example, when I go to a restaurant like Biergarten, and I expect average buffet-quality food, and the food surpasses that standard, I remember it as being truly awesome. By contrast, when I go into a restaurant expecting one of the best entrees Disney has to offer, and I get a very ordinary meal, I feel ....
!
Basically, DW and I had been looking forward to this dish for a long time. This was our third trip to the World as a family, and for whatever reason, we just weren't able to schedule this restaurant during our first two trips. So for this trip, given that we were staying at the Yacht Club, and after reading all of the rave reviews about this entree on the DisBoards, we made a point to schedule this restaurant. And we had been psyched for a long time to order this entree. So much so, that we both got the same entree (normally, we try to order different things so that we can sample each other's meals). But this was the signature entree that everyone talked about at this restaurant, and neither of us were even remotely interested in ordering something else.
Both of us were extremely disappointed in this. I was expecting a tasty, moist white fish with a thin, crisp and flavorful potato crust and a delicious red wine sauce that complimented the meal. The snapper was dry and bland. The potato crust was thick and soggy. The red wine sauce was tasteless and added very little to the dish. The red wine sauce that accompanied the pork schnitzel at Biergarten was far more tasty. Even the sauteed leeks underneath the fish were boring, and I'm usually a sucker for sauteed bitter greens.
The kids' dishes were perfectly fine, as they are at all Disney Signature restaurants. DS7 got the Mickey-shaped pasta, and DS4 got the grilled cheese sandwich with roasted red potatoes and broccolini:
Now, here was the highlight of the meal. DS7 and DS4 each ordered the dessert which is presented as an artist's palette of three "paints" (which are actually edible sauces), a cupcake and a white chocolate "jigsaw puzzle" which the kids can piece together, then "paint" with the sauces, and then eat!
The kids absolutely loved this. In fact, if you asked them what their favorite dish was for the entire trip, this dessert is most likely to top the charts. Here's a shot of DS7 after he pieced together the puzzle and began decorating it with the edible "paints":
To sum up, the service and atmosphere at Flying Fish is fine. The wines were on par with any Disney Signature restaurant. My appetizer was decent. The kids' entrees were fine. And the kids' dessert was their best meal of the trip! However, DW's appetizer was boring, and our entrees, which we had so looked forward to, were flat out bad. That being said, I am more than willing to return to Flying Fish at some point in the future. First, there were enough positive points about the dinner to entice my return, and second, enough people have spoken so well about the potato-crusted snapper that I am willing to believe (and hope) that I was just there on an "off-night."
After dinner, we caught IllumiNations and then returned to the Yacht Club where the Club Level lounge still had desserts out for the night:
Here we have a chocolate and peanut butter dessert and a raspberry and custard dessert. Both awesome and a great ending to the evening!
Next up ... lunch at Tutto Italia!!!
Flying Fish Cafe is centrally located in the heart of the Boardwalk, making it a convenient dinner spot for visitors of Epcot or Hollywood Studios or the Boardwalk or guests of the Boardwalk-area hotels. It's an aesthetically-enticing restaurant, given its location and the appearance of the Boardwalk at night. DW and I had really been looking forward to this meal for a while for three main reasons. First, its location and appealing facade were always enticing to us. Second, Flying Fish was one of only two Signature Restaurants (the other is Artist Point) that we had yet to try in our three family vacations to the World. And third, we had read so many awesome dining reports about that potato-crusted snapper entree, that each of us were determined to order it on this trip.
Now, I know that, for those of you who have been following my reviews to date, my reviews have sometimes been ... glowing ... over the top ... sycophantic.
