Join us in celebrating our 25th Anniversary...DeLuxe Style! SURPRISE FINALE

[jabead]

Welcome to the YUMMY AWARDS PART II

For this part of the awards ceremony, each of the awards will be given out to two restaurants…one Signature restaurant and one regular restaurant. Also these will all be non-food related awards.

Ok then, first up…

BEST SOUND EDITING (aka Quietest) by a REGULAR DISNEY RESTAURANT

The nominees:

Le Cellier is a surprise contender in this category.

And the winner is…


Grand Floridian Café for the Quietest Breakfast I’ve Ever Had at a Restaurant

BEST SOUND EDITING by a DISNEY SIGNATURE RESTAURANT

The nominees:

CALIFORNIA GRILL is a surprise contender in this category



And the winner is…

Next up…



BEST VISUAL EFFECTS at a REGULAR DISNEY RESTAURANT

The nominees:


San Angel Inn

Coral Reef

La Hacienda

And the winner is:


La Hacienda for a GREAT VIEW of ILLUMINATIONS from the comfort of our table

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS at a DISNEY SIGNATURE RESTAURANT

The nominees:

California Grill


Narcoossee’s

This picture will give you a general idea of the view from Narcoossee's


And the winner is:

NOTE: This was a hard decision. Though the view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks is much closer from a window table at Narcoossee’s, inevitably someone will stand on the outside deck in front of you and block your view. This is not a problem if you are able to get a table by the window at California Grill. If you are willing to go outside at either location to view the fireworks, then I would have to give this to Narcoossee’s.



Next up…


BEST PRODUCER of an ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION at a REGULAR DISNEY RESTAURANT

Only one nominee (as only one did something for our anniversary), so it is also the winner of this award.


LE CELLIER for decorating our dessert

BEST PRODUCER of an ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION at a DISNEY SIGNATURE RESTAURANT

The nominees:


Flying Fish Café for their Anniversary menus, Complimentary Glasses of Wine, and Decorating our Dessert

Artist Point for their Personalized Anniversary menus, Complimentary Glasses of Dessert Wine for 3 of us, and Lighted Candles on our Dessert

California Grill for their Confetti Decorated Table, Decorating our Dessert, and a Complimentary Slice of Decorated Chocolate Cake to go

Narcoossee’s for their Confetti Decorate Table, Anniversary Menus, Decorating our Desserts, and Complimentary Glasses of Sparkling Wine

And the winner is…

Artist Point - The candles tipped the scales in their favor

We’d like to thank all of the nominees in the last category for helping to make our 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebration very special.


Ok, that’s it for Part II of the Awards. Please stay tuned for Part III with the rest of the food awards.

 

[mickeymotto]

I agree with your decision on Grand Floridian Cafe for being the quietest. We had lunch there our last trip and felt the same way.

 

[jabead]

Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Welcome back to the 3rd and final installment of the YUMMY AWARDS. Just like all the other awards shows, the best awards have been saved for last…Best Lead Entrée, Best Performance by a Dessert, Best Director (aka Server) and Best Overall Performance by a Restaurant. Again two of each of these awards will be given out, one for Signature restaurants and one for regular restaurants. The only exception is for the last award, which the winner in the Signature restaurant category will be determined in a different manner. Stay tuned for more on that at the end of the show. Ok then, here we go!



First up this evening is the award for…


BEST LEAD ENTRÉE at a REGULAR DISNEY RESTAURANT


The nominees are:



Via Napoli’s Pepperoni Pizza

Coral Reef's Grilled Mahi Mahi with Ragu of Rock Shrimp served on Jasmine Rice topped with Hearts of Palm

Grand Floridian Café’s Maple-Vanilla French Toast

And the YUMMY goes to:



CORAL REEF for their DELICIOUS MAHI MAHI

BEST LEAD ENTRÉE at a DISNEY SIGNATURE RESTAURANT


The nominees are:



Artist Point's Cedar Plank-roasted King Salmon with Roasted Baby Fennel, Marble Potatoes, Pinot Noir Beuree Rouge, and Crispy Truffle Chips

Yachtsman Steakhouse 8 oz. Filet Mignon with Red Wine Sauce served with Mashed Potatoes

Yachtsman Steakhouse "Prime" 12 oz. New York Strip Steak with Peppercorn Brandy Sauce served with White Cheddar Potato Gratin

California Grill’s Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Goat Cheese Polenta, Roasted Mushrooms, Zinfandel Glaze, and Sage

And the YUMMY goes to…



ARTIST POINT for their DELICIOUS SALMON

The next award is a very important one, IMHO …



BEST PERFORMANCE by a DESSERT at a REGULAR DISNEY RESTAURANT


The nominees are:



