This dinner was much anticipated after reading some pretty good dining reviews here on the Disboards.
It had been raining pretty hard for most of the afternoon so before heading out of the hotel for the short walk to Epcot we purchased a couple rain ponchos at the Beach Club Marketplace.
Even with the rain and walking through puddles, we made it to the restaurant 20 min. early for our 7:55 dining time and waited less than 5 minutes before we were seated. But wait, before we were escorted to our table a nice Cast Member offered to take our photo.
You can see that despite our ponchos we were still a bit water logged!!
This restaurant is so unique in the theming.... it really feels like you are underseas with the dim lighting, the blue tile floor with the blue ceiling and the entire expanse of one wall of restaurant being the aquarium. Oh, and the jelly fish looking light fixtures were very whimsical.
Our table was a small two top right next to the aquarium – score! The tables are arranged in tiers facing the gigantor aquarium. One really cool thing they do is provide a "fish guide" that describes the various fish in the aquarium. It is yours to keep. I didn't notice any killer sharks described in the guide so I have no idea what type of sharks were in the aquarium but it was interesting dining with these critters!!!
Our waiter, Matt from Bulgaria was excellent! He introduced himself and as with all of the wait staff around WDW asked if we were on the dining plan. Yes. Deluxe. I know, crazy huh now that we were officially staying Club Level?
So anyway....we placed our drink orders. This was the one time I encouraged my daughter to have something other than water. There were smoothie choices and some mocktails available. She ended up ordering a kid drink only because the light up Buzz looked cool! She ordered water in the drink cup so I was a bit annoyed that we had to pay full price for the cup with Buzz even though we were on the dining plan and she only got WATER!! But oh well Buzz must have made her happy!!
Enought about that now onto the important stuff....the food!!!
We were started with a basket of bread with a square of butter. The bread was nothing special but it was something to gnaw on before we got our meal started.
For our appetizers, Em and I both ordered the Caesar salad which was very good. It was very pungent from garlic and anchovy and there was plenty of fresh grated parmesean on top.
Em went with the waiter’s recommendation of the Mahi Mahi with ragu of rock shrimp.
Mahi Mahi w/shrimp ragu
I decided to try the New York Strip Steak since the lady at the table next to us had that on her plate and it looked really good. The steak was served with roasted potatoes and a small salad with tomatoes tossed in shallot vinaigrette.
NY Strip Steak
Em loved her Mahi Mahi – I had some and ate most of her shrimp. It was good. My steak was another story… it was definitely flavorful and cooked medium rare as I had requested. However, it was very tough in places and too much work to get a good tender bite. The roasted potatoes tasted like they had continually been roasted even after they were fork tender. They were tough and rather un-tasty! But on a positive note, the salad was fresh and flavorful.
Dessert was butterscotch crème brulee for me and the chocolate wave for Em. I’m not sure if my crème brulee tasted any different being butterscotch than any of the other crème brulees that I tried (other than obviously the chocolate version at California Grill) but it was good. I tried some of Em’s chocolate wave and it was way too chocolaty for me. She thought so too and didn’t finish it all. She said that she would order something different next time.
Chocolate wave:
Butterscotch creme brulee
Really, the best part of this experience was watching the fishes, the rays, and the sharks in the tank. I asked the waiter if any of the fish were dinner for the sharks. He said that the sharks are fed four times a day but occasionally they gobble up a little nemo or a flounder.
I think I’ve heard it mentioned before but being seated at the aquarium means that you have un-invited guests join you. Yes, there were some kids that came over to look at the fish up close and I even encouraged one little boy who had a camera to come closer to get his picture but he was polite about it and very thankful.
On the other hand…. There was a large dinner party across from us who were of the nationality for some of the obnoxious tour groups (I know, I know… not cool to be mean but it was an observation throughout our trip and I haven’t mentioned the other examples that will remain entombed in my brain!) It started with a teen girl and a toddler that had invaded our space and were watching the fish. Then they were joined by more kids until we had kids crawling on the ledge and it was beyond annoying at that point since they were on top of us. The parents had no cares – they were finishing their cocktails.
When our waiter delivered the bill I said that it was more than annoying at that point. Instead of saying something he had the restaurant Manager come over and deal with it. The Manager lady nicely told the kids that it was a safety issue with them sitting on the ledge and to please get down. They didn’t immediately disperse but eventually by the 2nd or 3rd pleading they moved away. So…. That was interesting.
The total bill was $100.78 before tip which I felt was over priced for the food but well, you throw in some sharks and rays and I’m willing to fork over the sweet moolah! We had 40 meal credits remaining.
Despite the food lacking an outstanding rating, I would still return if on the dining plan. With the inflated prices I would only feel that I was getting my money's worth if on the dining plan! But....it was good enough that we really enjoyed this dining experience especially with the excellent service and the ambiance.
Next Up: Club level offerings....
Can't wait to see how you handled 3 TS meals most days! DH and I will be doing DxDP with CL in November, but scheduled signature restaurants every day, so we'll be doing Breakfast/Early Dinner, or Early Lunch/Late Dinner each day, filling in with the CL and snack credits as needed...
I know you loved California Grill for the ambiance and I have to say that I completely agree. 
Hey, if work didn't interfere with my reviews, I could get through this faster!! 
