BIRTHDAY BASH! Quick Trip 2/9 - 2/11 WITH Pics!

[Ms.Tom-Morrow25]

Can't wait to read what's next!!! I hope it doesn't involve spaghetti in a ShopRite bag. . .LOL!!!

 

[BabyPiglet]

Great reviews! I'm sorry you weren't feeling well though.

 

[Prinny27]

Can't wait to read what's next!!! I hope it doesn't involve spaghetti in a ShopRite bag. . .LOL!!!

Not sure about the YUMMY spaghetti, but it does involve singing French waiters. Best part of the whole dinner!

Great reviews! I'm sorry you weren't feeling well though.

Thank you! I'm not even sure what was actually *wrong*, I was just a bit off. But it was nothing that a Strongbow couldn't (or didn't!) cure!

 

[my3disneygirls]

I have noticed also the weakening of the Margarita, I have been refusing to admit it to myself because I loved those things. I have never had the Strongbow Cider, but I will try it this time around. Especially after hearing of it's wonderful healing properites. Now I have every excuse to buy one at 11:00. It's good for your soul.

 

[arieljasmine]

Really enjoying your reports. I am yearning for a cheeseburger and fries now! Sorry to hear you weren't so good but glad the Strongbow sorted you out. I am English and you can get Strongbow everywhere here, so much so that I drank far too much of it when I was younger and now can't stand the stuff!

Laur's

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

My favorite is the Strongbow Cider that they serve, that I cannot for the life of me find around here, so it is a must for me on every trip.


i come from england and in my student days used to drink strongbow cider a lot (and i mean A LOT ) but instead of drinking it straight i used to ask for a shot of blackcurrant. its known as cider and black over here and it makes it go down even better. dont know whether the rose and crown would accommodate this but its worth a try

 

[Prinny27]

I have noticed also the weakening of the Margarita, I have been refusing to admit it to myself because I loved those things. I have never had the Strongbow Cider, but I will try it this time around. Especially after hearing of it's wonderful healing properites. Now I have every excuse to buy one at 11:00. It's good for your soul.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's noticed it. Why oh why is Disney doing this to us!?!

Really enjoying your reports. I am yearning for a cheeseburger and fries now! Sorry to hear you weren't so good but glad the Strongbow sorted you out. I am English and you can get Strongbow everywhere here, so much so that I drank far too much of it when I was younger and now can't stand the stuff!

Laur's

My favorite is the Strongbow Cider that they serve, that I cannot for the life of me find around here, so it is a must for me on every trip.


i come from england and in my student days used to drink strongbow cider a lot (and i mean A LOT ) but instead of drinking it straight i used to ask for a shot of blackcurrant. its known as cider and black over here and it makes it go down even better. dont know whether the rose and crown would accommodate this but its worth a try

Strongbow is great to me because the usual ciders we can buy around here I find just a little too sweet. So that means drinking more than two or three leaves your stomach feeling a little gross. Not at all with Strongbow! I'm going to have to remember to ask R&C if they will do it with a shot of blackcurrant for me to try. It sounds great!

 

[dznyacct]

We have an authentic Irish Pub that opened up here ~ a year ago. My 22 yo nephew oh so kindly recently introduced me to Strongbow (he is house/dog sitting for us next month and I'm making sure I have some on hand for him ). I LOVE IT , and I am not a "beer person" by any means, especially in the winter. It is soooooo good!! I was so in love with this wonderful beverage that I went to the company's website to try and find out if I could buy it locally. You basically send them an email with where you live and...... wala a liquor store here (right across the street from the Irish pub ironically ) sells it . For 4 pint cans it is $9.95 and oh so worth it. So try contacting them to see if you can find it locally. I will definitely be trying a Strongbow (or two or three or..... ) at Rose and Crown next month .

