Le Cellier..I Have To Ask

[crisi]

When someone asks an opinion regarding a WDW restaurant, I take it as a given that the comparison only involves other WDW eateries. It's no use saying that there are better steaks to be had in Kansas City, those places are not options. The great reviews of Le Cellier reflect how that restaurant ranks among the other choices within WDW, not how it would stack up against the finest in some distant city. Shula's is a valid point, but you'll pay considerably more there than at Le Cellier.

Bill From PA

At the same time, many people don't have WDW restaurants to compare to. Saying Le Cellier has excellent steak to someone from Kansas City is likely to lead to the dreaded "expectation inflation."

Having the luck to have eaten at many WDW restaurants, we decide whether we want a Le Cellier quality steak or if we rather have a Sci Fi experience or a character meal. Without understanding what a Le Cellier quality steak is, I might choose to spend a meal getting a Le Cellier steak, and end up wishing I'd have gone for characters.

We had that experience years ago with Boma - when it was the darling of the Dis. Boma is a pretty good extensive buffet - but had we really understood the quality of the food, we would have skipped it or planned it differently than we did. Not that it was bad - it just wasn't good enough to meet expectations.

 

[Kaler131]

I am not a "steak person" but I really like Le Cellier. The pretzel bread is SOOOOO good! The steak was good and the mashed potatoes are also good as well.

 

[Helpmate]

Ok...flame suit...check. I have been reading these threads and I now have a question. Flame if you must but here goes... Is LeCellier a great place to enjoy a great steak or is it just a good place to eat at Disney? Let me explain I have read some great reviews of LeCellier and I have read some ok ones as well. I was just wondering what everyone thinks. I live in Montana and we hae some fantastic steak places. I am just wondering if LeCellier is all it is made out to be.

We were there this year for an early lunch. I love beef. Consequently, I love a good steak. I love a great burger. Great service, great bread, great grilled Steak Burger (so good that my mouth waters every single time I think of it), great chocolate cake. My DH loved his seafood pasta. This surprised me since it was mostly a steak house. Our timing was everything. It wasn't crowded and we only got in because we had made reservations.

 

[Helpmate]

I'm celebrating having made it past my 30th disboard post here at a Le Cellier thread!

Now, if I could only get my hands on a Le Cellier Grilled Steak Burger!

 

[Mom2JoeyandBen]

To be honest, I go just for the cheese soup and the pretzel bread. Mmmm mmmm mmm!

That is why we go there too. We don't actually like anything else there.

 

[jimmiej]

Okay...as far as facts go...Le Cellier is the #2 highest rated restaurant on Disney Property , and it is number #1 in Epcot.

That is from a former Disney Cast Member who we met at Port Orleans last September. (FYI Victoria and Alberts was #1 in Disney...of course....)

I don't know about this year, but the high demand should speak for itself, as with everything though...each person has different tastes and diff expectations soooo.....mine is:

I mentioned this on another thread, but if you look at the customer ratings on http://allearsnet.com/reviewpost/showcat.php?cat=32 , Le Cellier is #1 (in all of WDW TS restaurants) with a 9.26 rating (out of 10).

 

[jrogalny]

We ate there on 9/24. I agree, LeCellier is a nice restaurant but it wasn't our best meal. Narcoossee's was the best ever. You just couldn't beat that dinner. We also ate at Coral Reef. I had the steak there and LeCellier's mushroom filet killed the Coral Reef steak. If I didn't have the dining plan, would I eat at LeCellier? Probably not. I'd rather spend that money at Narcoossee's.

 

[luvlumpy]

We just got back and had steak at both Kona and LeCellier. We thought there was no beating the filet at Kona until we had the filet and strip at LeCellier. It was amazing. LeCellier was our favorite meal of the trip. Loved the appetizers, meals and desserts!! I was a little wary because of all of the hype, but I will now join in on the hype!!! LeCellier rocks!

 

[Praying Colonel]

We ate there on 9/24. I agree, LeCellier is a nice restaurant but it wasn't our best meal. Narcoossee's was the best ever. You just couldn't beat that dinner. We also ate at Coral Reef. I had the steak there and LeCellier's mushroom filet killed the Coral Reef steak. If I didn't have the dining plan, would I eat at LeCellier? Probably not. I'd rather spend that money at Narcoossee's.

And just to show that everybody can have different experiences, our meal at Narcoossee's was the only bad TS experience during our August trip, and only 1 of 2 bad TS experiences we've ever had at WDW. Service was poor, entree was borderline edible and we had to get our desserts to go because 2 hours into our meal (11:15 pm), they still hadn't taken our dessert order. We were very sorry that we used even 1 TS credit there, much less 2.

Does this mean that Narcoosee's is a bad restaurant? Heck no--from what I've read, our experience was the exception and not the rule. My guess is the poor reviews from LeCellier probably are the exception, too.

 

[crisi]

Does this mean that Narcoosee's is a bad restaurant? Heck no--from what I've read, our experience was the exception and not the rule. My guess is the poor reviews from LeCellier probably are the exception, too.

I've eaten at Le Cellier four times - I've never had a bad meal. But I've never had one that has lived up to the hype this restaurant receives.

Years ago I had a great meal at Narcoosee's - last time, disappointing for the price (the Le Cellier steak was cheaper and better - but the Narcoosee's steak wasn't bad).

My husband has had excellent steaks at Jiko twice.

For years here I've been panning Boma. I was expecting something much better than what Boma is - I've been back to Boma since and it was the same food....but with my expectations set properly, I enjoyed Boma. I suspect that some of the bad Le Cellier reviews are a reaction to people expecting a $45 Capital Grille or Ruth's Chris sort of steak since so much of the hype (best steak ever, best rated restaurant at Disney) seems like it should be - and getting a $25 Disney steak. For $25 at Disney, this place is a bargain and the steak is darn good - but keep your expectations in line.

Le Cellier may be the best rated, but how many WDW guests have had the steak at Jiko, Yachtsman, Shula's, Flying Fish, Artist's Point AND California Grill to compare it to?

 

[byoung]

Love it there and the food is great. The mussels appt is out of this world.

 

[JenSop]

I've only recently discovered the Disboards, so our Le Cellier experiences had never been influenced by anything we'd read anywhere else. So we went in with no preconceived notions - good or bad.

We first ate there on our honeymoon in 2001 and REALLY loved it. I'm not a steak person, so it has to be good or I won't eat it. Then we went again for our anniversary in 2006 and had some trouble getting ADR's. We had to settle for lunch instead of dinner. It was near the end of our trip, and we were wondering why we wanted to go back so bad. Then we ate and remembered. It really was that good. We both had the filet and it just melts in your mouth. So. good.

We'll be going next year (first time as DVC members!) and will be taking my parents and my grandmother. I'm planning on calling on the exact day of the 180 day booking window and making Le Cellier dinner reservations for our first night. Can't wait!

My other fave restaurants are Boma and Ohana, but they still can't compare to Le Cellier!