DISNEYDEVOTEE
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2000
First time visit to Kouzzina on Saturday night. (non-dining plan) What a disappointment (for the most part). Bring back the old Spoodles or at least parts of it's menu.
We had an excellent seat, two top next to a pole with one seat having an over the shoulder view of kitchen wood fired ovens, the other was obstructed - but good none the less. Our server, a female from Chile ( I forget her name) was a soft talker - after several excuse me's and what's that you say - I gave up and resorted to head nodding. Our drinks were a mess - a simple Grey Goose on the rocks confounded her. She asked - "You want just vodka and ice?" When it came I almost sent it back - the glass was filled to the top with ice and hardly any vodka - I don't want anything for free - at $12 I expect the ice to be covered - put less ice - put more vodka, use the proper glass..... bad start.
Prior to ordering dinner we ordered a decent bottle of wine. As our drinks sat empty in front of us there was no bottle of wine to be found. We had to remind her - it arrived after our second course. We were seated at 6:45 - our server had one other table of 4 that was waiting for two of it's dining companions. This girl was not in the weeds.
Another off putting experience - they do a lot of chair moving around the floor. On one occasion my chair was bumped so hard I almost made a scene. I didn't as the hostess had an obvious physical disability - However, with no apology or "excuse me" I was turned off. We openly moved our table our selves after that bump, which was one of several.
Appetizer sampler was a very good choice - everything thing was good - if I had to be picky the Lamb meatballs were dry. The chicken skewer was excellent. The dips were good, pita was fresh, olives were tart, spicy cashews were splendid.
Greek Salad was excellent - tomatoes were fresh, feta was delicious, dressing,greens,and onions all complimented each other.
Entree selections were very Greek oriented with more reasonable then I expected pricing. I know this is a "Greek" establishment - however, being a Disney restaurant I think you should also dumb it down a little for the less sophisticated palate (i.e. - teenagers, me!). I ordered the Trio Sampler of Pastitsio, Stewed Chicken, and Lamb Burger Slider. The Patstisio was the winner only because the other two were not to my liking. Pastitsio is like a Greek Lasagna made with tubular noodles, tomatoes, some ground lamb/beef, and bechamel sauce served in a ramekin. Tasty but no better then any NJ diner. The chicken was stewed past being dry. The Orzo were a nice addition. My wife found this dish to have a fishy after taste - I did not. The use of cinnamon ( & nutmeg?) over powered every dish it touched. The lamb Slider was a beautiful presentation being all show. The meat was horribly dry and the whole concoction just didn't work.
The other entree was the Flank Steak. In a word -rubber. With out extending this to much longer - my wife inquired how the potatoes were prepared - it was described as lightly smashed by our server. The potatoes were served whole! Flank steak is what it is - but if you want steak this is your only choice - I don't eat Flank at home - I don't want to eat it out - especially not bad flank steak. Amp up the price for a better cut of meat.
The server cleared my wife's plate before I was finished - another serving faux-pa. This girl was getting bad marks and just adding to themall night long.
We went with the donuts and hot tea for desert. Our server said we were lucky because they were removing hot tea from the menu options as it is to time consuming to prepare. As opposed to the not so time consuming task of preparing a press pot of coffee?? The doughnuts were only ok - 5 for $8 seems high for fried dough balls but the dipping sauces of vanilla creme and raspberry helped ease the pain. Tea arrived with no sweetener as well.
As a former sever in Philadelphia during and after college I am extremely critical of poor service. I may have been spoiled from my dinner the night before at California Grill that was handled by an excellent server, accompanying staff and management. That dinner was flawless from start to finish that included complimentary leek soup appetizers, complimentary champagne and a complimentary slice of cake for a birthday celebration.
The Kouzzina atmosphere was highlighted by some people trying to have fun with the "Oupa" cheer. The chant was also mimicked by server's who shouted it out when ever a server or cook dropped a plate, pan, or glass. - It felt forced and uninspired.
Ouzo is not a mainstream liquor. It's inclusion in several cocktails is far fetched for the general population. Cat Cora is relying way to much on the public's previous fascination with "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". And $9.00 for a shot of her signature drink is high.
This restaurant will not be around much longer in it's current form if some changes do not take place. It will attract the one timers and the captive audiences, but I will not go again unless some major changes are seen in menu choices. The restaurant is not that old,so they can still enjoy the uninitiated diners. However, repeat business from DVC owners like me who attend 2-3 times a re are in jeopardy.
The Disney dining plan killed Spoodles, which was an original and unique restaurant with a menu that kept itself true to being a Mediterranean restaurant while still retaining mass appeal with a well prepared, diversified menu. This one should commit Hari-Cori (lol).
