Doesn't this make you mad? Menu change!

[Simba's Mom]

My favorite meal at WDW was the maize crusted halibut at Jikos-now the newest menu doesn't list it, but it does list maize crusted sturgeon. That better taste just like halibut! Then I got to thinking, it seems like so often when you make ADRs at a resturaunt, looking forward to having a particular thing, they go and change the menu and discontinue that item before you get there. At Chefs de France, they discontinued the skewer of scallops, etc. at least at lunch, when we have our ADRs in 3 weeks. Last year when I made ADRs at Coral Reef, I couldn't wait to have the swordfish that was on the menu. Naturally, they came out with a new menu just before my trip and you guessed it-no more swordfish! And at Spoodles, I'm not sure the sweet potato fries are a regular thing anymore. Grrrrr!

 

[java]

Some change more frequently than others- I know Coral Reef changes seasonally so I don't "expect" anything there. Same goes for many of the hotel restaurants(Jiko one of them) But I hear you. If they ever take that Mahi Mahi off the Kona menu- oh I don't even want to think about it.

 

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

Hey I feel exactly the same - I was sooooo looking forward to that halibut this summer. You're right, that sturgeon had better taste EXACTLY like halibut!!

 

[PoohsFan1]

I too agree with you. We made ADRs to Coral Reef for June just to have the Swordfish, and I just discovered that they changed the menu on us. Now I will have to find something similar I guess.

 

[spereira]

I order that meal all the time and I have had it with Sturgeon, Halibut and Monkfish...They change the fish often but keep the basic concept of the meal the same...Trust me when I say it is great with either fish...Do not be disappointed you will love it!!!

 

[JESW]

The same thing happened to me! The first time we went there I had NO IDEA what to order so I asked our server for ideas and that is what she suggested and I LOVED it! I have had it 3x so far and was all ready to have it again in less than two weeks. I will try the sturgeon and let you know!

Jill

 

[GrumpyOne]

I hope you're exaggerating. Mad? Actual anger over that? I understand a bit of frustration though, I felt the same way when I found out Akershus was now a character meal. Another good restaurant unavailable.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I wouldn't be mad. Restaurants change their menus, some more then others. I don't see some items ever dissapering, like the cheddar cheese soup at Le Cellier, but if everything stayed the same forever, I'd get bored with it sooner or later. I try to try something new each time I eat out, at Disney or anywhere else.

 

[Katiebell]

Sometimes restaurants change their menus due to cost, sometimes it's due to better quality of ingredients, or better supply of ingredients, or keeping the menu fresh and new, using what's in season, etc. Sometimes it's for a totally different reason. Don't know if this has anything to do with it, but I looked up why a restaurant might choose sturgeon over halibut. I ran across a site on eco-friendly seafood choices. Two on the "good" list were Alaskan halibut and farmed sturgeon. Two on the "bad" list were Atlantic halibut and wild sturgeon. It's possible that rather than serve frozen Alaskan halibut, or serve the ecologically bad choice of fresh Atlantic halibut, the chefs made a menu change to farmed sturgeon.

I first heard about ecologically friendly seafood when dining in Monterey, CA, when I read why some dishes had been removed from a menu. Of course everyone has heard of "dolphin-safe" tuna -- which means no intentional chasing, netting or encirclement of dolphins during an entire tuna fishing trip, no use of drift gill nets to catch tuna, etc. The change to sturgeon might be to serve fresh, rather than frozen fish, and also to make a more environmentally sound choice -- which would seem to be especially under public scrutiny at AK. No clue if that's the reason, but it's certainly possible.

 

[WDWHeather]

It does make me angry too!!
We went to Garden Grill religiously every year and we came back one year and the menu was completely different. They didn't even have things served family style anymore. We said we would never go back! Then we heard that they went back to serving food family style so we got excited! We went that year and the food was definitely not the same as it was in the past when we went every year. We're probably never going back.
I understand exactly what you mean!

 

[CdnDisneyFan]

Since I am a crab lover, I was looking forward to trying the soft shell crab sandwich at LeCellier that someone had a picture of in the food porn thread, but alas, they don't serve that anymore, which is a bummer.

Jules

 

[SauceBoss]

Why in the world would anyone be mad that a restaurant changes their menu? If you are making ARD's 180 days before you travel, chances are most menu's will change more than once before you get there anyway.

Best advice I can give you is find the restaurants you like - if they have a good chef and good service, chances are you'll have a good meal.

Menu's change, markets change and product availability changes as well. These are just a few reasons that restaurants change their menu's. Every WDW restaurant has a few "signature" offerings that will never go away, for example - the Potato Wrapped Snapper at the Flying Fish Cafe and the Goat Cheese Ravioli at the California Grill.

This is also the reason that WDW doesn't put menu's on their websites. The websites where most menu's are found are unofficial and usualy not up to date.

