I'm an "unsophisticated" diner, give me advice!

[JC Butterfly]

Hello all,

I like to think of myself as a pretty casual diner. I pretty much "jump" right to the main course (don't have starters or apps nor do I usually eat dessert) and don't take a lot of time to "savor" the meal.

However, I'm planning my honeymoon, and in the interest of keeping things "romantic" and "memorable" I want to branch out a bit.

One place I've considered is Victoria and Albert's but the concept of sitting down for over two hours for a meal is a bit daunting to me. Is there anyway to ask the server for a bit more of an "express" service? Not wanting it to take 30 minutes but maybe and hour and a half instead of two and a half? I don't want to seem "uncivilized" Would I be better off choosing another establishment?

Is there anything "wrong" with going somewhere like Shula's or Yachtsmen and skipping all the pre-liminary food and just getting to the main course?

Where else could we go that we could choose to dress up and we won't look out of place? (Since V & A is the only with official dress code) I don't care if there are people dining around us in shorts & t-shirts just so we don't look stupid in a dress & suit.

Thank you all!

Brenda

 

[Goofyposter]

Is there anything "wrong" with going somewhere like Shula's or Yachtsmen and skipping all the pre-liminary food and just getting to the main course?

Where else could we go that we could choose to dress up and we won't look out of place?

Brenda....there's nothing wrong with just ordering an entree...I'd personally suggest you skip V & A's...just because you might not get the most enjoyment/value ratio there.....I can recommend the Yachtsmen Steak House/ Artist's Point (at WL)..and Bistro de Paris in Epcot's France.....as being a couple of places I've eaten 'dressed up'...and not felt out of place in the least!


Oh...and Congratsulations!

 

[daannzzz]

Don't worry about appetizers and desserts and even wine and such. I can not eat a full lunch and a dinner too let alone adding appetizers. I am not a wine drinker either. Choose any of the restaurants and go have what you want. The Yachtsman Steak House is good as is the California Grill at the Contemporary, Narcoosees at the Grand Floridian. I do not know about Jiko at the AKL yet but I will find out in 6 weeks. I personally won;t go to V & A's as the menue does not appeal to me though I am getting better. It does look like something fun to try.
I have heard Arthurs's 27 on top of the Windham Palace is good too. I think formal attire is require there.

 

[GenePA]

I think a more 'formal' or 'dressed up' attire will be fine at either the California Grill, Flying Fish, or Palio (at the Swan).....among other WDW restaurants. My question to you is why do you feel you have get dressed up to make your time 'romantic' and 'memorable'? These feelings come from within and as long as you are with the one you love and are enjoying yourselves, you'll have the kind of time you are looking for.....no matter how you or anyone else is dressed. I have had probably my top 25 romantic and memorable times at WDW and I can't think of any that I wasn't dressed in shorts and a golf (or tee) shirt.

The romance and the memories are made by the people you are with and the experiences you share......these can be made in any attire. Just be yourselves and if dressed up is for you, go for it and enjoy! If you'd rather be more casual.....more power to you!

Oh.......I too would stay away from V&A's.......but then again, I don't like to get dressed up and definitely not at WDW. To each his own, eh.....

 

[B&WMickey]

A couple of years ago my wife and I were in the same situation you are in now. Neither of us was much more than meat and potatoes/hamburger type/fast food type people. We must have seemed pretty low class at the time. We didn’t have much experience at what to do at a nice restaurant so the thought of ordering appetizers, wine, etc., really wasn’t on our list. On our honeymoon we decided would try sit down dining at a restaurant other than Denny’s types.

I would definitely recommend a place like Yachtsman Steakhouse. It was the first place we chose to eat on our honeymoon. The atmosphere was great, dimly lit, wood tones, quiet. While not many diners were dressed up in coats and ties you would not feel out of place coming here wearing one. Other than V&A none of the WDW restaurants require a dress code. Remember you are at a theme park complex and you are likely to see someone in a nice restaurant wearing shorts and sandals next to a couple dressed up like they were going to an opening night of a Broadway play. It was a great first restaurant for us since many of the items on the menu were pretty straightforward cuts of meat. We lucked out and had a great waiter. He found out we were on our honeymoon and dining at WDW for the first time. We never felt pressured from him to order anything more than entrees. I wouldn’t worry what the wait staff thinks; most of them are extremely nice and helpful. Just remember to tip well for good service.

I would recommend downloading menus from the various WDW web sites and getting an idea what kind of food they serve at the places you are considering. There are plenty of cooking dictionary type web sites out there where you can find out what certain dishes are. You may find that many fancy exotic sounding dishes are nothing more than a combination of pretty average ingredients. Don’t be afraid to ask the wait staff questions about the menu. They are usually well informed about the intricacies of the menu items.