Via Napoli’s Zeppole di Catarina -ricotta cheese fritters with whipped cream and chocolate sauce (sorry no pic )

Le Cellier’s Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake- finished with Honey-Thyme anglaise and a Chocolate-Vanilla Walnut Sauce

Coral Reef’s Butterscotch Crème Brulee

And the YUMMY goes to…



Le Cellier for their DELICIOUS CHOCOLATE WHISKEY CAKE

BEST PERFORMANCE by a DESSERT at a DISNEY SIGNATURE MEAL



The nominees are:



Yachtsman Steakhouse Crème Brulee with Fresh Berries and Chocolate Straw

California Grill’s Valrhona Chocolate Cake- Warm Chocolate Cake with Molten Center, Marshmallow, and Peanut Butter Gelato

Narcoossee’s Almond-Crusted Cheesecake with lambert cherry sauce

And the YUMMY goes to…



CALIFORNIA GRILL for their DELICIOUS VALRHONA CHOCOLATE CAKE

Now the award for…


BEST DIRECTOR (aka Server) of a REGULAR DISNEY MEAL




The nominees are:


Via Napoli’s Fabio (mostly because he was so cute )

Le Cellier’s Matt

La Hacienda’s Paulo



And the winner is…


PAULO of LA HACIENDA for his FRIENDLY and ATTENTIVE SERVICE

BEST DIRECTOR of a DISNEY SIGNATURE MEAL



Note: Of our 6 Signature meals we had Good Service (Signature level) at all but one, Citricos. However, two servers went above and beyond good and so they are our two nominees.


These two nominees are:


Artist Point’s Diana

California Grill’s Dawn



And the winner is...



DAWN of CALIFORNIA GRILL for her (Above and Beyond Signature Quality) EXCELLENT SERVICE

And now for a brief intermission.

 

[jabead]

Now for the last award of the evening…


BEST OVERALL PERFORMANCE by a REGULAR DISNEY RESTAURANT



The nominees are:

LE CELLIER STEAKHOUSE was nominated for 5 awards and won 2 of these. Their decorated Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake won for both the BEST PRODUCER of an ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION and for BEST PERFORMANCE by a DESSERT.

Our second nominee is...

CORAL REEF was nominated for 4 awards and won 2 of these. Their Appetizer for Two won for BEST PERFORMANCE by an APPETIZER ENSEMBLE.

And their Grilled Mahi Mahi won for BEST PERFORMANCE by an ENTRÉE

The final nominee in this category is…

LA HACIENDA de SAN ANGEL received 4 nominations and won for 3 of these. In addition to winning BEST DIRECTOR, it also won for BEST FOREIGN DRINK (aka MARGARITA) with their Lime Raspberry Margarita.

And for BEST VISUAL EFFECTS for their great view of Illuminations

After careful consideration by the judges (this one was really close ), the final YUMMY AWARD goes to….

NOTE: Although La Hacienda is not currently an audience favorite, it has left a very good first impression on the judges. They feel that this new restaurant has great potential. But don’t take their word for it, try it for yourself and be your own judge.



Our next scheduled program is the one you’ve all been waiting for (or at least a few of you hopefully )… the WWD (World-Wide Disney) SIGNATURE SMACKDOWN, starring the Flying Fish Café, Artist Point, Yachtsman Steakhouse, California Grill, Narcoossee’s, and Citricos. So DISers, LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!

 

[Linda67]

Oh this is just fantastic

I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the next installment

 

[TigerKat]

This is awesome, can't wait for the rest!

 

[Tinker12]

I'm holding on to see the rest!!

Great review!

 

[mickeymotto]

I love your reviews! I have to agree with Academy in their selection for the best dessert. That chocolate cake from CG is the bomb!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

I Love your updates on the awards...the pictures are making me drool on my computer over the yummy pictures.

 

[Ela1972]

Sorry to jump in at this late stage, but I love your reviews.
I especially like the price comparisons and your awards!!

Sorry to ask a silly question but at F&W are all the dishes from the stalls considered to be a snack? We have never been to this before but are going this year.

Also the brewers stall does this have lots of beers from all over DH loves his real beer

Glad you had a good trip

 

[jabead]

Sorry to jump in at this late stage, but I love your reviews.
I especially like the price comparisons and your awards!!

Sorry to ask a silly question but at F&W are all the dishes from the stalls considered to be a snack? We have never been to this before but are going this year.

Also the brewers stall does this have lots of beers from all over DH loves his real beer

Glad you had a good trip

Hello and welcome Ela1972! Thanks for joining in...better late than never. And I hope you can stick around for the WWD Signature Smackdown.

