After an exciting day (filled with park hopping and a few stops at the hotel room), it was time to head back to our hotel for dinner. Just like on our first trip to DL, we stayed at the Grand Californian for 2 nights.
These automatic doors at the hotel entrance are gorgeous.
The lobby is very reminiscent of WL and AKL's lobbies, with its soaring ceiling and handcrafted style.
Room pics:
Although our room was referred to as a "pool view", it was actually much better.
Grizzly Peak and Tower of Terror
Cars Land's Cadillac Range in the distance
It's time to kick this dining report into high gear: for dinner, we headed downstairs to Grand Californian's signature restaurant, Napa Rose. With a food and beverage menu inspired by California Wine Country, Napa Rose is widely considered to be DL's top restaurant. The accolades don't stop there - Napa Rose also gets some of the highest ratings of all restaurants in Orange County. For these reasons, I was surprised to learn that my mom made the booking only 5 days in advance.
We actually ate here on our first DL trip over 5 years ago, but didn't love it because we made some disappointing choices. This time, things started off on a high note when we were taken to a nice table next to a window. Occasionally, we could see the monorail pass by.
Here's a look at the interior of the restaurant:
The long-stemmed roses on each table are a perfect touch.
Here's the Napa Rose menu - I didn't get a picture of the 4-course tasting menu since we weren't planning on ordering it.
One of the starters we ordered on our first meal here was the Sizzling Beach Rock. While the presentation was fun, the flavors weren't very exciting. Ordering a 'gimmicky' appetizer was something we weren't going to do again.
Our meal started off with a bountiful bread basket. Although all the breads were delicious, my favorite was the thin, crispy lavosh, with its cheesy flavor from the Parmigiano-Reggiano.
For an appetizer, my mom picked the dish that I was planning on ordering (that happens a lot
). This is the Craft Raised Salmon Trio, with roasted salmon, salmon escabéche, and tangerine-cured sashimi. She liked it, but I tried some and
really liked it.
To pick something different, my choice was the Pan Roasted Diver Scallops on a Sauce of Lobster and Lemon accented with Vanilla. This was a very good dish, and the buttery sauce paired nicely with the sweetness of the scallops. That said, this appetizer was quite rich, and I was in the mood for something lighter. At the same time, my mom tried some of mine and was more enthusiastic about it than I was...
so we traded.
Once I had the salmon trio and my mom had the scallops, we were both extremely satisfied. I thought all three salmon components were great, from the roasted salmon with roe to the colorful, zesty escabéche. This is just another reminder that the dishes you order can truly impact your impressions of a restaurant (even if everything is prepared well).
Our meal was off to a great start - would the main courses also manage to impress us?