Le Cellier...yuk!

[minnierocks]

We had lunch today at the "hard to get" reservation place known as Le Cellier. I had to try it...but never again. The service was great...so no problems there. DD had the chicken crepe...edible but not good. DH had the steak sandwich...it was huge but just ok. DS liked his burger...so a bright spot. I ordered the "must try" filet...AWFUL! I will not complain about the portion size, as I knew it would be small when I ordered it. Our server was very clear that it was 5 oz. To be honest, it tasted like a lesser cut of meat that they had tenderized to death. I didn't even finish it. It was super salty (and I like salt), the risotto was undercooked and not good. The highlight of the meal was the cheddar soup and pretzel bread. I could have stopped there and saved a lot of money. I can say I have been there but I have had a better steak at Ponderosa buffet. At least at Ponderosa, it was cheap and all I could eat. Le Cellier is not even close to a signature restaurant. I have had fine dining and the food wasn't even in the same ballpark. No flames please...I know there are many who like this place...this is just my opinion.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

For the record, lunch is a completely different meal from dinner (and lunch isn't considered signature). I also hated my LC lunch, but loved several of the dinner options.

Glad that the service was good. I definitely agree on that.

 

[emmysmommy]

So sorry to hear that your experience was less than expected. I've only had dinner and have an upcoming lunch so I appreciate the candid review.

 

[PoohsFan1]

I'm sorry to hear that you did not like Le Cellier lunch. Our family loves to eat lunch there, it's a must do each trip. DH and I always get the fillet with Mushroom Risotto...except in September I decided to venture away from that to try something else. I had the steak sandwich which I was really disappointed in. We are going back in May and I can't wait to have the fillet again. Again sorry to hear you had such a bad experience.

 

[cynzilla]

We ate there a couple months ago for lunch as a "MUST DO" suggestion by a friend that we had tried several times to get.

I nor my family were impressed, at all! I had the strip steak, and had a BETTER, JUICIER steak at Tony's in the Magic Kingdom and stir fried at Teppan Edo! My hubby had the filet which was well instead of rare and had to be sent back! My daughter plain macaroni which I asked for butter and they put that horrid liquified butter/oil WD-40 stuff in a small cup so she could "pour" it on the noodles.

We will not be going back again.

 

[afwdwfan]

Thanks for the detailed review. I haven't tried Le Cellier, but would like to do a lunch there when we go this fall. I'm not big on mushrooms anyway, so I've been kind of on the fence about how well I'd like the fillet. Some might consider it a crime to order a burger at a steak place, but I've seen a lot of good reviews about their burgers, so I'm thinking a lunch with soup and a burger might be a good option for me.

 

[goofyintoronto]

I have to AGREE with you about Le Cellier. I was severely disappointed. Many people swore by this restaurant, indicating they would cut off their right arm to eat there again. Naturally i was curious and had to try it. Wow, what a crock. First, I had the cheese soup to start, it wasnt great at all. I've had better! Then i had the steak, wow it was so fatty and tasteless!! Again, i've had better in my hometown. I was VERY disappointed and will NEVER EVER return to this joint again. I am shocked that dinner is 2 TS now!!! WHY!?!?! Thats just wrong. This place is overrated and a rip off. Teppan Edo had WAAAAY better steak than Le Cellier!

 

[Mazz519]

Lunch is definately a little different from Dinner but not that much. I have been going there for some time and only had one bad meal. maybe you just caught a bad day. Unfortunate but it does happen. For real gd steak try Yachtsmen Steakhse, by far the best and well better than LeCellier

 

[Katie & Glen]

We ate there for dinner on our December 2010 trip and loved it. I don't do mushrooms and asked the server if they could leave the shrooms off the filet and asked for mashed potatoes instead of the risotto and it was awesome. Hubby got the filet with the shrooms and the risotto. He didn't care for the risotto, but he doesn't like that normally. My stepson had the kids steak and he even liked that. I think it depends on what you get and how you get it.

 

[mcd2745]

I have to AGREE with you about Le Cellier. I was severely disappointed. Many people swore by this restaurant, indicating they would cut off their right arm to eat there again. Naturally i was curious and had to try it. Wow, what a crock. First, I had the cheese soup to start, it wasnt great at all. I've had better! Then i had the steak, wow it was so fatty and tasteless!! Again, i've had better in my hometown. I was VERY disappointed and will NEVER EVER return to this joint again. I am shocked that dinner is 2 TS now!!! WHY!?!?! Thats just wrong. This place is overrated and a rip off. Teppan Edo had WAAAAY better steak than Le Cellier!

