Can't Think of a Cute Title Just Lots of Pics

[Valgoof]

Ok now I love your reviews even more!!! We are staying at CSR in December for the first time! Love all the pics of the lunch buffet. Haven't seen that much detail on it. DH loves breakfast so we will hit the breakfast buffet a few days for sure. Will probably eat at the lunch buffet on our arrival day. I also appreciate how quickly you are getting the reviews done. I make my ADRs on 6/18 so looking forward to the rest.

 

[tndisneyfan]

Ok now I love your reviews even more!!! We are staying at CSR in December for the first time! Love all the pics of the lunch buffet. Haven't seen that much detail on it. DH loves breakfast so we will hit the breakfast buffet a few days for sure. Will probably eat at the lunch buffet on our arrival day. I also appreciate how quickly you are getting the reviews done. I make my ADRs on 6/18 so looking forward to the rest.

Thanks. I hope to have them all finished up in the next day or two. I only have four days left to do.

 

[tndisneyfan]

DH and I debated over this ADR for a while. We thought about going to Rose and Crown so DS could get some fish and chips, but we already had three Epcot dinner ADRs and another lunch ADR. Since we had decided to make today a rest day we decided not to go to a park at all and just eat at Raglan Road at DownTownDisney.

One thing I should tell you before I get started on this review. No one was really hungry. We had a large buffet meal at pepper market, even though it was almost seven hours later, that meal was hanging with us.

We arrived about 20 minutes prior to our ADR and were seated close to our ADR time or just a few minutes after. We had a great table, we were about six feet from the corner of the main stage with nothing but the walkways in between. One thing we noticed was how loud the restaurant was. Very, very loud.

So we were seated and started off with some bread.

Bread with Guinness Reduction and Olive Oil

Not a good picture of the bread, just the top. It was dark bread, not sure what kind. The crust of the slices were kind of hard with oats and grain on top but the middle of the bread was soft and slightly sweet. I didn't care for the crust because of the grains and oats but I did like the middle. The guinness reduction was quite sweet, to me it had a molasses taste. You could taste the brown in it, if that makes sense.

I debated around on what to get, so many things looked good. This is one time that I think being on the DDP is a downer. As I said before I wasn't really hungry yet and I should've went went something lighter. I was eyeing that Pie in the Sky but then the mixed grill and the it's not bleeding chowder caught my eye. But the Pie in the Sky was $18 the mixed Grill $28, the not bleeding Chowder $25. I got stingy and ordered the larger meal even though I think I would've been happier with something else.


MIghty Mixed Grill

Let's see, right to left: grilled tomato, lamb chop, steak, either black pudding or a banger, chicken drumstick, ham, and either a banger or black pudding.Served over mashed potatoes. I was pleased to see that at least the Irish know how to take the peels out of the potatoes before they mash them. So a to the Irish. The lamb chop was about one good bite, just a typical chop and had that odd taste I always associate with a lamb chop. The steak was fine, just a typical steak. Both the sausages were just OK but it's hard to describe what they tasted like. They weren't like a Keilbasa or Polish sausage, they were closer to a large breakfast sausage, but not really. They were fine. The chicken just tasted like a piece of boiled chicken, no other flavoring with it. The ham was good but it tasted like thin deli scliced ham that had been lightly fried. I liked the meal OK. I think some of it I was still too full from lunch to enjoy it and I should've went with something lighter.

Serious Steak

A 10 oz sirloin over mashed potatoes with an onion ring on the top. DH said it was OK but nothing more. He asked for it to be cooked medium well, he said it came out medium well but it had some char on the outsides of the steak. He is sensitive to a char taste so that took away from the meal for him.

Fish and Chips

DS got the fish and chips. There was just one piece of fish on the plate but it was a large piece. It's hard to get much out of him about how it tasted, but he did say he liked it better than the fish and chips he got at Yorkshire County Fish Shop a couple of years ago.

