Escape Reception - Need Help Choosing!!

[MeeshKapeesh]

So after hours of reading the boards and counter researching with www.yelp.com, I've weeded down reception sites to the following

*Portobello
*California Grill in a Private Room
*Jiko
*Citricos
*Raglan Road
*Les Chefs de cafe
*Kona Cafe
*Victoria and albert

So here are our considerations:
*Mid day - Early Dinner reception
*Private room or generous grouping in Restaurant
*Can accomodate 30+ people (includes 10 children)
*Kid friendly - or can tolerate kids
*BAR BAR BAR
*Can accomodate simple table centerpiece
*Wedding colors are PINK & GOLD - so I'm trying not to clash with decor... hoping to complement my colors.


I think that's about it... At this point, I dont have a budget in mind. I've never been to ANY of these... so I'm hoping everyone else can tell me which would work and what to avoid.

Thanks in Advance!!

 

[honey2741]

I am SO looking forward to everyone chiming in. I'm in the same boat. There is another Disney bride who is holding her reception at the Swan and/or Dolphin hotel. The private rooms there are beautiful depending on which locale you choose.

 

[dhay]

We had ours at V&A December 5 2008 in the private room so I can only talk to that. They only do 5:30pm ish seatings and 9:00pm ish seatings. With the private room the times are not very flexible. They are $175 per person. They do not allow kids, but allowed my niece and nephew since we booked before they institued that rule, and they made it clear if they musbehaved they would have to leave.

It was the 2nd time I ate there and it was amazing. If the time, price, and everythign else works out I would highly reccomend them. Our guests thought it was one of the best meals they ever had. I am glad we had our meal there.

 

[dhay]

And the room only holds 21 people.
We had our welcome meal at Citricos and it was very good. They have different menus and we picked the $70 per person option. So I could recc them too. We did not have a room there. Just a big table in the restaurant.

 

[MeeshKapeesh]

Thanks for the quick response... I'm still looking and researching...

 

[disprincessatheart]

We did Narcoossees for ours - not on your list though. I did see a party at CG when DH and I ate there and it looked great. They had a completely private room and we heard music coming from there. THey had a fantastic view of Wishes.

For anyone that is interested, Narcoossee's would work - they put us in the upper section - separated by a railing only - but we felt like we were separated enough to not have people walking by. The kids were more than welcome and the food was outstanding and we were right next to the bar, though our waiters served all the drinks.

We had custom menus (printed with our names, but we didn't choose the food) and all the adults were $65ppn including appetizers, soup/salad, entree and desserts. We loved it.

 

[GrimGrinningVal]

From personal experience, I know that at Jiko's and Citricos you can do a lunch buyout. Jiko is beautiful, with brown and gold accents. They have a nice semi-private room and a great wine selection. I love the menu offerings; last time I was there for dinner they had a great bean soup, and a bbq chicken pizza appetizer.