Just Back - Reviews

[wen8jr]

Hello, just back and had a few brief reviews to report. I did not take any food pictures, but let me tell you I do appreciate the time and effort it takes for those who have posted them out here for us!!!! I couldn't do it.

One comment, if I had not had TS meals I would have really thought the food at Disney was not that great. CS did not cut it for us, it really disappointed me. We almost did not go with the TS meals or the DDP, but I am really glad we did both. We were more than ready for a break to sit at TS meals by the time the reservations came up each day. And the 2007 DDP really saved us money, I think I would have really cried if I had not prepaid or had to watch every dollar spent. The DDP really made all that easy.

Here is a list of the resturants I am reviewing.

TS:

Boatwrights
Planet Hollywood
San Angel Inn
50's Prime Time
LeCellier

CS:

Riverside Mill Food Court - Dinner
Cantina San Angel
Pizzafari
Pinocchio Village Haus
Pecos Bill
Riverside Mill Food Court - Breakfast



Boatwrights - Our favorite (way better than LeCellier)

We ate dinner here twice, only one ADR prescheduled, and the second made after we discovered how great the food was. The menu changed from what is posted here on the DIS, so we really didn't know what to expect after we sat down and seen the change. But, let me tell you this was an awesome meal both times.

We all had the Grilled Filet Mignon - served with Crawfish Hollandaise (req on the side) and Three-Cheese Hash-Brown Potatoes. The filet (both times) would melt in your mouth. The potatoes were great. My DS (12) loved all the food too.

Our appetizers for one meal were the Romaine Salad - Baby Romaine, Croutons, Asiago Cheese, and Prosciutto served with our House Dressing. Simple, but very good. Their salad dressing is great. My DH also had the Crawfish Cakes - served with Fennel and Mango Slaw with Remoulade one night and he remarked that they were good.

We also each tried the Chocolate Cake, the Pecan Pie and the Apple Pie. All were absolutely delicious and very fresh.

Our servers at both meals were great even though the resturant was pretty busy. They got an extra tip on top of the 18% included with the DDP. I really appreciate good waiters, as it can make such a difference in your meal.

 

[wen8jr]

Planet Hollywood - our second favorite


Planet Hollywood was our second favorite. I had heard so many bad things about this place - the food and the waiters; but our experience was wonderful. We loved the atmosphere and the food was awesome. Our waitress was good too, even though they were very busy.

For apps we had the spinach dip, the potato skins and the chicken crunch. All were great.

For entrees my DH and I both had the ribs and "mmmmmm" is all I can say. Awesome, way better than expected. We've had ribs from everywhere and these were some of the best. The fries and cole slaw were also very good. My DS had the Philly cheesesteak and thought it was great. He loves cheesesteaks and will always get them if on the menu.

Dessert - I had the double chocolate brownie - it was great. DH had the white chocolate bread pudding and thought it was so so (he doesn't like sweets much anyway) and DS had a milkshake, very good.

Such a great surprise after such bad reviews and one of the best meals we had the whole trip.

 

[wen8jr]

San Angel Inn

Loved the atmosphere here. The food was plain to me and DS, but DH absolutely loved it. I had read reviews here about the food so I was not surprised. It was not awful by any means, it was just not exciting. But it is worth it to me if you can sit and just have a drink (I recommend the Frozen Margarita , awesome) and soak in the atmosphere and it was nice to watch DH love it so much.

We actually all ordered the same appetiziers and entrees.

The app was my favorite part of the meal and the tastiest - Sope Tradicional - grilled soft corn shell filled with chicken and refried beans, covered with fresh green tomato sauce, fresh cheese and onions, served over a bed of lettuce. DH and DS both liked this too.

For the entree we had the Plato Mexicano - grilled beef taco, chicken enchilada and cheese quesadilla, served with black refried beans, guacamole and Mexican rice. Good, but not spicy or cheesy enough for me, I like our local Mexican resturant much better. DH absolutely loved it.

Dessert to me was also not so good. I'm a dark chocolate person, so the Capirotada de Chocolate Blanco - white chocolate golden raisin bread pudding served with Mexican milk caramel - didn't really cut it. DH had the rice pudding and hated it and DS had vanilla ice cream which he liked.

 

[wen8jr]

50's Prime Time

This is a pretty cool resturant, but pricey if you had to pay OOP for the food you get at the prices they charge.

I actually really liked the experience and the food and so did DS. DH didn't like it much at all. I think I overlooked the things I didn't like (green beans and mashed potatoes) and just focused on those that I did (apps, chicken and dessert) . I think DS done the same, but he was smart and ordered fries.