 

[lissawynn]

I'm sorry you got sick. I HATE being sick at Disney. It should be against the law. DH and I ate at Spoodles several years ago and were not impressed. DH got some kind of chicken dish with peppercini (sp?) peppers. He said it would have been really bland if they hadn't put a ton of pepper juice on it. We haven't felt the need to try it again.

 

[Disneyof3]

Keep the great reviews coming. The margarita's weak NEVER

 

[DisJFam5]

Enjoying your review. I'm celebrating my birthday this summer, and my kiddos have requested the "kitchen sink" at Beaches in honor of my special day. Might have to sacrafice, for the children you know... he he he!

 

[Prinny27]

Keep the great reviews coming. The margarita's weak NEVER

I'm sorry you got sick. I HATE being sick at Disney. It should be against the law. DH and I ate at Spoodles several years ago and were not impressed. DH got some kind of chicken dish with peppercini (sp?) peppers. He said it would have been really bland if they hadn't put a ton of pepper juice on it. We haven't felt the need to try it again.

It really is terrible! Thankfully, that's the only time it's happened to me in the 30+ visits I've made to the world. So... my fingers are crossed that it doesn't happen again!

We have an authentic Irish Pub that opened up here ~ a year ago. My 22 yo nephew oh so kindly recently introduced me to Strongbow (he is house/dog sitting for us next month and I'm making sure I have some on hand for him ). I LOVE IT , and I am not a "beer person" by any means, especially in the winter. It is soooooo good!! I was so in love with this wonderful beverage that I went to the company's website to try and find out if I could buy it locally. You basically send them an email with where you live and...... wala a liquor store here (right across the street from the Irish pub ironically ) sells it . For 4 pint cans it is $9.95 and oh so worth it. So try contacting them to see if you can find it locally. I will definitely be trying a Strongbow (or two or three or..... ) at Rose and Crown next month .

This is great news!!! I'm going to their site immediately to see if it's sold anywhere around here. I would be in Heaven!

Enjoying your review. I'm celebrating my birthday this summer, and my kiddos have requested the "kitchen sink" at Beaches in honor of my special day. Might have to sacrafice, for the children you know... he he he!

The Kitchen Sink is great! About two years ago I had first told my DH about it and how if one person finishes it by himself in under an hour, he gets it for free. Well, DH was convinced HE COULD DO IT!!!! Yeah, right. So on our last day of the trip we go there and I get the burger and he only gets his kitchen sink. They do the whole thing - blinking the lights, the applause, the speech. He sits down to eat it and is all excited. Then a half hour later it's only half gone, and is a soupy mess. His face was priceless - he looked absolutely miserable. So he concedes defeat, we pay, and as we walk out the door, he goes, 'We need to go back to our hotel. NOW.' When we got there he just layed on the bed moaning about his stomach ache. Big baby! This past trip, though, my parents asked Darlene if she has had anyone finish it by themselves and she said that very recently she had a guy in there finish it in 9 minutes. Nine minutes!?! That is insanity!!!

I want to thank you all for reading along. I'm having a good time writing this, and it's helping with the 'post Disney Blues'. But I wanted to let you know I'm not going to get around to posting another update until Monday. I'm having people over today, so I have to clean. And I've only just realized I left my notebook with my notes on the food at work. So I'm sorry, but I promise to get the update in on Monday - have a great weekend!

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent

 

[Ms.Tom-Morrow25]

OK, its Monday!! Where is my cameo apperance at Chef's??? LOL, just kidding, I know you're busy at work chatting with me all day!

 

[Prinny27]

OK, its Monday!! Where is my cameo apperance at Chef's??? LOL, just kidding, I know you're busy at work chatting with me all day!

LOL it's coming up next!

 

[Prinny27]

Alright, I am back! Sorry for the delay in the reviews, but I know you'll enjoy this one. Like I mentioned, we met friends for this dinner, so you lucky readers get two addional reviews. AND it's going to feature comments from our own Ms.Tom-Morrow 25, because it was her and her husband joining us for dinner! So readers, hang on to your hats and glasses, 'cause this here's going to be the wildest review on the boards. he he he Okay, not really, but it's going to be long.

