Deluxe Dining Reviews-May 2010 (lots of pictures)*Updated with Yachtsman*

[Mrs T 2009]

First time I went I had the crab cake to start followed by the steak - both were delicious, the steak cut like butter and melted in my mouth

The second time I opted for the mozarella and tomato salad, for something so 'simple' it was deliciously refreshing, followed by the potato wrapped red snapper - this was the best meal I've ever eaten (and I've eaten at a lot of very good restaurants), absolutely wonderful. So good in fact I ordered the same appetiser/main the next day!

My husband LOVED the red snapper when we ate at flying fish!

 

[Leota]

The same thing happened to us with Flying Fish. I had been wanting to try it for years & DH never seemed to keen on it. Then finally last year, we made a spontaneous choice to eat there at the bar & we both fell in love with it so much that we had to eat there again a couple nights later. That Tomato Mozzerella salad is truly divine.

It was one of the first places we reserved for our upcoming trip & is now tied for our favorite along with BlueZoo.

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

 

[ClareH37]

This place looks amazing. I did book it and will be there for the first time.
I was thinking that considering it has fish in its name that sea food is the only option but the meats look great. For steak I ate at LeCilliers, Yachtsman Steak House and Brown Derby. But this place looks like its as good. Maybe I should order a steak. But I love fish to. What about us first timers.... Any suggestions. All the pictures I am confused as it all looks good.
A desert "White chocolate Florida peach créme brulée - ginger-laced peach compote and fresh raspberries" aaahhhhhh. This can't be true... What about a suggestion as a full course meal..... They just sound good at this place.

I hope you have a great meal too, I had a wonderful steak but I really was in heaven with the red snapper, it was sublime - it's a tough call!

That steak at Flying Fish is one of my favorite dishes! I agree it is our favorite of the signatures places!

I was very pleasantly surprised with the steak at FF, can't wait to return!

Glad to see you've been posting again! The food from Flying Fish looks wonderful!

~Beka~

Thanks, it really was wonderful.

My husband LOVED the red snapper when we ate at flying fish!

The same thing happened to us with Flying Fish. I had been wanting to try it for years & DH never seemed to keen on it. Then finally last year, we made a spontaneous choice to eat there at the bar & we both fell in love with it so much that we had to eat there again a couple nights later. That Tomato Mozzerella salad is truly divine.

It was one of the first places we reserved for our upcoming trip & is now tied for our favorite along with BlueZoo.

Looking forward to the rest of your review!

That is so funny, BlueZoo was always my favourite too, I had to eat there every trip, but now I've found FF they're both going to be 'must dos' for each trip (I cancelled my BlueZoo ADR in favour of FF this trip).

 

[butiflfeet]

Flying Fish was our favorite last trip too. So much so that we are considering 2 dinners there on our next trip. I just can't decide if we should double up on Flying Fish because it is so very good or try Yachtsman for one of those meals

 

[sydneysmom]

the picture of the potato wrapped snapper is amazing! When I saw that on the menu I kind of thought, eh, that sounds kind of good. KIND OF GOOD??? that doesn't even describe it judging by the picture ! I can't wait to go!!!!

 

[creativeamanda]

I'm glad I'm not the only one not in love with Yachtsman! Captain's Grille, on the other hand is awesome!

Last December I had dinner at the chef's bar at Flying Fish, and it was a wonderful experience! I can't wait to go back there.

 

[vinotinto]

More! More!

 

[ClareH37]

Flying Fish was our favorite last trip too. So much so that we are considering 2 dinners there on our next trip. I just can't decide if we should double up on Flying Fish because it is so very good or try Yachtsman for one of those meals

I'm definitely doing two trips next time as well - one for the steak and one for the red snapper, I'm not sure about Yachtsman but haven't thrown that option out just yet.

the picture of the potato wrapped snapper is amazing! When I saw that on the menu I kind of thought, eh, that sounds kind of good. KIND OF GOOD??? that doesn't even describe it judging by the picture ! I can't wait to go!!!!

It was seriously very very good, the sauce was my particular favourite, I could have eaten another plate of that alone!

I'm glad I'm not the only one not in love with Yachtsman! Captain's Grille, on the other hand is awesome!

Last December I had dinner at the chef's bar at Flying Fish, and it was a wonderful experience! I can't wait to go back there.

It was partly your report Amanda that I thought about eating at Flying Fish, I'm so glad I did.

More! More!

Next instalment up shortly

 

[ClareH37]

Tutto was a restaurant I'd made a lunch ADR for, then cancelled, then rebooked, cancelled, etc., etc., as I really wasn't sure. I'd read good and bad reviews and I really wasn't sure but walking around Epcot one afternoon I popped in and liked what I saw, so I made an ADR for later in the week.

