a european foodie on dxdp :-)

[janischa]

hi y'all, i'm a european girl who was lucky enough to visit wdw with her family for an 11 night trip in May this year. Being on the dxdp, we did a bunch of restaurants and being a party of 5 adults & 1 kid, we sat through an enormous number of meals so don't judge me too harshly on no longer being able to recount each meal in detail

i'll give you some background info on my family and me first. First, there are my lovely in-laws: FIL's best present anytime to give is a (self made) gift voucher for upscale restaurants (think michelin starred restaurants), but he's no lover of anything remotely exotic. MIL on the other hand loves an adventure (food wise that is ^-^). Then there was my American niece, a lovely 21 year old girl, who was frankly okay with anything and already happy to be served something else than burgers My DH is a perfect mix between his dad and mum: he thoroughly enjoyes fine food but over the years i've tought him to appreciate exotic flavors as well. Then there's me, half european, half asian, with a very broad taste in food: my top 2 favorite restaurants around where i live currently are a take away pakistani night shop (not anyone, a very very specific one) and a 2 michelin star modern cuisine restaurant. And finally, there's my DD, 2.5 years and already a foodie at heart but with an everlasting soft spot for french fries.

Restaurants I will be covering are among others: Crystal palace, Citricos, Narcossees, le Cellier, CRT, 1900 park fare, Y&Y, Jiko,.... Oh yeah, I do have to say i will probably dissapoint you on the subject of pictures. I will try to post some pictures here and then though.

 

[DisneyMamato4]

Looking forward to hearing your reviews!

 

[janischa]

Knowing our travel would be a very long long one, I planned nothing for our first arrival night in WDW. And true enough, after travelling for about 17 hours (inclusive of car travel, flights, transfers, flights, transfer to the resort), you can't imagine the relief we felt of opening the door to a beautiful 2br villa in OKW and simply resting ourselves in the comfy beds. More fresh the next day we had to change rooms (through bad planning from my side i had made split reservations within the same resort and I wanted to change rooms), wait for our groceries and baby crib to arrive and we had a nice brunch in Olivia's cafe. The service was very very friendly (we really liked that each time one of our party requested a certain ingredient be omitted, they immediately proposed a variety of alternatives to replace it) and the food was good. It wouldn't be a restaurant that i would take an effort to travel to, but being conveniently where we stayed, it made a very good dining option.
Finally, once we were all set, it was time to hit Main Street ánd our ADR in CRT. We were running late, so we had to hurry over Main Street and rushed into the castle. But the moment we stepped in, we knew this holiday was going to be magical for our DD She was dressed up in a pretty tailored made dress (with Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother and the mice embroidered on pretty fairytale cloth) and when she saw Cinderella, she completely lit up in complete awe of this princess standing there. After taking pictures, we went up and a very friendly waittress served us pretty good food. I'm trying to post some pictures here, but i have no idea how. Can someone explain it to me ??? (it seems as if i need to make a link first ?) i honestly had been dreading the food because when i was here in somewhere 2001 or 2002, i remember disliking the food, but it really wasn't bad... I had shrimps in a sort of tomato sauce which was very tasty. My DH had a salad which was okay but not very imaginative. My MIL had a cheese plate which was pretty good. And my DD had this noodle plate, with only butter to season it, which though a nice gesture of the stuff, being free and all that, remained untouched by her i told you, she's pretty spoilt instead she shared bits and pieces with all the other people (especially the cheese plate was to her liking). My niece had this soup which was too salty and too thick (a more common problem we later discovered throughout disney). As entree I only remember my dish being lamb, but with all the excitement of the princesses, i barely managed to enjoy it. I do remember however wishing to be able to enjoy my food more, so it can't have been bad As a dessert, I remember the cheese cake being very nice (disney is really good in cheese cakes !! or rather i should say, america is very good in cheese cakes and the chocolate mouse as well. All in all i think i'd only revisit this place with kids. While the food wasn't bad, it surely wasn't worth 2 credits, but as an event in it's entirety, it was really worth it. While the princesses needed to keep up a certain speed, they did a pretty good job of hiding it during the time they spent at your table. Plus, already seeing that look of anticipation, happiness and amazement on your DD's face when the princesses are close, made it the perfect first day for us in disney.