Of course, I got scolded for having my elbows on the table. The food wasn't even delivered yet and I got scolded. Our waiter was very nice, just funny enough...didn't force feed us or embarrass us...which might have ruined it for me if he did. I seen some people who had to get up and sing or had to get airplane fed their greens. That might have been a bit too much for my family.

I had the fried cheese plate, fried chicken and the brownie. Everything was very good except the mashed potatoes (yuck).

DH had the onion rings, meatloaf and a milkshake. He liked the onion rings and that was about it.

DS had the chicken noodle soup, meatloaf (w/fries) and a milkshake. He loved it all except the green beans.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reviews ~ Thanks for posting.

 

[wen8jr]

LeCellier - least liked by all

I worked myself up thinking this would be a great meal after hearing all the rave reviews. I was so disappointed and so were my DH and DS.

The resturant is neat and the grounds of course were beautiful going in and the waitress was good, but the food was not really up to par. We can eat much better steaks at home.

For an appetizer I had the newest addition to the their menu - Spicy Chicken and Chipotle Sausage - with creamy polenta and sweet onion jam. It was the best thing I ate. The creamy polenta is pretty good, the sausage is hot.

I had the Filet with the sauce on the side (glad of that, the sauce was not good at all...it seemed sour to me) and it came with sweet potato something or another. Again the menus posted on the DIS and allears indicate cream cheese potatoes and that is not what you get. The filet was decent, sort of tasteless though. The filet at Boatwrights was soooo much better.

Dessert, I had the chocolate cake and it was served ice cold and seemed dry. The cake at Boatwrights was warm, moist and just good. I hate to compare, but Boatwrights is so much better for practically the same meal.


DH had the Shrimp Cocktail - with wasabi slaw and horseradish-chili sauce for an app and he thought it was so so. For the entree he had the 10 oz. New York Strip Steak - and let me tell you the steak was nothing but fat. He did not like it at all. The potatoes were not very good (I tried them). For dessert he had warm spiced apple crumble and thought it was okay.

DS had the Canadian Chedder Cheese soup and loved it. I tasted it and liked it to. He also had the NY Strip and it was all fat too. He did like the looks of his Smores dessert, but he couldn't even cut it to eat it because it was hard as a brick.

VERY DISAPPOINTED - will not eat here again. The only thing we liked were the apps.

 

[wen8jr]

Counter Service meals

Riverside Mill Food Court - Dinner
Cantina San Angel
Pizzafari
Pinocchio Village Haus
Pecos Bill
Riverside Mill Food Court - Breakfast

Where to begin, I don't really feel that these were worth reviewing, but I will say a few things about them.

For me, I would have to say that the only thing I liked were those CS resturants that I could get pizza, can't really mess pizza up too bad except that Pinocchio Village Haus had the worse pizza to me. I did like Cantina San Angel. I got the Nachos and they were pretty tasty. My DS and DH both loved the food there too. I would have to say the biggest disappointment to me were Pecos Bill and Riverside Mill Food Court (especially breakfast). The desserts were just so so at all CS and not worth remarking on at all except the frozen lemonade at Pizzafari - those are good.

Pecos Bill - We all got the BBQ pork sandwich and I just did not like the BBQ flavor at all. I like sweet BBQ and this was more vinager/mustard based. My DS did like it, but my DH did not.

Riverside Mill Food Court at POR - what a nightmare to me. I just feel like it is such a mad house in there at all times. I do not like the set up at all. If you want different things, or your child wants something different you have to wait in line for all the different serving areas while your other food is getting cold. I did like the pizza we had at dinner one night and so did DS, but the breakfast was awful. DS even commented it tasted like school food. Everything just tasted like grease, even the eggs, the bacon, the sausage and the potatoes had just a grease flavor. Yuck. The desserts seemed bland too. DH had a burger one night and it just looked gross. He ate it, but it looked like it had sat there all day, you know with that gray look. I guess he was about fed up and hungry. LOL

 

[wen8jr]

In Closing:

I have come back 2lbs heavier and now have to hit the treadmill and get back to dieting!!

I loved Disney, the experiences were great and the DDP is great even though it is a lot of food. The smells and the atmosphere of each of the resturants and parks are something we will never forget.

I recommend keeping an open mind and don't sweat the disappointments as there is bound to be a great meal around the corner that you will like. Make some TS reservations if you will be there for over two days as CS can be disappointing and there really are not a lot of food choices unless you are in EPCOT.

 

[ampc3]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[SmallWorld71]

Thanks for the reviews. We stayed at POR in August and thought the food court was good. Although we only ate there at lunch time and it wasn't very crowded. We had breakfast to go once too. I'm glad you enjoyed Boatrights and sorry we didn't get a chance to eat there. The only one of the TS I've eaten at is Planet Hollywood. It was many years ago, but I really enjoyed it.

