At signature's is food cooked when ordered?

[DisneyLover83]

We ate at Narcoossee's on 8/11/2010 for dinner and were seated at the very first table past the hostess stand. About halfway through the dinner my Dh notices food sitting on metal shelves in the kitchen... cooked, plated food. Several dishes of whole lobster and surf and turf... after a few minutes he started timing how long the dishes sat there. Some were there for more than 15 minutes (not under a hot lamp, just on the metal shelf).. we ended up leaving before some of the dishes were served. It appeared as though they were cooking these certain dishes before they were ordered, for the "Signature" price I was suprised. Is this common practice or am I just out of the restaurant loop?

 

[snykymom]

It actually sounds like a server problem (the server didn't get to the dishes fast enough) or a timing problem with the tables. If the table isn't finished with the appetizers, they won't bring out the main course, so sometimes it does just sit.

 

[disneypolybride2008]

doesnt sound good, and our lobster on the surf and turf dish was sour and rubbery tasting. never had it before so i didnt know better, just thought i dont like it. turns out its not supposed to taste that way

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) Most WDW TS-eateries "par cook" entrees at busy times.
. . . they partially ("par") vook the food.
. . . then they finish cooking when ordered
2) This speeds the prep time and turns over tabes quicker.
3) This is not all that uncommon in the restaurant biz.
4) But, for signature meals, one woudl expect better.

NOTE: I twice got this, and sent both dishes back to the kitchen, and told them to make "fresh" entrees. I put a slice/cut in each item to make sure we did not get the same items back.

NOTE2: The most famous example of this is when McDonalds makes the burger ahead of time, puts them in the warmer, then microwaves them to re-heat before making the samdwich.

 

[Uncleromulus]

I guess it would look a bit odd if they did this sort of thing with a restaurant that has an "open kitchen".
I'm sure it happens but when we eat at FF (that has an open kitchen) everything seems cooked as it's ordered..
Narcoossee's shouldn't have a problem getting food out--they have "runners" who deliver the food and rarely did we ever have our server actually deliver anything to the table. No excuse for anything to sit.

 

[plutolovr]

It could've also been a sample plate for plating purposes. I've seen this in a restaurant I worked in. The chef would make up some of the entrees and plate them and keep them on "display" so the remainder of the entrees were plated the same way. Also could've been leftovers from the staff tastings that are usually performed before the restaurant opens.