I last left you as the British Invasion were ending, and as the crowd gets up and rushes out, DH and I were left scanning the crowds looking for the Morrows (which is what I am going to call you now instead of saying 'our friends', it just sounds more fun! ) We find each other and Ms. Morrow and I start jumping up and down and screaming, and basically making everyone around us think we were nuts. Which, lets face it, we can be!

We wander from England over to Chefs, put our name in, and wait about three minutes to be called. We're led to a table for four, one row over from the windows. Imagine my disappointment when I look outside and realize it's too dark to see anything. BUT, if it was light out, we would have had an excellent view!

Now, The Morrows were on the DDP, while we were not. We let our server, Elodie, know up front, and also that we would BOTH be using our DDE cards. She said fine, we were all on the same page, and off she goes to give us a moment to look over the menu.

We decided that the DDP be damned and ordered appetizers anyway! Who are they to tell us what to order? Ms. Morrow ordered the Tarte a la Flame Alsacienne - Alsace specialty. Flatbread baked with cream fraiche, onion and bacon $8.50

She was so nice, and shared it with the whole table. As you can see, we *almost* forgot to get a picture of this one! Now, DH and I had eaten at Chefs once before in 2005 and I really didn't think it was that great. We came back here only because it was IMPOSSIBLE to get a reservation at Coral Reef, which is where I really wanted to eat. I had gotten this appetizer back in 05, and was NOT impressed with it at all. In fact, I thought it was disgusting, so I was hesitant to try this, but it was MUCH better than last time. The bacon was very thick and not crispy the way I like it, but it was still surprisingly delish. I do remember it being a little sweet in flavor. Now, here is Ms. Morrow's review:
"I am here to let you know what I thought of the food!! First off, whatever that appetizer we had was, I thought it was great!! Bacon, onions and cream?? How can you beat that? I think I could have eaten the whole thing by myself! Mr. Morrow is not a huge bacon fan and he thought it was just "OK"."

I had the Bisque de Homard - Lobster bisque $6.25

Now, one small consolation after not being able to go to the Coral Reef was that Chefs had lobster bisque on their menu. The bisque at Coral Reef is my favorite soup ANYWHERE, so I was glad to see that I would at least get to have a bisque for dinner. Luckily, it was delicious! Still, it was not nearly as good as Coral Reef's, which is much creamier than this one, but it was still very tasty and will not disappoint!

For my entree I got the
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gratin de macaroni - Baked macaroni with cream and gruyere cheese $17.95[/FONT]

I have to admit - I saw a picture of this on the food porn thread and fell in love. Don't you just want to drool over this dish? That picture is actually what made me book here after finding out we couldn't get CR. I have to report that it was good, but 'different'. Very different from what we know as 'mac and cheese'. The cheese is baked and melted all over the top, and there was no sauce on the bottom, so the noodles down there were just plain. I guess the French don't make a 'sauce' for their mac and cheese, and instead just put the cheese all over the top and bake it that way. The gruyere cheese used was yummy, but just so strong and different from what I was expecting. I'm not really sure if I liked this dish. But I'm not really sure if I didn't like it. The jury is still out, and one day I will have to go back to try it again!

DH had the Plat de Cote de Boeuf au Cabarnet sur un lit de polenta - Beef short ribs braised in Cabernet on a bed of polenta $26.95

He said they were cooked very well - nice and tender. He was surprised by the cabernet sauce, since every other place he eats short ribs they are always in some kind of BBQ sauce, but he did like it. He said the polenta was 'weird' and I have to agree. I tried it, and it wasn't creamy and flavorful like the kind he gets at the CA Grill. It was very bland and 'mushy', so he didn't eat much of that.

