A Foodies Delight! DxDP April 24-30 **Update 5/15**

[CWarkenthien]

Hey all,

So I've used this site to pretty much read every review everyone writes and figured I should try and join in the fun.

Just so you know, I'm a major foodie from NYC and find food to be a HUGE part of every trip. Anyway...my family and I returned to Disney for the umpteenth time. (Last being in October for the F&W). I took pics of most of the my dishes that I ate along the way (no one else's b/c 2 (3) course meals a day with 4 people was too much of an undertaking for me.

So heres the line up

April 24th:
Grand Floridian Cafe
Narcoosee's

April 25th:
Wolfgang Puck Cafe
Jiko

April 26th:
Grand Floridian Cafe
Citricos

April 27th:
Via Napoli
Bistro de Paris

April 28th:
Sanaa
Wolfgang Puck Upstairs- The Dining Room

April 29th:
Big River Grill and Brewery (No Pictures)
Yachtsman Steakhouse

April 30th:
Grand Floridian Cafe
Citricos

 

[CWarkenthien]

After a 6am flight from JFK to Orlando, we arrived at the Grand Floridian early, but luckily were able to check in and find a room by 11am. We headed down to the cafe for our first meal of the trip. Despite having been to Disney maybe 10 times in my lifetime, I’ve never eaten in the Café and was looking forward to it from everyone else’s positive reviews.

To start I had the soup of the day which as a creamy corn chowder. The chowder was delicious. The texture was exactly what you would think it may be, somewhat chucky, filled with bits of corn, bacon, and crab meat, while the broth was creamy and smooth.

For my entrée I chose the Cobb Salad, trying to keep is somewhat light after a the heavy soup. The presentation was beautiful, but the actual salad itself was something to be desired. The proportion of chives to turkey and practically everything else was a bit overwhelming. Also the addition of guacamole to the salad didn’t really mix well for me, but I do love guac and thus ate it anyway ☺

My one major disappointment with the Café is there selection of desserts. I chose the berry sorbet. It was good, nothing special. My mother and brother shared the “dessert platter” which I can’t remember what everything was…they were unimpressed, but we did take chocolate mickey back to the room!

The savory dishes can more than make up for the lack of interesting desserts though. You can see since (besides the fact that we stayed on property), we came back twice more for lunch!

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Great review of GF Cafe! I have to say, I agree with you on their dessert selection - the only one I like there is the chocolate fondue with fruit.

Looking forward to your reviews, especially from some of the less-frequented restaurants (like Wolfgang Puck's upstairs Dining Room).

 

[dreamscometrue101]

Love the review of GF Cafe. I've never had an opportunity to eat at the cafe but I have an ADR for my trip in August, so glad to hear it was good food.

 

[iloveeeyore]

That corn chowder looks delicious! What great photos!

I'm really excited to read the rest of your report. We will be dining at many of the same restaurants in August! Thanks for taking the time to do this. You're off to a fantastic start!

 

[wilma-bride]

Great start to your reviews. I must admit, I looked at the picture of the Cobb salad and thought 'that's a LOT of chives'. The dessert platter looked great - did the desserts not taste as good as they looked?

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Looking forward to the rest of your reviews.

It looks like the dessert selections have changed considerably since the last time I ate there. They were pretty good a few years ago.

 

[MickeyNicki]

The soup and salad look great but Holy Chives Batman! Thats too much, did it over power the salad flavorwise?

 

[Krissalee]

I've always wanted to try Grand Floridian Cafe, but have never made it there. You are right about the chives in that salad, though. Otherwise it does look really good!

 

[CWarkenthien]

Great start to your reviews. I must admit, I looked at the picture of the Cobb salad and thought 'that's a LOT of chives'. The dessert platter looked great - did the desserts not taste as good as they looked?

Looking forward to reading more.

I honestly can't even remember what they were aside from a lemon cheesecake. I guess that tells you how good they were Don't get me wrong, they weren't BAD just not my cup of tea.

The soup and salad look great but Holy Chives Batman! Thats too much, did it over power the salad flavorwise?

I never feel chives to be super strong in flavor thankfully, so they weren't TOO overpowering, but I definitely could have appreciated not scooping up a forkful each bite.

 

[vettegirl]

What a lovely review of the GF Cafe! I love the chocolate Mickey and I have would have taken him back to the room too!

 

[CWarkenthien]

Dinner Narcoosee’s

Narcoosee is always a good deal when using the dining plan. OOP it can be quite expensive, and I’m not sure I would definitely recommend it if not on the plan.

My app was just a caeser salad…or romaine hearts, I forget what they called it, but either way it was a caeser salad. Nothing special, but really what could they do?

My entrée was the surf and turf. Always good, but I do find that they tend to overcook the filet. This has happened last time I was there to both my father and myself and again this trip. I’m usually ok with just eating my filet medium instead of medium rare, so I don’t really say anything, but they are always more than happy to switch the order. Last time my father had his place totally replaced after he ate the lobster tails and started into the filet. So he was able to get 4 tails for the price of 2 ☺ Overall though, both the meat and the lobster is quite delicious, something I wouldn’t usually have at home.

