If you like your steaks "well done" you might want to reconsider Le Cellier

[Belle5]

Our party of twelve dined at Le Cellier a couple of weeks ago. Wow! We we underwhelmed! First, the steaks...DH and I both enjoy our steaks well done. (I know, I know--we have been dubbed "Yankees" for that preference by our Texas friends for years! ) First of all, I think it is a cheap trick to give a steak, to those who order it well done, that is half the thickness of those who order it medium or medium well. (There were several steaks ordered that way at our table to which we could compare ours) That's a fine trick if you are the Bonanza! There is no way that a restaurant that does this should be considered a first class steak house! A top notch steak house can serve a thick, well done steak that is juicy and delicous! We have enjoyed many such steaks through the years. Our steak at Le Cellier was closer to a shoe-leather experience. Not entirely inedible, just not great. My SIL's cheese soup had good flavor but was served luke warm. She just really enjoys a HOT bowl of soup. The pretzel bread was the highlight of the meal for everyone! Service was pretty good. The desserts were good. My oldest DS enjoyed the chocolate orange cake. He said if you hate really rich chocolate cake you would not enjoy this. Most of us ordered the maple creme brulee. It was "ok". We had maple infused creme brulee at the Yacht Club Galley (not sure how often they serve it) that was far superior, in our opinion! The younger set ordered the chocolate "moose" dessert. While cute, they thought it tasted "ok".
I can honestly say we would not hurry back to this restaurant. (We had been several years ago and it enjoyed the experience more) Those who ordered their steaks medium enjoyed them much more than DH and I. This is nice "theme park" food but if you happen to like a well done steak and have your expectations set high, you might want to pass on this one. This is no Ruth's Chris or Del Frisco's!

 

[jarestel]

We find LeCellier to be hit and miss these days also. I fear with the success of the dining plan, more and more of the WDW restaurants are turning into high volume cafeterias and losing the charm that made them popular in the first place. We have started doing more off-site dining lately as a result.

 

[antmaril]

We had lunch there for the first time just recently and we thought the atmosphere and the food were mediocre.

We won't be going back. I read so many reviews of LeCellier raving about the food. I honestly don't get it.

 

[Cass]

My hubby eats his steaks well done, I put his steak on the bbq about 15 minutes before mine - on low... then add mine and turn the heat up to medium until mine is done.

His is perfect - but I do notice his shrinks in size compared to the medium-rare, but not as much as you are describing!

 

[TheRatPack]

We didn't care for LeCellier either. I ordered the Pork and we were told that they cooked on a 'medium' heat and asked if that was alright for us? I assumed she meant it cooked slow, over medium heat but would still be well done. My mistake....I think that meant that it would be one step away from raw blech! The sweet potatoes served with this dish were very aromatic but tasted horrible as well. Not the highlight of our trip. But then again at home we're a Logans, O'Charlies, Red Lobster family.....so maybe we have lower standards.

 

[cuscott]

Our party of twelve dined at Le Cellier a couple of weeks ago. Wow! We we underwhelmed! First, the steaks...DH and I both enjoy our steaks well done. (I know, I know--we have been dubbed "Yankees" for that preference by our Texas friends for years! ) First of all, I think it is a cheap trick to give a steak, to those who order it well done, that is half the thickness of those who order it medium or medium well. (There were several steaks ordered that way at our table to which we could compare ours) That's a fine trick if you are the Bonanza! There is no way that a restaurant that does this should be considered a first class steak house! A top notch steak house can serve a thick, well done steak that is juicy and delicous! We have enjoyed many such steaks through the years. Our steak at Le Cellier was closer to a shoe-leather experience. Not entirely inedible, just not great. My SIL's cheese soup had good flavor but was served luke warm. She just really enjoys a HOT bowl of soup. The pretzel bread was the highlight of the meal for everyone! Service was pretty good. The desserts were good. My oldest DS enjoyed the chocolate orange cake. He said if you hate really rich chocolate cake you would not enjoy this. Most of us ordered the maple creme brulee. It was "ok". We had maple infused creme brulee at the Yacht Club Galley (not sure how often they serve it) that was far superior, in our opinion! The younger set ordered the chocolate "moose" dessert. While cute, they thought it tasted "ok".
I can honestly say we would not hurry back to this restaurant. (We had been several years ago and it enjoyed the experience more) Those who ordered their steaks medium enjoyed them much more than DH and I. This is nice "theme park" food but if you happen to like a well done steak and have your expectations set high, you might want to pass on this one. This is no Ruth's Chris or Del Frisco's!