And that's by design; I've meant everything I've said so far. As I have said throughout this entire thread, Disney restaurants are better simply because they're Disney restaurants. I mean, where else in the United States can you go to really nice restaurants, which all have interesting and unique themes, and feel comfortable with three small children?? The entire aura of the World makes average food good, good food great, and great food euphoric. I say this because I know that some of you may have thought that I was incapable of a ..... bad (gasp) ..... dining review ..... So here we go. I've been dreading this report because Flying Fish Cafe was ... VERY disappointing! Now, let me first say that no Disney restaurant could ever be a truly bad experience for me. After all, we're on vacation and having a blast! Second, as I said before, no matter what a Disney restaurant puts out, I always will remember it a little more fondly than I would comparable food in Philly. Third, and this is really important, there were things I liked about Flying Fish and there were parts of the meal that were actually very good. But overall, I must say it was the worst of our seven dinners.
So let's get started. The first (very positive) thing about this restaurant, aside from its great location, is that they, like all Disney restaurants, were very accommodating in allowing us to bring our sleeping 6-month old into the restaurant in his stroller and park the stroller right at the table. Very convenient. Very Disney. Very appreciated.
Another positive thing is that our service was perfectly fine, and just as good as at any Disney Signature restaurant. Upon being seated, we were brought bread and butter and the kids were brought crayons and coloring menus.
At this time, our server also took our drink order, and DW and I each got a glass of wine. Sorry, no pics.
The bread and butter was good. Like most Signature restaurants, I thought I remembered the butter sprinkled with sea salt, but I honestly can't see any in the picture. Nonetheless, it was good, decent, Signature restaurant bread and butter.For our appetizers, DW ordered the shrimp cocktail:
The presentation was nice ... three shrimp stacked atop a watercrest salad with cocktail sauce. But DW said that she just didn't think it was very tasty. First of all, it was only three shrimp (most restaurants would give you six). Second, she said that the shrimp and the cocktail sauce was just very ordinary. Nothing to remember or write home about. Basically, it was an average shrimp cocktail, the quality of which you could probably match at Red Lobster. Again, not terrible, just nothing special.
For my appetizer, I got the tuna tartare and tempura sushi roll:
The tuna tartare and wasabi cream atop the sushi roll was very good. But the tempura roll itself was a little soggy and not very tasty. And the sauce drizzled on the plate was just ... eh.
Now, for dinner, DW and I each ordered the potato-crusted red snapper:
Sometimes I feel that my reaction to a Disney restaurant is highly contingent upon my expectations. For example, when I go to a restaurant like Biergarten, and I expect average buffet-quality food, and the food surpasses that standard, I remember it as being truly awesome. By contrast, when I go into a restaurant expecting one of the best entrees Disney has to offer, and I get a very ordinary meal, I feel ....
!Basically, DW and I had been looking forward to this dish for a long time. This was our third trip to the World as a family, and for whatever reason, we just weren't able to schedule this restaurant during our first two trips. So for this trip, given that we were staying at the Yacht Club, and after reading all of the rave reviews about this entree on the DisBoards, we made a point to schedule this restaurant. And we had been psyched for a long time to order this entree. So much so, that we both got the same entree (normally, we try to order different things so that we can sample each other's meals). But this was the signature entree that everyone talked about at this restaurant, and neither of us were even remotely interested in ordering something else.
Both of us were extremely disappointed in this. I was expecting a tasty, moist white fish with a thin, crisp and flavorful potato crust and a delicious red wine sauce that complimented the meal. The snapper was dry and bland. The potato crust was thick and soggy. The red wine sauce was tasteless and added very little to the dish. The red wine sauce that accompanied the pork schnitzel at Biergarten was far more tasty. Even the sauteed leeks underneath the fish were boring, and I'm usually a sucker for sauteed bitter greens.
The kids' dishes were perfectly fine, as they are at all Disney Signature restaurants. DS7 got the Mickey-shaped pasta, and DS4 got the grilled cheese sandwich with roasted red potatoes and broccolini:
Now, here was the highlight of the meal. DS7 and DS4 each ordered the dessert which is presented as an artist's palette of three "paints" (which are actually edible sauces), a cupcake and a white chocolate "jigsaw puzzle" which the kids can piece together, then "paint" with the sauces, and then eat!
