Blue Zoo Review

[Tonyspad]

We ate dinner at Blue Zoo last week and would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. The staff was attentive, but got our cocktail order wrong. Next, one of the two bottles of wine we ordered was corked. I realize the wine being corked is not the restaurants fault, however the act of congress we went through to get another bottle was not necessary. The clam flatbread was the only bright spot beside my miso bass. My wife ordered the whole bass for her dinner. When the fish arrived the waiter made a major mess as he was cleaning the fish and it became inedible. We would have rather eaten at the California Grille or Spoodles after this night.

 

[TigerKat]

So sad to read this, this is the one I'm looking forward to the most!

 

[agoofyguest]

That's disappointing to read. I wanted to try this restaurant, as I often eat at Todd English's restaurant here in CT at the Mohegan Sun Casino called Tuscany, which is DELICIOUS! Guess I will skip Blue Zoo.

 

[DisOrBust]

We had same experience. I loved my sea bass but that's where it stopped. The whole fish was a complete mess, also by the waiter. The dancing fish tasted incredibly off and the sauce was bland. My DD "Shrimp Balls" were so overly spiced that you couldn't taste anything but the heat! It took 3 yrs before I could get Blue Zoo on our plans and I was terribly dissapointd.

 

[GettinReadyforDisney]

Anybody else have a bad experience at BlueZoo? We were so looking forward to this in June, but this doesn't sound good at all, particularly not for the prices.

 

[jjupiter]

I have been to Blue Zoo on 3 occasions - once for dinner and twice for drinks and appetizers. I have not had the whole fish so I can not comment on that - We have had good service - not great - and can't complain about food and drinks. We have had the clam flat bread which was excellent, oysters which were very good as well and the crab nachos which was also very good. I don't really remember what we had for dinner as it was 2 years ago. I have had a better overall experience at California Grill - excellent food, service and view. I think that Blue Zoo is a good alternative if you can not get a ressie at California Grill.

 

[pennyplanner]

I ate solo at Blue Zoo last December.

I also made the mistake of having the whole fish. It was bland and difficult to eat despite my waiter's best efforts. I gave up and the waiter questioned me about it. They "comped" my dessert as a result. I didn't ask them to and wasn't even going to comment about the fish but was honest when asked.

Best part of the meal was my salad with fresh beets and lovely greens. And the flatbread was incredible!

That said, my meals (with family and friends) at the California Grill and Flying Fish were vastly superior.

Not impressed with the whole Zoo experience! Maybe it was an off night but it was disappointing.

Enjoy your dining choices and let us know about your experiences!

--pennyplanner

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I've eaten there before and to this day it remains one of the most delicious meals I've ever had on Disney property. To each their own and all that

 

[TigerKat]

Anyone else with a good review, please? I'm making my final list and BZ is /was at the top!!!!!!!!!!

 

[TigerKat]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I've eaten there before and to this day it remains one of the most delicious meals I've ever had on Disney property. To each their own and all that

Could you please tell us what you've had there?

 

[hmp2z]

We were not fans, either. Here is our review, with pictures:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1329838&referrerid=&highlight=

The dancing fish really creeped me out. Kind of like looking at a skinned cow twirling around at a steakhouse. Blech...

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[wildernesslodgelover]

Just got back home today, and I had to race to the DISboards to post on this thread. I actually thought about this thread on Friday night while dining at BZ. we were SO looking forward to this night, as we dined here once before...maybe 2 years ago, and it stuck out in our minds as the best meal we had at WDW.

What a disappointment! Our first clue should have been the fact that it was empty. Friday night, from 7:30 pm to about 9 pm, the place had only a few tables seated. While our waitress was friendly and prompt, we did have our order come out incorrect...the raw oysters were omitted and we were brought a crabcake instead. We thought it was funny, because apparently they think it is "hip" to forego using trays and instead wheel the dishes out on a plastic push cart that reminds me of what the busboys used to haul dirty dishes around on when I waitressed at Chili's when I was 20.

We saw our food go by us once, then twice...and we would have stopped the food runner, except we were confused because the crab cake dish was on the pushcart and we did not order that, so we figured it was destined for another table. He passed us twice, looking for our waitress to ask where the food was to be delivered, I guess. Please remember there were only 2 other tables anywhere near us.

She took the cart from him and wheeled it over to us, and we mentioned that we did not order the crab cake. She kind of insisted we did, then said "Oh, yeah...the oysters" and took away the crab cake and came back with the oysters. By the way, we ordered a half dozen as they were $2.75 a piece and they were so puny and such a let down. I would say they were the size of a nickel...no exaggeration!

By the time we got our shake and bake fries, they were not fresh and crisp and hot. I have been raving about these fries to anyone and everyone on the DISboards for 2 years now, and I am afraid I have lost any credibility with anyone who has tried them. They were not flavorful like I remember, just fries with some parm grated on them. Eh.

The crab nachos were still the high point...but c'mon, we are talking about nachos here. No culinary artistry there!

