Food Porn & Other Stories: A Dining Review ~ 1/19-1/28/08

[Alice28]

Subscribing- fab job so far!

 

[princesstinkerbelle]

BTW...Honeybee...The Crystal Palace Review was soooooooooooo funny "Get my gun, Ma"...haha too much!
I, too, would feel guilty about eating the bacon infront of Piglet! I dont eat meat so it wouldn't be a problem for me but I would torment my family with that idea haha!

 

[suzimar57]

enjoying your reviews and photos!

 

[TarzansKat]

I thought of you this morning. My co-worker recently got back from Denmark and brought in this amazing chocolate. And she had leftovers from her daughter's shower this past weekend.

My breakfast? Chocolate and cheese danish.



Breakfast of champions!

I am DED over your comment about Piglet and eating pork products. I'm sure as a famous character, his innocence protects him from knowing of such atrocities.

 

[honeybee30]

By 4:30 or 5, we’d seen the sights at MK and were ready for a drink. Since we had an ADR at California Grill for 6pm, we thought we’d head over to the Contemporary and chill in the bar for a while until it was time to eat.

I think the Contemporary is such a b*tchin’ hotel. I don’t care if it does look like a giant toaster. I really dig on the whole Jetson’s vibe, and I would love to stay in a tower room with a view of the MK. Maybe next year! (But it’s highly unlikely…)

After disembarking the monorail, DGF made a beeline for the new gift shop in the middle of the Grand Canyon Concourse. Boy, was that shop chock full of morons! But we bought some pins anyway and then made our way over to the bar. First stop gift shop. Second stop bar. That’s just how we roll.

The Outer Rim is the lounge located on the 4th floor. It has lots of comfy chairs and a nice view of Bay Lake. They too have the standardized drink menu that I’ve seen at all the WDW hotels we’ve visited recently. So after perusing the menu for a few minutes, we both decided on a raspberry champagne cocktail. The bartender over there was very nice and tried to warn us about the price.

It won’t cheap….

But it tasted mighty fine!

Around 5:45, we checked in at the California Grill podium on the 2nd floor. I requested a table in the wine room, but I wasn’t complaining when we were seated at a table by the window in the main dining room with this gorgeous sunset taking place right outside.

We had a wonderful female server that night. She timed everything really well and anticipated our needs perfectly all night. Oh, I wish I could remember her name! Anyway, she promptly greeted us, took our drink order, and brought us bread.

Evian, Roederer Brut (the house sparkling wine), and delicious sour dough bread with olive oil:

If you haven’t already noticed, I’m a champagne freak! And since we were already drinking it before dinner, we figured, why stop now!?

We are also major Yoshi fans! (She’s the head sushi chef at CG and the foremost female sushi chef in the US, I believe.) And we were seriously craving some California rolls and shrimp tempura rolls, so we got a full order of each to share as an appetizer.

In case you are new to sushi, the California rolls are the ones to the outside of the picture. They are rolled in sushi rice and nori and then stuffed with jumbo lump crab, avocado, and cucumber. The tempura shrimp roll is the one in the middle, and it’s not listed on the regular menu. But it is phenomenal, so ask for it! That’s an order!

OMG, I could take a bath in those dipping sauces! Seriously, if I could eat one thing from WDW right now, it would be a platter of this sushi!

For our main courses, we tried something different. (I almost always get the pork tenderloin…) I had hand-crafted butternut squash ravioli in a brown butter sauce with what looks like a parmesan and sage garnish. I also seem to remember chanterelles and balsamic vinegar in there somewhere. Sorry, the menu at CG changes so frequently that I don’t have details in front of me.

But I do remember that it was fabulous!

DGF ordered the Seared Jumbo Day Boat Scallops with Farro Risotto, Roasted Wild Mushrooms, and Banyuls Reduction.

I know she loved this. I had a bite and the scallops were cooked perfectly!