The kids absolutely loved this. In fact, if you asked them what their favorite dish was for the entire trip, this dessert is most likely to top the charts. Here's a shot of DS7 after he pieced together the puzzle and began decorating it with the edible "paints":
To sum up, the service and atmosphere at Flying Fish is fine. The wines were on par with any Disney Signature restaurant. My appetizer was decent. The kids' entrees were fine. And the kids' dessert was their best meal of the trip! However, DW's appetizer was boring, and our entrees, which we had so looked forward to, were flat out bad. That being said, I am more than willing to return to Flying Fish at some point in the future. First, there were enough positive points about the dinner to entice my return, and second, enough people have spoken so well about the potato-crusted snapper that I am willing to believe (and hope) that I was just there on an "off-night."
After dinner, we caught IllumiNations and then returned to the Yacht Club where the Club Level lounge still had desserts out for the night:
Here we have a chocolate and peanut butter dessert and a raspberry and custard dessert. Both awesome and a great ending to the evening!
Next up ... lunch at Tutto Italia!!!
dixonsontour
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2008
- Messages
- 5,629
Sorry to hear flying fish was a let down (well except for the kids desserts - my DD had the same at the yachtsman and loved it)
Yeah, this dessert (or at least a dessert quite similar) is actually available at a couple of Signature restaurants. I believe Narcoossee's has it too.
kelleigh1
<font color=purple>Disney Baby<br><font color=gree
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2005
- Messages
- 7,693
I have seen pictures of the tuna tartare and sushi appetizer and the potato crusted snapper before and I have to say, as soon as I saw your pictures, I thought "those don't look right". They both looked really soggy, so I wasn't surprised when you described them that way. I'd say someone was a little sauce happy that night.
And thanks for the shout-out. The lobster looks pretty good, although it might have just a little too much mayo for my taste - but should we get upgraded and I have a chance to try it out myself, I'll let you know for sure. ;-)
And thanks for the shout-out. The lobster looks pretty good, although it might have just a little too much mayo for my taste - but should we get upgraded and I have a chance to try it out myself, I'll let you know for sure. ;-)
aboveH20
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2010
- Messages
- 2,147
What a gastronomical treat it has been reading your reviews. I'm headed to WDW solo next week and am in quest of my last night's dinner. I know it's too late for any of the primo restaurants, but you've given me some ideas to check -- maybe for next year.
Thank you for spending so much time writing this and feeling comfortable taking photos. I don't usually take my camera to WDW 'cuz it's just me, so I love seeing everyone else's photos.
Thank you for spending so much time writing this and feeling comfortable taking photos. I don't usually take my camera to WDW 'cuz it's just me, so I love seeing everyone else's photos.
iloveeeyore
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2003
- Messages
- 3,787
Oh, I see you didn't have the mussels at FF! Those were outstanding!
I was truly disappointed in the snapper signature dish, also. It is a veal demi-glace sauce and I thought it was just yucky! Or maybe it just didn't go with the fish? I agree, the Biergarten wine sauce was soooo much better. Anyway, that was one of my biggest all-time disappointments ever at WDW. I have link to my summer 2010 DR in my signature. I have my FF review there. Sorry you were disappointed, too. Fortunately, we had 3 different adult entrees at the table, and they were all good to excellent, so we were able to compensate for my bad dish.
Sounds like we have very similar taste in Disney food/restaurants! Looking forward to more!
I was truly disappointed in the snapper signature dish, also. It is a veal demi-glace sauce and I thought it was just yucky! Or maybe it just didn't go with the fish? I agree, the Biergarten wine sauce was soooo much better. Anyway, that was one of my biggest all-time disappointments ever at WDW. I have link to my summer 2010 DR in my signature. I have my FF review there. Sorry you were disappointed, too. Fortunately, we had 3 different adult entrees at the table, and they were all good to excellent, so we were able to compensate for my bad dish.
Sounds like we have very similar taste in Disney food/restaurants! Looking forward to more!
