8 nights of Disney Deliciousness with Pics---Vegetarians on DDP UPDATED!

[budbeerlady]

Bravo, a wine flight review! I need to try that on our next trip, somehow I always make a bee line for the Rosa Regale and forget about everything else the showcase has to offer.

 

[spaceacewannabe]

The veg. entree at Le Cellier right now is Spiced Black Bean Cake roasted red pepper stuffed with black bean and corn dressing served with noodle salad and peanut sauce. We were expecting maybe half a pepper on top of maybe a quarter cup of noodle salad. This is what we got...

I don't know how well you can tell from these pictures, but these were absolutely ENORMOUS. We are NOT light eaters, but this was about twice what we really would have needed to be comfortably satisfied rather than stuffed.

I'll start on the sides and work in. The green saucey stuff is like a cilantro dressing or sauce. It was really good---it had a nice clean flavor and worked well to refresh the palate. The brown sauce/paste is obviously extra peanut sauce. It was GREAT! It was better than peanut sauce I've had on Pad Thai (with tofu!) at a very nice pan-Asian place in town. It was the perfect balance of sweet and salty with a clear peanut flavor that wasn't overwhelmed by the other elements of the sauce.

The pasta was perfectly al dente and the carrots added great texture. More cilantro on top, and sesame seeds---yum.

The roasted red pepper was stuffed with whole black beans and corn as well as kind of a refried-bean-like paste. Then cheese was melted over the top. It was PERFECT.

I'm so impressed with effective fusion cuisine, because I don't always have a great sense of what flavors to put together, but all of these different parts of the dish were AMAZING eaten together (and fantastic separately, too).

This is an AWESOME dish. Sean told us that the waitstaff has been begging the chef to keep it on the menu, but they are once again changing it for the winter. The waitstaff asked about having two veg. options, because they all like this so well (the girl who delivered it said she'd like to sit and eat it with us ), and the chef won't have more than one veg. option on the menu at a time I think he said the fall/winter dish will be something with squash.

I really hope this comes back onto the menu (or STAYS on the menu)...although I guess I felt that way about last year's dish, too. It seems like Le Cellier does, however, give real consideration to dishes that either ARE vegan or can be vegan without loosing flavor, as well as including good vegan protein in their main dishes. I think that's great.

 

[spaceacewannabe]

For dessert, my mom & sister had Cherry Shortcake - cherry-almond cake topped with housemade lavender ice cream and almond brittle:

My mom was very disappointed that the Strawberries & Balsamic from last year was no more. As a substitute, this was okay, but she didn't finish it.

My sister liked it. She thought the brittle and ice cream was particularly good. The shortcake was just regular old shortcake, although it was warm.

I was very full and thought I'd try the sorbets---I'd heard they were nice and light. The flavors were blackberry and white peach:

I pulled out the sugar thing and took a nibble---it was hard to bite, very sticky (I think the humidity makes this challenging in FL). It wasn't very good on its own.

I set it aside and tried the sorbet. It was okay, but not great. I think I would have liked a very small quantity WITH a different dessert better. Both had nice fruity flavors, but I think I'd rather have just had the fruit
I finally figured out to eat it with the sugar thing, and that was good.

Anyway, if they don't bring back the strawberries & balsamic and we're not on the DDP (and with the changes, I don't think we will be), I wouldn't bother with dessert here unless I were in a major creme brulee mood.

Next up will be Sunshine Seasons!

 

[M2DD's]

My mouth is watering afer reading you Le Celleir review.I cant wait another 22 days till I get to taste it.I love blackbeans,corn and cheese.Can you say yummy.The only problem with this meal is that my 4 yr old will want it(I don't want to share )I wonder if they can make her a kids portion of this meal. I will ask and maybe they will!
Love your reviews
Laura

 

[eemmie1]

Great reviews!

 

[Leanne1977]

Really enjoyed your Le Cellier review.
Thats an interesting veggie option. Can you tell me if the peanut sauce is just on the side of the plate or do they drizzle it over the meal?

Looking forward to more!!

 

[txmomto1]

subscribing!

 

[spaceacewannabe]

Really enjoyed your Le Cellier review.
Thats an interesting veggie option. Can you tell me if the peanut sauce is just on the side of the plate or do they drizzle it over the meal?

Looking forward to more!!

The peanut sauce is also on the noodles, but not on the stuffed peppers.

Sorry I've been so slow, guys---I will be back soon with Sunday's eatings, but I've GOT to get some work done before school starts or I won't get my grades and I won't get more money to go back to Disney!

 

[Leanne1977]

The peanut sauce is also on the noodles, but not on the stuffed peppers.

Sorry I've been so slow, guys---I will be back soon with Sunday's eatings, but I've GOT to get some work done before school starts or I won't get my grades and I won't get more money to go back to Disney!

Thanks for replying.
I think i will ask them to hold the sauce.

 

[fairycat]

You guys are all really making me rethink not having an ADR for Le Cellier. That Tomato Stack looks soooooo good!

 

[irongirlof12]

I am not veggie, but often go for that option as I'm not a big meat eater

... lovin' it!

