Dining Reviews 12/7 - 12/18, Updated 1/20 - Completed

[disneyfav4ever]

After spending the afternoon in Epcot, I made my way to the Grand Floridian via the monorail, and got there a little after 5:00. My ADR was for 5:50, and Citricos didn't even open until 5:30, so I had some time to see the gingerbread house in the lobby, which I had been looking foward to. I would of probably bought some gingerbread, had the line not been so long. But it was long, and seemed very slow moving, so I skipped it.

This was my first time eating at Citricos, and I, as I always am when trying a new restaurant, was very excited. But for Citricos I was especially excited. Even more so, since I rarely see many reviews for it on the boards, and from what I have read, has been good.

I checked in at 5:40, and was seated in five minutes. As I was waiting to be seated the doors to Victoria and Albert's were opening, and I got a glimpse inside. Very nice, and I'm going to make a point of eating there sooner or later.

I was seated towards the open kitchen area, and I was able to watch the chefs cook as I ate. I enjoy restaurants with open kitchens, becuase it seems like their cleaner, since they are in view of guests the whole time, and can't be messy. That's not to say I don't eat at restaurants that don't have open kitchens, or that I don't expect small messes, and at times, larger ones. I know all restaurants have their share of dropped food. But I like knowing that they can't just pick it back up off the floor and serve it anyway. I've worked in a restaurant before, and that has happened.

Anyway, now that I've destroyed your appetite with that lovely memory of mine, back on to my review.

My server for the evening was Jason. He was okay. He was fast enough. There was a small thing that kept on bugging me though. I was seated next to a railing, and every time Jason came over to take my order, or serve me something, he was always on the opposite side of the railing. I was right next to the opening of the railing, by the way, so it's not like he would of had to have walked halfway across the restaurant. It wasn't a big deal, it just seemed he could of come around, and it seemed a bit impersonnal.

I had already known before arriving that I wanted the gateau of crab. So I ordered that, along with the roasted butternut squash bisque.

I was served the soup first. I had had butternut squash soup the night before at CA Grill, and it had been very good, this one was even better. This one had orange-scented crab in it, and was topped with a citrus cream.

I was also served bread with the soup. There were two kinds of bread in the basket, some sort of multi-grain loaf, and a foccacia. The multi-grain bread was okay, but I love foccacia, so I basically stuck with that. It was very good. There was also a special house butter with citrus zest, and sea salt. I liked the citrus addition to the butter, and given the fact that both my soup, and the gateau of crab had orange flavors in them, it complemented my meal very nicely. I didn't like the salt sprinkled on top so much. I don't like very salty things so much. I used to love salty things, and hate peppery items, now the opposite is true.

I was served the gateau of crab after finishing the soup. It was delicious, and one of my favorite things I ate all week. There were huge lumps of crab, and a strong cheddar flavor. I love cheddar, so that was great for me. It came with two sauces, a orange fennel coulis, and a tomato and red onion chutney type one. I don't like raw onions so much, so didn't really like that one, but I really enjoyed the orange-fennel one. I couldn't get enough of this, and wish it had been larger, even though it was the same size as a good size crab cake.

After I had finished my two appetizers, one of the chefs came by and asked me how I was enjoying my food. He seemed very pleasant, and it was also between now and dessert that I had a nice little chat with Jason.

Now, on to dessert. The dessert menu was the same as it had been on All Ears, except that the Cinderellabration dessert had been removed from the menu. I had wanted to order that, but had already assumed that it had probably been taken off the menu after the Happiest Celebration on Earth had ended, and the Year of a Million Dreams had started, and had been hoping for a new dessert for the Year of a Million Dreams to try. I was in luck, they had added a pumpkin cheesecake to the menu. I love cheesecake, I love pumpkin. Guess what I ordered?

The presantation of the plate was beautiful, and I hope to get the pictures uploaded soon so I can post the one of this. The cheesecake, was covered in cream cheese, and surronded by whipped cream. The whipped cream was not usual whipped cream, and it was delicious, and extra fluffy, to what I assume, to look like a cloud. There was also a cranberry sauce on the plate. And a cocoa impression of Beauty and the Beast, next to a Year of a Million Dreams sign. The cheesecake itself, was sadly, just okay, I though it was a little on the dry side. The whipped cream may have been better then the cheesecake itself.