Ger's Bread and Butter Pudding

I love bread pudding, I had read so much about this bread pudding I couldn't wait to try it. It was a very large serving. On the far left is I assume a butter sauce and on the right of a some kind of caramel type sauce. I took one of the big pieces off the top and ate it by itself and it tasted like toast. Interesting. So I finally got into the pudding part and I poured some butter sauce in there and tried it. It was very odd and I will agree with the menu description of it's like no other bread pudding you've ever had. The pudding had a very eggy taste so when I put the butter sauce in it tasted like buttered toast and eggs. Weird. I poured some of the caramel in but to me it tasted like buttered toast and eggs with some caramel poured over it. Also the the bread pudding was very wet, the wettest I personally have ever had. Overall I thought it was just OK, the bread pudding itself just tasted like bread and egg, there were no spices or anything in there to break it up. Though I did find a raisin in there. The sauces helped it some but it was just too not like bread pudding for me.

Strawberry Apple Crumble

DH and DS both got this. Both thought it was just OK. Neither one cared for the combo of strawberries and apples.

One thing, when we went to pay with our DDP there was no place to write in a tip as there had been with other places. I figured we would be able to write it in when he brought our card and reciept back. Still no place to write in a tip. Fortunately DH had some cash on him so we had enough to leave a tip. Not sure what we would've done if he hadn't. I would just beware when you pay and ask how to leave one if it's not obvious.

Overall Thoughts and Opinions I wish we would've had a lighter lunch before we ate here because no one was really hungry when we ate. I really think that had an effect of what we thought of the food. The food itself was decent, DS probably liked his fish and chips more than any of us liked anything else. The desserts were just OK but I try not to get too hung up on desserts. But overall, I'm not sure I'll be going back. The restaurant was just too loud for us. Even though we had a great stage view and a good view of the steps they dance on, we just didn't enjoy that much noise. Plus because we were clsoe to the stage when the dancers would come on people would gather around our table to watch. A man came up holding his child so he/she could see the stage and stood right in front of DH so he couldn't see. DH said excuse me and he moved immediately, I think he was so focused on getting the kid to where it could see that he didn't notice DH. I feel like an old fuddy duddy but we like a quieter meal, so it just wasn't for us.

 

[taylor3297]

I don't like bread pudding but I did like Raglan Road's Bread and Butter pudding. Did you get to try the fries with the truffle oil?

 

[bluejasmine]

Thanks for your reviews, I really enjoyed them! Your pics are not as bad as you think! They really helped to see what you were talking about.

I also like the beef tacos but want to try the chicken, Im hoping to talk someone in my family into getting them and we share my beef and their chicken..LOL

I loved the churros last yr I cant believe they changed them. Are they like that at the churro stands as well?

 

[tndisneyfan]

I don't like bread pudding but I did like Raglan Road's Bread and Butter pudding. Did you get to try the fries with the truffle oil?

No I didn't get to try the fries with truffle oil. Sounds good though.

Thanks for your reviews, I really enjoyed them! Your pics are not as bad as you think! They really helped to see what you were talking about.

I also like the beef tacos but want to try the chicken, Im hoping to talk someone in my family into getting them and we share my beef and their chicken..LOL

I loved the churros last yr I cant believe they changed them. Are they like that at the churro stands as well?

I don't know if they have changed them at the stands or not. I know the churros we got at Darth Mauls Mall were normal churros cut in half or thirds.

DH just informed me that the churro stand in Frontierland has the normal, full size churros.

 

[ThinkTink09]

Great reviews and pictures!!

 

[tndisneyfan]

I wanted to go ahead and knock this review out because it's pretty simple, no pics. I thought about taking some but I think buffet food kind of looks gross on people's plates. Then I feel silly walking around taking pictures of the buffet.

After our rest day we planned for an early CP ADR so we could get a picture of us in front of the castle. I couldn't get an 8:00 ADR as I had hoped, I can usually get something close to that. Our actual ADR time was 8:35. Dh and I made matching tie dyed Mickey head shirts for us to wear to have our picture made in front of the castle. DS was thrilled, let me tell ya.

So anyway, our ADR was for a little later but we were allowed to go in as soon as they started letting people in. We slowly walked up Main St then had our picture in front of the castle, I was disappointed that there was no photopass photographer in front of the Mickey and Walt statue. We had to take those pictures ourselves. So we got our pictures and went ahead and checked in early at CP. I figured we would be sitting a while because our ADR time was later, so I was surprised when our pager went off. As we were being seated I looked at my iPhone and it was 8:10. Odd.