 

[janischa]

The next day we had MK on our planning. We had a breakfast ADR at Crystal Palace; rendez vous to see Pooh and friends. So in we arrived at just a minute or so to 8 am and we were quickly led to our table. Our waittress was an older woman and while she seemed nice, my niece later told me that she had caught her pulling funny faces on me behind my back :-( oh well, it takes more to spoil my holiday. i should have guessed she wasn't that nice when i asked her about how to get to the rapunzel M&G and she told me that they had stopped doing that and that instead now there was something new at the beginning of main street and i should go there anyway, back to the breakfast. I LOVED it !!! First of all, the surroundings. It's such a pretty place, it's huge but especially if you're early, it doesn't feel too crowded because there is so much light. And the buffet is set up between two large dining places with a lot of room, so it all feels quite laid back. Then the food: very good for a breakfast buffet ! Loved the chef who will freshly bake your eggs to your taste. Still thinking about my omelette with cheese and onions (with the onions being baked first like they should be !!!)... hmmm, i adore breakfasts !! Large selection of things to chose from. Fruits, breads, all sorts of stuff.
If i had to remark a downside to having breakfast here, it would be the characters grrrr, pooh and friends distracted me from enjoying my food there no, the moment DD saw pooh from a distance, she started and in all excitement, our whole family was so engrossed in which character would come up first to our table, nobody remembered this was DD first encounter which such a big furry creature and in the spur of the moment, Piglet bent down next to her, she caught such a big scare, we and EACH next passing character spent their time trying to sooth her i got a great picture of this (sorry, no pictures of the buffet), but as i already said, no clue how to post it. Anyway, the breakfast was really good and i was happy i had made 2 reservations here so we could try this again

 

[janischa]

The same day we had lunch in LLT. Nothing special. I have to say, we didn't particularly like it. We had lunch at 11.30 and were early, but already felt rushed by the waiter. While we were still eating our appetisers, he already put our entrees on our table. In addition, the food all just felt too heavy. We hoped for a light lunch, so maybe it was simply a poor choice from our side. Ordering a beef bouillon we thought it would be a light broth, but it tasted and ressembled more of a tick beef sauce. I can't even remember what entree or desserts we had, sorry. Next time i'll try the plaza instead.

 

[janischa]

That evening we had an ADR in Citricos. Okay, this definitely ranks among the best hidden secret gems (though not really for the regular DIS'ers) !!! The food there was really good. I was a little surprised though that the prices seemed pretty reasonable. So I guess this would be a very good choice for a cash reservation instead of 2 credits if you're in need of being careful where to spend your points. For example, Jiko was much more expensive in terms of cash.
So citricos... one of us had a crab salad with avocado with some greens to garnish it, very light and tasty. someone else had some prawns with feta cheese which was also very nice. My daughted enjoyed a kid's dinner with chicken breast and mashed potatoes, served very prettily and with care. Among the entrees, there was something with clams and someone else had a steak. Everyting was very good. The chocolate dessert with chocolate crown and banana was delicious !! And so was the cheese cake (yes, you will be seeing cheese cake and cheese appetisers refeature often here
Citricos is definitely on my must do list for next time as well. And i will have the cheese cake again which was one of the best cheese cakes i've had during my entire stay.

 

[crabbygal902]

Thanks for the great reviews! So sorry you had a negative experience at CP with a 2-faced waitress. Bad service is always worse to me than bad food.