I will definatly be returning to Citricos next year, when I have the DDP, as I need another gateau of crab.

 

[msteddom]

I agree with you on Citrico's pumpkin cheesecake, it was good, but not great. I had been dreaming for months about their lemon cheesecake, which is some of the best I have ever had, and the pumpkin just did not live up!

Melissa

 

[swankybeth]

I'm really enjoying your reviews. Looking forward to reading more and seeing some pictures!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Looks like the pictures are finally starting to cooperate with me. I just posted the pic of my dessert plate from Boma, and will now add the other two Boma pics. Let me know if anyone has a problem viewing them.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I'm also going to be adding a table of contents of sorts to post #1, listing which page and post number each of the reviews are on.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I slept in this morning, since all I had to do was be at Downtown Disney West Side for my lunch ADR by 11:30. I managed to be at DTD by 10:00, and got some shopping done. Even though I intended on doing all my Christmas shopping there, I only bought stuff for myself today.

Anyway, I walked from the Marketplace, where I had been shopping, to West Side, and that was a nice walk that lasted less then ten minutes. I had never been to West Side before, and had to look at a map to figure out where Wolfgang Puck was located.

I arrived at Wolfgang Puck at 11:23. I remember the exact time, becuase the lady inside said I couldn't check-in yet because they didn't open for another seven minutes. She was nice about it, and I didn't care that I had to wait. I went across the street to the Virgin music store. That was a bad idea. They were playing Pirates - Dead Man's Chest, which of course, I started watching, even though I had seen it before, and had just bought it that morning. So I didn't make it back to Wolfgang Puck until about 11:40.

I was seated immediatly, right near the kitchen. My server for this meal was Antavius, and he was good. He was fast, and asked me how my food was. But he wasn't anything spectacular, or over-the-top, so I have no need to mention him again in this review.

I was brought out a bread basket with two kinds of foccacia, olive, and herb. Along with the bread came a plate of olive and balsamic oils for dipping. I said in my Citrico's review that I love foccacia. Well, this may be the best foccacia bread I've ever had. There were two pieces of herb foccacia, and one of the olive. I ate half a piece of herb, then half a piece of olive, then the other half of the herb, and then the other half of the olives. These were big pieces too by the way. I was debating what a pig the waiter would think I was if I ate the other piece of herb foccacia, and completely cleaned out the bread basket, when I was served my entree.

I had ordered the pumpkin ravioli. It was regular pasta, filled with a pumpkin filling, which was slightly sweet, but not sweet enough to make it taste like pumpkin pie. Which I love, but I don't like savory pumpkin items to taste too much like dessert. It had a brown butter sauce with fried sage, port wine glaze, toasted pine nuts and aged parmesan cheese. It all went very well together. Especially the sauce and wine glaze. I ate everything on the plate except for some larger pieces of sage and parmesan.

You'd think I'd be full after this. And I pretty much was. But, I had heard really good things about the creme brulee here. And I told myself I could cancel my dinner reservation, which didn't happen by the way. So I ordered the vanilla bean creme brulee.

It was good, very good even, but I've had just as good at home, and I wouldn't of really needed to order this.

So, Wolfgang Puck Cafe is now a must do for me. And I'm very glad it's on the dining plan, since I have that next year. Though I can't imagine getting an appetizer in addition to all the rest of the food.

Also, DDE is no longer accepted here, which I knew, but I did get 10% off for having an AP.

 

[purpliequeen]

Thank you!!!

I really appreciated the Wolfgang Puck Cafe and CG grill reviews.

 

[Maleficent13]

Excellent reviews!! Thanks!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

The rest of my Boma pics, as well as the LTT and CA Grill ones have now been posted.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I've added pics for Nine Dragons and Citricos, and am uploading the pics for Wolfgang Puck Cafe as I type this. After I add those, I'll add the pics the same time as I write the reviews.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

After the huge lunch I had at Wolfgang Puck Cafe, I had been debating all afternoon weather or not to cancel this reservation. By dinner-time I was only slightly hungry, and had almost convinced myself to cancel. But, me being me, decided to go anyway.

