best restaurants--world showcase or swolphin?

[spanielmom]

I just read an interesting thread about restaurants at Swan or Dolphin. I keep mulling over the ADRs I've made and need your advice. We are traveling to DW in two weeks.

My husband is a food snob. I guess I am too. We don't mind spending money on an expensive meal, but we would like that meal to be a good one. We have traveled to Europe and Asia and eaten at some pretty wonderful places. We have never eaten dinner at Epcot and I thought it would be fun for our kids to have at least one dinner there.

Our dinner reservations are currently at Tutto Italia, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Flying Fish, blue zoo, and Rose and Crown. We also have lunch reservations at sic-fi diner (fun for the kids), Marrakesh, and Tusker House.

After reading a thread about the quality of the restaurants at Swan and Dolphin, I am wondering whether I should change my Tutto Italia reservation to Il Mulino, Yachtsman Steakhouse to Shula, and maybe Rose and Crown to???? Or maybe a restaurant in Japan? I want the dining experience to be unique but also the food to be good. Our two boys will be with us, but they are flexible, adventurous eaters, too.

Of course, I realize that with our trip just two weeks away, we may not have many choices.

Another option might be not having ADRs and just grabbing apps and drinks at places in world showcase. But then I wonder how difficult it would be to get in with a party of four--and whether kids are allowed at places like Tutto gusto or the place with the margaritas in Mexico?

 

[fly girl]

If price is not a factor, and you are paying OOP (not on dining plan), I would change Yachtsman to Shula's.


We have dined at Il Mulino and the atmosphere is lovely but it can get very noisy. Food was good, but by no means spectacular. I have not dined at Tutto but I know the reviews are very mixed (but then again what Disney restaurant isn't!)


Japan has Teppan Edo (hibachi) and Tokyo Dining. I've done both and preferred Teppan Edo. Although you could likely have a comparable meal at a hibachi grill in your hometown. Toyko Dining was fine, but I've had much better sushi elsewhere. Of the two, I preferred the show of Teppan Edo, esp with the kids.


The only place I can recall where kids are not allowed is Victoria and Alberts at the GF.

 

[JimmyV]

Il Mulino is definitely a step above Tutto Italia, with a much broader menu and a far, far better wine list. As for Yachtsman vs. Shula's, I give the nod to Shula's, but I also appreciate that Shula's is very "corporate" and can be found in lots of major cities, so it doesn't have that "Disney touch". If someone told me that they wanted to skip Shula's because they "have one near their home", I wouldn't argue. But purely from a food standpoint, Shula's beats Yachtsman. Flying Fish is fine, and since you are also doing bluezoo, I would keep it. If you were choosing one or the other, that would be one thing. But they are both worth a visit. I have never been intrigued by Rose & Crown other than for stopping in for a pint. I know that they are "apples to oranges", but I would try Via Napoli instead of Rose & Crown if I wanted a casual dinner inside the World Showcase.

 

[Brian Noble]

Tutto is fine. Il Mulino is probably better, but maybe not by enough to justify the walk if you are already in Epcot for other reasons. You mention you want to optimize for atmosphere and food, but you should include convenience too---you are going to be doing a LOT of walking, and everything takes more time than you think it will.

I would flip Yachtsman's to Shula, though---not that much farther, and better.

 

[JimmyV]

Il Mulino is probably better, but maybe not by enough to justify the walk if you are already in Epcot for other reasons.

Just to be clear, the Friendship Boats leaving from the International Gateway (IG) in Epcot will take you right to the Swan/Dolphin boat dock. From there, Il Mulino is about 90 steps away. The length of the "walk" is entirely dependent on where one starts. If one is in Norway and is heading to Il Mulino, it would be a long walk to the IG to catch the boat. But if one is in the UK, they would be mere steps from the IG. You can walk all the way to the Swan/Dolphin, but it is not necessary to do so.

 

[spanielmom]

These are exactly the suggestions I was looking for. Thank you so much. Does anyone know how difficult it is to get into a place like Tutto Gusto? I keep wondering whether we should save one evening for snacking our way around World Showcase.

 

[isabellea]

I read that Kimonos at S&D is a great sushi place if you like japanese.

 

[Kimosabe]

I would take Il Mulino over Tutto Italia any day of the week. TI is fine, but Il Mulino's menu seems quite a bit broader, and you can get half portions of the pasta dishes, which could be good for the kids (or for adults who want to try more than one thing...I say this because I am one of those people). You could still sneak into Tutto Gusto at some point without feeling like you were doubling up on Tuttos (they are connected). As for getting into TG, it just depends...we went during Food & Wine and figured it would be nearly impossible to get in with all the wandering foodies in the park, but we had almost no wait...and if you go right at 11:00 when the World Showcase opens or perhaps in mid-afternoon when the lunch rush is over and dinner hasn't really started, I suspect the wait would be pretty short, if any. Definitely a good place to stop and get out of the sun.

With the caveat that I've never been to Shula's, the reviews for Yachtsman are typically pretty high (including my own opinion of it), and it's a Disney restaurant, so just for that, I'd give it the edge. I don't have a Shula's anywhere near me at home, but even so, we have several big, nice steakhouse chains, and Shula's just seems to fit in with those. They're great, of course, but I like the theory of being in a Disney restaurant, all other things being pretty equal.

We just went to Rose & Crown a couple of weeks ago for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would go back on our next trip...if I had the choice. My wife thought it was fine, but it would not hurt her feelings if we never went back. She simply has other preferences, so it's just not at the top of her list. It's a great British pub feel (at least for those of us who don't frequent them in the actual UK on a regular basis!)....and if you work your dinner reservation properly, you might have the option of eating on the back patio with a great view of Illuminations. If it's beer or fish and chips that you really want, you can get those there without actually making an ADR for a sit-down meal, so if you're considering a snack-around-the-world approach, that might save you an ADR to use somewhere else.

In general, all the places you have mentioned would be a good Disney dining experience, so you can't go wrong if you stick with some combination of those.

 

[Stbissell]

Il Mulino is a no brainer over Tutto. It is light years better.

I'd keep Yachtman's. Shula is great but it is a chain. I just think YS is more original and is very good.

I have never eaten at Rose & Crown but we really enjoyed Teppan Edu even though it's your standard hibachi with a Disney twist. Your kids will enjoy it.