Doing It Deluxe, Indulgence for 14 Nights... With Pics!! **Update: CALIFORNIA GRILL**

[ChelleinNC]

Now I'm drooling The entire meal looked wonderful!

 

[Tinkerbell's Mom]

Took me 2 days at work to get through this and I loved every single bite of it! Your daughter is just the most adorable!

Looking forward to some more great reviews!

 

[Mocharilla]

Mmm... I'm signing up to join in! You guys went a lot of the same places we're going on our honeymoon with DxDDP next summer, so it's definitely good to read!

Great so far!

 

[BigGoofy44]

I love Italian food and that looked SOOOOOOOOOOO good. My jaw dropped when I saw the entrees. It's making me so hungry right now. I almost wish I didn't have to wait another year before our trip.

 

[KatMark]

Loving your reviews. I am sorry you did not enjoy LeCellier--we've been five times and have always had great service, both at lunch and dinner, and our filets have always been very flavorable. Glad you liked the Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake--it is my favorite in all of Disney. I will say we had never even considered trying 1900 Park Fare, but after reading your reviews and seeing the pictures, this one will have to be squeezed onto our list for next year--it looks yummy and two of my favorites are there--Pooh and Tigger.

 

[Minnie Squeaks]

TUTTO ITALIA, Dinner, 09-19-08



Our reservation time for dinner this evening was 8:30pm. We checked in a few minutes early. Our wait time to be called was 15 to 20 minutes. This restaurant was booked to capacity, walk-ups were being turned away, so we understood and didn't mind the wait at all. The waiting area was very full.

Our wait was not without some drama or entertainment from our surroundings. A woman was very upset with her husband was yelling at him, calling him names, and then proceeded to ram him with a stroller. This caused the packages to all tumble from the stroller, she also managed to bump someone else in the process and a drink hit the ground making a nice wet sticky mess right in the doorway! Well, as much as I dislike seeing unmagical moments, or finding other peoples misery fun.. this definitely helped to pass our wait time along a bit quicker. It also, got the attention of management, who quickly squelched the situation and cleaned up the mess. Wish I could have waved my wand and turned the evening into a magical one for them, but what can you do!

We had absolutely no idea what to expect here, but as you continue on, you will see....... We were not disappointed in the least!!

We felt very welcome here, it seemed we had actually stepped into Italy!



Roberto... our server knew exactly how to treat his customers. He used Italian terms and had fun helping us pronounce the menu items. He called JoJo..."Bella" and I think she was instantly romanticized by him and ready to get married. I had to tell her, he could not come home with us!

:

haha yeah the waiting time...that was just funny lol
and yes...his Italian accent

Took me 2 days at work to get through this and I loved every single bite of it! Your daughter is just the most adorable!

Looking forward to some more great reviews!

Thank you!

 

[TPCShauna]

Loving the reviews! It's amazing how many restaurants we are duplicating on our upcoming Dec. trip. We are also doing the DxDP so I have been quite interested in your choices.

I, too, booked 1900 Park Fare for the Mary Poppins breakfast. She is my all-time favorite Disney character and I will be heartbroken if she is not there. It never even dawned on me that they would sub her out with someone else. Now I have something else to worry about.

We are scheduled for a dinner at San Angel Inn on one of our Epcot days because I've always wanted to eat inside the pyramid. I must say however, that your Tutto pics are making me drool and wonder if I should change my ressie there.

Your family is lovely. Your daughter looks and sounds like quite the character.

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

 

[RebeccaDreamsDisney]

I am so disapointed I didn't get a ADR at Tuttos! I'll be in Disney Dec.2-8 but there are just too many good restaurants! I guess maybe next trip.
Love your review by the way!

 

[belle8306]

Thank You!! I will get to those pin trading tips for you as soon as I get the chance
::

Thank you! I am looking forward to it! I was so excited to read about Tutto Italia. We will be eating there one week from today! I am really considering the Bucatini Gratinati. Your discription made it sound so good! I can't believe the lady hit him with a stroller! She was not feeling the magic! I am looking forward to more!

 

[TigerKat]

We decided just a few days ago to add a couple of days onto our trip and I, of course, had to add more ADR's. I was so excited to have called yesterday and got Tutto for 11/14!!!! Thanks for the great review!

 

[World Bouncer]

Tutto is one of our favorite restaurants as well As a matter of fact we are eating there before we do the CP on Dec. 22

I love the calamari at Tutto. Where was your number 1 favorite calamari at WDW? We'll have to check it out.

Was the crab meat on the pasta canned crab meat or fresh?

Thanks again for the wonderful photos and review.

I think I have to say that Flying Fish was my favorite calamari, it has some with tentacles.

I hate to say that it was canned but this is a possibility?

Now I'm drooling The entire meal looked wonderful!

Took me 2 days at work to get through this and I loved every single bite of it! Your daughter is just the most adorable!