I was seated early, twenty minutes before my ADR time. Unlike last year, I was not offered a seat at the cooking place bar area, which was empty, and remained less then half full during my meal.

My server for the night was Maria. She was okay. She didn't seem to pay much attention to me, though other tables next to me seemed to get more attention. Halfway through my meal there was a water spill at the next table. The only thing that bothered me about that was that it wasn't cleaned up for half an hour or so.

What's wierd is the last time I ate at Jiko I loved the service, and thought the food was just so-so, and this time, the service was just so-so, and the food, well, was still so-so. I don't know what it is, but I just can't seem to love Jiko the way everyone else does. I think this may be my last time here, except maybe if I have the dining plan, and then I might go back to try the filet mignon, which I noticed a lot of people ordering.

Anyway, on to the food.

I was served one piece of bread. One. And I wasn't offered anymore for the duration of the meal. Which is a shame, because I do like the bread here. And the butter, which is spiced and a Jiko-speciality.

I had once again ordered two appetizers, and was going to eat one as an appetizer, and one as an entree. I had ordered soup, and the chicken-coffee-bbq flatbread, and assumed I would be getting the soup as the appetizer, and the flatbread as the entree. That just seemed to make more sense to me. But, I got the flatbread first. It wasn't a big deal, it just seemed a little odd.

The flatbread was topped onions, apples, and cheese. It was very good, except I thought there was too much apple, and less would have been better.

After my flatbread, I had a bowl of butternut squash soup. If you've been paying attention to my reviews I had a butternut squash soup at CA Grill on day two, Citrico's on day three, and now at Jiko on day four. Notice a pattern? And this is inbetween pumpkin cheesecake and ravioli.

The soup was topped with cottage cheese, and pumpkin seeds. Actually, it wasn't topped with, the accompinaments were in the dish, and the soup was poured over. Which was a nice touch I thought. Out of all the soups I had this was my least favorite, and it was not the one I remember from Boma last year. It wasn't bad, the others were just better.

By dessert, I had started to get a headache, and I wouldn't have gotten dessert, except that I felt I owed it to myself to give the desserts at Jiko another chance after being somewhat dissapointed by them last year.

I don't have the current Jiko menu, and the All Ears one is not current, so I'm not exactly sure what this dessert was called. But, it reminded me of baklava, and had a walnut-raisin filling. It was served over citrus salad and had a red wine sauce.

It sounded really good. It looked really good. And the baklava part was really good. But I did not like the citrus salad, or maybe it was the sauce that wrecked it for me.

So I've been to Jiko twice, and both times, have been under-impressed. I know a lot of people love Jiko, but I'm not one of them. And I don't think I can justify a third trip here. Unless I go with the theory third time's the charm.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I realize that it's been the better part of a week since I've added a review, (or worked on my trip repot,) but I got busy with New Years, work stuff, and people visiting. But, I have off work the next few days, so should be able to add a few more reviews by the end of the weekend.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Note to readers. The night I ate dinner at Jiko, which was on 12/10, I started feeling bad that night. Not sick to my stomach, but like my throat was kind-of sore, and my nose was stuffed up, and I got this cough. I'm one of those people who almost never get sick, so getting sick in Disney was like the most horrible thing that could have happened to me. That being said, I was not so sick that I didn't go to the parks. I did however stop following my schedule of being at parks at park opening, and staying until park closing. I also started missing some ADRs. Some of which I felt really horrible about missing, but I just felt that I wouldn't of been able to eat anything, and it would of been a waste.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

After a sleepless night, and a breakfast-less morning, I still somehow managed to make it to Epcot at opening. I love Soarin, and wanted to ride it as many times as possible, and I knew the only way to do that was to be there at opening, and at this point I still believed whatever I had would just go away in a day or two.

I was hungry by lunch time, but didn't really feel like eating. I considered skipping my ADR, but then decided to go anyway, and just pick at whatever I decided to order.

I had a short wait. My ADR was for 12:00, and I was not seated until 12:05. Not that I really cared about five minutes.

I realized something this day. For the most part, French boys are really hot, and have the cutest accents. My server, was Aurelien. He was very pleasant.

For my appetizer, I ordered the lobster bisque. Soup seemed like a good idea, with my throat hurting I really didn't feel like eating anything that would require chewing.