 

[janischa]

The next day we had Epcot on our planning; which for me meant quickly stuffing some food in my mouth and making a run for Soaring while all the others enjoyed a slower breakfast with the princesses.
Our breakfast was at 8 am and while we thought we had left early enough, the rather long walk (my FIL has some health issues and trouble with his lungs; while my MIL has back problems) left us once again hurrying on Boy Epcot is big (but not as big as AK as we discovered later ^-^). As I hurried forward, the girl at the reception told us the full party needed to be present to be 'checked in', so I waited for the rest to catch up and off we were for a picture with Belle in her beautiful yellow gown. Then in we went for breakfast and I thought the surroundings were really very nice. While it's quite different from CRT, I enjoyed the feeling of more space and the waiters were very nice as well. They brought us scrambled eggs and bacon and others to the table, while the remainder was set at a buffet. They had fabulous smoked salmon and some special tick creamy cheese spreads (some with fruit tastes, some with herbs... both really yummy !!). Also some other specialties which weren't really to my liking. The choice was much more limited than in Crystal Palace, but it certainly was nice to have a slightly different breakfast than the usual fare. All in all given the free picture and only being one credit, i thought it pretty good value. The princess interaction was comparable to CRT. Personally, if i were to judge on princess interaction, i don't think you can choose CRT over Akershus or vice versa, since really it all depends on the persons playing the characters that day. There was much more variety on princess to princess than difference between CRT and Akershus for princess time.

 

[janischa]

Lunch was at chefs de france. Honestly, i only included this one because my in laws had eaten here like centuries ago and it was a nostalgic moment for them..... But then i did bend it a little by making sure we would be there on a moment that remy was set to appear as well
The food was pretty good. The cheese plate as an appetiser was huge.... Really, while in others we got more regular small pieces of cheese assorted together for a appetiser, in chefs de france it were really big chunks.... I know DD didn't complain as she got all the cheese she wanted (imagine, she even is up to eating blue cheeses.... tiny portions though) Me, I got the yummie cheese soup. A meal in itself, with generous cheese and quite some bread in it. The soup was a little on the salty side, but the cheese and bread bits were really yummy. They also give very tasty bread with your meals, we took one extra baguette along with us after the meal to the parks since DD loves to chew on them. The waittress even offered to get us an extra piece I can't remember which entrees we had, but it was pretty good. Depends on what you compare it to very very good for park fare; a lower level than the signature restaurants we did (but of course, you can't compare....)
Oh, and Remy was SUPER !!!!! My DD had sadly enough fallen asleep, but my niece and me had a great time the most interaction we had actually during our whole trip. we offered remy a piece of bread and had a whole conversation with him he was adorable !!!! we will be doing chefs de france again just to see him.

 

[iloveeeyore]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write a dining report! I try to read them all to help plan future trips.

Regarding posting photos, there are detailed instructions over on the technical board. Here is a link to the instructions: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=4886029 You have to save them to a website first, like photobucket, or on The DIS photogallery, then you embed a link in your post. The instructions here involve using a photo in your signature, but it basically works the same way in the body of your post. I use photobucket, and I don't have to write in the front and back of the URL, because photobucket has several options of how to copy the URL, one of which includes the [IMG]. When you try it this will make sense. I was intimidated at first, but it's pretty easy (if I can do it, I promise you will be able to do it well)!

Good luck, and I'm looking forward to seeing your pics!

 

[janischa]

this is my DD, waiting to have her picture taken with Cinderella

 

[janischa]

 

[janischa]

not food, but just couldn't help posting this picture. DD was initially so scared of Pooh.....

 

[janischa]

The best thing about our dinner at Narcossee was our waiter, Tom. He was great, funny and entertaining. One of the things I liked most about the signature restaurants was that as your choice of beverage, you could also get a non alcoholic 'cocktail' or smoothie. I no longer remember what I had here, but it was yummie The atmosphere was very nice and relaxing; when we arrived we were all stressed since I hadn't done my homework and like a complete fool had told our taxi to head for the Contempo instead of the Floridian so we arrived over half an hour or maybe even an hour late but they were very nice and got us seats pretty fast anyhow. While it may seem a more formal restaurant, it didn't feel that way. It felt cozy and intimate and relaxing. The appetisers were good (can't remember what they were) and my DD and I both had the lobster, which was okay. I guess all in all the food was okay, nothing special, but the atmosphere, watching the water and the fireworks, made it a very enjoyable evening. I would go there again, but not really for the food....