Following the main course, we had a cheese course:

I know the menu’s kinda too small to read, so here’s a brief description of the cheeses included (left to right): “Coulommiers” – brie (buttery and wonderful); “Abondance” – semi-hard cow milk cheese from France (very swiss-like); “San Andreas” – raw sheep milk cheese from Cali (probably my least favorite); “Clochette” – a French raw goat milk cheese (my very favorite!); “Fourme d’ Ambert” – a blue cheese also from France (I really enjoyed this!). All went fabulously well with the pairings, especially the honeycomb with the blue cheese and the toast with the brie.

For dessert, we shared the Valrhona Chocolate and Orange, which is a warm chocolate cake with molten center and house-made orange sherbet with blood orange sauce. I’m pretty sure we had coffee, too

Can I tell you how much I love this dessert? It is so f-ing good! The cake is always moist, and it always tastes intensely like chocolate. Not just sweet. Know what I mean? CG always has some variation on this dessert. I’ve had it with coffee ice cream and peanut butter, too!

To cap off a perfect night, we watched the fireworks from the observation deck. I’ll let you in on a secret….. Go to the 2nd observation deck - the one past the front desk and down the hall by the bathrooms. No one ever goes out there. We were all alone with a perfect view of Wishes from the 15th floor of the Contemporary, while everyone else in the restaurant crowded out onto the 1st observation deck that connects to the restaurant.

I love seeing the fireworks from this vantage point. And they pipe in the music, too!

Sorry for the blurriness. No tripod, just too-much-wine-drinking, old me!

 

[TigerKat]

Champagne, Sushi, Vahlrona OH MY!!!!!!! I adore CG also.

I do need someone to educate me on cheese, ashamed to say I've never indulged in a cheese platter before.

 

[oybolshoi]

I do need someone to educate me on cheese, ashamed to say I've never indulged in a cheese platter before.

 

[girli565]

Champagne, Sushi, Vahlrona OH MY!!!!!!! I adore CG also.

I do need someone to educate me on cheese, ashamed to say I've never indulged in a cheese platter before.

Me too!

Also, and let me whisper this... I'm not a huge fan of cheese.

 

[FinallyDisney]

You write beautifully. Parts of your TR had me laughing out loud. It's also great to meet a fellow "vaca drinker". Who cares how much those raspberry champagne cocktails were? You were on vaca and they looked awesome. A little mean of you to give DGF all that rum and then make her participate in the AK dancing!!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[TarzansKat]

The meal at California Grill looks amazing. It so makes me want to go there on our upcoming trip, but I'm saving that and Citrico's for next year. DS is three, and I'd prefer to have one more year of toddler under our belt before we attempt those signature restaurants.

I am, however, completely contented to live vicariously through your trip report.

And, I'm with you on the champagne. I loooooove champagne, and that cocktail looked yummy!

 

[honeybee30]

Great reviews, I can't wait to read and see more!

Thanks for following along!

Great reviews!

Thank ya kindly!

Thankee, thankee! My major was Comparative Arts, which is just a fancy way of saying I couldn't decide what to major in. I just tell people Art History, because it's easy and doesn't provoke a blank stare. My thesis topic, just to be difficult, was the influence of French Impressionism on 19th century Japanese art.

Heather (aka DGF) can relate to that. She is a liberal studies major with a concentration in fine arts. And your thesis sounds pretty interesting to me! It can’t produce any more blank stares than my Master’s thesis did – the metaphor of the closet in the novels of Charlotte Bronte and Daphne du Maurier.

Great review so far!!!

Your pictures are great and your narrative is too!

Sorry you got sick during your vacation.

I'm looking forward to reading and seeing more of your adventures!

That’s very nice of you!

Getting sick was a bummer, but it’s no fun anywhere. I’d rather be at Disney, even with the flu!

Thanks for more great reviews. If you can't eat fries for breakfast on vacation, when can you?! I love eating inappropriate breakfast foods at Disney! I am looking forward to trying Yak & Yeti next year. I love that toppings bar at Pecos Bil, yum.

Laur's

I also frequently enjoy cookies for breakfast at WDW and sometimes even ice cream. Getting drunk before noon also a vacation favorite.

Another great post! So excited to see CP--your pictures were great! We decided to make CP our last meal on our trip. I really underestimated how big and beautiful it was inside. But seeing your pictures, makes me want to have some of that puffy french toast!