Anyway, to answer your first question, all food items at the F & W Festival kiosks were available for a snack credit in the past...even the $7.25 Lobster Roll. Since many of these items are $4 or more, these are an excellent way to use your snack credits. However, snack credits can not be used to purchase wine, beer, or any other alcoholic drinks. So bring lots of cash (as they are not cheap ) if you want to partake of these. We got one of the cards (like a gift card) that you wear around your wrist so that we wouldn't have to mess with the cash. This was quite convenient, however we probably spent more money this way. We ended up reloading the card (adding more money to it) twice during our six days at the festival.

Now for your second question regarding the beers. They had a new booth this year called 15 Beers for 15 Years (since it was the 15th Anniversary of the Festival). I'm not sure whether this booth will return next year...I guess then it would have to be 16 Beers for 16 Years. Anyway, here is a list of the 15 beers that were offered here:


■Fischer Amber
■Full Sail Amber
■Key West Sunset Ale
■La Fin Du Monde
■Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
■Smithwick’s
■Widmer Drifter Pale Ale
■Widmer Hefeweizen
■Abita Amber
■Abita Purple Haze
■B.B. Burgerbrau
■Banks Beer
■Florida Lager
■Sessions Lager
■Viru Pilsner

Then in the Germany area, they always have a booth which sells a variety of German beers. I'm not sure if the beers change from year to year though. This year they had:

■Radeberger Pilsner
■Schofferhofer Weizen
■Hovels
■Schlosser, Alt
■Altenmünster, Octoberfest
■Altenmünster Dunkel
■Altenmünster Märzen
■Clausthaler Classic N/A


In the USA area they always have a booth called Hops & Barley which sells different Samuel Adams beers. This year they had:

Boston Lager
Octoberfest
Cherry Wheat
15th Anniversary Festival Beer Coastal Wheat Light
Cream Stout
Blackberry Witbier
Latitude 48 IPA

In addition, several of the other booths offered beers from their countries... like:

Belgium - Stella Artois, Hoegaarden
Canada - Moosehead
China -Tsingtao
Ireland - Guinness
Italy - Moretti
Japan - Kirin
Mexico - Dos Equis
Morocco - Casa
Singapore - Tiger

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away. If I can't answer them, I'm sure there is somebody here on the DIS who can. No questions are silly, as that is what we are all here for. The DIS is a great place to learn about all things Disney, and pass on your knowledge to help others.

 

[Koda Bear]

Just read your entire review tonight and it!!! My DD and I will be doing our first trip with the DLX (always had done the basic in the past) in Sept and we are hoping to try most of the places you ate (yes we are already making our lists). Reading your reviews gave me an idea that we hand't thought of - sharing a table service - in order to try a bunch of new places. Did any of the places you shared give you any problems with sharing the meal?

 

[jabead]

Just read your entire review tonight and it!!! My DD and I will be doing our first trip with the DLX (always had done the basic in the past) in Sept and we are hoping to try most of the places you ate (yes we are already making our lists). Reading your reviews gave me an idea that we hand't thought of - sharing a table service - in order to try a bunch of new places. Did any of the places you shared give you any problems with sharing the meal?

First of all, thanks for reading Koda Bear! And to answer your question...no, no problems at all with sharing Dining Plan credits. On our family trip in March 2010 there were 6 of us on the Dining Plan. We did meal sharing at Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch), Kona Cafe, San Angel Inn, and Raglan Road. On this trip, DH and I shared meals at Via Napoli, Le Cellier, and San Angel Inn. We didn't do any meal sharing at the Signatures, so not sure what kind of reaction you would get at these restaurants. Oh, and I have heard here on the DIS that Beaches & Cream will not allow you to share Dining Plan meal credits.

 

[Ela1972]

Thanks jabead DH now insists we spend some more time in EPCOT, will have to sign kids up for KIm possible I think the beer swung it!!

 

[jabead]

Ladies and gentlemen of the DIS, welcome to the first episode of the WWD (World-Wide Disney) Signature Smackdown! Before I introduce our first two contestants, I would like to explain to you how the winner will be determined. In Round I of each competition, the show’s creator (aka jabead) will choose a winner based on the results of her previous show…the YUMMY Awards. Round II will be the audience participation portion of the show (aka CHEERS and JEERS). In this second round, the winner will be determined entirely by the votes of the audience. In addition to voting for their favorite restaurant in the poll that will be posted, audience members are encouraged to post both CHEERs and JEERS in order to try and influence the other voters. Along with these comments, they are also welcome to post pictures taken at these restaurants…since pictures are sometimes worth a thousand words. If a Round III is required (due to a tie after the first two rounds), then the details of this round will be explained later.

Ok, so in the words of Michael Buffer, “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble!”