 

[janischa]

Okay, this place ranked as my number one in food for our whole stay (though le cellier comes close....) it was wonderfull !!!! THE best appetiser. I had some type of rolls (very weird name ; the whole menu is full of weird names) but they're a specialty of the house and pretty sure your server will recommend it. You have to know, while i'm half asian, i absolutely dislike any vietnamese rolls (very often tasteless i think), but these rolls..... they were with some meat inside and very tasty, but not too spicy because even my DD3 loved them. i let everyone at my table taste some and even my FIL admitted they were very good Then I had lamb i think, also very good and cheesecake as dessert, very good as well. I only remember everyone was very satisfied with their food even the non-exotic lovers This restaurant goes up on my list for our next visit !!!! LOVED it The waiter was very nice as well....

 

[Sandy321]

That Cinderella dress is adorable - just not as adorable as the Princess wearing it!!

Very sweet - thank you for taking the time to write your reviews and sharing your dining experience with us!!

 

[janischa]

This one left us with very mixed feelings. My FIL and MIL had the tuna as appetisers, which was good. My DH had the kobe burger, which was okay and didn't taste any different from a normal burger. My niece and I had the dumplings, half of which were horrible and half of which were okay. Then we had the malaysian seafood rice dish, which was okay as well. It wasn't too bad, i guess we had expected a little too much of this place.

 

[janischa]

i knew this on forehand, but still... i mean, how dissapointing is it if you do a character meal and your favorite character does not come in.... i guess it's not any different from CRT where cindy doesn't make it either, but atleast with cindy you still have some sort of character interaction. here, all donald did was a very quick pose and off you were shuffed..... the best thing about this meal was the juice you get, some tropical juice which was very nice. But i thought the buffet was very limited compared to crystal palace and off much lesser quality than akershus, plus what there was really did not appeal to me .... one of the least ones for me this one

 

[janischa]

we had dinner there and it was very very good !!!! i expected this to be the overblown place, but really, it was good. I had the cheese soup and it was nice, but my niece had the soft shell crab as appetiser and that was GOOD. Then we both went for the steak and boy, the best beef i had during my trip. So soft..... Dessert I had the cheesecake and again, simply fab. Our beverage was very nice as well (again can't remember what it was; i think something with mango) and the waittress was very friendly. Only the tables are very close, so watch out for listening neighbours. This was a meal my niece, DD and I were alone and we were doing some really girlie talk when we noticed our neighbours had been listening in a full 10 minutes or so blush....

 

[janischa]

i had high expectations of this place, so much i had made reservations for 2 evenings.... and both were..... hugely dissapointing.
my FIL is allergic to cheese, so we clearly told the waittress and while in most other restaurants, we had the chef come out to discuss this with him, no chef here.... not that we minded, but then, when they brought his dish and he started eating, he tasted something funny and we called the waittress and asked her 'is there any cheese in this' and she said no and we asked her again and then she said 'oh wait, yes, but it's just a very little bit' hey, madam, what don't you get about the word allergic ???????? so we sent it back.....then she kept forgetting stuff and she was terribly slow with our table, while she did have the time to constantly chat with another table.... our food was not so good eiher and in the end, when we simply decided to skip desserts as we were so dissapointed (and believe me, we all love desserts), the waittress asked if she could make it up to us, so what did she do ???? she brought us 1 !!!!!! small slice of chocolate cake for all 6 of us and set that in the middle of the table wow.... was i supposed to be impressed ? but anyhow, we dedided to give cali grill a second chance.... we had a second waittress, but also this one was not the most impressive. she brought us very lousy steaks, like rubber and with a lot of 'muscles' (?) so very difficult to eat and we sent it back.... the next round was a little better, but still not impressive..... overall, we'll not be returning to the cali grill