Just to let you know we don't really come here for the characters, we're the odd ones who enjoy the food. We love Pooh's Puffed French toast, even though it's not French Toast, it's just fried bread with cinnamon and sugar.

OK, so we're seated and our server takes our drink orders. The Character guy came around and said one of the characters was coming so maybe we'd want to wait. We said thanks but we're not really interested in visiting the characters. So we got in line for the buffet, there was a long line on both sides so I just picked one and went with it. When I finally got up to the food the first think I did was grab the last piece of Poohs French toast. Once piece was all that was left. DH who was right behind me didn't get any. There was the normal variety of cold foods, bagels, fruits, salmon, cream cheese, nothing out of the ordinary. When we got to the hot food once again it was just typical stuff, eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits, gravy, kind of an egg omelete mixture. I was disappointed when I got to the end there was no Mickey waffles, they were out. But I was pleased to see that the omelet station was going, I had read a rumor that it was no longer there. On my second run thru there was more Poohs Puffed French toast and there was some Mickey waffles. I did notice that there were no chocolate mickey waffles this time, only the regular.

Overall Thoughts and Opinions We like eating here, the Poohs Puffed French Toast makes it worth it to us. We also like the omelete station, DS gets omelets and Chocolate Chip Mickey Pancakes made there too. I've had omeletes made to order at several WDW locations and I don't think any of them are as good as CP. I was disappointed to see so many empty bowls the first time thru, though they did refill. Service was fine, she kept us in drinks. We didn't want any character interraction but of course we weren't rude to the characters. We waved and smiled, they kind of sense when you're interested and when you're not. Piglet did stop long enough to make much of our shirts.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I wasn't going to post anything about this since it's not a WDW restaurant, so I'm not going to make it part of my official review but just a post.

We went to Texas de Brazil later that night. Just want to say it was awesome. It doesn't compare to Ohana at all, it is 10 times better. The salad bar is great and the meat is wonderful. You have a little card that is red on one side and green on the other. When you want meat you turn it to green, when you are finished you flip it to red. I had to flip it to red a couple of times so they would stop bringing me meat because they were coming by so often.

If you have a car and get a chance it's worth the drive and cost. It is a little pricey I think 46.95 per person, but if you sign up for their eclub you can usually get a discount.

 

[tndisneyfan]

Shew just three days worth of reviews left. Just to let you know what's coming up...... POR food court, Chefs de France, Le Cellier, Beaches and cream, and that may be it.

 

[OhioMom]

Really enjoying your review!! I need to get my fix via other Dissers, lol.

 

[BlovesC]

Thanks for you Raglan Road review! You hit on a lot of my own concerns. We've been in RR a couple times to look around and have a drink, but we've never eaten there. It is VERY loud, much moreso than T-Rex or Rainforest IMO, and that and uncertainties about the menu have kept me from scheduling a meal there. The only bread pudding I've ever had that I've enjoyed is the stuff at 'Ohana, which I LOVE. I've heard good things about the RR bread pudding, but when I see pictures of it, it always seems to me exactly as you describe it...very toasty and not very much like a bread 'pudding' at all. I think I'll let RR sit on the back burner a bit longer.

LOVE that puffed french toast at CP!

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Thank you SOOOO much for all of the Pepper Market pics and your review. I've been waiting to see exactly what is on the buffet before deciding to try it and your pics and review sealed the deal!

 

[ilovepete]

Loving your reviews, nice job!

 

[LoriJune]

Loving your reviews! Thanks for posting the picture of the Cantina nachos...now I know that's something myself and picky family will/can eat as a snack.

 

[iloveeeyore]

I can't seem to get myself into the food at Raglan Road either. Very Blah in my experience, I doubt it was only because you weren't hungry. However, we love the entertainment, we like the loud band and dancers, so that makes up for the food at least. Sorry the experience wasn't good for you.