Bellmawr Bob
We had an excellent seat, two top next to a pole with one seat having an over the shoulder view of kitchen wood fired ovens, the other was obstructed - but good none the less. Our server, a female from Chile ( I forget her name) was a soft talker - after several excuse me's and what's that you say - I gave up and resorted to head nodding. Our drinks were a mess - a simple Grey Goose on the rocks confounded her. She asked - "You want just vodka and ice?" When it came I almost sent it back - the glass was filled to the top with ice and hardly any vodka - I don't want anything for free - at $12 I expect the ice to be covered - put less ice - put more vodka, use the proper glass..... bad start.
Prior to ordering dinner we ordered a decent bottle of wine. As our drinks sat empty in front of us there was no bottle of wine to be found. We had to remind her - it arrived after our second course. We were seated at 6:45 - our server had one other table of 4 that was waiting for two of it's dining companions. This girl was not in the weeds.
Another off putting experience - they do a lot of chair moving around the floor. On one occasion my chair was bumped so hard I almost made a scene. I didn't as the hostess had an obvious physical disability - However, with no apology or "excuse me" I was turned off. We openly moved our table our selves after that bump, which was one of several.
Appetizer sampler was a very good choice - everything thing was good - if I had to be picky the Lamb meatballs were dry. The chicken skewer was excellent. The dips were good, pita was fresh, olives were tart, spicy cashews were splendid.
Greek Salad was excellent - tomatoes were fresh, feta was delicious, dressing,greens,and onions all complimented each other.
Entree selections were very Greek oriented with more reasonable then I expected pricing. I know this is a "Greek" establishment - however, being a Disney restaurant I think you should also dumb it down a little for the less sophisticated palate (i.e. - teenagers, me!). I ordered the Trio Sampler of Pastitsio, Stewed Chicken, and Lamb Burger Slider. The Patstisio was the winner only because the other two were not to my liking. Pastitsio is like a Greek Lasagna made with tubular noodles, tomatoes, some ground lamb/beef, and bechamel sauce served in a ramekin. Tasty but no better then any NJ diner. The chicken was stewed past being dry. The Orzo were a nice addition. My wife found this dish to have a fishy after taste - I did not. The use of cinnamon ( & nutmeg?) over powered every dish it touched. The lamb Slider was a beautiful presentation being all show. The meat was horribly dry and the whole concoction just didn't work.
The other entree was the Flank Steak. In a word -rubber. With out extending this to much longer - my wife inquired how the potatoes were prepared - it was described as lightly smashed by our server. The potatoes were served whole! Flank steak is what it is - but if you want steak this is your only choice - I don't eat Flank at home - I don't want to eat it out - especially not bad flank steak. Amp up the price for a better cut of meat.
The server cleared my wife's plate before I was finished - another serving faux-pa. This girl was getting bad marks and just adding to themall night long.
We went with the donuts and hot tea for desert. Our server said we were lucky because they were removing hot tea from the menu options as it is to time consuming to prepare. As opposed to the not so time consuming task of preparing a press pot of coffee?? The doughnuts were only ok - 5 for $8 seems high for fried dough balls but the dipping sauces of vanilla creme and raspberry helped ease the pain. Tea arrived with no sweetener as well.
As a former sever in Philadelphia during and after college I am extremely critical of poor service. I may have been spoiled from my dinner the night before at California Grill that was handled by an excellent server, accompanying staff and management. That dinner was flawless from start to finish that included complimentary leek soup appetizers, complimentary champagne and a complimentary slice of cake for a birthday celebration.
The Kouzzina atmosphere was highlighted by some people trying to have fun with the "Oupa" cheer. The chant was also mimicked by server's who shouted it out when ever a server or cook dropped a plate, pan, or glass. - It felt forced and uninspired.
Ouzo is not a mainstream liquor. It's inclusion in several cocktails is far fetched for the general population. Cat Cora is relying way to much on the public's previous fascination with "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". And $9.00 for a shot of her signature drink is high.
This restaurant will not be around much longer in it's current form if some changes do not take place. It will attract the one timers and the captive audiences, but I will not go again unless some major changes are seen in menu choices. The restaurant is not that old,so they can still enjoy the uninitiated diners. However, repeat business from DVC owners like me who attend 2-3 times a re are in jeopardy.
The Disney dining plan killed Spoodles, which was an original and unique restaurant with a menu that kept itself true to being a Mediterranean restaurant while still retaining mass appeal with a well prepared, diversified menu. This one should commit Hari-Cori (lol).
Bellmawr Bob
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