Looking forward to some more great reviews!

Thank you!

Mmm... I'm signing up to join in! You guys went a lot of the same places we're going on our honeymoon with DxDDP next summer, so it's definitely good to read!

Great so far!

Thank you and welcome!

I love Italian food and that looked SOOOOOOOOOOO good. My jaw dropped when I saw the entrees. It's making me so hungry right now. I almost wish I didn't have to wait another year before our trip.

some magic to help you through the next year

Loving your reviews. I am sorry you did not enjoy LeCellier--we've been five times and have always had great service, both at lunch and dinner, and our filets have always been very flavorable. Glad you liked the Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake--it is my favorite in all of Disney. I will say we had never even considered trying 1900 Park Fare, but after reading your reviews and seeing the pictures, this one will have to be squeezed onto our list for next year--it looks yummy and two of my favorites are there--Pooh and Tigger.

Thank You!

Loving the reviews! It's amazing how many restaurants we are duplicating on our upcoming Dec. trip. We are also doing the DxDP so I have been quite interested in your choices.

I, too, booked 1900 Park Fare for the Mary Poppins breakfast. She is my all-time favorite Disney character and I will be heartbroken if she is not there. It never even dawned on me that they would sub her out with someone else. Now I have something else to worry about.

We are scheduled for a dinner at San Angel Inn on one of our Epcot days because I've always wanted to eat inside the pyramid. I must say however, that your Tutto pics are making me drool and wonder if I should change my ressie there.

Your family is lovely. Your daughter looks and sounds like quite the character.

Thank you for sharing your experiences!

You're welcome, and thank you for the nice comments!

I am so disapointed I didn't get a ADR at Tuttos! I'll be in Disney Dec.2-8 but there are just too many good restaurants! I guess maybe next trip.
Love your review by the way!

Thank You!

Thank you! I am looking forward to it! I was so excited to read about Tutto Italia. We will be eating there one week from today! I am really considering the Bucatini Gratinati. Your discription made it sound so good! I can't believe the lady hit him with a stroller! She was not feeling the magic! I am looking forward to more!

We decided just a few days ago to add a couple of days onto our trip and I, of course, had to add more ADR's. I was so excited to have called yesterday and got Tutto for 11/14!!!! Thanks for the great review!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Next up... Wolfgang Puck Cafe

 

[DisneyJen]

I think I have to say that Flying Fish was my favorite calamari, it has some with tentacles.

I hate to say that it was canned but this is a possibility?

We haven't been to Flying Fish in awhile ... maybe we will have to stop in to try the calamari when we are at WDW in December or June. Thanks for the tip

It looked like canned crab to me. Just wondering how fishy it tasted.

 

[iluvpluto27]

Really enjoying your reviews and we also really liked Tutto when we ate there a few weeks ago.

 

[mickeysgirl17]

Tutto italia looks wonderful. I'll be there Dec. 6th for lunch. So excited!

 

[World Bouncer]

Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Lunch, 09-20-08

For a clarification since there is more than one location with the name Wolfgang Puck in it... this is the one located on the West Side of Downtown Disney, it is a Full Table Service location, that is included on the Disney Dining Plan and is a 1TS location, we were on the Deluxe plan so appetizers were included. Also, there are two separate dining areas at this location, downstairs(which is included in the dining plan), and the upstairs dining room(which is not included in the dining plan and has a separate menu).

Now if I haven't managed to help sort this out for you... then you are probably more confused LOL On with the show!

We went for a full day at Downtown Disney on this day.

A good amount of our day was spent at DisneyQuest, but it was very warm in there so we didn't stay as long as we really wanted to.

After hearing bad things about the greeters and service at this restaurant, we stopped in here on our first day of the trip to just feel it out. We went to the podium and asked some questions, and we were greeted with some of the nicest smiles and eagerness to help us out with our questions. So we were happy with the results and back we went on this day for our scheduled ADR.

Our reservation time was for 11:45am, we arrived and were seated immediately.

Our server politely explained to us that on the dining plan the sushi was restricted, you can only get it as an entree. A thing to remember here is if you do decide you want sushi, ask for the sushi menu, there is a much better selection and you may get the combos on the dining plan. We decided against getting the sushi here, but later we seen someone next to us get it and it looked wonderful! There were also some desserts if I remember right that were not available with the dining plan, but the selection that you could choose from was still very satisfying!

Mary & I finished off our dessert with a nice sweet glass of white wine... I will post the name of it later, when I figure out where we wrote it down.

Here is a bit of cheating and skipping ahead to the dessert pic with the wine.

The Bread
There were 2 types of bread in our basket, a softer one and a crispy flatbread crust with parmesan cheese cooked on it.

Appetizer

DD
Asian Style Vegetable Spring Rolls - Plum and Japanese mustard dipping sauces $9.95
A large portion, JoJo liked them and finished them off.