 

[tndisneyfan]

Thanks for you Raglan Road review! You hit on a lot of my own concerns. We've been in RR a couple times to look around and have a drink, but we've never eaten there. It is VERY loud, much moreso than T-Rex or Rainforest IMO, and that and uncertainties about the menu have kept me from scheduling a meal there. The only bread pudding I've ever had that I've enjoyed is the stuff at 'Ohana, which I LOVE. I've heard good things about the RR bread pudding, but when I see pictures of it, it always seems to me exactly as you describe it...very toasty and not very much like a bread 'pudding' at all. I think I'll let RR sit on the back burner a bit longer.

LOVE that puffed french toast at CP!

The RR bread pudding is quite different. Most of the bread pudding I have eaten has some spices in with it like cinnamon and nutmet, but this just taste like egg and some sugar. DH said it tasted like French Toast to him. I wouldn't mind trying it again knowing it's different.

DH said that my review sounded like RR was just loud because we were next to the stage, but even when the dancers weren't up there it was quite loud. Some people enjoy that, but it's not for us.

Thank you SOOOO much for all of the Pepper Market pics and your review. I've been waiting to see exactly what is on the buffet before deciding to try it and your pics and review sealed the deal!

Thanks for saying that. I was reluctant to put so many pictures in one post, but there is so little info out there about the buffet I did it anyway.

Loving your reviews, nice job!

Thanks!! I need to get back on it, I've been lazy today.

 

[tndisneyfan]

Today was another DHS day for us. When lunchtime came we couldn't decide what to do. We'd already ate Starring Rolls and Backlot Express. In the end we decided to head back to our resort and have lunch and the POR food court Riverside Mill.

This is a nice food court with quite a bit of variety. There is plenty of seating. We enjoyed sitting near the water wheel and watching it turn while we ate.

Create Your Own Salad

I finally decided on a salad. You can either get grilled steak or chicken, I went with steak. Then you decide on your lettuce, Romaine or euro mix. The Romaine is just romaine and I don't like a whole salad with just romaine so I went with the euro mix. It was kind of iceburg lettuce and some mixed greens. I can't remember all the option so I went to allearsnet.com and copied the items they showed. Bacon, blue cheese, broccoli, carrots, corn, chow mein noodles, cucumbers, dried cranberries, feta cheese, peas, garbanzo beans, grape tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, roasted red peppers. Not sure if this was all the items but it's pretty close. They put all the ingredients in a large bowl and toss it with your choice of dressing. I believe they had Ceasar, Ranch, Italian (maybe lite) and one more. The I got the Ceasar and I like ranch too but I'm sure it's a disappointing for people who prefer French, Honey Mustard, or other dressing. As the CM was tossing mine I asked if I could have a little more dressing, he put a little more and asked to see if that was enough or if I wanted more. So they are very accomodating on a little more or little less. The salad was good. Of course. It had everything I like in it . It was a very large salad and the picture doesn't really show how big that salad was. My only complaint is I wish there had been some crackers or some kind of bread with it.

Create Your Own Pasta

While it was still in the box.

Can you believe that mess of pasta? It works like the salad. You pick a pasta (spaghetti, fetticini, or penne). Then a sauce (red, white, or pesto). YOu can add chicken or shrimp (both are covered with the DDP). I figured that they would just put all that stuff on a plate, cover it in pasta and sauce and there you go. But they put all your veggeis in the box, I can't remember all the veggies and stuff so I copied again from allearsnet.com (artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, mushrooms, Kalamata Olives, green peas, prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, yellow onions, broccoli, parmesan cheese). Then they cook your shrimp or chicken, then throw your veggies in with them and let them cook a few minutes, then they put in the pasta and sauce and let it cook again. So it does take a few minutes, but they are very organized on getting people thru. DS was not able to finish it was so large, he did enjoy it though. The bread was just OK it was a chew bread toasted with a little garlic flavor.

Bacon Cheeseburger w/ Onion Rings

Not sure of the official name. Just a big hamburger with onion rings. DH said he really like it, he liked the onion rings on it.

Red Velvet Cake

I got the red velvet cake for dessert. I was fine. The cream cheese icing was good, creamy but not too rich. The cake itself to me tasted like a box red velvet. Not a true southern red velvet cake. There was no chocolate taste to it. It was good though. I'm just being nitpicky.

