We are back early tonight because of the dumb rain...we wanted to stay out late but it is just miserable outside so we are back in the room and relaxing, digesting from tonights dinner at California Grill.
We left our room and went to the bus stop at 4:45...within minutes the bus for MK pulled up, we are the only ones on it...the driver said "so where are you going to dinner because you are too dressy for MK!" I told him Cali Grill and he said get the pork....funny because the doorman at POFQ main lobby said the same thing.
The thunder and lightening was going but no rain yet. We checked in at the 2nd floor podium, requested a window seat. We were brought up to the 15th floor, lots of people in the lounge area and at 5:35 we were all seated. We had a fantastic window seat with a view of the GF, the monorail line, the Castle and such...except it was getting ready to storm big time.
Our server was Erika and she was wonderful...great service at Cali Grill...we felt spoiled!
DH started with a sparkling wine, I have no idea why he likes sparkling the best but this one was very dry and too bitter for me but he enjoyed it. Roederer Sparkling Brut, Anderson Valley
Thanks to TinkerBelle_325 for recommending Conundrum...I had a glass of that and it was wonderful!
Out came the bread and butter, the butter is room temp with rock salt on top...very creamy rich wonderful REAL butter! The bread was a warm mild sourdough and we loved it...I could have had 2 baskets of that stuff....DH said sure beats Soda Bread huh!
The starters were a huge problem for us, did I want to try sushi (Todd said UH NO THANK) and did I want a flatbread (Todd said he wasnt FEELING the flatbreads) and would the risotto be too filling...well my beloved ordered a .... wait for it... FREAKIN CAESAR SALAD...dude what the heck? We are at Cali Freakin Grill and you order a salad? He looked at me and said "Did you just meet me?" So the boy ordered his lame salad ... except it was excellent. I practically begged to try it and it was awesome, so much flavor, so fresh...it was wonderful.
Now I had a tough choice to make because I wanted sushi, flatbread, the lobster risotto and the shrimp salad but I decided on the lobster risotto with midnight moon goat cheese, lobster oil and meyer lemon beurre blanc. This was great but you get maybe 3 tablespoons of food....DH said it tasted rich, I thought it was very good, not too rich, not too salty and there was a lot of lobster pieces in it. I had to resist the urge to get more bread and sop up all the wonderful sauce...hey I am Italian, we eat with a fork in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other!
So I knew I was going to order the Grilled Pork Tenderloins with Goat Cheese Polenta, Button Mushrooms and Zinfandel Glaze. The pork is cooked medium and is literally melt in your mouth tender, the polenta was super creamy and had a wonderful tangy rich taste...went perfect with the pork. The zinfandel glaze was amazing, it was the best sauce I have ever had with pork. DH had the mushrooms and he said they were great. DH loved my pork...but wasnt keen on the medium part so he ate the edges and I ate the wonderful middle. This was a huge amount of food, 3 huge portions of pork!
DH had the Oak Fired Filet of Beef with Cheesy Idaho Potato Mash, Buttered Asparagus and Teriyaki BBQ Sauce. I told him to order it medium, the boy prefers his steak gray but on this single occassion he actually listened to me...first time for everything I guess! The filet came out med-rare, my favorite but he shocked me by eating some of it! The potatoes were great, the asparagus was wonderful but the teriyaki bbq sauce ruined the filet...it was just too smokey tangy for the filet but DH said it reminded him of the BBQ Maple Filet from Le Cellier..he was happy BUT he said the pork was clearly the winner of the best entree award. Next time we would order it without the sauce
Dessert anyone? Of course and this time I made DH get a different dessert than me so we could try more things! Again he listened! He had coffee, I stuck to water.
I ordered the Black Walnut and Chevre Cheesecake, it was so light, so flavorful, the berries were fresh and delish, the raspberry coollie was tart and sweet and the perfect twist to the cheesecake...I think I had 2 bites and Todd's fork made it to my plate and I lost custody of my dessert.....he ate cookie and said it was like a nut brittle and he ate my chocolate stick and said it was a great chocolate...not waxy at all....wish I could experience it!
DH ordered the Valrhona Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Ice Cream. It is served warm and the ooey gooey thick chocolate spills out all over the plate. It was fantastic. The strawberry ice cream was very mild, not too sweet and it was pretty creamy. The cake itself was great, I am not a chocolate fiend like DH is but I enjoyed it alot, I guess I had to since he commandeered my choice of dessert....just kidding you guys, nuttin but love for the boy!
Total with the TIW card was $159...a little much but oh goodness so worth it! DH said to put it on the list for Oct but he was quick to remind me that Jiko filet was still on the top so we have to make sure to go back there too. We had a very relaxing, wonderful fun dinner...but the rain killed the rest of our evening..now DH is snoring away, I am typing away and wondering if I should spike his food with NO DOZE so I can experince WDW! Oh well it is only day one and I know he is just dead tired...I will not complain anymore
For all of you that told me Cali Grill was awesome, a huge THANK YOU! You were all so right!