Dessert…oh dessert. As you’ll see I don’t always order dessert since I tend not to eat that much at one time, but I was happy to squeeze this dish in. The almond crusted cheese cake was very very good. Creamy and the bite of the almond instead of some standard graham cracker crust was just the perfect end to our first day.


Lunch the next day was at Wolfgang Puck Café.

For starters I had the Prosciutto and Mozzarella cheese place. The plate itself is obviously common as a pairing, but this was done very well. The addition of the peppery arugula and the sweet raisins in each bite was just really good. Nothing else to really say.

My entrée was the Big Kahuna Roll. It was a spicy tuna roll with cucumber and topped with tuna. Good, not great sushi, but no complaints.


Dessert, I had tea…which I can say was a huge disappointment, despite as ridiculous as it sounds. I had ordered a cappuccino, but their espresso maker was working, so I asked for tea. They gave me an option of Earl Grey or Orange Peking tazo tea. They didn’t have any other options and didn’t even have a “normal blend” like breakfast or just lipton!

Later that night we went to Jiko for dinner.


Jiko was a restaurant that I was hesitant to go to since my mother tends not to be the most adventurous eater, but realized upon last visit that nothing there is too far from the the norm.

I started with the Jiko Salad which was good. Peaches, blueberry, some sort of nut I can’t remember, chevre, and blood orange vinegarette. It sounds like a weird mixture, but somehow it works. Not the most hit you in the face amazing dish, but certainly light and refreshing. I wish I could start most lunches with like this to wet my appetite.

For entrée I had the short rib….I didn’t take a picture..I was too busy eating ☺ The reality is, I’m sure theres a picture of it out there. It is really one of the best dishes in my opinion. I love short rib, and this was incredibly tender and moist. No need for knives here! The potato puree side was also a nice accompaniment.

I also skipped dessert, and instead had some vanilla rooibos tea. My first experience with this tea was in Disney and I’ve been hooked ever since.

 

[beedale862003]

Yummy, thanks so much for posting. Looking forward to the food!

 

[iloveeeyore]

Your reviews are awesome as are your photo's.

That Mozzarella salad at WPC looks amazing, as does the salad at Jiko!

And now I can't wait for Narcoossee's!

 

[CanadianPaco]

What a great start! Thanks for sharing!

 

[ljsinct]

Love the pics and reviews!

 

[Krissalee]

That Prosciutto and Mozzarella cheese plate looks fantastic. Lately I cannot get enough prosciutto! We are staying at OKW for the first time during our next trip, and when not at the F&W Fest, plan to spend a lot of time dining at the Downtown Disney options that we haven't been to very often.

thanks for sharing and looking forward to even more great reviews!

 

[CWarkenthien]

Grand Floridian Café- Part Deux!

There version of a shrimp cocktail was somewhat of a surprise. I was expecting what one usually visions, a few shrimp wrapped around a martini looking glass..blah blah, but this was honestly a tasty delight! The shrimp were perfectly cooked, and the “salsa” that accompanied it was fresh and incredibly flavorful. I would definitely recommend this!

I chose the Rustic Chicken Sandwich as my entrée. This was a much better choice than the previous cobb salad. The chicken was moist and nicely grilled. The mixed greens were also a nice touch compared to the normal romaine lettuce. This dish also started my obsession with their cucumber salad. That was by far my favorite side this entire trip. (It’s the little things that make me happy - plus I could get it as a snack point through the gasparilla grill!)

Dessert this time was skipped when our server and the food and bev. Director found out it was my father’s bday. So they were waaaayyy too nice and brought out a cake for us to celebrate! I was expecting the usual cupcake with candle, but when we saw this coming our way, my dad lit up like a little kid. This was definitely above and beyond! (They were also very generous with the age)

My dad chose Citrios as his birthday dinner, and no one was going to oppose.
I started the meal with the Charcuterie plate. To be honest, I don’t remember what it was exactly. I believe duck prociutto, some type of Italian sausage, and something else... Either way, it was very good, but what I remember to be the duck was very strong in flavor, which I gave to my family who seemed to enjoy it more than myself.

Entrée- Pork Tenderloin wrapped in bacon, atop escarole and ham hock broth. I was really looking forward to this dish! Its probably the porkiest dish you can find and I love it! Haha The pork was incredibly tender and well prepared. The smokey bacon only intensified the flavor. Maybe I’m biased since I really enjoy pork tenderloin, but seriously, I wish I had some right now!

Dessert I again cannot remember- SORRY! Also I seem to be missing the picture, which I know I took…if I ever find it, I’ll update, but alas, it has momentarily vanished.

 

[jwfla422]

Great reviews. I also had that same salad at GFC and it hasn't changed a bit over the years. I don't get the guacamole "like" stuff. It tasted more like chopped avocado with mayo in our something, not actually guac, they just have to keep it simple and use plain avocado. I agree it was just kind of "ok", overwhelming with chives, etc. I was a bit disappointed in it. Looks better than it tastes. Do they still use the arugula like lettuce? I thought it was very "rabbity" if there is such a work.

That was quite a beautiful cake and presentation for your father's birthday from GFC. I think the GF restaurants go more out than the usual cupcake. We celebrated dd's birthday at Citrico's some years ago and they did the chocolate banana dessert with some fancy chocolate thing. I'll have to see if I can find a photo. It's a nice touch.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

great reviews - the cake looks amazing