 

[wen8jr]

I think POR was at 95-100% capacity which may be why the food court was so awful. I was really looking forward to using it for a few CS meals, but it was too crowded and I really thought the people behind the counter were rude too. Other than that POR was great, I loved it. It offers so much and the grounds are beautiful.

 

[KatMark]

Thanks for the great reviews. Sorry you didn't like LeCellier...we loved it. See how different people like different things. Boatwright's was our least favorite restaurant of the trip. The service was terrible, couldn't stand being near the lounge where the noise was ridiculous and our food was awful...both of our steaks were overcooked, fatty and grizzly (I liked the potatos, my DH hated them).

 

[wen8jr]

Thanks for the great reviews. Sorry you didn't like LeCellier...we loved it. See how different people like different things. Boatwright's was our least favorite restaurant of the trip. The service was terrible, couldn't stand being near the lounge where the noise was ridiculous and our food was awful...both of our steaks were overcooked, fatty and grizzly (I liked the potatos, my DH hated them).

It could be the luck of the draw if you know what I mean. If we go back it may be exactly the opposite.

I'm wondering if Boatwrights has changed manager/chef. It seemed a step up from what I expected it to be or pictures I had seen posted. I even asked about the onion rings they use to have (if I could still order them for my DS) and the waiter just kind of cringed "like no way". LOL

LeCellier has made a few changes I think, did you have the sweet potato mash? It came with the filet and it just did not go with a steak IMO and was sort of bland. The filet wasn't bad, it was very tender but didn't have much flavor at all. Might have been better if I liked the sauce or even if it had a little butter on it. I sort of like my steak swimming in a little sauce/juice. I think when they put it on the potato all the juice goes into the potato. LOL

Now the NY strip there truely looked awful, I felt sorry for my DH and DS trying to cut a decent bite out of it. I actually think my meal was better than theirs. They were sort of irritated. Our ADR was at 11:40 and by 3:00 that day they wanted something else to eat because they were hungry.

I'm just glad we purchased the DDP, it sort of made the bad meals a little easier to look over and the great ones seem like a deal. It all evens out in the end.

 

[KatMark]

It could be the luck of the draw if you know what I mean. If we go back it may be exactly the opposite.

I'm wondering if Boatwrights has changed manager/chef. It seemed a step up from what I expected it to be or pictures I had seen posted. I even asked about the onion rings they use to have (if I could still order them for my DS) and the waiter just kind of cringed "like no way". LOL

LeCellier has made a few changes I think, did you have the sweet potato mash? It came with the filet and it just did not go with a steak IMO and was sort of bland. The filet wasn't bad, it was very tender but didn't have much flavor at all. Might have been better if I liked the sauce or even if it had a little butter on it. I sort of like my steak swimming in a little sauce/juice. I think when they put it on the potato all the juice goes into the potato. LOL

Now the NY strip there truely looked awful, I felt sorry for my DH and DS trying to cut a decent bite out of it. I actually think my meal was better than theirs. They were sort of irritated. Our ADR was at 11:40 and by 3:00 that day they wanted something else to eat because they were hungry.

I'm just glad we purchased the DDP, it sort of made the bad meals a little easier to look over and the great ones seem like a deal. It all evens out in the end.

I understand what you mean by luck of the draw. We also had a terrible experience at Hollywood Brown Derby and everyone loved it. We have never in five times at LeCellier had a bad meal. No, we did not have sweet potato mashed (I hate sweet potatos)....ours were with cream cheese mashed and they were very tasty.

We are going to try Boatwright's for breakfast next year when we go...we hear that is very good (and we know the lounge won't be open!).

Hope you had a great trip.

 

[my3disneygirls]

In Closing:

I have come back 2lbs heavier and now have to hit the treadmill and get back to dieting!!

I loved Disney, the experiences were great and the DDP is great even though it is a lot of food. The smells and the atmosphere of each of the resturants and parks are something we will never forget.

I recommend keeping an open mind and don't sweat the disappointments as there is bound to be a great meal around the corner that you will like. Make some TS reservations if you will be there for over two days as CS can be disappointing and there really are not a lot of food choices unless you are in EPCOT.

Great reviews and advice. I'm glad you didn't let a couple of bad experiences ruin things for you. I always thought Boatwrights was very good also. I liked starting my trip there. Had some very good breakfasts there also.

My daughter knocked my arm and I lost your quote box. so I came back and italicized your statements.

 

[Busymom85]

Thanks for the reviews. Guess we will have to try Boatwrights.