There was one World Showcase restaurant we decided we needed to repeat on our upcoming trip and that was Le Cellier. Roger loves meat and I loved the ambiance of this location so this was an easy decision for us.
We chose to dine at Le Cellier in 2005 by pure luck of the draw. We decided to attend the CP at Epcot our first night and wanted a mid-tier restaurant to dine at that evening. Back in 2005, Le Cellier was listed as a mid-tier and it was the most interesting to Roger so we booked an ADR here for 8:45pm, hoping to miss the bulk of the kidlets who, we assumed, would be out oogling the pretty lights of Illuminations.
We arrived at 8:30pm, completely exhausted after our first full day at the World. There were several parties waiting and our hostess let us know it would be at least 20 to 30 minutes before they could seat the two of us. We wanted to hang out in the mini-Victoria Gardens but it was cold and we were too tired so we kind of just collapsed on a bench in the waiting area and tried not to fall asleep.
We were finally seated at 9:05pm, at a two-top in the very back corner of the restaurant opposite the entrance. Our server (who's name has completely escaped me) took our drink order and let us know it was his last night working at Disney. He was quite personable and spent some time sharing info about his home province and chatting with us about the menu. He did mention that he was excited about the party his fellow CMs were throwing in his honor that night but that he was sad to be going. Overall, he provided good, if distracted, service thoughout the course of our meal. I'm sure this was due to the evening's impending festivities and his bittersweet feelings about it being his last night.
Back in 2005, you could not use your dining plan to pay for your CP Package so this meal was OOP. As such, we were allowed to order anything off of the menu and were entitled to an app, entree and dessert each.
Roger chose a bowl of the oh so heavenly Cheddar Cheese Soup.
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The texture was velvety smooth and wonderfully cheesy with a lovely bite from the Moosehead beer. It was exceptional when eaten on a piece of lovely pretzel breadstick (why do they bother with the other two? The pretzel is amazing!!!!) We both enjoyed it so much that I asked for the recipe and have made it at home - sadly without the Moosehead, but good nonetheless.
I selected the Shrimp Cocktail with Wasabi Slaw and was delighted to be served this:
My favorite part about this dish was the presentation because, sadly, the shrimp were only so-so. The sauce had a bit of bite to it but was more sweet that spicy and the wasabi slaw was barely spicy at all. I was disappointed in the flavors but still enjoyed the dish due to the overall cuteness factor. Roger thought the whole dish was "enh". Please note that Le Cellier still serves a shrimp cocktail but it is not this one. I'm not sure if the other has better flavor
Honestly, I can't quite remember what Roger ordered for his entree. I can only tell you that it was beefy and he seemed very happy with it. I'm inclined to think that it was prime rib because I didn't try a bite and I won't eat that.
I selected the mushroom filet served over a bed of mushroom risotto.
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Roger and I both loved this. The filet melted like butter on your tongue and the risotto had a wonderful earthiness to it while still being creamy and rich. I loved the risotto so much that I asked for the recipe and have since made it at home. I adored this dish and can't wait to try it again.
By the time we were halfway done with our entrees, we noticed there were just a handful of tables left in the restaurant. At this point, one of the other servers approached us and asked if we would mind if all of the staff sang "O Canada" for our server. We, of course, did not mind so the few of us were treated to a beautifully stirring rendition of the Canadian national anthem. It really was quite touching and our server had tears in his eyes when his co-workers finished. DH and I were most impressed that all of the servers knew all of the words to a somewhat difficult song, quite unlike many US kids of the same age with our own national anthem.
As we were finishing our entrees (and I was trying to refrain from licking the bowl clean of my risotto), our server took our dessert order. Roger, as usual, selected the creme brulee option which was maple flavored.
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I don't like maple syrup on my pancakes so this poor little creme brulee never stood a chance with me. Roger liked it well enough but we both felt the Pistachio offering at Jiko overshadowed this.
I selected an item from the Kid's dessert menu - Campfire S'mores:
These were SO FUN!!! I

sprinkles so was infinitely happy with all the ones here. I will admit that this was difficult to eat as the bottom ice cream/chocolate/graham cracker crust was frozen and practically impossible to break through. DH and I tried valiently, however and eventually managed to finish about half of the dessert. While the flavors were good, I most enjoyed this dessert because it was fun and whimsical.
It was really late by this time (almost 10:30pm) and we badly wanted to get back to our hotel and get some sleep. We were the next to last table to finish and almost all of the servers had all but disappeared by this point so it took a few minutes for someone to realize we were done, flag down our server and for him to bring our check. As the meal was pre-paid, including 18% gratuity, we only had to thank our server, wish him the best of luck and stagger back to our hotel for some much needed rest.
Final Thoughts: We really enjoyed our meal here. The ambiance was lovely and it was wonderfully quiet here when we were dining. I would imagine the room could get exceedingly loud when full though as the architecture wasn't conducive for sound dampening. There were a couple of real stars in terms of food (soup and risotto), some really good choices (my filet) and some things that looked pretty but didn't taste fab (shrimp cocktail, s'mores). Service was average but probably would have been better if our server hadn't had other distractions. All in all, this was a nice meal that we would repeat again given the choice.
Ratings:
Appetizers - Soup (incredible!!!

), Shrimp Cocktail (disappointing but

for presentation)
Entrees - DH's (??), Mushroom filet (risotto was amazingly good)
Dessert - creme brulee (ok), s'mores (fun but average in taste)
Service - Friendly but distracted at times
Overall rating for this meal:
= 4 Noms