DonaldDoleWhip
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2008
- Messages
- 3,608
This was it - the wildcard of our short stay. We hadn't been to Yachtsman in years since our last meal there was sort of underwhelming. We previously thought the entrees were too simple and not worth the price, but seeing the current menu encouraged us to finally try it (it was basically a replacement to our Le Cellier lunch and Citricos dinner that we decided to leave out). We were able to get this ADR on very short notice - about 2 hours in advance (our ressie time was for 7:20).
I think the entrance corridor to Yachtsman is very pretty, and the restaurant interior reminded me of a New England version of Ruth's Chris (lots of wood and brass).
We had requested a booth if possible, so we waited about 20 minutes past our ADR time. When our buzzer finally rang, we were told that no booths were available (which was fine - I didn't even know if they had booths, but my mom remembered and would have liked one). However, while walking to our table we passed an empty booth for 2. It was strange, but we didn't say anything. After ordering our drinks, one of the seating assigners actually came to our table and asked us if we wanted to move to a different booth that had become available, but we declined (our table was fine anyway - not too close to anyone else). That was a nice gesture, and I appreciate when a restaurant actually makes the effort to correct or improve the guest experience.
One of the first things I noticed was that Yachtsman is very noisy. There were many more kids than the last time we were here - I guess this is one of the more family friendly signatures? Overall, the dining room allowed a lot of noise to bounce around (like at California Grill and Flying Fish). It wasn't an issue (just an observation), and the food immediately started off on a positive note. The rolls at Yachtsman were really good, especially the onion rolls. In addition, the roasted garlic was absolutely delicious with the rolls and butter (we love garlic).
We ended up ordering three appetizers because we couldn't choose. My mom's choice was the tomato salad - red beefsteak tomatoes, lemon-basil emulsion, niçoise olive tapenade, and goat brie cheese. I don't like strong cheeses, but I tasted all of the other ingredients together and this was delicious. The tomato was juicy and sweet, and there were layers of soft bread in between the tomato to absorb some sauce and juice. Combined with the basil and the salty olive tapenade, I thought this was a great appetizer. I recently ordered a tomato-mozzarella-basil appetizer at Ruth's Chris, and this was better. The tomatoes tasted fresher, the olive was a nice touch, and (while I didn't try it) my mom said the brie was an interesting change from the typical mozzarella that's included in a caprese-style salad.
My choice was the ahi tuna crudo with celery mignonnette, salt cod aioli, and American Osetra caviar. The cod sauce was fishy and salty but not overpowering. The caviar provided a salty touch, and the celery and chips added a crunch to contrast with the soft tuna. Ultimately, however, the tuna was the star of the plate, and it tasted very fresh. This dish was veery well balanced.
To share, we decided to try the Maryland soft shell crab with harissa-garlic aioli, fiddlehead ferns, edamame beans, brioche, and pickled spring onion foam. I've never had soft shell crab before, so it was an interesting first encounter (Where's the meat? Do I eat everything there, including the shell?), but I enjoyed it. Crunchy but still soft for a crab shell, with a little bit of crabmeat flavor on the inside. The crab itself didn't taste as sweet to me as crab normally does, but I think Yachtsman did an excellent job choosing accompaniments for it. The salty edamame, spicy harissa, and soft, buttery brioche were delicious. The pickled spring onion foam was also a wonderful surprise, sweet and tangy at the same time. I wish I could have licked it all off the plate.
Finally, it was time for the entrees. I originally wanted to order the deconstructed beef wellington - filet, trio of wild mushroom duxelles, puff pastry, parsnips, carrots, and red wine sauce. However, my mom chose this dish, so I ended up taking a risk and going with the porterhouse. The porterhouse is 24 ounces and served with smoked paprika fries and roasted garlic butter. My jaw definitely dropped at the size of this piece. I've never had a porterhouse before, but porterhouse + non-steak person =
.
I've never had such a huge piece of meat in my life, but I knew what I was in for (so I guess it was self-sabotage). Half strip steak, half filet, all on a huge t-bone. The meat was cooked to my liking, flavorful, and juicy, but it definitely had a stronger wood flavor than I was expecting. The real problem is that I hate fat on steak - I don't enjoy the flavor or texture. So basically I spent a lot of time cutting off the fat that I couldn't eat, trying to find the parts that were edible to me. I still enjoyed the dish, but I know I don't like fatty meat so I might as well stop ordering it. The fries were tasty (although I couldn't taste the paprika) and the garlic butter was delicious, and I loved dipping the fries in the steak juice that was left at the bottom of the plate. For comparison's sake, I ordered a porterhouse at Outback a few nights later, and Yachtsman's steak had more fat on it (I'm not a steak expert, but I assume more fat is usually a good thing). Ultimately, here's what I ended up not eating.
The porterhouse was very good, just not my thing. But I'm so happy that I didn't order the deconstructed beef wellington. Here it is.