I was served a roll. It was good, but me being in my non-chewing state, ate very little of it. I was offered another, but of course, I declined.

The lobster bisque was good, better then the one I had at Coral Reef last year, which up to this point is the only Disney seafood type bisque I had to compare it to besides the crab soup at Boma, which is above excellant. So this was better then Coral Reef's bisque, but nowhere near as incredible as Boma's crab soup. That may have been the best soup I ever had, that, and the cheddar cheese soup at Le Cellier, and the butternut squash soup at Citrico's. I could write a whole review on why Disney has some of the best soups ever.

Although my throat still hurt, like that had gone away in the last ten - fifteen minutes, the soup did make me feel a little better. And although I could of also probably gotten away with just the soup as my lunch, I had been looking foward to the tarte a la flamme alsacienne. Since I had wanted that since I had booked my ADR here, (way back in June,) my common sense went out the window, and I ordered it anyway.

Tarte a la flamme alsacienne is a flatbread topped with creme fraiche, (which, for those of you who don't know, is soured milk,) bacon, and onions.
It was very good, though I thought there was a little too much onion on it. I really liked the crust, taste-wise anyway, it was very crispy, which usually I would of loved, except with my throat, made it almost painful to eat. I managed to eat about a third of it.

I was debating weather or not to let my common sense go out the window again, and order dessert, when I actually looked out the window and saw Belle and Aurora coming out of the back and saw they were going to do meets and greets. I hadn't seen Aurora yet this trip, so wanted her picture, so I got out of there quickly, and was able to see her and Belle.

So I liked Chefs de France, even though I know I would have been able to enjoy it better had my throat not been bothering me.

 

[Lostgirlz]

Wow, great review so far. We leave in 27 days, and I am going to have to remember the flat bread at Cali Grill, and the crab Soup at Boma although I am not sure if it's on the menu the night we have dinner which is a thursday night. Also must remember the lobster at chefs. It all looks great.

 

[SassyLassy]

I realized something this day. For the most part, French boys are really hot, and have the cutest accents. oui, oui Madame. Les hommes français sont vraiment mignons ! (trans: Yes, french men are really cute! Plus it's one of the few places I can practice my french since no one in my party does......I love that the french waiters humor me!

For my appetizer, I ordered the lobster bisque. Soup seemed like a good idea, with my throat hurting I really didn't feel like eating anything that would require chewing.

Although my throat still hurt, like that had gone away in the last ten - fifteen minutes, the soup did make me feel a little better.

The bisque looks so delicious. I hope to try it next time! Sorry that your throat was sore! The soup was probably the best choice and Im sure that you were glad that you didn't cancel!

Thanks for the gret reviews!

 

[jakenjess]

Your flatbread looks fabulous! Thanks for the pics!

 

[MA pigletfan]

excellent pics and reviews! i was very curious about what that red bean ice cream was all about...were there bits of bean in it at all?

 

[disneyfav4ever]

excellent pics and reviews! i was very curious about what that red bean ice cream was all about...were there bits of bean in it at all?

Yes, there were bits of bean. Like I said, it was nutty flavored, but it looked like strawberry ice cream, except with pieces of beans instead of strawberry. LOL. It wasn't bad, though I probably wouldn't order it again, it was a little to odd for me.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I had felt well enough running around Epcot all afternoon, but I was ready for a relaxing sit-down meal that night, even if I didn't really feel like eating much.

I had, just before leaving Epcot for the Dolphin, used a Soarin FP that had a return time of 4:30, so I had to rush to International Gateway. I had intended to walk, to avoid waiting for a boat, but luckily there was a boat just pulling up, so I was able to take that to the Dolphin.

I just made it to the Dolphin at 5:00, which was my ADR time, and I was able to find Blue Zoo quickly, since it was right inside the doors.

I was seated almost right away, at 5:05. I must say, they make a spectacle of being seated, and placed my napkin in my lap for me. Which I'm sure is the way it is done in fancy restaurants, though I rarely eat at any.

As much as I love fancy-gourmet food, I am not a fancy person. So when I go out at home, a good Italian place is Olive Garden, and a good seafood place is Red Lobster, throwing in a few local places for good mix. But, I'm not one of those people who go into the city, (I'm less then an hour away from Philly,) and get all dressed up for a fancy dinner.

