Le Cellier lunch today, what has happened ?

[Joshua_me]

I feel like a broken record in terms of the replies I've been giving on different threads on this board.... But, here I go again.

The quality of food in ALL of the TS restaurants, even the "signature" ones, have been steadily going downhill for some time, now. Especially in Epcot and DTD.

The prices for the OOP guests have been going through the roof, ( "forcing" people into one of the DP's, perhaps ?) and all the while the level of service and the quality of the food have been sadly lacking, compared to what they were just a few years ago.

This frustrates me on a couple of different levels.

1) The inconsistency of it all. One night, dinner at Ohana's or Le Cellier can be fairly good, and then the next night it can seem like McNuggets at McD's would be preferable. Now, I realize that even the best restaurants can "Get into the weeds" and have a bad night, but the back and forth of Disney's restaurants is puzzling at best.

And, 2) The attitude of the CM's/servers. Some are wonderful, others are snotty and act like they are doing you a favor by filling your water glass. (This rarely happens at DisneyLAND, perhaps because many are paid an actual living wage)

Disney can only rest on it's laurels for so long.

Those of us who can remember going to the parks back in the 80's can also remember a totally different "vibe" that used to exist. You were made to feel special, along with that touch of "Disney magic".

I write all of this as someone who was a waiter for many years, working at places that ranged from "greasy spoons" to five star steakhouses. Once you learn your craft, it's not that difficult to make your customers happy.

This seems to be a skill that is all but lost on Disney employee's.

 

[DisneyB]

This restaurant went from being on the top of our must do dining list to dropping off all together. 4 years ago the Mushroom Filet I had was one of the best two steaks I have ever had (nothing beats Peter Lugers) but the last time I went (two years ago) the steak was undercooked (the the chef seemed insulted when he saw I didn't finish it because it was raw) and the risotto was extremely salty. Tack on top of that it is now two table credits and it dropped to the bottom of the list. I would much prefer to dine in Chefs de France and have the beef there.

 

[MEK]

I'm sorry to hear such bad reviews as I purposely scheduled a lunch here for my bro and SIL while I watch their kids. Bummer for sure!

 

[bjakmom]

I agree that many of the table service restaurants have been going downhill in the last 4 or 5 years - IMHO much do to the dining plan.

That said - we just had a WONDERFUL lunch at Le Cellier on Tuesday of last week. It has been one of the favs of my now grown kids thru the years, so it was a must do on this trip where we all met in WDW.
I picked lunch since we were celebrating newest DGrDs 1st B'day and getting to dinner could have been iffy.
We had a fabulous server - Colin - who was also training another server. He was very generous with the pretzel bread - I remember visits when servers acted like giving us all pretzel bread sticks was a mission impossible. He took the time to make a few great beer recommendations and his description of the poutines made us all want to share to try them and now we have a new fav side. We all had the filet except DD - Colin had no trouble special ordering DSs without mushrooms and with mashed potatoes instead of risotto. All 5 were cooked to our individual orders and were delicious. DD loved her salmon - said it was some of the best she's had - and she loves salmon. Even all the guys were too full for dessert, so plenty of food for us. Colin did bring DGrD a candle in her little dessert and the CMs sang. So don't despair - it's not always bad. We just had a wonderful experience there - again.

PS: not disputing other's experiences - we had an awful lunch and server at LC about 4 years ago that kept me from any lunch booking there - until they changed the dinner menu, upped the prices and made it 2 credits.

 

[elaine amj]

Good news! The inconsistencies in reports are frustrating - but I have every hope of an excellent lunch in August!

 

[carol-lamb]

I ate lunch at Le Cellier in March and it was one of our favorite lunches of the week. I had the filet with the mushroom risotto and it was delicious. I actually appreciated the size of the filet. It was just right size especially since I also had a bowl of the cheese soup. We are going towards the end of June and we have another ADR and I'm really looking forward to it!

