Just left the Queen Victoria Room!Picture added 3/2

[kbmaggs]

We just got back to our room, fat and happy. Our meal in the new room at Victoria & Albert's was an amazing experience! We have dined in the main room and at the chef's table before, so we were eager to try something new.
For those who are under the impression that this room is basically the same as the chef's table..... no, it really isn't. Three of the courses were prepared tableside, and the presentation was AMAZING! We chose to include two upcharged courses, and in this room that meant adding courses rather than replacing them. We had the "better" cavier, and I was just about swooning with delight. I never knew anything could have such a subtle, delicious flavor. I also added the turbot, as I had had it before and just needed to try it again.
There are only 4 tables in this room, 3 of which were occupied this evening. The servers were wonderful; we learned a lot about the food and its preparation. The tableside prep was so much fun to experience! I will do a full review with pictures, when I get home.

 

[Symans3honeybees]

Wow, it sounds like your evening was amazing! Wish you have pictures to share with us, but it would have been a distraction with the camera...

 

[KristenHoneymooner]

Yay! This is the review I have been waiting for. I hope to hear more about what made it even more fabulous than the normal V&A experience.

 

[kbmaggs]

I did take pictures of most courses (no flash), as did another woman in the room! I'm new at this- the pictures are in the camera, but I don't know how to post them. Any help?

 

[Symans3honeybees]

I did take pictures of most courses (no flash), as did another woman in the room! I'm new at this- the pictures are in the camera, but I don't know how to post them. Any help?

I hope this will help a little, since it is mostly my DS who uploads all my pictures to a "Flickr" account. From there, I can then copy and paste the photos. Give it a try.

 

[JenKatt]

Thank you for posting this. We're doing this next month!

 

[davinakb]

We are thinking about doing this, having done the Chef's Table twice. If the TiW will work, I think it'll be a done deal. Love the idea of some courses being prepared table side, and everything. Hmm. thanks for sharing.

 

[Flower13]

I can't wait to hear more...

 

[kbmaggs]

TIW is not accepted for this room.......
in retrospect, I guess I'm glad we did this, but with one wine pairing, 2 added courses and tip our dinner for 2 cost almost $900!!!!!
Positives:
*Excellent food (of course)
*Tableside cooking- very cool
*A quiet, beautiful dining experience
*a visit with Chef Aime near the end of the meal

Negatives:
*$$$$$$
*service is intrusive. With 4 tables in a small room, you couldn't shake a french roll without hitting a server..... kind of tough to have private conversation here.
*No sommelier in the room- wine pairings were not explained at all.
* No rose for the ladies (may seem petty, but I missed it!)

 

[Flower13]

Could you please tell us what was prepared table side? I can't believe no rose. Are the wines better than in the regular dining room?

 

[kbmaggs]

A salmon dish was cooked tableside on a hot salt tile (very cool) and quite tasty!
Croutons were prepared with choice of oils and salts to accompany a nice crab dish.
Not exactly cooked at the table, but an extensive cheese plate was brought out to choose from (I tried some of each!), and the server told us quite a bit about the cheeses and the accompaniments.

 

[kbmaggs]

Don't know if the wines were better than the main room..... they were poured with no info whatsoever.

 

[oybolshoi]

The lack of information regarding your wines is inexcusable for the amount of money you dropped there, imho. When we were in the dining room in October our serving team was very knowledgeable about the wines they were serving and provided a lot of great information for all of us. I'm sorry you didn't receive that - I would have expected it to be a given.

Thanks for taking the time to share some details with us all.

 

[franandaj]

Oh, I am so looking forward to your pictures and more in-depth review! We were at V&A's on the 26th of January. Before we left on our trip I read about the opening of the Queen Victoria's Room on allears.net and called up to see if we could get a reservation, but found out they didn't open until Feb 1.

While we were there, they were doing a soft opening, probably for Disney VIPs and stuff because the room was full. Last time we dined at V&A's was 2007 where we were at the Chef's table. It was amazing, but way too much food! We dropped $600 on that dinner for two with wine pairings, so I hope that there were more than two of you on this trip!

Our dinner in the dining room this last trip was really incredible. There was one course we couldn't choose between three of the appetizer type offerings so we ordered our menu options and then asked for a split of the Lobster Bisque between two of us. We also traded a plate or two back and forth so between the extra trades and split courses, I think we ended up with almost 10 courses in the dining room!

We usually skip V&A's every other trip just so that we can get to some other great restaurants, but our next trip to WDW is a long ways away, probably 18 mos., so I might push to try the new room. Although we're thinking during F&W...so hmmmm, well it's a ways away, I'll have to stick to the DISboards and see how the reviews of this room go.

BTW, we didn't get a rose at the chef's table, but no rose in that room for that price? Doesn't seem right!

 

[kbmaggs]

ok, I am ready to post my first pictures ever! Hope this works!

So far, so good...

 

[kbmaggs]

We started the meal with champagne and then our amuse bouche, which consisted of a soft poached quail egg with Galilee caviar, popcorn crusted diver scallop, smoked salmon panna cotta with salmon caviar, and crispy buffalo mozzarella.

Our next course was an add-on. We had to try the caviar that was offered. I was so excited about it that I forgot to take pictures! Sorry.....

 

[christinou]

thanks for the review, I really look forward to the rest of it.

 

[LuvSnowWhite]

How can one dinner possibly cost you 900$$$$ I hope it was worth it. I can't believe they didn't give the women a rose in this more expensive part of the restaurant. I hope the service was utimate. Will you return?

I was budgeting for V&A for this Sept and somewhere I read that the chef's table is 225$ with wine pairings. Is that 225 PER PERSON?????? I might have to pass on this one. But the pictures look awesome and It looks like you really enjoyed it and that is the important thing.

Bon Appetit!

 

[kbmaggs]

Yes, that would be per person at the Chef's table........
Would we return??? No, not the the Queen Victoria Room. We will be back, but in the regular dining room. This was a great experience, just way too expensive for us to ever do again.
There was just way too much food for me to enjoy at the Chef's Table- and I'm no slouch when it comes to eating!
I will post the rest of the pictures in the next few days.

 

[franandaj]

There was just way too much food for me to enjoy at the Chef's Table- and I'm no slouch when it comes to eating!

I completely agree. I really enjoyed my meal in the regular dining room last January, but I would like to try the QV room for myself. Perhaps in a couple years and they will have worked out the kinks!