Sorry to hear that you guys were getting sick while there. Good to see that it didn't stop you though! That's true Disney dedication!

RE: The Host. I found it a little slow in the beginning, but I really got into it and I will say that I hope that it too will become a series. Go get it! You won't be disappointed! Oh, I'm having butterflies just thinking about it....Stephenie claims that its geared more for an adult reader, but I didn't find the stylings much different from the Twilight series. Have you seen some of the promo pictures from the movie? I'm not too thrilled about Edward, I wanted him to be a little more mature looking and brooding.

Waiting for the next installment....

Thanks! Crystal palace is really pretty. And the food is good too.

I must add The Host to my summer reading list. I read all 3 books in the Twilight series in under a month. Now I want to read them all over again! But I agree with you about the actor who plays Edward. In the stills I wasn’t too sure about any of the Cullens really. After seeing the previews, I like that actor a little better. He was Cedric Diggery (sp?) in Goblet of Fire so I was already familiar with him. Of course the film never lives up to the picture you create in your imagination!

I am on the fence with how I feel about Robert Pattinson (mostly because Henry Cavil was my DREAM Edward. After seeing the trailer I like him a little more than I used to. You are so lucky you will be in Disney when Breaking Dawn comes out!!! Two of the best things ever...Disney and Twilight!!! But I bet the Virgin Store is going to be a mad house!!! You should check because sometimes they will have a special event at midnight to celebrate the release.

As forMagiKitty you were mistaken...maybe you meant Jacob was your boyfriend!!! hahaha

August is definitely my month! I was also wondering if Virgin will do anything special. Heather manages a book store and they were going to do a midnight release party for Breaking Dawn, but now she’ll be in WDW with me, so I’m not sure if they’re still going to do it. We have a copy on reserve here at home, but you know I won’t be able to wait until the 11th to get my hands on it!

Loving your review as usual, yep Rum Runners can make me do all sorts of things too.... .

Sorry you felt rushed at Y & Y, food looked pretty good though, we're going for lunch on our next trip.

Crystal Palace - "Get my gun, ma" -

Can't wait for more!

Rum is my vacation drink, especially in warm locales. But I’m in big trouble here at home now too…my BIL is studying to become a bar tender! Betty Ford, here I come!

Subscribing- fab job so far!

Welcome aboard!

enjoying your reviews and photos!

Thanks so much for reading!

I thought of you this morning. My co-worker recently got back from Denmark and brought in this amazing chocolate. And she had leftovers from her daughter's shower this past weekend.

My breakfast? Chocolate and cheese danish.



Breakfast of champions!

I am DED over your comment about Piglet and eating pork products. I'm sure as a famous character, his innocence protects him from knowing of such atrocities.

I could go for some good European chocolate right about now! Yum-Yum!

 

[TigerKat]

OK Brenda, you are now officially hired as my teacher!!!! Remember, my next trip includes Bistro, Yachtsman, Narcoossee's and hopefully a Party for the Senses. I'm ready when you are......

 

[ses1230]

Ooh, can't wait for more! I laughed out loud more than once.

Tell me, is the puffy french toast as good as it looks? That one had me drooling on my keyboard...

 

[princesstinkerbelle]

CHEESE AND SUSHI AND CHOCOLATE...all of my favorite things...i wish we were going there!!!!!!! it looks scrumpcious!!!
since Breaking Dawn is such a big deal, there should be something going on! it will probably be soooooo awesome!

 

[oybolshoi]

OK Brenda, you are now officially hired as my teacher!!!! Remember, my next trip includes Bistro, Yachtsman, Narcoossee's and hopefully a Party for the Senses. I'm ready when you are......

Can I start calling you my cheese padawan?

All teasing aside, you're such a foodie I just assumed you were a cheese-addict, too.

Hmmmmm, do you like mild cheeses or stronger flavored ones?

Oh yeah, Honeybee ... your CA Grill review was da bomb! I love champagne cocktails ... one can never have too much bubbly! And closets in Daphne du Maurier ... now I'm going to have to go back and read Rebecca again from a whole new perspective (errr, should I read a different book by Du Maurier to properly entertain the idea of the closet?).

