Here's my somewhat unedited review of Chef Mickey's for Easter brunch on Sunday. I mention pictures because I'll be putting these on a website as soon as I get one up and running. Sorry for any grammatical errors that I haven't fixed yet.
Mike is the DBf, by the way.
Mike and I had a priority seating for 9 AM on Easter morning, April 11. We parked at the TTC and took the monorail over to the Contemporary with the intent to return to the Magic Kingdom after breakfast (which never happened due to the crowds). We arrived promptly at 9 AM and went to the desk to check in. Our name was called and we were told about the family picture that we could purchase, but declined and were brought to our table almost immediately after that. We were impressed by how quickly we were seated on such a busy holiday morning!
Our table was in the back of the restaurant almost right next to the window facing the Magic Kingdom. From my seat, I had a perfect view of Cinderella's Castle! We waited until our server, Sharon, took our drink orders before going to get food. Sharon was very friendly and seemed very excited to be there, especially for how early she had to have been there. We even have a picture of her with Mike, below. I had coffee and a glass of chocolate milk (a guilty pleasure of mine) and Mike had his usual orange juice. We took a quick picture with Chef Mickey before going up to the buffet.
The buffet had two sides, which were identical, with a carving station in the middle. There was also a cereal bar, dessert table, and fresh fruit stand on top of the dessert table. To start the buffet was a bar with bagels and oatmeal, brown sugar, and raisins. Next was a salad bar, which included colored, peeled hard-boiled eggs. There were also chilled shrimp and smoked salmon, but neither of us were feeling adventurous that day. Also on the salad bar were various cold salads, including tortellini salad, cut melon, and two different kinds of yogurt. If I had been inclined to eat healthfully that morning, it probably would not have been too hard. However, from the pictures, you can tell that I wasn't. After the salad bar was what was probably a kids' buffet, which had breakfast pizza, French toast, the Mickey waffles, and triangular hash browns. Then were traditional breakfast foods including eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, and grits. The "lunch" part included andoullie sausage stuffed pork loin with fig sauce, balsamic pepper chicken, and salmon with a cheese sauce. There were pastry stations with croissants (savory and sweet), mini muffins, cinnamon rolls, and other pastries. These were next to the carving stations, which were the center of the buffet. On the carving station was prime rib and lamb, neither of which I like, so I didn't try them. I was disappointed that there was no ham!
Clockwise from the top, my plate has two Mickey waffles, honeydew melon with berry yogurt, a chocolate croissant, cold tortellini salad, three cheese omelet, cheese and bacon potatoes, breakfast lasagna, and sausage roulade. Mike's plate is next, and from the top has scrambled eggs, a rice krispie treat, Mickey waffles, ambrosia salad, a cinnamon roll, French toast, sausage, a sausage roulade, tortellini salad, and hash browns. The waffles, croissant, omelet, potatoes, and lasagna were all excellent. The lasagna was made with tortillas, I believe, instead of noodles. The rice krispie treat, ambrosia salad, and cinnamon roll were all very good. The cinnamon roll was very light in texture for a cinnamon roll. The tortellini salad and sausage roulade were mediocre, however. Yogurt and honeydew can't really be messed up, though, and were good. I didn't try all of what was on Mike's plate, though. He liked the rest of what was on his plate, though.
Refills on our drinks were brought promptly, with the exception of coffee, because I had the carafe on the table. That always makes me happy because I can warm up my coffee whenever I need to. Our plates were taken away quickly as well, though we weren't brought extra silverware, but we didn't ask for it.
From our second trip up, clockwise, my plate has sausage, the pork loin, balsamic chicken, herb focaccia, bacon, biscuit and gravy, and cheese grits. Mike's plate has a mini muffin, breakfast pizza, bacon and cheese potatoes, biscuit and gravy, and sausage. Mike loved the breakfast pizza while I thought it was just ok. I really enjoyed the balsamic chicken and biscuit and gravy. The pork was just ok, the bacon was somewhat limp, the focaccia and biscuit were slightly stale, and the cheese grits needed more flavor. Salt and pepper perked them up quite a bit.
At this point, we were really slowing down, but still had to try dessert. We split one plate between the two of us. From the top, key lime pie, breakfast pizza, pastry stuffed with something sweet and cinnamon-y, bread pudding, blintz, chocolate croissant, and chocolate mousse pie. Yep, that's a chocolate Mickey on top of the mousse pie. The mousse pie, blintz, and chocolate croissant were all very good. The key lime pie was too sweet without any tart flavor, the pastry was good but the filling wasn't to our liking, and the bread pudding was just ok. Mike had to go back up for a bowl of candy coated chocolate candies (fake M&Ms) and marshmallows, a piece of raspberry coffee cake, and a little bowl of trail mix for me. The coffee cake was very good with the raspberry topping pleasingly tart.
During the time we were there, there were quite a few children there, but it was to be expected, being Easter morning at Chef Mickey's. The characters stopped by for a quick picture with Mike and I, which was just fine, as we didn't need extended time with any of the characters. The service was consistently pleasant and quick, with the manager (I assumed) stopping by to ask us if everything was "delicious," which seemed interesting to me as at other restaurants we're asked if everything's "ok." I wore a headband with two flowers and a leaping bunny on it, which gave me a LOT of attention from everyone! Mike and I had a great time and were constantly entertained by both the Cast Members and the food. We believe that we had one of the two best small tables in the restaurant, being in the back (somewhat quieter) and with the excellent view of the castle.
We were intrigued by the toppings for the sundae bar (in the tubes above the cereal bar), and will definitely come back sometime for dinner!