I was really excited about the littleneck clam flatbread, but it was very salty and kind of dry, I thought it would benefit from some sort of sauce.

I have the "Zooberry" martini which is supposed to be blueberry infused vodka with a splash of lemon juice and a splash of simple syrup. To me, it tasted more like it was mixed with a juice. It was not strong at all.

I LOVVVVVED the cosmo I had there! It was mixed up (vodka and cointreau or grand marnier...I forgot), but intead of adding cranberry juice, they floated a cranberry foam on the top. WOW, that was the best drink I had all weekend.

At another point in our meal, we saw a server return some dishes to the kitchen and complain to the chef that he was "making him (the server) look stupid" because I guess he took the orders out incorrect. The chef added some stuff to the plates and they went out again. I think they are definitely having some service issues.

My other issue...and I think I am going to email BZ about this...we sat in the lounge area...in a booth across from the bar. Anytime someone got up to leave the bar, or wanted to sit at the bar, the chairs made an AWFUL grating noise across the floor. I mean, seriously, it was nails on a chalkboard after awhile.

BTW, we walked by on Saturday night, around 8:30 pm and it was empty yet again...a few more table than Friday night, but certainly not the bustling, energetic restaurant I rmembered. Such a shame, but I can honestly say we will not be dining at BZ again anytime soon.

 

[mickeys#1fan]

We were down for Spring Break, and my wife I celebrated our 16th anniversary there. Overall, I wouldn't rate it as badly as others have, but I do have higher expectations of a $200 meal.

My issues were mostly with service - what there was of it. It was an average night - not terribly busy. We were seated right away, and our drinks were brought promptly. After that our server seemed to come and go at his leisure. Admittedly, I have the opposite complaint at alot of family dining places. They try to turn tables so fast that they're forcing entrees down your throat before you can even finish your salad. No so at bluezoo. Dinner took two hours in total, and the pacing between courses was way too slow. The server only grudgingly helped us with wine pairings. I'm no wine expert, and one thing I've always liked about Disney fine dining is the servers know their wine lists. I have never been disappointed with one of their suggestions.

I started out with the sea scallops and braised short ribs meat. This was absolutely delicious. The scallops were perfectly seared on the outside and creamy on the inside. I've never had them like that before. The closest I can come to describing them is that they were like butter that tasted like the ocean. The beef was tender and flavorful, and I thought the demiglace was perfect. I really wish this was available in an entree portion.

DW had the chilled poached jumbo shrimp. While the shrimp were fresh and perfect the dipping sauces were nothing to write home about. Not worth 15 bucks. For her entree she had the miso glazed chilean sea bass. This was scrumptious! The bass was seared to a perfect golden brown crust on the outside and silky on the inside. This fish itself was so good that the sauce (while good) was almost an afterthought.

Like so many others, I had the dancing fish. Run far away from this. Unlike the others, I was intrigued seeing the bass roasting away on the spit. It smelled fantastic, and I couldn't wait to eat it. The fish is brought whole to the table - a new experience for me. The server then fillets it and removes the bones. Well at least that's how it's supposed to work. My fish was mangled, too. Not only that, I think this fish must have had an extra skeleton. I spent more time picking out bones than eating. The fish was also bland and chewy. It reminded me of everything I hated about eating fish as a kid.

For dessert DW had the warm chocolate cake with liquid ganache center. This was tasty, but not extraordinary. If you've ever eaten at a Mexican place called Don Pablo's, it was like that, only Don Pablo's is better. The peanut butter ice cream it came with was excellent. I expected something like peanut butter, but it was like sweet cream infused with the flavor of fresh-roasted peanuts. I know this doesn't sound appealing, but it's the best description I have. It really is worth trying.

I had a dessert called C4... Citrus in 4 textures. It was sublime. The dish has four desserts, which can all be eaten in two or three bites - just enough. The first is yuzu creme brulee. I have no earthly idea what a yuzu is, but I can tell you it's great. The grapefruit sorbet is pretty straightforward. It's perfectly-textured sorbet, flavored with ruby red grapefruit. It's sweet, it's tart, it's refreshing, and I wish our local ice cream truck sold it on a stick. The next was the orange vanilla soup. It's presented in a shot glass and kind of reminded me of an orange julius - only it tastes good. No - it tastes great. It was foamy and creamy could only be better if it was a belly shot. The lemon mango molten cake was truly unique. It's a basic lemon pound cake with a creamy liquid mango filling. It's served on a pool of honey, which is a nice counterpoint to the lemon. This was a dessert that was sweet, but didn't need a cup of coffee to cut the sweetness. Good thing, too, because our server didn't bring it until we'd finished our dessert.

I walked away thinking I'd give it a B-, but after this review, I'd have to give it a C. We will go back, but we'll let the dancing fish go dance with someone else and hope for a different server.

 

[Minniespal]

We ate here two weeks ago and had a lovely meal.