Instead of V&A's - Blue Zoo? Wolf Gang? Narcossees?

[charlielinda]

We love fine dining (my DH and I) at the World (our favorites being Jiko, Brown Derby and V&A's). I have never been able to get reservations at California Grill and still can't for our September trip. I have reservations at V&A but have decided that we should save some $$ and not spend $400+ for one dinner and try something else. I thought I'd think outside of the box and see what others think -- I'm looking for a non-park restaurant since this will be an off day for us. We have been to Artist Point (good but not great) and Flying Fish (very good).

Have you ever been to the Blue Zoo? Wolf Gang Pucks (upstairs)? Emirl's? Any other good ideas?

Thanks and have a magical day!

 

[BriarRosie]

I think you should bite the bullet and do V&A's this one time. There isn't any restaurant onsite that compares to the experience. I've been to all the "signature dining" restaurants at the Disney owned properties, and many are my favorite places to eat, but they don't hold a candle to Victoria and Albert's.

I'm trying Todd English's bluezoo™ for the first time in October, though. It's gotten mostly good reviews here, so I'm looking forward to it.

 

[BigEeyore]

From what I've been reading, there aren't many ADR's left to go around for Sept b/c of the free dining. So stick with what you've got, and plan something different for the next trip!
Personally - we love California Grill, it just requires some advance planning to snag a fireworks ADR.

 

[Pakey]

Out of the 3 you mentioned, I would do bluezoo first. It's very nice, more upscale than most of Disney's signatures and the food is good. Wolfgang's menu looked better than it was for the money spent and it was incredibly noisy. Narcoosees, imo, is just an average place. Many people on here rave about it but I've eaten there 3 times and I would not call it fine dining. The restaurant is very casual and the food is not nearly as good as Flying Fish.

 

[Married_Him_@_Disney]

I would pick Narcoosees! We love Narcoosees, and always have a great meal. The menu is always changing, and there's always something yummy and special prepared by the chef. I had this pumpkin/ginger soup last year and it was so great!

If you chose Narcoosees, then you can also enjoy the second floor bar/lounge in the main Grand Floridian building, and you can also watch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom from several locations around the Grand grounds.

 

[MinnieMeg]

Bluezoo is one of our favorites.
Meg

 

[sharen24]

We ate Emeril's on our last trip and were not impressed. My husband won't shut up about Fulton's crab legs. Fulton's isn't fancy, but the food was great. We plan on doing Victoria & Alberts in December.

 

[KathyFG]

Emeril's Tchoup Chop restaurant--which is NOT the one at City Walk but is at Universal's Royal Pacific Resort--is great. Have eaten there 3X. Beautiful place with great food--Asian food mostly. We enjoyed it very much.

There is also a WONDERFUL French restaurant in Orlando on Orange Avenue (prob 20 minutes from Disney) called Le Coq Au Vin. A little French bistro, not expensive, not stuffy, but very good food. Try it!

Narcossee's is pretty good, but not great, and a little noisy Friendly staff.

Jiko and AK Lodge and Artist Point at WL we like very much also.

California Grill is outstanding--keep trying, maybe someone will cancel.

Most of all, ENJOY.

 

[ElizabethB]

We, too, like fine dining. We are V&A fans and also love Jiko. Here are my thoughts:

Narcoosee's is only okay, not great. It also tends to be noisy and filled with kids. Citrico's food is excellent -- but, again, the restaurant is crowded and noisy.

We've been to Emeril's for lunch several times and have enjoyed it. We tried lunch at Tchoup Chop and were extremely unimpressed. The restaurant is gorgeous, the pago pago drink delicious, the food -- eh.

We haven't tried Blue Zoo, so can't speak to that.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We've been to Emeril's for lunch several times and have enjoyed it. We tried lunch at Tchoup Chop and were extremely unimpressed. The restaurant is gorgeous, the pago pago drink delicious, the food -- eh.

We feel the same, except we go for dinner. Emeril's @ CityWalk is our absolute favorite Orlando restaurant. We've never had a bad experience, but I'm sure it happens. Unfortunately, we feel very different about TC. We've tried it a few times & think it's very subpar for an Emeril's restaurant. It is cheaper than Emeril's, but IMO that's still too much for the quality received. To us, Emeril's is worth every penny.

 

[vettechick99]

Blue Zoo was really great when we went a few years ago. I wrote about it in my dining review (if you want to read about it, PM me). It's very classy and the food quality was excellent.

 

[Uncleromulus]

I agree with Pakey. Narcoosee's isn't a place that will knock your socks off by any means. We also found Wolfgang's Upstairs to be less than fantastic. We've had dinner at Blue Zoo four times and always had good food and service--so that's where I'd go.

 

[TigerKat]

Blue Zoo is our favorite restaurant in all of WDW - excellent food, service and ambiance.

 

[TewEpcot]

We love bluezoo as well. The menu doesn't change much but the service is great as is the atmosphere.

Il Mulino is fantastic as well, if you like Italian food.

 

[dalstitch45]

Well, here is another vote for Todd's English's Bluezoo. I love this restaurant, and have been there many times. It has an upscale eclectic atmosphere. The food is excellent. You will not be disappointed. I am going again on my August/September trip. My favorite is the Simply Fish with the dijon crabmeat sauce. So good.

I have been to Narcoossee's, and I agree it is okay. Once was enough for me.

 

[mrs_noopie]

bluezoo is lovely. We loved the atmosphere and the food was very good, so was the service. I'd recommend giving it a try.

 

[auntsue]

I'm not an adventurous eater, so I really like Shula's for a splurge. The steaks are excellent, the lobster tails are outrageously expensive, and the appetizers and sides are large enough to share. We have always had superb service every time we've gone there.

We like the food at Narcoossee's but have had very poor service the last three times we went. Each time I was able to talk DH into going back, the service was dreadful. Twice, we were the last table out of there. I can tell you, we won't be returning any time soon.

We've never tried BlueZoo so I can't help you there. We've only been to Emeril's restaurants in New Orleans & Vegas, so no help there either.

I. too, would love to try V & A, but there is no way my DH would ever spend that kind of money on a meal. It's been a couple of years since we've been to Shula's because I think our last check for two was $270 and he is in no hurry to repeat that.

Good luck with your decision.