Make no mistake, it is 2 TS now mainly becasue of supply/demand, not necessarily because of the quaility of the food. FWIW, I enjoyed it when I ate there and plan to again on my next trip.

 

[shortchange1026]

We had dinner there on our last trip and it was definitely the worst meal we had all week. Service was horrible and food wasn't great. It was so much diferent from the previous time we ate there. We are going to try the Yachtsman this next trip. I personally don't know what all the hype is about.

 

[goofy4prez]

My experience with Le'Cellier is right there with the op and how she found it to be. We were there before it was a signature and found the food to be very average. It's funny how some will love Le'Cellier and say they were transported into a state of euphoria and others will say it transported them to the nearest restroom.

Either way, I think Disney made a HUGE mistake going signature here and did an even worse job "tweaking" this menu (dinner) and trying to go signature. They have to offer more than just a couple of fancy named duck and salmon entree's and hyped up Canadian beef to get people to buy into what they are offering.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I wish they would offer the cheddar cheese soup and pretzel bread at a stand.

 

[goofy4prez]

Make no mistake, it is 2 TS now mainly becasue of supply/demand, not necessarily because of the quaility of the food. FWIW, I enjoyed it when I ate there and plan to again on my next trip.

In the business science of supply/demand there is such a thing called equilibrium ( I'm not assuming you didn't know this, nor attempting to insult you). This is where the supply meets the demand which results in a happy seller making money and a happy buyer willing to pay. I believe WDW made a huge mistake and now find themselves missing this mark. The demand for this restaurant is no longer at the level in which Disney is trying to sell it to be. Perhaps in time it will, but I highly doubt it. Reviews have been far from stellar and getting an ADR for dinner is not all that difficult. Disney IMHO will need to re-evaluate this situation. They are either going to need to break away from the old Le'Cellier and redefine this place or return to what it was. They can't have both as they are trying.

As a person who owns a business, I think WDW failed to find where Le'Cellier needs to be and overestimated it's popularity. Sorry, I think greed was the motivating factor and they overestimated that this place was popluar mainly because it was a good value on the DDP as a 1Ts. I'm guessing some of these bean counters will need to pull out their old Economics 101 text books from college and see what they did wrong.

 

[mcd2745]

In the business science of supply/demand there is such a thing called equilibrium ( I'm not assuming you didn't know this, nor attempting to insult you). This is where the supply meets the demand which results in a happy seller making money and a happy buyer willing to pay. I believe WDW made a huge mistake and now find themselves missing this mark. The demand for this restaurant is no longer at the level in which Disney is trying to sell it to be. Perhaps in time it will, but I highly doubt it. Reviews have been far from stellar and getting an ADR for dinner is not all that difficult. Disney IMHO will need to re-evaluate this situation. They are either going to need to break away from the old Le'Cellier and redefine this place or return to what it was. They can't have both as they are trying.

As a person who owns a business, I think WDW failed to find where Le'Cellier needs to be and overestimated it's popularity. Sorry, I think greed was the motivating factor and they overestimated that this place was popluar mainly because it was a good value on the DDP as a 1Ts. I'm guessing some of these bean counters will need to pull out their old Economics 101 text books from college and see what they did wrong.

I tend to agree. The one thing they are certain to accomplish through this is that Ohana will now far and away be the toughest dinner ADR (and it may have already been anyway - but they were probably neck and neck). It's only been signature a month, so lets get more of a sample before passing final judgement on how this will work out. But I think the smarter idea would have been to just figure out a way to make the restaurant bigger to help satisfy demand - not come up with a way to diminish demand.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

But I think the smarter idea would have been to just figure out a way to make the restaurant bigger to help satisfy demand - not come up with a way to diminish demand.

Making the restaurant bigger would detract from the intimate cellar feel.

I think they did the right thing - they're charging more for better food.

And honestly, I don't know what people are talking about when they say LC dinner is now easy to book. I've been trying to book dinner for 2 for the end of August, and Le Cellier is the only restaurant that's been completely booked for dinner for most nights. In fact, I can usually get any signature restaurant reservation a week in advance (the exceptions are Narcoossee's and California Grill), which means Le Cellier dinner is still in more demand than the typical signature dinner. I don't necessarily think that makes sense, but LC isn't struggling now by any means.

 

[LuvLuvLuv]

we had a terrible meal here in may 2010... then went back in november 2010 and it was even worse. we gave it another shot... but it's on the never again list--right there with the garden grill!