 

[spaceacewannabe]

So, Sunday morning was an Epcot early open and we skipped breakfast...so around 10 (maybe a little before?) between trips on Soarin', we decided to pick up a snack at Sunshine Seasons in The Land.

None of the breakfast items really appealled, so we all got chocolate cake for breakfast. Now, I think I've mentioned before that I'm not hugely into chocolate cake, but I LOVE this stuff:

YUM! The cake is moist, and the frosting is more like a mousse and then a layer of fudgy frosting on top of part of the mousse. I think we concluded that this was THE best dessert at SS this year.

So we rode Soarin' again and I think LwtL, and around 11 or 11:30 we decided a snack wasn't enough; we should really grab lunch (and I think to kill more time before a FP and/or get another FP?).

We all got Cuban Veggie Sandwiches:

These have roasted veggies: eggplant, zucchini, roasted red pepper, sometimes mushrooms (???). This also had pickles and mustard (hence the Cuban), all on crusty, yummy bread. These weren't AS fabulous as we remembered (plus we have had some success making them well at home), but they were still darn good. They no longer come with a side on the DDP, per multiple CMs, but still a pretty good deal---too pricey OOP unless they up their game again.

For dessert, my mom had a strawberry shortcake, my sister had a fruit tulip, and I had a strawberry bavarian.

The strawberry shortcake was the best of these---much improved since last year.
The strawberry bavarian was my favorite last year and I wasn't impressed at all this year.
The fruit tulip was good but not as good as last year, and a little watery over the custard (at the bottom of the cookie cup), so it may have sat too long.

The strawberry bavarian and the fruit tulip both had a goop over the top that my sister & I scraped off because 1. it may have been gelatin (they tend to use gelatin in non-functional ways at Disney ), and 2. either way, it was gross. If it was gelatin, it was quite easy to remove...but I still wouldn't order it again unless it looks greatly improved since the whole thing just wasn't as good as other things (like the chocolate cake---even as a repeat---or the strawberry shortcake).

 

[spaceacewannabe]

Midday, still not having firmly decided to keep our Coral Reef ADR (we did, btw), we stopped in Germany for some rest time and decided to do some sampling.

We got an apple strudel with vanilla sauce and beer (whatever the lightest German one is):

I'm not a beer person, but my sister describes it as "gut. Not thick or heavy like some beer." We did this on my mom's rewards card. My sister really liked it.

The apple strudel was DIVINE! The vanilla sauce was even better. We will definitely be getting this again if it's still available (my mom says it's not on the allearsnet menu at present--- )

 

[eemmie1]

I better be careful or I will ruin my keyboard with drool! Great reviews!

 

[irongirlof12]

OMG that choc cake looks delicious! AND the german apple pie!

I love cakes and you have not disapointed me

 

[spaceacewannabe]

So, after much debate, we decided we would try Coral Reef. Worst case, we go eat some of our (many) remaining CS credits later if the food at CR was awful.

Well...we were glad we kept Coral Reef! This year, we were seated at the very back of the restaurant. Last year, we were in the front (not right against the tank, but on the first level). I think the front is great for a first visit, but we had a MUCH more relaxing meal in the back. It's quieter, the light is a little better, and no extra guests are down by your table to check out the tank. Service was also better---although that might be more the waitress, Michele, than the location (although it struck me that they might balance things by putting the good waitstaff in the back where you don't have the close view and the not-so-good in the front because most people will be so focused on the view?).

Anyway, Michele was terrific and was able to tell us that the Curry Cauliflower soup has a shrimp base off the top of her head, which we appreciated, AND she offered up the good drinks (last year's didn't even bring soda without the bad ice as we asked).

So...we started off with these:

My mom & I had virgin strawberry daquiris and my sister had the virgin pina colada. These were all good, but the pina colada was AMAZING. Mom & I enjoyed the daquiris, but I think we both wished we'd ordered the pina colada.

We'd wondered if the people who reviewed the bread at CR so positively were off their rockers because the stuff we had last year was 1. sourdough, never great by us, and 2. unremarkable at that.
WELL...turns out they changed the bread. It's now ciabatta, and it is so good. We got two baskets of it. I wasn't sure I'd like the entree, so I had five or six pieces, I think (I came to regret this).

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...perfectly crunchy crust and nice soft inside. GREAT with the butter. Yum.


We all ordered our salads with dressing on the side because the dressed salads were SO BAD last year---they were way overdressed and had obviously been soaking in it for awhile. Needless to say, this year's were MUCH improved. The greens were much fresher, and we enjoyed the onion flatbread/lavosh on the top was a nice addition.

My mom & sister had the blue cheese dressing, I had the key lime herb vinaigrette. The dressing was just okay.

I think I ate the whole salad and wished I hadn't later in the meal.

 

[spaceacewannabe]

In light of Fairytalebride's review that the Pesto Risotto - with grilled portobello mushrooms, crumbled blue cheese and tomato-lemon grass broth topped with cripsy leeks was overwhelming in the blue cheese & pesto flavors, we decided to do blue cheese on the side.