I was joined for lunch by Deb and Tracy, fellow Dis'ers, Deb had organised a 'photo tour' of the flower festival - it was a great morning. On arrival at the restaurant we were warmly greeted and told no problem at all re. changing from 1 to 3, we were also shown immediately to our table, no waiting at all.

We had a wonderful server, nothing was too much for him, he was warm, friendly and very knowledgeable re. the menu items .... and very good looking!

I love Italian wine, particularly merlot from the Corvina region (I fell in love with this region aftere a trip a number of years back), and to my delight they had Ecco Domani Merlot (Corvina), even better they offered it by the glass - I was very happy!

A dish of olives were brought out (sorry no picture, we ate these too quickly), along with bread and dish of olive oil in which to dip the bread into. I was also given a couple of slices of gluten free bread. I really dislike gluten free bread and normally try to avoid it, I sometimes give in to 'normal' bread, and then regret it a couple of hours later as let's just say I feel very unwell but as I didn't develop celiac disease until later in life I find it hard to give up certain things, even if they do make me unwell. However, on this occasion I stuck to the gluten free bread and it really wasn't too bad.

To start I had the bufala mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and tuscan olive oil.

The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and full of flavour, the mozzarella a wonderfully mild flavour, and the basil .... I love fresh basil, tuscan olive oil was drizzled generously, but it did not swamp. The tomatoes/mozzarella were chillled to the right temperature, a very simple dish which was wonderfully refreshing but one that can go so wrong if any of the ingredients are not 'quite right'.

For my main I opted for the 'penne caprese with tomato, fresh mozzarella and basil', the penne was substituted with gluten free pasta spirals.

The pasta was perfectly cooked, al dente, something I find is quite difficult to achieve with gluten free pasta as it often 'disintegrates' when cooking, it was mixed into a fresh tomato sauce with a generous topping of fresh melted (gorgeously gooey) mozzarella, and basil.

This dish was pasta perfection personified and not a scrap was left on my plate!

Being an Epcot restaurant service was brisk, although not overly rushed, or such that we felt we were being herded in/out, and the 'dining room' itself was very refined and elegant.

Tutto is now on my must do list again next time, I cannot wait to go back.

 

[ClareH37]

You would have thought after my terrible meal (dinner) earlier that I would steer clear of the Rose & Crown, but I wasn't prepared to write it off as I'd had a great lunch there the previous year, so I decided to see if they'd take a 'walk up' for lunch, no problem at all they said, I was shown straight to a 2 top table overlooking the lake - perfect.

I had a lovely server, very chatty and helpful, even though she was run off her feet with a number of tables to look after she regularly stopped by to see if I was OK. I found the service I had all week whether with friends or by myself was superb, I really couldn't have hoped for better.

Onto the food

To start I chose the apple and stilton salad - mixed greens tossed with candied walnuts, apples, english stilton cheese and cranberry vinaigrette.

Every item was fresh and chilled, complimenting each other perfectly, a very nice start to the meal.

I wasn't sure what to choose for my main but my server recommended a new item on the menu, grilled chicken breast topped with melted cheese & mushrooms, on a bed of lettuce/tomato on top of toasted ciabatta (I had gluten free bread as an alternative), accompanied by 'proper chips' (fries to my US friends) and tomato ketchup on the side.

The chicken was cooked perfectly, not too dry or too moist, and it turned out to be an excellent (and tasty) choice.

I'm also going to return to Rose & Crown next year for lunch, my dinner was a disaster but I'm putting it down to a one-off, as the lunch even exceeded my great lunch of 2009.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Thanks for the update, I have made an ADR for Tutto Italia but cancelled and then antoher ADR. I'm up on the air on this one and glad to read a good review from you tonight.

 

[vinotinto]

Tutto was a restaurant I'd made a lunch ADR for, then cancelled, then rebooked, cancelled, etc., etc., as I really wasn't sure. I'd read good and bad reviews and I really wasn't sure but walking around Epcot one afternoon I popped in and liked what I saw, so I made an ADR for later in the week.

I feel the same way. I started with a lunch ADR. Then, cancelled it. Then, made a dinner ADR there for our arrival night (which I'm still holding), but wondering if I should cancel. I'm not a huge pasta fan, especially if it's not whole grain, although my DH and kids are. I think they would like the menu. I've been trying to figure out if the non-pasta dishes are any good - at lunch or dinner - and which non-pasta dishes may be available for dinner that are not available at lunch (fish? lamb?).

 

[Linda67]

Great updates yet again

Good to see such a positive review of Tuto, the menu really appeals to me but you often see poor reviews.

I think I may be adding it to my list

 

[disney_princess_85]

Great reviews! Glad you enjoyed Tutto Italia, it was one of my favourites last year.