Halibut, for example has a season that lasts only 5 months. Monkfish, Swordfish and Chilean Sea Bass are over-fished and most restaurants choose not to sell them. Foie Gras... some say it's cruel treatment of animals. And Salmon is more common than chicken, so some chefs tend to try other offerings so every restaurant won't have the same menu.

Don't worry - the food at Jiko, Spoodles, Coral Reef and Kona Cafe will still be wonderful. Just go and have a good time, I'm sure you'll find something ion their menu that you'll like, maybe even find a new favorite.


Cheers

 

[Leota]

Why in the world would anyone be mad that a restaurant changes their menu? If you are making ARD's 180 days before you travel, chances are most menu's will change more than once before you get there anyway.

Best advice I can give you is find the restaurants you like - if they have a good chef and good service, chances are you'll have a good meal.

Menu's change, markets change and product availability changes as well. These are just a few reasons that restaurants change their menu's. Every WDW restaurant has a few "signature" offerings that will never go away, for example - the Potato Wrapped Snapper at the Flying Fish Cafe and the Goat Cheese Ravioli at the California Grill.

This is also the reason that WDW doesn't put menu's on their websites. The websites where most menu's are found are unofficial and usualy not up to date.

Halibut, for example has a season that lasts only 5 months. Monkfish, Swordfish and Chilean Sea Bass are over-fished and most restaurants choose not to sell them. Foie Gras... some say it's cruel treatment of animals. And Salmon is more common than chicken, so some chefs tend to try other offerings so every restaurant won't have the same menu.

Don't worry - the food at Jiko, Spoodles, Coral Reef and Kona Cafe will still be wonderful. Just go and have a good time, I'm sure you'll find something ion their menu that you'll like, maybe even find a new favorite.


Cheers

ITA -

I just posted this on another thread. I actually would like to see more changes in the menus. Good food is a result of good ingrediants. Ingrediants have seasons. Like SauceBoss said, markets change & flucuate. I want Chefs to be able to be creative & have fun with food because then I know I'm going to get the best out of them. When I was working in the business, my favorite places to be were Du Marche or "Of the Market". I know Disney is too big of a company to ever be truly Du Marche but the closer they can come to that the better of we guests are.

Here's another thought - most real world restaurants don't have their menus posted on fan sites for you to choose your meal 6 monthes in advance.The exceptions being the dreaded chains. What do you do then? Don't you just read the menu when you arrive & choose from there? If you can't make a decision, then JESW has some great advice - ask your server. They know what's best & freshest.

Some of the best restaurants I have ever eaten at don't even have a menu. The Chefs make several options from what is freshest & best that day & Viola! You have yourself a meal made in heaven.

Choose a restaurant based on it's genre & it's reputation. Go, enjoy discovery & the inspiration. Trust the Chefs to do their jobs & give you the best made with the best.

 

[Angela Kay]

A few years back, 50's PT had Peppercorn Chicken...which was absolutley fabulous. The next year, it was gone. I still miss it.

 

[Katiebell]

SauceBoss and Leota...beautifully said, couldn't agree more The best chefs can take whatever ingredients are the freshest, most plentiful, best seasonal quality, and make something delicious. I love to try new menu offerings...always an adventure!

For old recipes that are gone from menus and people miss them for nostalgia's sake, a lot of those recipes can be found on the web and you can recreate the dish at home. Just ask, and someone may be able to find it for you -- maybe in an old WDW cookbook. And you can try asking at the restaurant, too -- the chef there may have worked there long enough to remember that recipe, or have it on file somewhere

 

[Luv4Disney]

DF was upset when the surf and turf was taken off Le Cellier's menu.

 

[PoohsFan1]

When we went to Coral Reef a couple years ago, I kept raving about the Lava cake dessert that they have. The waitress was so kind that she printed off a copy of the receipe to take home with me. I have yet to make it myself, but I kept thinking, how many times does a wait staff go out of their way and do something like that....I Love Disney

 

[PoohsFan1]

SauceBoss and Leota...beautifully said, couldn't agree more The best chefs can take whatever ingredients are the freshest, most plentiful, best seasonal quality, and make something delicious. I love to try new menu offerings...always an adventure!

For old recipes that are gone from menus and people miss them for nostalgia's sake, a lot of those recipes can be found on the web and you can recreate the dish at home. Just ask, and someone may be able to find it for you -- maybe in an old WDW cookbook. And you can try asking at the restaurant, too -- the chef there may have worked there long enough to remember that recipe, or have it on file somewhere

When we went to Coral Reef a couple years ago, I kept raving about the Lava cake dessert that they have. The CM was so kind that she went in the back and printed off a copy of the receipe for me to take home, I didn't know they could do this sort of thing. It really makes me appreciate the CMs because they go out of their way to make a vacation as magical as they can possibly make it...I Love Disney