DW
Crispy Calamari - Montery Bay calamari, marinated English cucumber with sweet curry aioli $11.95
A very large portion, more than enough to share. There are no complaints about the flavor or the way this was cooked, it was being enjoyed very much...... then we found our extra object in there. This was then replaced but with crab cakes instead.

ME
Crab Cake - Sauteed Maryland Style crab cake with marinated tomato basil aioli, garnished with micro greens $14.95
Very good! I enjoyed all three of mine, then helped Mary with one of hers too! Plenty of crab and great flavor from the cooking style and sauce.

Entrees

DW
Macadamia Nut Crusted Breast of Chicken - Panko and macadamia nut crusted boneless breast of chicken, sho-yo cream, spice and garlic mashed potatoes $17.95
One of the only chicken dishes that was ordered as an entree on the whole trip, and let me tell you, she didn't go wrong with this decision! When we go back, this will most likely be ordered again!

ME
Grilled Flat Iron Steak with Truffle Butter - A great 10 oz flat iron steak with wild mushroom hash, truffle butter and crisp onion straws $24.95
I was very happy with my selection and wow, there was much more food on my plate than I thought there would be. Everything was seasoned well, the potatoes and mushrooms were delicious, the steak was done right and fairly tender, and the onion straws just finished this off perfectly. There was so much that the steak was gone but a bit of the sides were left behind.

DD
Chilean Salmon - Saffron whipped potatoes, asparagus and basil buter sauce $17.95
I tried this and thought that it was pretty good, but JoJo was not very happy with it. She ate it and enjoyed her meal, but didn't really care for the seasoning of this dish.

Desserts

DD
Cheesecake
Very good, creamy cheesecake and chocolate crust with berries and whipped cream, how can you go wrong! I do not like chocolate cheesecake because I think it drowns out the cheesecake flavor too much, but the combination here was great!

DW
Chocolate Ice Cream Mud Pie
What can I say about this..... a very good sized portion of chocolate lovers paradise!

ME
Classic Carrot Cake - Homemade cream cheese icing with candied pecans 7.95
The perfect sized piece of carrot cake heaven! The icing was wonderful and I just couldn't get enough of the mouth watering pecans! Sometimes when you order this at a restaurant you get the frozen Sara Lee style which just doesn't do it for me, but this was absolutely great!

Beverages
DD Milk
DW Coke
ME Cherry Lemonade

On the dining plan you may only get the typical soft drink fare here, but if you ask your server they will get you a flavored one... like the cherry lemonade.



Food & Beverage $ 153.14
Tax $ 9.96
Total $ 163.10



Service
Contrary to popular statements that the service here is horrible.... we found it to be just fine. We had not one complaint about the service. Smiles from everyone from the minute we walked in till when we left! Our server was very polite and helpful, making sure our needs were taken care of. We were not rushed at all. Not one glimpse of pretentious attitude the whole experience. A total effort by the management to make the meal pleasant.


Atmosphere
The restaurant itself is nothing special... basic table and chairs with some booth/bench seating. Some wear and tear can be noticed if you are looking for it, but kept very clean. The whole back wall is windows that overlook the water, request one of these tables for a nice view. We didn't feel crowded here at all, it seemed to have more space to move around than several of the locations we visited. This was a Saturday at lunch time and the restaurant was maybe half full.


Food
Most everything we tried here we liked very much. The portions are larger than what we expected and some portions were downright huge. The whole meal was brought in a timely manner, and served at the correct temperatures. We did run into one problem, there was a clip from a bag that had somehow found its way onto our calamari appetizer plate... we did not bother to tell our waitress about it, but immediately brought it to the attention of the manager... he quickly offered a new dish of our choosing, an apology, he comped us our choice of wine. We feel that this situation was handled professionally and satisfied our need for correction. The desserts were very good, they were yummy, but not too rich! The sushi bar which we did not get anything from on this visit looked awesome with a nice selection of offerings, including quail eggs and several types of roe. The was also a fair selection of wines to choose from here.

Overall
We enjoyed our experience here and have plans to return. The service and the food were good. I would suggest this restaurant to almost anyone. The menu offerings are wide ranged, from meatloaf and flatbreads to sushi and wienerschnitzel.

 

[Minnie Squeaks]

great review dad!

 

[dizneeat]

Thank you for the review of Wolfgang Puck's Cafe! I LOVE Wolfgang Puck's Express, but we have always shyed away from the WPC because of the bad reviews. I just put this on my list for our nest trip!!

 

[World Bouncer]

A picture of the Cherry Lemonade that I forgot to put in the review.

 

[mickeymotto]

What I would do for a piece of that carrot cake right now!!!!

 

[angelmav]

amazing reviews, I have really enjoyed, thank you so much for all the thought and effort you have put into this!