Brownie

Dh got the brownie. He said it was good, just your typical mass produced WDW brownie.

Hot Fudge Sundae

DH got the sundae. That thing was huge. Two or three scoops of ice cream, it's hard to tell for sure, with plenty of fudge and whipped topping. They let him choose his own flavor of ice cream, he didn't just have to get vanilla.

Overall Thoughts and Opinions We enjoyed eating here. There was enough variety for everyone. I enjoyed being able to make my own salad and DS felt the same about the pasta. There are more options at dinner time than lunch, but that seems standard in all WDW food courts.

 

[vettegirl]

Wow those are some big portions!

 

[tndisneyfan]

This is was the ADR I was most worried about. DS started taking French at the start of the school year. When we went in October we were looking for some different places to eat and when DS saw Chefs de France he decided he would like to eat there. I have never had any French food, there's just no place in Kingsport Tennessee to get it. But we think it's important to eat at some of the places DS wants to eat at, so I made an ADR. Also I had read a lot of negative reviews about Chefs too.

We checked in about 15 minutes before our ADR, and didn't get seated until just a few minutes after. We were seated all the way in the back of the restaurant, the good thing abou that was we were next to the dessert prep area. So our server comes by and takes our drink orders and drops off a loaf of bread and butter for us.

Bread and Butter

We all liked the bread and especially the butter. It was just a small loaf of French bread, possibly a bagette, that hard on outside but very soft and chewy on the inside. The butter was wonderful, I don't know what was different about it than any other butter, but it was good. It was richer and creamier, but not a sweet butter.

Duo of Roasted Duck Breast and Confit Leg of Duck

I debated for a while on what to get. The Mac n cheese sounded good but I'm southern so Mac n cheese is a vegetable not a main entree. I finally decided on the duck. I was very nervous about making it my meal. I have never had duck before. Once again, there's just no place that serves it in East Tennessee. But if I decided I wanted to try something I couldn't get at home, so I just went went it. I ended up liking it very much. The breast is similar to dark meat chicken, but not as greasy. The leg meat was good too. It didn't have a poultry texture, it had the texture of steak but didn't taste like steak. The sauce on the plate was good but I don't remember much about it. The mashed sweet potatoes were just mashed sweet potatoes, nothing special. I actually thought they could use a little salt. I had never tried patty pan squash before. I thought it was just OK. I only at a couple of pieces of it because I was so full, but I thought it was a little tart. Kind of like how a green tomato is tart. Overall I liked this meal quite a bit. I would consider getting it again but there are other things on the menu I would like to try to.

Grilled Tenderloin of Beef

DH got the beef. He said it was very good, cooked exactly as medium well. The green beens were good and done, so they may be too done for some. He liked the potato gratin too but thought the cheese that was in it was a little strong. Not like it was too much cheese, just like they had used a strong flavored cheese, if that makes sense. He thought all his veggies needed a little salt. He also said the gravy was real good, it was like just a beef gravy.

Beef Short Ribs

DS ordered this. It looked like beef stroganoff to me and inexperienced eye. I didn't try a bite but DH did. He said it was good and DS enjoyed it.

Puff Choix with Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce

This was my dessert. I had read much about this on the Dis so I had to get it. Overall I liked it. It was basically a big cream puff but with ice cream in place of cream. It was good but not outstanding.

Chocolate Mousse

DS ordered the mousse. He said it was good. It came with a peice of some kind of cake dipped in chocolate.

Sorbets

DH had the sorbets. THere was coconut, mango, and we think guava but we're not sure about the guava. The coconut and mango was very good but the guava had a whang to it that nobody cared for. There's a small piece of sweet bread that came with it. DH said it tasted like a small piece of cake, like a scoop of cake batter poured out in a pan and baked that way.

Overall Thoughts and Opinions This was the surprise meal of the trip. Even though we were reluctant to try it, everyone enjoyed their meal. Service was excellent and the food was too. I'm not too sure how authentic it is, but we enjoyed the food anyway. I'm glad we tried it. I don't know if it's a must do now, but I would definitely eat here again.