THANK GOODNESS we did. I can see where she could only eat a few bites with it all together. Even without the blue cheese, this was VERY salty. Very, VERY salty.

Oops, missed one of the salad:

I forgot that they'd added apples to the salad---nice touch. And the red onion was still delicious, as it was last year. Wonderfully sweet.

ANYWAY, back to the pesto risotto.
This was a lot bigger than it looked, for starters. Without the blue cheese, I thought the flavors were very nice together, although I think the salt really disguised some of the flavors more than I would have liked. The broth was very tasty, and the crispy leeks were delicious (they were fried, after all). There was a balsamic on top of all of this. I'm sure it made it even saltier, but I have to say, I still really liked the balsamic. I thought that element of salt really DID bring OUT the flavors---I think maybe go with the balsamic and reduce the salt in the risotto. I think that would have been ideal.

As some of you may know, as I've sometimes been vocal about it, I haven't liked portabello mushrooms in the past---too meaty. Well...I have to give CR credit, these were delicious. This dish actually really worked without the blue cheese---which is funny. Last year, there was goat cheese on the vegetable strudel that 1. didn't make sense with the dish, and 2. was TERRIBLE goat cheese. Well, this year, I'm told the blue cheese was quite good on its own (I tried some and confirmed that I still don't like blue cheese) but really was too much on the dish. CR doesn't seem to know how to use cheese. I think it's maybe there for the protein, or to make it look like a pricier dish???

Overall, I will trust that CR knows their fusion cuisine in the future, but always hold the cheese. And I would still prefer that they bring back last year's strudel...the strudel was probably one of the best things I've had at Disney World and even though this worked, it wasn't really what I wanted from CR.

So we were all stuffed, but skip dessert? I don't think so. My sister asked about the Bailey's & Jack Daniels mousse, and Michele went to ask the chef if it had gelatin. It did, which made my sister's choice easier.

My mom & sister had the chocolate wave...my mom asked about ice cream...nope, just the cherries (she saw someone recently got some and she was very upset that she didn't!). She was willing to buy it OOP but I don't think she made that obvious enough.
I got the citrus (orange) creme brulee. I was hoping it would be lemon or lime (I did ask first) and was a little hesitant because the stuff we had last year at Sunshine Seasons was not very good at all and I know that sometimes there's overlap with pastry chefs.

The citrus creme brulee was DELICIOUS! I think I ate all of it and regretted it. The orange was very mild but ACTUAL orange instead of fakey orange flavor...not dreamsicle-like as the one at SS had been. This was very nice, perfectly creamy but firm enough that it was an actual custard (I've had some that weren't...'though not at Disney). I would order this again.

The brandied cherries with the Chocolate Wave were extremely boozey. There was no cherry flavor at all, and my sister says she felt the alcohol in these a LOT more than she felt the (very large) beer. Don't even bother with the cherries.

Per my mom, the cake itself was delicious but without the ice cream to cut the sweetness, it lacked the luster of last year. I had a bite, and I thought it was a good chocolate cake, but I couldn't have done much more than a bite: too heavy for me.

ETA: The woman at the table next to us commented, "That chef sure must like salt." Also, "I came for the fish, so I'm ordering the steak."

 

[battricia]

I can't wait for the ohana and rose and crown reviews! We're going in 13 days! wooh. We're eating at both those places, and my family keeps saying 'what are you guys going to eat at ohana?!' so I hope it's something good.

tricia.

 

[JSDisneyMommy]

Irongirlof12,

You are not the only one who loves Quorn!!!!!!! I have never tried the sausages, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the chik'n patties!

Unfortunately, our grocery stores around here don't carry ANY Quorn products!

Just thought that was cool to see someone else touting the merits of mycroprotein!!

 

[spaceacewannabe]

So we hadn't been to AK at all yet, due to the bus/tour group issue on Friday morning...so we cancelled our second 8:05 CP (I know...but we'd had our fill on Saturday!) and went to AK instead.

We'd always meant to try the onion rings at Flame Tree Barbeque and finally hit it when the lines and our appetites both supported that endeavor. Surprisingly, I think that was right around noon as we were going back toward Africa after Finding Nemo.

Anyway, we got two orders of onion rings with snack credits. We split up to check out & my mom got two sodas with rewards points (as well as three cups of water).

Here are the onion rings:

These were DELICIOUS! Perfectly crisp on the outside with nicely softened onions on the inside. YUM.

We went and rode the Safari and I think we just missed a performance of Lion King...I think that was it, because we decided to have a snack at Pizzafari for old times sake (an old favorite pre-DDP).

So we picked up some breadsticks with a snack credit and I think we just got water.

Here are the breadsticks:

The sauce was still great (I ate what was left with a fork, or possibly just my tongue...), but the breadsticks are adequate at best. They used to be perfectly crusty on the outside, but as you can see, these varied greatly in done-ness. They were fine if you've got to eat NOW and you're next to Pizzafari, but nothing special like they once were. I did still really like the sauce, though.