Hollymom1229
Art's Girl
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2001
- Messages
- 1,736
I have loved reading your reviews, and just wanted to share that I had a similar experience at Flying Fish. Everything was just okay, which is never the reaction you want to have at a signature meal. I will probably try it again at some point in the future, but it's not on the priority list.
jerseytinkerbell
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2010
- Messages
- 1,311
Another Eagles fan joining in! Love all your reviews so far!
I am a huge fan of the POG juice as well. That's one of my favorite vacation treats.
Can't wait to hear about your Food & Wine experience later this year. DH and I absolutly love it. We have missed it the last 2 years, so I think we have to get down there for it this year.
I am a huge fan of the POG juice as well. That's one of my favorite vacation treats.
Can't wait to hear about your Food & Wine experience later this year. DH and I absolutly love it. We have missed it the last 2 years, so I think we have to get down there for it this year.
For our final day at the World 
, we spent the day at Epcot. We chose Epcot for two reasons. First, Epcot is our favorite park (and by "our," I mean "my" 
). Second, since the kids love the pool better than any park, Epcot made it convenient for us to spend a morning and early afternoon in a park and then return to the Yacht Club to enjoy a little swimming on our last day before dinnertime.
So after a morning in Future World, we hopped a boat to Italy for our ADR at ... Tutto Italia!!! Now honestly, it's probably quicker to just walk around the World Showcase to Italy, instead of waiting for a boat and riding across. And we normally do just that (because as you know if you've been reading this thread, I love the World Showcase and I love just strolling around it and casually enjoying the different nations). But I'm also a sucker for taking that 5-minute boat ride across the lagoon and just seeing the World Showcase from a different perspective:
If you haven't figured it out yet, I really like this place! So we pulled up to Italy ...
for our ADR at Tutto Italia. By the way, the Italy pavilion is beautiful ...
I like the World Showcase. Ok, all right, on to the food. I know, I know, this is a dining report.
So we get seated (and as always, the restaurant allows us to bring the baby stroller in and park it at our table ... very nice!) And we are brought out bread, extra virgin olive oil (or "EVOO" for you Rachel Ray fans), and ... now this is the touchdown pass for me ... an assortment of olives:
As I noted in my review of Cape May Clambake, l love olives. Actually, I could make a meal out of olives.
The bread, EVOO and olives were all very good.
Now, the DisBoards only allow 25 images per post ... so in about 5 seconds, I will continue with Part II of this post!
, we spent the day at Epcot. We chose Epcot for two reasons. First, Epcot is our favorite park (and by "our," I mean "my" ). Second, since the kids love the pool better than any park, Epcot made it convenient for us to spend a morning and early afternoon in a park and then return to the Yacht Club to enjoy a little swimming on our last day before dinnertime.So after a morning in Future World, we hopped a boat to Italy for our ADR at ... Tutto Italia!!! Now honestly, it's probably quicker to just walk around the World Showcase to Italy, instead of waiting for a boat and riding across. And we normally do just that (because as you know if you've been reading this thread, I love the World Showcase and I love just strolling around it and casually enjoying the different nations). But I'm also a sucker for taking that 5-minute boat ride across the lagoon and just seeing the World Showcase from a different perspective:
If you haven't figured it out yet, I really like this place! So we pulled up to Italy ...
for our ADR at Tutto Italia. By the way, the Italy pavilion is beautiful ...
I like the World Showcase
. Ok, all right, on to the food. I know, I know, this is a dining report.So we get seated (and as always, the restaurant allows us to bring the baby stroller in and park it at our table ... very nice!) And we are brought out bread, extra virgin olive oil (or "EVOO" for you Rachel Ray fans
), and ... now this is the touchdown pass for me ... an assortment of olives:
As I noted in my review of Cape May Clambake, l love olives. Actually, I could make a meal out of olives.
The bread, EVOO and olives were all very good.Now, the DisBoards only allow 25 images per post ... so in about 5 seconds, I will continue with Part II of this post!