 

[goofy4prez]

Making the restaurant bigger would detract from the intimate cellar feel.

I think they did the right thing - they're charging more for better food.

And honestly, I don't know what people are talking about when they say LC dinner is now easy to book. I've been trying to book dinner for 2 for the end of August, and Le Cellier is the only restaurant that's been completely booked for dinner for most nights. In fact, I can usually get any signature restaurant reservation a week in advance (the exceptions are Narcoossee's and California Grill), which means Le Cellier dinner is still in more demand than the typical signature dinner. I don't necessarily think that makes sense, but LC isn't struggling now by any means.

You seem to like Le'Cellier because you are not a big beef eater and you like the couple of menu items they added; there is nothing wrong with that. However, they still advertise themselves as a steak house and with that Le'Cellier has failed to improve on the quality of beef being served. They now call it Canadian making the consumer think it is something far superior than before when it is the same quality.

As for reservations, I am having no problem online getting many available dates all during the dinner hours. This place was almost impossible even at the 180 day mark, now that is nowhere near the case. Here's a few dates available, and this was just in a few minutes playing around online.: 5/17,6/16,6/28,7/12,7/27,8/9 and if you get on there and book I was able to find you an available seating for August 31st for dinner..

As for getting ADR's a week or two in advance, let's see about how this plays out in the near future. There are still many reservations out there from people who don't know it's signature and will find out when they get there.

I am truly glad you found a place in Le'Cellier that you once felt was average but now love. You enjoy the Roasted Duck Breast and Leg Confit and the Seared Gooseberry Cod and other non beef choices. For me and many others we want beef when going to a steakhouse and for going Signature they failed to improve on the quality of beef they are serving. They can call it Canadian whatever, but it is the same grade of beef as before for more money. And that quality of beef is not the same as Cali Grill or Yachtsman.

**NOTE*** To be fair I see you are looking for a table for two. That can be tough anywhere in WDW at any TS. My availability search was for three people. I'd change your search to three and get your ADR, then show up with the two of you. Enjoy your upcoming trip to WDW in August. (I sincerely mean it).

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

We'll be there from the 23rd to the 29th. And even though we're a party of 2, we could get dinner reservations at any other restaurant for the majority of our nights. LC is the only one that's mostly booked up.

And with the whole Canadian beef thing, I never took that as meaning better quality. Perhaps it's just more appropriate to have Canadian beef at a restaurant that is supposed to be authentically Canadian. And maybe getting their beef from a Canadian source is more expensive than the previous bulk source or whatever Disney used before. That price gets passed along to the consumer (and spread out among other dishes, such as the cheddar soup). What is the beef quality at the other signatures? I doubt it's prime, except maybe at Yachtsman.

And a good signature restaurant should have dishes that please everyone. For example, Flying Fish is known for seafood but people rave about their strip steak. LC still has the mushroom filet that everyone seems to love, but they've added some interesting options for the non-beef eaters which I appreciate.

 

[Belle5]

Our service last month was very good. Our food was so disappointing, however. This was our third try at Le Cellier for dinner. Our second visit was a let-down but we decided to give it a third try since we were there just before it moved to a signature status. I read a review from someone here on the DIS that so described my feelings toward my meal at LeCellier. Someone reported that their steak was so well-done it was if they were eating roast beef. This is exactly how we felt about the fillets that we were served! We ordered our steaks medium well but closer to medium. We wanted plenty of pink in the middle and made that clear. As terrific as our server was in many respects, his one mistake was not checking on us when our steaks were delivered to have us cut into them to see if they were cooked to order. We waited for quite a while and then gave up and ate them saving just enough to show him and let him know they were not even close to medium/medium-well. When we did show him he completely agreed and apologized. The same reviewer described the famed mushroom risotto as rice with mushroom soup over it. For all the raves over this side dish...I must say that I couldn't have agreed more with a description! I regretted ordering it and wished that I would have gone for a different side-dish. My son had the wonderful maple creme brulee for dessert. A couple of years ago mine had been tasteless, so I decided to go for the berry cobbler dessert with the creme cheese ice cream. It was truly awful! I couldn't believe how bad it was! Our server was so apologetic and sent me home with a maple creme brulee to have the next day. My son's creme brulee was so much better than the one I had ordered a few years ago. I was happy to take it back to our room (though I never did have room in my stomach to eat it). The highlights were the soup and the pretzel bread and that is NOT a good advertisement for an expensive steak house!