And thanks for the kind words about the blog ... it's hard for me to know just who is and who isn't reading. Of course, I know it's not the best format for everyone but it was free ... what more can a wordy, middle-aged chatterbox ask for?

 

[TigerKat]

Can I start calling you my cheese padawan?

All teasing aside, you're such a foodie I just assumed you were a cheese-addict, too.

Hmmmmm, do you like mild cheeses or stronger flavored ones?

You can call me anything you like.... I like strong flavored ones.

 

[honeybee30]

Champagne, Sushi, Vahlrona OH MY!!!!!!! I adore CG also.

I do need someone to educate me on cheese, ashamed to say I've never indulged in a cheese platter before.

It was indeed a feast that I would eat over and over again!

I like cheese plates because you get to try little tastes of out-of-the-ordinary cheeses. That’s really how I learned about cheese.

Somebody get the smelling salts! Aunt PittyPatt’s down for the count!

Me too!

Also, and let me whisper this... I'm not a huge fan of cheese.

No stinky cheese for you, eh…

You write beautifully. Parts of your TR had me laughing out loud. It's also great to meet a fellow "vaca drinker". Who cares how much those raspberry champagne cocktails were? You were on vaca and they looked awesome. A little mean of you to give DGF all that rum and then make her participate in the AK dancing!!! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! Yeah, it was mean to sell out DGF, but the entertainment value alone made it all worth while!

The meal at California Grill looks amazing. It so makes me want to go there on our upcoming trip, but I'm saving that and Citrico's for next year. DS is three, and I'd prefer to have one more year of toddler under our belt before we attempt those signature restaurants.

I am, however, completely contented to live vicariously through your trip report.

And, I'm with you on the champagne. I loooooove champagne, and that cocktail looked yummy!

I highly recommend CG. We’re trying Citricos for the 1st time in August, so I’m looking forward to that.

Have you tried a Kir Royale? You must, if you’re a champagne lover!

Ooh, can't wait for more! I laughed out loud more than once.

Tell me, is the puffy french toast as good as it looks? That one had me drooling on my keyboard...

If bread, sugar, and fried or three of your four food groups. Then you will love that French toast!

 

[honeybee30]

OK Brenda, you are now officially hired as my teacher!!!! Remember, my next trip includes Bistro, Yachtsman, Narcoossee's and hopefully a Party for the Senses. I'm ready when you are......

Sign me up, too. When do classes start?

Can I start calling you my cheese padawan?

All teasing aside, you're such a foodie I just assumed you were a cheese-addict, too.

Hmmmmm, do you like mild cheeses or stronger flavored ones?

Oh yeah, Honeybee ... your CA Grill review was da bomb! I love champagne cocktails ... one can never have too much bubbly! And closets in Daphne du Maurier ... now I'm going to have to go back and read Rebecca again from a whole new perspective (errr, should I read a different book by Du Maurier to properly entertain the idea of the closet?).

And thanks for the kind words about the blog ... it's hard for me to know just who is and who isn't reading. Of course, I know it's not the best format for everyone but it was free ... what more can a wordy, middle-aged chatterbox ask for?

Rebecca was the novel I used in my paper. I thought I saw it on the suggested reading list on your blog. Good stuff!

You should really get in on this Twilight action that MagiKitty, princesstinkerbelle, and I have been obsessing about throughout this whole thread, (if you haven’t already, that is! ). I bet you’d really like the series, and then we can discuss!

 

[TarzansKat]

I highly recommend CG. We’re trying Citricos for the 1st time in August, so I’m looking forward to that.

Have you tried a Kir Royale? You must, if you’re a champagne lover!

Citricos is amazing, you'll love it! DH and I ate there on our honeymoon and had a fantastic meal.

I've never had a Kir Royale! Is it yummy and delish? What's in it, besides champagne ?

 

[honeybee30]

Citricos is amazing, you'll love it! DH and I ate there on our honeymoon and had a fantastic meal.

I've never had a Kir Royale! Is it yummy and delish? What's in it, besides champagne ?

A Kir Royale is champagne and Creme de Cassis, which is a currant liqueur. It is my very favorite out of the many champagne cocktails I enjoy!