Ms. Morrow got the

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Filet de boeuf grille, sauce au poivre noir Gratin Dauphinois et haricots verts - Grilled tenderloin of beef with a black pepper sauce original potato gratin of Savoy and green beans $31.95 [/FONT]

​

It looked yummy to me, and she ate all of it. I did get to try a bite of the mashed potatoes that came with it, and oh.my.god. were they delicious!!! Absolutely amazing. They were creamy and had a hint of a cream cheese taste to them. Here is her review:
My entree was the beef tenderloin w/black pepper sauce, potatoes gratin and french green beans. I enjoyed this entree as a whole. But the potatoes were definitely a standout, so good and creamy. The steak was good, cooked a perfect medium rare as requested. But when it came down to it. . .it was a steak, there wasn't anything really special about it. I only ate about three of the beans. . .they were ok for green beans I guess, as you know I do not like veggies that much! ​

Mr. Morrow got the
Demi poulet fermier roti, pommes puree au basilic et tomate braisee[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] - [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Half of an all natural roasted chicken, basil mashed potatoes and braised tomato[/FONT] $24.95[/FONT]

​

I actually didn't take any notes on what Mr. Morrow said about this, so here is Ms. Morrow to fill us in:
Mr. Morrow enjoyed his half chicken. He too said that there was nothing really special about it and he like the chicken he has gotten at Le Cellier much better. Oh, and he HATES tomatoes. So I think it turned him off a bit to have those tomatoes on his plate.​

We all know the best part is next - Desserts! Who does dessert better than the French? No one, I tell you. No one. I am the only one who was different in their choice of dessert. I chose the ​

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Assiette de Sorbets du jour et son palmier - Daily assortment of fresh sorbets served with an elephant ear[/FONT]

This was fabulous! The three flavors were raspberry, strawberry and lime. The raspberry was the sweetest of the three, while the lime was the lightest. All three were absolutely delicious, as was the elephant ear, which was nice to chew on - it really gave substance to the dessert.

DH and the Morrows (they could be a singing group! ) all got the Profiterolles au chocolat - Puff choux with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce

There was no way I was touching this with all that chocolate poured all over it. But Elodie saw my birthday pin and brought out DH's profiteroles with a candle and a chorus of French waiters in tow and they all sang 'bonne anniversaire' to me. What is a better way to celebrate one's birthday than to be serenaded by a group of French men? I was in heaven! And Elodie was very sweet and felt bad that she couldn't bring them out with my own dessert, but the candle would have melted my sorbet. Hey, as long as I got the French waiters, what do I care what dessert it came out with!?!

Anyway, since I didn't taste any of these myself, I will share that DH said he 'liked it a lot'. Elodie had also mentioned that these were the most 'French' dessert on the menu. Here is Ms. Morrow's review: We both had the profiteroles (sp) for dessert. I really liked these a lot. I love creme puffs (even though there was no cream involved!) I thought the little shells were really tasty. The chocolate sauce was delicious!! And you can't go wrong with ice cream. Overall, I enjoyed my meal. I don't think I would return though.

I was actually much more impressed with Chefs this go around than I was back in 05. When we were there that time it was VERY busy - we waited outside for over a half hour before we were called to be seated, and our waiter had seemed very rushed and just a little on the 'rude' side. This time, there was no wait at all, our meal was paced perfectly, and Elodie was a good waitress. Not to mention that I thought the food quality improved greatly. I know we'll be back in the future, although I'm not sure how soon. There are so many other restaurants we'd like to try before we put this on our list again. It was a good time, but not something that stood out so much it has to be on our 'must do' list.

Now, I have to forwarn you all, I am going to write a second post now about our issues with the DDP - I didn't want to write it here because it has nothing to do with the review of the restaurant, as much as it will be a 'Why did Disney have to go and screw up the DDP' post. Stay tuned!

 

[Prinny27]

Alright, we all know that Disney has screwed up our beloved DDP. Why do they think it's still beneficial for us to take away the appetizer, take out the included tip and only decrease it by ONE DOLLAR? But I digress, because this will not (completely) be another rant about how we now hate the DDP. Obviously we weren't using it this trip because we found we saved well over $50 more for this quick weekend getaway than we would have if we used the DDP by using the DDE card. No, instead, this post is merely an observation about our experience watching the Morrow's use the DDP at Chefs and how absolutely confusing it was.