Ok, let's continue ... for our appetizer, DW and I shared the antipasti platter:
Starting at 12:00 (to the right of the basil leaf and proceeding clockwise), we have marinated white beans and mushrooms, prosciutto, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, pepperocini and cherry peppers, salami and bologna, tomato and grilled zucchini, and in the center of the plate, feta cheese, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and olives. All very good. Nothing stood out as earth-shatteringly spectacular, but all were solid ingredients, and having it served like this all together and family-style made it very enjoyable. (NOTE: If you are using a dining plan where appetizers are covered, this appetizer costs two (2) credits; in other words, since this is an appetizer for two, you and another "adult" (10 or over) dining companion will both need to count this as your appetizer).
DS7 and DS4 shared the mozzarella marinara as an appetizer:
I sampled this as well. This was basically a mozzarella stick shaped in a ball, BUT it was a very, very good mozzarella stick. Nice sauce, well seasoned crust.
For our entrees, I ordered the Penne Caprese (tomato, basil and mozzarella) and DW ordered the Rigatoni Alla Carbonara (pancetta, parmesan cheese, white sauce):
These were both good. Again, not a stand-out, top-of-the-line meal, but a decent, refreshing pasta lunch in a nice location. And that was more than satisfying to me!
DS7 and DS4 shared a classic pizza for their entree:
What can I say ... the kids love anything pizza!
While the food may not fall into the "superior" category, Tutto Italia is a very enjoyable overall experience. Let me give you two examples. First, if someone is celebrating a birthday or an anniversary, the staff will come out and serenade them. Now, while you may be thinking to yourself, "So what, that happens at every Applebee's or Chili's in the country," this is an Italian operatic quartet. Way different, way cooler:
Second, the service at this restaurant is ridiculously attentive (think Chris Farley / Adam Sandler / Rob Schneider in the SNL sketch of Italian waiters ... "La Bella!!!!!!!!"). We had two waiters assigned to our table, and literally, someone was at our table once every three minutes checking to see if we needed anything, to fill our water glasses, etc. A great example of this is that, after we finished our entrees and while we were letting our food digest, one of our servers noticed that we (I) had eaten all of the complimentary olives, and since DS7 wanted to order a vanilla ice cream with a wafer stick, our server asked if I would like him to bring out more olives to enjoy while DS7 enjoyed his dessert. I said "No, thanks." Yeah, right! I said 
!!! So DS7 had ...
... while I snacked on ...
Now, I understand that Tutto Italia might be about to undergo a huge refurbishing in 2012. The rumor is that this is being done to, in part, get the overall quality to exceed the newer Via Napoli, which some argue is currently superior (I can't say, since we haven't been to Via Napoli). Hopefully, this takes a good restaurant and makes it a great one! We'll see.
So after a nice (but long!) lunch, we spent a little more time at Epcot, and then returned to the Yacht Club for a dip in Stormalong Bay.
Next up .. some more Yacht Club food and dinner at California Grill!!!
Starting at 12:00 (to the right of the basil leaf and proceeding clockwise), we have marinated white beans and mushrooms, prosciutto, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, pepperocini and cherry peppers, salami and bologna, tomato and grilled zucchini, and in the center of the plate, feta cheese, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and olives. All very good. Nothing stood out as earth-shatteringly spectacular, but all were solid ingredients, and having it served like this all together and family-style made it very enjoyable. (NOTE: If you are using a dining plan where appetizers are covered, this appetizer costs two (2) credits; in other words, since this is an appetizer for two, you and another "adult" (10 or over) dining companion will both need to count this as your appetizer).
DS7 and DS4 shared the mozzarella marinara as an appetizer:
I sampled this as well. This was basically a mozzarella stick shaped in a ball, BUT it was a very, very good mozzarella stick. Nice sauce, well seasoned crust.
For our entrees, I ordered the Penne Caprese (tomato, basil and mozzarella) and DW ordered the Rigatoni Alla Carbonara (pancetta, parmesan cheese, white sauce):
These were both good. Again, not a stand-out, top-of-the-line meal, but a decent, refreshing pasta lunch in a nice location. And that was more than satisfying to me!