Ok I work in a steakhouse, and I must tell you that you could not be more wrong. The reason you get a thin steak is cooking time, it is the same weight as the thick steaks but thinner. To cook a thick steak well done would take 30-40 minutes. If other steakhouses are cooking thick steaks well done they are placing a weight on it and burning the heck out of the outside. Placing a weight on it makes all the juices run out on to the grill.

 

[valeriekc]

We find LeCellier to be hit and miss these days also. I fear with the success of the dining plan, more and more of the WDW restaurants are turning into high volume cafeterias and losing the charm that made them popular in the first place. We have started doing more off-site dining lately as a result.

I'm in agreement that the cattle herd mentality has now started to overtake the finer restaurants in all of WDW due to the dining plan.
With the hard facts of being fully booked all the time and pressured to open up more rotations in table turnover the obvious casualties are going to be service and food quality.
We have been to Le Cellier many times over the years and the food and service has declined greatly...in our last visit in June we were disappointed as well.
At the risk of inflaming everyone I would be happy if they either did away with the dining plan or modified it to exclude the table service restaurants altogether.
JMHO.

 

[plutolovr]

I think if you were looking for a "first class" steak house, then LeCellier isn't your place. It's on par with Outback IMO. You should have tried Yachtsman or Shula's. There's a reason Yachtsman is 2 TS credits as opposed to LeCellier's 1 TS credit. It's also my personal opinion that one shouldn't spend good money on a good piece and meat and cook the he** out of it. This is a contention between my husband and me. I always tell him to just order pork instead. Since we've been married he has changed a bit and will now order a steak medium or medium well. Mine can be mooing.

 

[BYC]

I'm with you on that! The rarer, the better. I was a waitress for many years, and it would kill me to serve a well done filet mignon to a customer. It might as well have been a hockey puck!

 

[Belle5]

Ok I work in a steakhouse, and I must tell you that you could not be more wrong. The reason you get a thin steak is cooking time, it is the same weight as the thick steaks but thinner. To cook a thick steak well done would take 30-40 minutes. If other steakhouses are cooking thick steaks well done they are placing a weight on it and burning the heck out of the outside. Placing a weight on it makes all the juices run out on to the grill.

Well, I don't know what to tell you! I have had many incredible well done steaks in my time. I am not referring to an Outback quality steak here--even though I have had better well-done steaks at Outback than I did at LeCellier. I guess because you work at a steakhouse you can speak for all great steakhouses?

 

[cuscott]

Well, I don't know what to tell you! I have had many incredible well done steaks in my time. I am not referring to an Outback quality steak here--even though I have had better well-done steaks at Outback than I did at LeCellier. I guess because you work at a steakhouse you can speak for all great steakhouses?

I work at Outback!!!!!!!

I don't know what to tell you, I suppose if you don't mind the wait any steakhouse will cook you a Thick steak well done. We do it specifically for time constraints, and I have never had someone complain about their thickness when I explain how long it would take to cook a thick steak well done. I am sure this is why Le Cellier varies the thickness of their steaks as well.

 

[MrsTink04]

I'm with you on that! The rarer, the better. I was a waitress for many years, and it would kill me to serve a well done filet mignon to a customer. It might as well have been a hockey puck!

I completely agree with you!!! A well done steak seems to lose the natural flavor. I'm a medium rare girl!!! My DH always ordered steaks medium well when we started dating but with my influence, has started ordering his steaks medium and no longer likes that taste of shoe leather!

 

[TheRatPack]

When we cook steaks at home, I'm thinking we do it more of a medium well than what qualifies a steak as well done. We have nice juicy steaks that have just a hint of pink in the center....but still get hot enough to kill anything that would make us sick.

I think that is where society orders 'well done' and almost expects it to be burnt these days, the thought of getting sick off of a piece of meat that's been sitting out or isn't cooked to temps scares almost anyone.

Not to mention the inconsistencies in a lot of restaurants. What one cook considers well done is another mans burnt beyond recognition. I've ordered well done before and it come out almost bleeding.....so I can only imagine if I'd ordered medium...yuck!