The menu description was slightly deceptive. There was no red wine sauce, but there was a lot of chicken liver. Of all things to not mention on the menu, why pick chicken liver?! My mom has made beef wellington before so she knew that liver or foie grois was sometimes included in beef wellington. Still, she wasn't expecting it at all in this entree (I'm shocked it wasn't on the menu description - it was all over the plate, even underneath the 2 pieces of meat). She felt that the liver was too rich and heavy (especially since her palate wasn't expecting it at all), and the mushrooms were surprisingly bitter. If I had received that dish, I might have started crying, since I don't like the flavor of liver and would hate to send something back just because I didn't like an ingredient on it.
So the entree round wasn't great. I ordered badly (should have gone with the cod or filet), and my mom would have ordered the chicken or filet if the menu had been more explanatory. Still, we had high hopes for dessert, and we ordered 3:
My mom chose the trio of sorbet: pineapple-chili, passion fruit-coconut, and strawberry-basil. Every sorbet tasted good, but my mom was shocked by how much actual chili was on the pineapple sorbet. It was way too spicy for her, and it almost tampered with her ability to enjoy the other flavors. I tried them all and my favorite was the strawberry-basil because it was so refreshing, but the passion fruit-coconut was enjoyable and sweet, and the pineapple was good too without all of the chili on top.
We also enjoyed the habañero-infused flourless chocolate cake with mango compote and lime sorbet. I enjoyed the chocolatey flavor of the cake, and it had a really nice, smooth texture. The heat from the spices was pleasant and warm...
But a few seconds later the heat was really powerful and I couldn't taste much else. To cool off, I tried the mango compote and lime - the mango was also spicy! This was an interesting, fiery, inspired dessert, but it was too spicy for a dessert IMO (and I normally love spicy food, such as Indian curries).
My dessert choice was the chocolate-avocado pistachio cake with liquid chocolate caramel and roasted pineapple. Now this was a winner!
The caramel on the inside was so delicious, and the salty, crunchy pistachio contrasted with the sweet pineapple and caramel (speaking of which, this was like a mini Ohana throwback!). The pineapple had some interesting flavor notes, almost like pear, but still recognizable. In addition, the chocolate wasn't overpowering, and I would order this again and again if I could.
Mmmmm, caramel
So there you have it, our first meal at Yachtsman in years. I just want to say: while the review may sound bad at times (in particular, the entree choices and spicy desserts), my impression of Yachtsman is actually more positive than it previously was! I wanted a meal that was interesting and unexpected, and Yachtsman gave me that. The bread and appetizers were all really great. My chocolate-caramel-pistachio-pineapple dessert was fabulous. And I can't fault Yachtsman for the fact that I don't like fatty meat. Next time, we'll choose our entrees better (either the cod, chicken, or filet) and avoid spicy desserts. I'm looking forward to trying Yachtsman again - the menu really has some truly signature choices.
I think the entrance corridor to Yachtsman is very pretty, and the restaurant interior reminded me of a New England version of Ruth's Chris (lots of wood and brass).
We had requested a booth if possible, so we waited about 20 minutes past our ADR time. When our buzzer finally rang, we were told that no booths were available (which was fine - I didn't even know if they had booths, but my mom remembered and would have liked one). However, while walking to our table we passed an empty booth for 2. It was strange, but we didn't say anything. After ordering our drinks, one of the seating assigners actually came to our table and asked us if we wanted to move to a different booth that had become available, but we declined (our table was fine anyway - not too close to anyone else). That was a nice gesture, and I appreciate when a restaurant actually makes the effort to correct or improve the guest experience.
One of the first things I noticed was that Yachtsman is very noisy. There were many more kids than the last time we were here - I guess this is one of the more family friendly signatures? Overall, the dining room allowed a lot of noise to bounce around (like at California Grill and Flying Fish). It wasn't an issue (just an observation), and the food immediately started off on a positive note. The rolls at Yachtsman were really good, especially the onion rolls. In addition, the roasted garlic was absolutely delicious with the rolls and butter (we love garlic).
We ended up ordering three appetizers because we couldn't choose. My mom's choice was the tomato salad - red beefsteak tomatoes, lemon-basil emulsion, niçoise olive tapenade, and goat brie cheese. I don't like strong cheeses, but I tasted all of the other ingredients together and this was delicious. The tomato was juicy and sweet, and there were layers of soft bread in between the tomato to absorb some sauce and juice. Combined with the basil and the salty olive tapenade, I thought this was a great appetizer. I recently ordered a tomato-mozzarella-basil appetizer at Ruth's Chris, and this was better. The tomatoes tasted fresher, the olive was a nice touch, and (while I didn't try it) my mom said the brie was an interesting change from the typical mozzarella that's included in a caprese-style salad.
My choice was the ahi tuna crudo with celery mignonnette, salt cod aioli, and American Osetra caviar. The cod sauce was fishy and salty but not overpowering. The caviar provided a salty touch, and the celery and chips added a crunch to contrast with the soft tuna. Ultimately, however, the tuna was the star of the plate, and it tasted very fresh. This dish was veery well balanced.