My advice is to start small and simple and work your way up as time goes by. Since our first trip to WDW as a couple both of us have grown tremendously in our culinary experiences. On our last trip we even did V&A. I am glad we did not do V&A on our first visit. For the amount of money you need to spend we would have felt overmatched, out of place and not have appreciated the food and service we received. You really do need to take a good 2 (preferably 3 hours) to fully enjoy a place like V&A.

 

[QJ411]

Hi everyone, Hi Brenda!!!

Congrats to you!!!! We had ressies at V&A for our honeymoon, but by the time we realize we were suppose to go, we were so tired, we didn't want to troop to GF and plus get dressed up! So we know how you feel!

But if you'd like you should check out the Luau at the POLY...we LOVED it!!! It's an outdoor thing (you sit under a tent kind of deal) and it was just amazing! The food was great and the show was just amazing!!!

And don't worry about ordering just the main course (at the resturaunts!!!) It's ur $$$, order whatever you want!!!

ENJOY!!!! And congrats again!

 

[Nobbi]

Hi!

I agree with most what was said.

I would NOT chose Bistro de Paris. It is one of my favorites, but I'm pretty much the exact opposite of you. We enjoy sitting long at the table. The Bistro is manned by Frenchmen. They enjoy/expect patrons to languish over a meal. If you don't eat, they may look askance at you.

If in EPCOT, the Mexican restaurant is very romantic and you can order as little as you want.

DEfinitely NOT V&A.

Have agreat time.

 

[RinaMB]

I would choose somewhere like California Grill, which is nice, great food, but where the pace is more or less up to you depending on what you order.

I would NOT go to V&A's if you do not like lingering over your meal. That is one of the key elements of that dining experience. I really don't think you can ask them to speed it up - that's just not what that restaurant is about. Plus you are given an entire prix fixe menu, it's not like you can just order an entree. So if this is not something you would enjoy, don't bother with it.

Now having said that, I personally enjoy the slow pace of a very nice meal. We loved V&A's when we went, although it's not somewhere we would go on each trip. It was really nice to just relax for 2-3 hours after our usual commando-style in the parks. The vacuum coffee maker is cool!

 

[eeyore65]

I would agree with California Grill and Jiko's. Jiko's you can order just dinner or two appetizer's. I found the atmosphere both relaxed and elegant.

I would agree to skip V & A. I love it - but they do have some unusual items on their menu and it is a LONG dinner! Beacuse the menu is fixed unless you skipped courses you already paid for I don't think it could go any faster.

Have you thought about dressing up and going to Pleasure Island for dancing one night? That is fun and romantic.

Also - - I think Wolfgang Puck's upstairs is in the same casual, elegant atmosphere. Has great food too!

CONGRATULATIONS

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Might I also add the Concourse Steakhouse to the list. It's got plenty of "plain" food. You probably wouldn't feel out of place dressing up a little here.

For romance without the dressing up bit, you might consider Cinderella's Royal Table for dinner or even Tony's Town Square. Nothing too exotic in the menu department, but very good.

 

[crisi]

Since you are staying at the BWV, I'd recommend one of the restaurants in the vacinity. Shula's, Yachtsman, Flying Fish or Palio. (Palio sounds the most romantic to me, but whatever floats your boat). If you are going to be changing for dinner, you don't want to head all the way back to your room from the parks and then all the way over to Citricos, V&As, Artists Point, CG, or Jiko. There is nothing relaxing about turning dinner into a five hour event (by needing to factor in travel time and dressing time) if you aren't the type to take two to eat it!

For casual romantic, I love Narcoosees and can't wait to get back there. Something about the stroll through the GF grounds, good food, the wonderful views. Its a fairly noisy restaurant with an open kitchen, and you won't feel out of place if you go after a day at the MK (well, maybe a sweaty, particularly casual day). (We went there on our honeymoon).

And there is certainly nothing wrong with eating a single entree course and skipping the others. Or taking an hour to eat instead of two. (I would recommend sitting for a bit after your meal - if you don't order dessert, maybe a drink from the bar - before a leisurely stroll back to your room. You don't want to court indigestion on your honeymoon!)

 

[GlennandAnn]

Brenda, if you go for Shula's, be advised that it is a totally a la carte menu, which might work out well for you. We recently dined at Shula's in Chicago, and it was a really unforgettable meal.

Ann

 

[Eeyore2U]

We have done Shula's with app and entree. We have done it will apps, entree and dessert. If I felt like it I'd do it just entree.
It's not an issue.

 

[NotUrsula]

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