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

What exactly is "an Outback quality steak"? I can tell you when I went to Ruth's Chris, a very high end steak house, that my steak (which was ordered medium) was tough and the juices ran all over the plate, a sign that it had not been allowed to rest long enough. It made me sick, i had nausea the rest of the evening. On the other hand, I have dined at Le Cellier and Outback more times than I can count. Often there have been members of our group who order their steaks well done. Sometimes the steaks are indeed thinner, but they are larger in diamater to make up for the lack of height. Im sorry that you felt your steak was cooked like "shoe leather" but I wouldn't generalize on the quality of any restaurant based on one dining experience.

 

[cuscott]

I think if you were looking for a "first class" steak house, then LeCellier isn't your place. It's on par with Outback IMO. You should have tried Yachtsman or Shula's. There's a reason Yachtsman is 2 TS credits as opposed to LeCellier's 1 TS credit. It's also my personal opinion that one shouldn't spend good money on a good piece and meat and cook the he** out of it. This is a contention between my husband and me. I always tell him to just order pork instead. Since we've been married he has changed a bit and will now order a steak medium or medium well. Mine can be mooing.

I agree with you 100%. Remember all food at disney world is going to be overpriced! I work at Outback and I would say honestly Le Cellier is no better then Outback. You are paying a slightly higher price for Outback quality. Which isn't a bad quality, but you can't expect top-class quality at Le Cellier.

 

[debbie in Seattle]

Couldn't agree more! Happened to us in December when we were there! The well done steak was noticebly thinner than the medium steak. Our biggest complaint was that the meat was rather tasteless to us. Other food was great, service was adequate. Sadly, LeCelliar is off our list, too many restaurants to choose from in WDW to have this happen.

 

[cuscott]

What exactly is "an Outback quality steak" I can tell you when I went to Ruth's Chris, a very high end steak house, that my steak was tough and the juices ran all over the plate, a sign that it had not been allowed to rest long enough. It made me sick, i had nausea the rest of the evening. On the other hand, I have dined at Le Cellier and Outback more times than I can count. Often there has been a member of our group who has ordered their steak well done. Sometimes the steaks are indeed thinner, but they are larger in diamater to make up for the lack of height. Im sorry that you felt your steak was cooked like "shoe leather" but I wouldn't generalize on the quality of any restaurant based on one dining experience.

Good points. It is done for time constraints at Outback, and this would be the same reason for Le Cellier doing it. Well done steaks are a steak cook's worst nightmare. It is EXTREMELY difficult to cook a steak well done with it still having a good amount of tenderness and flavor. I cringe everytime someone orders a "well done steak, but not burned." Well done steaks are burned!

Keep in mind this restaurant is in a theme park. They probably figure you do not have the time to wait on a thick steak being cooked well done.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I ordered the filet at Le Cellier on New Years Day night medium well and it was perfect. I explained to our server (who was wonderful) that I like my steak juicey but well done. She told me she would take care of it with the chef. It came out great, plenty thick (as thick as my fil's who ordered his medium) juicy but only the very slightest hint of pink. I am very specific when I order steak. It has taken me years to reaquire a taste for steak after getting deathly ill on a rare steak (my former cooking preference) when I was pregnant. And as for rare pork, I agree, rare pork makes me sick just thinking about it, too many years of my mother warning that rare pork will kill you, not true but old habits die hard! We loved Le Cellier, I am sorry others haven't, at those prices you deserve to be satisfied at the very least.

 

[marcyinPA]

We ate at Le Cellier in September on the "free dining plan" and it was the best meal of the trip! My filet was cooked to perfection (medium). The couple we were with ordered theirs well done and they said it was fabulous. I know our server asked them if they were sure they wanted it well (*she sort of winked at them, as if to joke with them...like how could you do that to a filet??!!) and said she couldn't guarantee how tender it would be.

Maybe they were having an off night when you were there....but we thought EVERYTHING we ate that night was great: cheese soup, shrimp cocktail, filet, maple creme brulee (which I found outstanding!)

 

[skiwee1]

We just had delicious filets at LeCellier in December. Two of us got ours well done and they were perfect! Our waiter told us that to get it well done that the chef butterflies it so as to get the thick middle cooked through. We eat at a lot of fine steak houses and they all do this. My mom was the one that got hers medium rare and it didn't come butterflied.