 

[ClareH37]

Thanks for the update, I have made an ADR for Tutto Italia but cancelled and then antoher ADR. I'm up on the air on this one and glad to read a good review from you tonight.

After this year's excellent lunch I'm returning next year, I hope it's just as good

I feel the same way. I started with a lunch ADR. Then, cancelled it. Then, made a dinner ADR there for our arrival night (which I'm still holding), but wondering if I should cancel. I'm not a huge pasta fan, especially if it's not whole grain, although my DH and kids are. I think they would like the menu. I've been trying to figure out if the non-pasta dishes are any good - at lunch or dinner - and which non-pasta dishes may be available for dinner that are not available at lunch (fish? lamb?).

TBH I based my ADR on the (gluten free) pasta, I wasn't really over-struck with the non pasta options, although that was only on glancing through the menu, not eating.

Great updates yet again

Good to see such a positive review of Tuto, the menu really appeals to me but you often see poor reviews.

I think I may be adding it to my list

It was perfect for lunch, the restaurant was beautiful and the food excellent.

Great reviews! Glad you enjoyed Tutto Italia, it was one of my favourites last year.

I'm so relieved it worked out like it did lol I think sometimes you can take too much notice of negative reviews, dining is way too subjective Saying that, I'm just about to post a sort of negative Yachtsman review.

 

[ClareH37]

First let me start off by saying that I've been eating here at least once a trip every year since 2004, and being perfectly blunt, the food and service were superior pre-DDP days, although still good following the introduction of the DDP. However, this is just my opinion and please don't let it cloud your judgement.

I was meeting some friends for dinner tonight, we were warmly greeted at the door and shown to our table, at the far end of the restaurant overlooking Stormalong Bay, a nice table. This is where I first thought things might not go so great.

The restaurant was very busy, and very loud, far louder than I remember, but no big problem. There were a lot of unhappy children, crying, screaming, asleep on chairs, throwing food/napkins on the floor, staff were how I can put it politely, 'frazzled', i.e. under pressure and running around. There was no dresscode, basically it was anything goes dress code wise. It did not feel like a signature restaurant tonight

However, our server was a personable chap (first impressions can be misleading!), and he made my day by bringing me my favourite tipple, the Yachtsman cosmo, despite it no longer being on the menu, excellent result.

To start I had the Lobster Bisque, it was heavenly - just the right amount of brandy, enough so you could taste it, but not so much that it was all you could taste, and plenty of lobster meat. Despite the 'distractions' around the restaurant I was happy to concentrate on the food, also sipping my Cosmo.

Onto the main, I usually have the filet but tonight I went with the "prime" New York strip steak (12 oz) with peppercorn brandy sauce and potato gratin with diamond white cheddar. I really do not know what the Yachtsman definition of 'prime' is, but it certainly did not taste 'prime' to me, in fact it was very 'average' - a huge slab of meat slightly tough and with more than it's fair share of gristle. The sauce was very bland and the potatoes 'strange', they were 'slimey' and didn't really have any taste. I left over half of my meal tonight, very disappointing compared to previous years, it wasn't bad as such, but very average and if I had been paying for my meal instead of using 2 TS credits I really would not have been happy. By comparison the steak at Flying Fish was amazing and put the Yachtsman to shame.

(pictures can be misleading - it didn't taste nowhere near as good as it looked)

To cut a very long story short we didn't see our server for an eternity, my dining companions were meant to be going to La Nouba, we all waited and waited, and continued to wait, for the server to bring our check, management ended up being called and eventually things were settled, my companions missed La Nouba but thanks to the Yachtsman management will be able to rebook.

A very disappointing meal and I'm hoping my next visit will be a great improvement.

 

[VrBchJ]

My NY Strip was just like yours--full of fat and gristle. I figured it was just bad luck in the cut I got and I made the mistake of ordering it again on another visit. Bad again. My husband had the filet and it was quite good. The restaurant seemed so chaotic. As you said, it doesn't have the ambience one expects from a signature restaurant. Our entrees were served while we were still eating our appetizers except for one our guests whose entree came about 10 minutes after everyone else was served. Our waiter disappeared for long stretches and we had to keep flagging other servers down for more beverages etc. I used to love Yachtsman and I don't quite know when or why it changed. I'm loving your reviews and look forward to more.

 

[vettegirl]

My DH had the strip back in May and it was okay. My filet was divine! Thanks for the reviews

 

[Leota]

We're planning on our first visit to the Yachtsman this Fall. I'll be sure not to order the strip steak. That's not my favorite cut anyways, it does tend to be tougher. I do hope we have a better experience! That's too bad that your friends wound up missing La Nouba.

Looking forward to more of your review. So far, it's terrific!

 

[Linda67]

Ooh that Lobster Bisque sounds wonderful

Shame your steak wasn't so good