DS7 and DS4 shared a classic pizza for their entree:
What can I say ... the kids love anything pizza!
While the food may not fall into the "superior" category, Tutto Italia is a very enjoyable overall experience. Let me give you two examples. First, if someone is celebrating a birthday or an anniversary, the staff will come out and serenade them. Now, while you may be thinking to yourself, "So what, that happens at every Applebee's or Chili's in the country," this is an Italian operatic quartet. Way different, way cooler
:
Second, the service at this restaurant is ridiculously attentive (think Chris Farley / Adam Sandler / Rob Schneider in the SNL sketch of Italian waiters ... "La Bella!!!!!!!!"). We had two waiters assigned to our table, and literally, someone was at our table once every three minutes checking to see if we needed anything, to fill our water glasses, etc. A great example of this is that, after we finished our entrees and while we were letting our food digest, one of our servers noticed that we (I
) had eaten all of the complimentary olives, and since DS7 wanted to order a vanilla ice cream with a wafer stick, our server asked if I would like him to bring out more olives to enjoy while DS7 enjoyed his dessert. I said "No, thanks." Yeah, right! I said !!! So DS7 had ...
... while I snacked on ...
Now, I understand that Tutto Italia might be about to undergo a huge refurbishing in 2012. The rumor is that this is being done to, in part, get the overall quality to exceed the newer Via Napoli, which some argue is currently superior (I can't say, since we haven't been to Via Napoli). Hopefully, this takes a good restaurant and makes it a great one! We'll see.
So after a nice (but long!) lunch, we spent a little more time at Epcot, and then returned to the Yacht Club for a dip in Stormalong Bay.
Next up .. some more Yacht Club food and dinner at California Grill!!!
dixonsontour
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2008
- Messages
- 5,629
Yeah, I always thought they looked better in the pictures I saw, too. DW even said the shrimp was soggy. And the cocktail sauce tasted like ketchup.
Have a great time next week. I wouldn't just assume that it's too late for any of the good restaurants. I would think that the last week in February would be a reasonably slow time at WDW, so you may be pleasantly surprised to find out what's available. When we went the week after Thanksgiving, Jiko had tons of reservations available just days ahead of our trip, and Jiko's great (but due to it's location, there isn't as much of a demand for reservations as, say, California Grill). We also found that there was a good amount of availability at Citricos, Artist Point, Flying Fish, Yachtsman, Bistro de Paris. Honestly, it seemed that we had a harder time getting a table for the character breakfasts and the one-credit dinners like Ohana, Biergarten and Cape May. It doesn't hurt to go on the website and see what's available. Good luck!
Definitely will have to get the mussels if/when we go back! Thanks for linking to your 2010 dining report. Your snapper picture looked just like mine. The leeks were sauteed in some sort of a white sauce, which then mixed in with and diluted the richness of the veal sauce. If they just sauteed up the leeks in a little garlic and olive oil, they'd still be very tasty and wouldn't take away from the rest of the plate.
Agreed, and thanks for reading.
Thanks. Go birds!!
Agreed. Tutto is one of the more expensive one-credit meals. It's a good bang for your buck (or maybe I should say it's a good bang for your one table service credit) if you're on the dining plan, but probably a bit overpriced for the quality if you pay out of pocket.
aboveH20
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2010
- Messages
- 2,147
I do have a reservation at Boma (and Tony's, Sci-Fi, La Hacienda, and Kona for breakfast). I've been to Artist Point and Bistro, so may check on Citricos, Flying Fish or Yachtsman. Last year when I went it was SO cold and rainy I think I'm hesitating to make any more ADRs in case I'd rather hibernate than stay out.
I've decided the 15 day forecast is worse than worthless. When I first checked it had rain, showers or party cloudy every day. Then it was sunny every day. I don't want to have a long "hike" back to my resort if it's cold and damp.
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