To share, we decided to try the Maryland soft shell crab with harissa-garlic aioli, fiddlehead ferns, edamame beans, brioche, and pickled spring onion foam. I've never had soft shell crab before, so it was an interesting first encounter (Where's the meat? Do I eat everything there, including the shell?), but I enjoyed it. Crunchy but still soft for a crab shell, with a little bit of crabmeat flavor on the inside. The crab itself didn't taste as sweet to me as crab normally does, but I think Yachtsman did an excellent job choosing accompaniments for it. The salty edamame, spicy harissa, and soft, buttery brioche were delicious. The pickled spring onion foam was also a wonderful surprise, sweet and tangy at the same time. I wish I could have licked it all off the plate.
Finally, it was time for the entrees. I originally wanted to order the deconstructed beef wellington - filet, trio of wild mushroom duxelles, puff pastry, parsnips, carrots, and red wine sauce. However, my mom chose this dish, so I ended up taking a risk and going with the porterhouse. The porterhouse is 24 ounces and served with smoked paprika fries and roasted garlic butter. My jaw definitely dropped at the size of this piece. I've never had a porterhouse before, but porterhouse + non-steak person =
.
I've never had such a huge piece of meat in my life, but I knew what I was in for (so I guess it was self-sabotage). Half strip steak, half filet, all on a huge t-bone. The meat was cooked to my liking, flavorful, and juicy, but it definitely had a stronger wood flavor than I was expecting. The real problem is that I hate fat on steak - I don't enjoy the flavor or texture. So basically I spent a lot of time cutting off the fat that I couldn't eat, trying to find the parts that were edible to me. I still enjoyed the dish, but I know I don't like fatty meat so I might as well stop ordering it. The fries were tasty (although I couldn't taste the paprika) and the garlic butter was delicious, and I loved dipping the fries in the steak juice that was left at the bottom of the plate. For comparison's sake, I ordered a porterhouse at Outback a few nights later, and Yachtsman's steak had more fat on it (I'm not a steak expert, but I assume more fat is usually a good thing). Ultimately, here's what I ended up not eating.
The porterhouse was very good, just not my thing. But I'm so happy that I didn't order the deconstructed beef wellington. Here it is.
The menu description was slightly deceptive. There was no red wine sauce, but there was a lot of chicken liver. Of all things to not mention on the menu, why pick chicken liver?! My mom has made beef wellington before so she knew that liver or foie grois was sometimes included in beef wellington. Still, she wasn't expecting it at all in this entree (I'm shocked it wasn't on the menu description - it was all over the plate, even underneath the 2 pieces of meat). She felt that the liver was too rich and heavy (especially since her palate wasn't expecting it at all), and the mushrooms were surprisingly bitter. If I had received that dish, I might have started crying, since I don't like the flavor of liver and would hate to send something back just because I didn't like an ingredient on it.
So the entree round wasn't great. I ordered badly (should have gone with the cod or filet), and my mom would have ordered the chicken or filet if the menu had been more explanatory. Still, we had high hopes for dessert, and we ordered 3:
My mom chose the trio of sorbet: pineapple-chili, passion fruit-coconut, and strawberry-basil. Every sorbet tasted good, but my mom was shocked by how much actual chili was on the pineapple sorbet. It was way too spicy for her, and it almost tampered with her ability to enjoy the other flavors. I tried them all and my favorite was the strawberry-basil because it was so refreshing, but the passion fruit-coconut was enjoyable and sweet, and the pineapple was good too without all of the chili on top.
We also enjoyed the habañero-infused flourless chocolate cake with mango compote and lime sorbet. I enjoyed the chocolatey flavor of the cake, and it had a really nice, smooth texture. The heat from the spices was pleasant and warm...
But a few seconds later the heat was really powerful and I couldn't taste much else. To cool off, I tried the mango compote and lime - the mango was also spicy! This was an interesting, fiery, inspired dessert, but it was too spicy for a dessert IMO (and I normally love spicy food, such as Indian curries).
My dessert choice was the chocolate-avocado pistachio cake with liquid chocolate caramel and roasted pineapple. Now this was a winner!
The caramel on the inside was so delicious, and the salty, crunchy pistachio contrasted with the sweet pineapple and caramel (speaking of which, this was like a mini Ohana throwback!). The pineapple had some interesting flavor notes, almost like pear, but still recognizable. In addition, the chocolate wasn't overpowering, and I would order this again and again if I could.
Mmmmm, caramel
So there you have it, our first meal at Yachtsman in years. I just want to say: while the review may sound bad at times (in particular, the entree choices and spicy desserts), my impression of Yachtsman is actually more positive than it previously was! I wanted a meal that was interesting and unexpected, and Yachtsman gave me that. The bread and appetizers were all really great. My chocolate-caramel-pistachio-pineapple dessert was fabulous. And I can't fault Yachtsman for the fact that I don't like fatty meat. Next time, we'll choose our entrees better (either the cod, chicken, or filet) and avoid spicy desserts. I'm looking forward to trying Yachtsman again - the menu really has some truly signature choices.
It tasted like a strawberry smoothie.
It is really great to see your fantastic reviews to get us ready for our upcoming trip!