 

[dreamscometrue101]

I've never had a chance to dine at LeCellier, but was able to get a dinner ADR for our upcoming trip in August. My DS15 is really looking forward to it, and I'm hopeful that we'll be there on a good night and have a positive experience to report back here.

 

[Costumesaremylife]

I ate there today. Filet was delicious! I get it with the mashed potatoes. Our server was lovely, we chatted about the marathon, our drinks never went dry. The food came out in a timely manner. Le Cellier is still one of my favorites.

How did the chef know you didn't finish a raw steak, was it sent back half eaten?

 

[tavettava]

Sorry the service was bad. We eat there everytime we go, one of our favorite. Never had a bad service or food (we've eatin there 17 times.) It's the only place ds will eat steak at. Hasn't the filet always been 5oz?

 

[crusherace03]

This restaurant has some of the rudest cm's in Disney. I ordered some soup to go and they treated me like gum on the bottom of their shoes. Needless to say my dh was pissed and I'm never going back.

 

[fla4fun]

Le Cellier is very inconsistent. More often than not, I've had great meals there, but about three years back, I had two ADR's for the same time, one week apart and they were the complete opposite experiences. The first meal was one of the best I've ever had at WDW, great service, great food, everything. The second was one of the worst meals I've had anywhere EVER - and I ordered the exact same item! The food was cold and overcooked, and my server was MIA most of the meal (and barely there when they WERE there). It's a little frustrating because you shouldn't have to wonder if you're going to have a good meal or a bad one. When it's good, it's just sooooo good that I keep going back, but when you get one of those bad meals, it's rough.

I still have an ADR for September though, so I'm hoping for a good meal.

 

[3DisneyBuggs]

Once at LeCellier was enough for us.I did not enjoy the cheese soup or my steak. The other restaurant I was disappointed in was Coral Reef. It was freezing in there and the food was just okay.

 

[RachelsMommie]

We just had Le Cellier last week and I agree! The soup was good and the desserts were good, but my filet mignon was NOT a filet...it was a chewy, fatty piece of beef that was overcooked. We will probably try another WS restaurant next trip instead.

 

[aVASTGrl]

oh dear, this is disturbing, I just made an ADR here for my October trip!! If a place is inconsistent, with my luck, I will definitely eat there on an off night I'm thinking maybe I should try a different WS place!

 

[arcticdisneylovers]

Well we were very disappointed with our dinner there in February. I thought maybe we'd try lunch next time. But maybe we'll just skip it

 

[Erin1700]

We were thinking of trying this in December.
Is the filet grilled?

 

[jenfromjersey]

We just ate there on the 6th for lunch and had a wonderful time. We had a 2:05 ADR and were seated within minutes. Our server was lovely, chatted with us, was prompt in letting me know my limitations (I'm allergic to rosemary), and brought out extra pretzel bread because the other two rolls have rosemary in them, so I couldn't eat them.

We ordered a bowl of soup to share, which we really enjoyed. My filet was perfect and not fatty at all. I thought it was the perfect size for lunch, especially since we had the soup. We loved the risotto (my boyfriend had the strip and really enjoyed that with the mashed). We would definitely dine there again.

 

[rachel09985]

Our servers have both been great!!!! Best I have had in all of Disney! The filet has gotten smaller but I probabaly don't need it to be bigger anyways.

I think I was more smitten with it the first time but I still liked it the second time.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Once at LeCellier was enough for us. I did not enjoy the cheese soup or my steak. The other restaurant I was disappointed in was Coral Reef. It was freezing in there and the food was just okay.

We just had Le Cellier last week and I agree! The soup was good and the desserts were good, but my filet mignon was NOT a filet...it was a chewy, fatty piece of beef that was overcooked. We will probably try another WS restaurant next trip instead.

This is the same experience I had at Le Cellier. Very disappointing.

 

[DisneyB]

How did the chef know you didn't finish a raw steak, was it sent back half eaten?[/QUOTE]

The chef actually stopped at the table and saw I was done eating but hadn't cleared my plate of the steak. I didn't send anything back.