If you'll notice in my Chefs review, I stated that at the very beginning of our meal when our waitress came to our table, we told her how the Morrows were on the DDP, while DH and I were not. We told her we'd need separate bills. We told her we were BOTH using the DDE cards. We were all supposedly on the same page.

Then the bills come. Mine and DH's were perfectly fine and we have no complaints. It was a different story for the Morrows. I will try to make this on the shorter side, and just say that the Morrows should have gotten two bills - one for the DDP showing two credits used, and a second for the glasses of wine and the appetizer (which were not included in the DDP). Instead, only one big bill comes out, all added up with the 18% gratuity added at the bottom. Now, I have to point out, in the end it saved the Morrows some money and short changed the waitress out of the 20% tip they would have left, but it was a time consuming mistake. We had to flag down our waitress and explain to her how there are supposed to be two separte bills. She didn't quite get it, so the manager had to be called. He understood better and went to the computer to 'separate' the checks. However, when he came back the two bills had been separated, but the tip was still lumped altogther. Meaning, on the check for the the glass of wine and appetizer, she was leaving a $35 tip. In the end, we all said 'forget it' and just paid the tip and got out of there. We had wasted 20 or so minutes at the point and were just anxious to head over to the Rose & Crown.

Ms. Morrow says: Now for the DDP.. .I'm sorry but you were there, was that not confusing? I'm sure it didn't help that English was not the waitresses first language. And I'm sure I further complicated things using my DDE for the wine/appetizer. I just didn't understand why they couldn't give me a check for my DDE stuff and a check for the DDP stuff. She gave me one check with ALL the items added up. She took 20% off the entire meal AND added the automatic 18% gratuity (should have been DDE purchases only). I didn't really mind that because it made it easier for me to figure in the tip. But I was so confused by the end of it all, I'm still not sure I did it correctly. I encountered this same problem a lot with the DDP this trip. It was almost the last day before someone told me I was totalling up the slip wrong! They give you a slip with your total for the meal, then it has "suggested" tips. It tells you how much an 18% tip will be and how much a 20% tip will be. I was under the impression that I was supposed to add whatever tip I was leaving to the meal cost and then leave the tip in cash. Apparantley I was only supposed to fill out the tip on the sheet if I was charging it to my KTTW Card. . .??? What??? I'd been doing it like that all week, why didn't anyone tell me? I also gave up using the DDE for extras after the second day, it was just too damn complicated!! So those are my thoughts with the DDP. . . Will I get it again? Probably, I'm just praying they will make some adjustments for 2009.

I think that this is a problem with the Disney computer system - not so much the waiters or management staff. It's like they made these changes and never bothered to give their restaurants the heads up on how to ring bills up and such. Like I said, in the end, the Morrows got the better deal out of it by only leaving 18%, plus the tip on their DDP meal wound up being lower because the computer automatically took the DDE 20% off of it. But not only was it confusing and frustrating, it was inconvenient. Now you have to carry around a bunch of extra cards and/or cash depending on how you feel most comfortable tipping. Plus, none of the staff at these restaurants appears to know what's going on.

So, I suppose the moral of the story is, not only is the DDP a lot less attractive since these changes, it's also a pain in the BUTT to use. *sigh* Please Disney, bring back the good old dining plan...

 

[Ms.Tom-Morrow25]

Yay to your review and calling us "The Morrows", I love it!! We had such a great time!! Boo to the dining plan and all the heartache it now causes!!

 

[arieljasmine]

Sounds like a good meal, what a shame about the mix up with the bill. I can't understand how Disney are trying to convince us that the DDP is a good deal now either I will only be taking advantage of it if it is free dining!

Laur's

 

[John's Mom]

Thanks for a great review and pictures!