Edit: Yahoo photo gallery. Yes, the pictures are blurry - my camera wasn't working right and I didn't find out until afterwards.
Mike is the DBf, by the way.
Mike and I had a priority seating for 9 AM on Easter morning, April 11. We parked at the TTC and took the monorail over to the Contemporary with the intent to return to the Magic Kingdom after breakfast (which never happened due to the crowds). We arrived promptly at 9 AM and went to the desk to check in. Our name was called and we were told about the family picture that we could purchase, but declined and were brought to our table almost immediately after that. We were impressed by how quickly we were seated on such a busy holiday morning!
Our table was in the back of the restaurant almost right next to the window facing the Magic Kingdom. From my seat, I had a perfect view of Cinderella's Castle! We waited until our server, Sharon, took our drink orders before going to get food. Sharon was very friendly and seemed very excited to be there, especially for how early she had to have been there. We even have a picture of her with Mike, below. I had coffee and a glass of chocolate milk (a guilty pleasure of mine) and Mike had his usual orange juice. We took a quick picture with Chef Mickey before going up to the buffet.
The buffet had two sides, which were identical, with a carving station in the middle. There was also a cereal bar, dessert table, and fresh fruit stand on top of the dessert table. To start the buffet was a bar with bagels and oatmeal, brown sugar, and raisins. Next was a salad bar, which included colored, peeled hard-boiled eggs. There were also chilled shrimp and smoked salmon, but neither of us were feeling adventurous that day. Also on the salad bar were various cold salads, including tortellini salad, cut melon, and two different kinds of yogurt. If I had been inclined to eat healthfully that morning, it probably would not have been too hard. However, from the pictures, you can tell that I wasn't. After the salad bar was what was probably a kids' buffet, which had breakfast pizza, French toast, the Mickey waffles, and triangular hash browns. Then were traditional breakfast foods including eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, and grits. The "lunch" part included andoullie sausage stuffed pork loin with fig sauce, balsamic pepper chicken, and salmon with a cheese sauce. There were pastry stations with croissants (savory and sweet), mini muffins, cinnamon rolls, and other pastries. These were next to the carving stations, which were the center of the buffet. On the carving station was prime rib and lamb, neither of which I like, so I didn't try them. I was disappointed that there was no ham!
Clockwise from the top, my plate has two Mickey waffles, honeydew melon with berry yogurt, a chocolate croissant, cold tortellini salad, three cheese omelet, cheese and bacon potatoes, breakfast lasagna, and sausage roulade. Mike's plate is next, and from the top has scrambled eggs, a rice krispie treat, Mickey waffles, ambrosia salad, a cinnamon roll, French toast, sausage, a sausage roulade, tortellini salad, and hash browns. The waffles, croissant, omelet, potatoes, and lasagna were all excellent. The lasagna was made with tortillas, I believe, instead of noodles. The rice krispie treat, ambrosia salad, and cinnamon roll were all very good. The cinnamon roll was very light in texture for a cinnamon roll. The tortellini salad and sausage roulade were mediocre, however. Yogurt and honeydew can't really be messed up, though, and were good. I didn't try all of what was on Mike's plate, though. He liked the rest of what was on his plate, though.
Refills on our drinks were brought promptly, with the exception of coffee, because I had the carafe on the table. That always makes me happy because I can warm up my coffee whenever I need to. Our plates were taken away quickly as well, though we weren't brought extra silverware, but we didn't ask for it.
From our second trip up, clockwise, my plate has sausage, the pork loin, balsamic chicken, herb focaccia, bacon, biscuit and gravy, and cheese grits. Mike's plate has a mini muffin, breakfast pizza, bacon and cheese potatoes, biscuit and gravy, and sausage. Mike loved the breakfast pizza while I thought it was just ok. I really enjoyed the balsamic chicken and biscuit and gravy. The pork was just ok, the bacon was somewhat limp, the focaccia and biscuit were slightly stale, and the cheese grits needed more flavor. Salt and pepper perked them up quite a bit.
At this point, we were really slowing down, but still had to try dessert. We split one plate between the two of us. From the top, key lime pie, breakfast pizza, pastry stuffed with something sweet and cinnamon-y, bread pudding, blintz, chocolate croissant, and chocolate mousse pie. Yep, that's a chocolate Mickey on top of the mousse pie. The mousse pie, blintz, and chocolate croissant were all very good. The key lime pie was too sweet without any tart flavor, the pastry was good but the filling wasn't to our liking, and the bread pudding was just ok. Mike had to go back up for a bowl of candy coated chocolate candies (fake M&Ms) and marshmallows, a piece of raspberry coffee cake, and a little bowl of trail mix for me. The coffee cake was very good with the raspberry topping pleasingly tart.
During the time we were there, there were quite a few children there, but it was to be expected, being Easter morning at Chef Mickey's. The characters stopped by for a quick picture with Mike and I, which was just fine, as we didn't need extended time with any of the characters. The service was consistently pleasant and quick, with the manager (I assumed) stopping by to ask us if everything was "delicious," which seemed interesting to me as at other restaurants we're asked if everything's "ok." I wore a headband with two flowers and a leaping bunny on it, which gave me a LOT of attention from everyone! Mike and I had a great time and were constantly entertained by both the Cast Members and the food. We believe that we had one of the two best small tables in the restaurant, being in the back (somewhat quieter) and with the excellent view of the castle.
We were intrigued by the toppings for the sundae bar (in the tubes above the cereal bar), and will definitely come back sometime for dinner!
Edit: Yahoo photo gallery. Yes, the pictures are blurry - my camera wasn't working right and I didn't find out until afterwards.
