I've decided to start splitting the lunch and dinner reviews since now we're going to be dealing with 3 appetizers, entrees and desserts. Yachtsman was the first meal with my mom, and also our first meal on the DxDDP. It being this trip, there were some hiccups...
When my mom arrived at OKW, we discovered she had a flat tire. We called AAA, and when the guy got there, he found that our spare was flat, too! Argh. The transportation gods have truly turned their backs on us... or have they? After ambling over to the HH to get a cab, one of the nice bellmen offered to drive us to the Yacht Club in a company car. Well woohoo! That beat a smelly ol' cab any day!!
We arrived at the Yachtsman a bit early for our ADR, but of course you always have to wait there, so we were lucky to snag a table in the Crew Cup Lounge. Mom and Mike ordered water, while I ordered some sort of hazelnut martini thingie. It's on the universal menu now found in nearly all WDW bars...
My drinkie and me.
We didn't have to wait long before we were buzzed. We'd requested a table by the window if at all possible, and we were lead straight to a perfect table right by the window! We had a lot of good-table pixie dust to make up for the bad-transportation... um... witch dust? Anyway. Our servers were Said and John, and they were both excellent. We started with the bread...
My favorite is the sweet onion roll with the delicious creamy butter and the roasted garlic. Mom likes the sourdough with butter and garlic. Mike liked the sourdough, also, but he chose not to try the garlic - he said he doesn't like garlic "plain" like that, but I'm not sure he's ever had roasted garlic. Oh well, more for Mom and me!
On to appetizers... I chose the chilled seafood salad with lemon creme fraiche and avocado cream...
Wow. So fantastic. This actually reminds me a lot of an appetizer they used to have at Flying Fish that was lobster with lemon creme fraiche and frisee; it was very similar in presentation. This dish surpasses that because they add crab and shrimp. It was cool, sweet and delicious. The creme fraiche had just a hint of lemon, and the avocado cream added a nice "green" taste. Wonderful.
Mike went with the cheese plate...
Ok, er, I don't remember which cheese was which.
The top two were bleu, and I believe the second from the top was Humbolt (sp!!) Fog. The next one was a smokey cheddar, and the last one was creamy and... yum. Just plain yum. The top one was served with brandied pear compote, then there was... we can't remember... we think black currant, then an almond cookie, and then cherries. The toast is fig anise. The first cheese was, to me, only edible with liberal amounts of the brandied pear. Mike's favorite was the smoky cheddar; he liked it on the Yachtsman's sourdough. I liked the last one the best smeared on the fig anise toast with some of the cherries.
This was the first of 2 cheese plates Mike ordered on the trip, and I really enjoyed them. I've always been the type of person who likes cheese *in* my food, but not just... as *cheese*. Eating cheese like this, with carefully selected accompaniments, made a huge difference. Now I crave cheese. It's a disease. We should start a club.
Moving on... Mom ordered the fried rock shrimp with sweet chili sauce
That's a lotta shrimp! This dish was... well, it wasn't as good as it should have been. The shrimp were a bit too chewy, and when they said "sweet" chili sauce, they were not lyin. I would've liked a bit more spice and a bit less sweet, and I think my mom agreed. This almost felt like a throw-away dish to me. It was enjoyable, but not fantastic.
For our mains, I ordered the ribeye...
Ok, lemme preface this by saying this was a *wonderful* steak by anyone's standards. It was cooked beautifully and it was full of flavor. Having said that, though... have you ever gone to a restaurant you really enjoy, and instead of ordering your favorite item, you decide to branch out? That's what I did here by ordering the ribeye instead of the filet, and while I enjoyed the ribeye, I kinda wish I'd stuck to my old favorite. It's a favorite for a reason. The filet just *is* my cut of meat. I wouldn't want anyone to take that as a discouragement from ordering the ribeye, though - it was very tasty, and I enjoyed the horseradish mashed potatoes.
Mom and Mike both ordered the filet...
They both got the brandy peppercorn sauce instead of the red wine sauce. Two of Mike's favorite foods are steak and pepper, so he was in heaven. Mom thought the sauce was just a bit *too* peppery, but Mike loved it. He said the steak just melted in his mouth, and it went perfectly with the pepper in the sauce and the hint of brandy. He didn't say a word through the entire meal, and ate every bite. From then on, every steak he had was compared to this one, and he emailed his mom that the best steak in the world was at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. I think we have a winner!
Time for dessert!! I ordered the grand marnier strawberries...
It was served with lemon cornbread with white chocolate gelato, and overall I really enjoyed it. I liked the lemon-corn flavor of the cornbread (that sounds very odd, but it was delicious), and the orangy flavor the liquor gave the strawberries. The first of many strawberry desserts I had this trip.
Mike ordered the... chocolate trio, I think it was called...
From left to right we have a passion-fruit filled chocolate cake dome, banana chocolate mousse, and a sort of chocolate lava souffle/cake. The passionfruit dome was *sour*. Mike, the stinker, innocently offered me a bite, and my mouth nearly turned inside out. My mom liked it the best of the three of us, but even she agreed it was a bit too sour. Mike doesn't like banana, so I ate most of the banana chocolate mousse. The chocolate lava cake was a big hit, though: very warm and moist, with that oozy chocolate center. Plus, isn't the presentation pretty??
Mom ordered the heirloom apple tart...
It was served with caramel gelato, which she said went very well with the tart. It wasn't very sweet, so the gelato was able to add a nice sweetness to the dessert. She really enjoyed this and ate every bite... Mike and I didn't get any...
Overall: We love the Yachtsman. Time and again it proves to be one of our favorite meals on the trip, and Mike rated his steak here as the best entree he had on the whole trip. Great service, great atmosphere, fantastic food. What could be better??