So Disney is my favorite place to dine. Besides the almost always excellant service, and good, if not great, food, I never feel the need to dress up. I enjoy knowing that the most I have to dress up is a pair of nice capris and a nice top, and that is the norm. With the exception of Victoria and Albert's, which I do hope to experience one day.

After I had been seated I was greeted by my server, Paul, almost immediatly. He was excellant. He quickly took my drink order, recommending the Blue Zoo special drink, the Zooberry Martini, which he said was made with blueberry-infused vodka. I love berries of all king, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc, and I remember reading a review awhile back, which I believe was written by Mister Disney, saying that it was good, so I ordered that along with a glass of water.

Paul also went over the appetizer selections, explaining that they sold clams by the half shell, which I skipped, I don't care for raw clams, and usually will only eat them fried or in clam chowder. He also mentioned they were selling crab claws by the piece that night, which I didn't get, but looking back now, I'm not sure why. Must of been my throat. I do enjoy crab legs when we have them here at home, which is only once every couple of months.

What I did order was the teppan seared jumbo sea scallops, and the yellowfin tuna tartare. Which, according to Paul were two of Todd English's specialities. The scallops are the special appetizer at Blue Zoo, and the tuna tartare is the special at Olive's. So I felt good about my choices.

After my order was taken I was served bread. This was my one dissapointment of the night. I had heard many, many, great things about Blue Zoo's bread basket, featuring three different types of bread. But, I only got one kind, so I was sad not to be able to try the other two.

The bread was served with fennel butter, which I didn't really like that much. I like flavored butters, and I don't mind fennel, but for whatever reason I really didn't care for this.

I was served the tuna tartare first. The tuna was wrapped in cucumber, on top of crispy-fried rock shrimp, and had an orange glaze and a scallion cream.

It was good, though a bit more spicy then I had expected. I remember thinking to myself that it would clear my throat up, lol. My favorite part of the dish were the shrimp.

After I had finished my tuna, or almost finished, I can only eat so much raw fish. I was served the seared sea scallops. They were on top of braised beef short ribs and silky cauliflower puree.

These were excellant. I'm not a huge scallop fan, and only have them once in awhile, and while they were very good, it was the short ribs that really stood out. And also, the sauce, which I'm not quite sure what was in it, was very good with it.

After that it was time for dessert. I had looked at the menu before entering the restaurant, and while my original choice back home would of been the sampler, I had switched to either the molten chocolate cake, which had a lot of Asian sounding accompianments, or the creme brulee bar. When I recieved the dessert menu, it was different then the one outside the restaurant, there was still a molten chocolate cake on the menu, but the accompianments had changed, so I ordered the creme brulee bar.

Paul was quick to explain that this was not a traditional creme brulee, and instead was a layered bar thing with different layers, which had a caramelized top, hence the name, creme brulee bar.

The bottom of the bar was a lemon shortbread cookie, then there was a layer of custard, a layer of raspberry jam, for lack of a better word, and then the caramelized top. It also came with a shot glass of some kind of raspberry liquor.

This is one of the best desserts I had all week. I tried a forkful of it with the raspberry liquor, and that made it taste a bit to bitter for me. But it was excellant nontheless. I'm so glad I ordered this over the chocolate cake though I'm sure that would of been wonderful as well.

So I really liked Blue Zoo. The service was excellant, and the food was very good. I had felt better then I had at lunch, and had I been in my normal state, I would probably have said I love Blue Zoo. I will definatly be returning, though they don't use the DDP, so I won't make it back here in 2007. They also don't accept the DDE, not that I'm complaining, it was worth it, but two appetizers, a drink, and dessert cost me $60.

I hate to say I'm going to skip it due to the lack of DDP, but another meal on top of the one's I'm already going to be getting with the DDP, would be too much. Plus with the DDP, I'm going to need meals open to make use of the CS credits, which I'm actually looking foward to trying lots of new CS restaurants, since I usually eat at mainly TS.

Also, a note about my pictures. For whatever reason I was having trouble with the flash on my camera, so some of them were dark, and it wasn't until the scallops that my flash started cooperating with me again.