Our first contestant, located on Disney’s Boardwalk, is known for its “New American” cuisine…especially their fresh seafood. The interior décor of this Signature restaurant has an ocean-side carnival theme, which is very much in keeping with its Boardwalk location (modeled after the Atlantic City Boardwalk). Here you will dine surrounded by colorful murals and fun house mirrors on the walls, parachuting fish hanging from the ceiling, columns that look like they’re covered in golden fish scales, and even a decorative Ferris wheel and roller coaster tracks. As for the food… potato-wrapped snapper, oak-grilled steak, crisp peekytoe crab cakes, and caramelized banana napoleon dessert are among its signature specialties. Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for….

<Insert thunderous applause here<




Our challenger this evening is located just across the pond (aka Crescent Lake) at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort. A New England nautical theme is the backdrop for this classic steakhouse which specializes in high-grade, grain-fed beef steaks. Upon entering this restaurant, this choice beef can actually be seen being cut and prepared in their glass-walled butchering room and open kitchen. The dining room here has a casually elegant feel, with its knotty pinewood floors and ceiling beams, along with polished brass fixtures and burgundy leather seat cushions. Also, the lucky guests who are seated in the semi-circular room with several large windows will be rewarded with a view of Stormalong Bay…the Yacht & Beach Club’s pool which is more like a small water park. In addition to the grilled steaks, this Signature restaurant is also well-known for its onion rolls and its classic version of crème brulee served with rolled chocolate and fresh berries. Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for…

<The crowd again goes wild<




ROUND I


Our first contender, The Flying Fish Café, received 3 YUMMY nominations…




Their Crispy Maine Coast Jonah Crab Cake was nominated for BEST PERORMANCE by an APPETIZER

Their New York Strip Steak was nominated for the SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT for a STEAK WELL DONE

And they were nominated for BEST PRODUCER of an ANNIVERSERY CELEBRATION for their Anniversary menus, Complimentary Glasses of Wine, and Decorating our Dessert

However, Yachtsman Steakhouse received 8 YUMMY nominations and was the winner of 3 of these Awards.



Their Onion Rolls were nominated and won the YUMMY AWARD for BEST SUPPORTING “ROLL” (sorry no pic).


Their Lobster Bisque was nominated for MOST “SOUP” ERIOR PERFORMANCE by a SOUP (sorry no pic) and the restaurant was nominated for BEST SOUND EDITING (aka Quietest).


Their Filet Mignon was nominated and was the co-winner of the award for SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT for a STEAK WELL DONE and was also nominated for BEST LEAD ENTRÉE.

Their New York Strip Steak was nominated and was the co-winner of the award for SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT for a STEAK WELL DONE and was also nominated for BEST LEAD ENTRÉE.

And finally, their Crème Brulee was nominated for BEST PERFORMANCE by a DESSERT

So obviously, the WINNER of ROUND I is…

Coming very soon… Round II (Cheers & Jeers) – The Audience Participation Round

 

[jabead]

ROUND II (CHEERS & JEERS) - The Audience Participation Round

So is Flying Fish Café down for the count??? Now is your chance to decide its fate…because, as previously explained, the winner of Round II will be determined by you, the audience members. So vote now for your favorite/ or vote against your least favorite/ or if you have no experience with either one then vote for the one which most appeals to you. Oh, and don’t forget to post your CHEERS and JEERS (and of course food porn is welcome too). Tell us about your experiences at these two restaurants …the good, the bad, and even the ugly. Don’t hold anything back… really knock yourself out (or I mean, help knock out one of these Signature restaurants from the competition).

NOTE: A winner for Round II will be declared one week from today on Feb. 6.

Ok, if I've added the poll to this thread correctly then it should work...so please vote now. Thanks!

 

[OurDogCisco]

Cute Poll.... I voted for Flying Fish because I'm a FISH lover at heart. Honestly, the food at Yachtman's is excellant too. We've eaten at flying Fish twice and Yachtman's once. They are definitely great dining choices but since it was difficult to pick one I picked my favorite type of cuisine and that is anything made with fish. I wish I could fish 7 days a week.

 

[Ela1972]

Love this idea!!

Vote for Flying Fish.
We would go everynight of our trip the fish is amazing and the steaks are really good too. An excellent variety too

Now all that is left is to and see what happens

 

[mickeymotto]

My vote also goes to Flying Fish!! Love the Red Snapper, the calamari is delish and come on.....they even do a great steak! So for me this is a no brainer...
Flying Fish!! Flying Fish!!! say it with me now everyone Flying Fish!!! Flying Fish!!!

 

[sophie832]

I probably should've commented sooner, but I have been lurking and reading your reviews. It was good to see other people's reviews on signature restaurants before DH and I did our signature dining experience. I love your awards! Great idea!

Although both YS and FF were great signature meals, I voted for Flying Fish. There were good points about both restaurants, but overall we just had a better meal and a better time at FF.