LeCellier when NOT on a DP??

[kristenrice]

My family loves LeCellier and we try to eat there every trip. We are headed back in June and we will not be doing a dining plan this time. We are two adults and 2 children, ages 8 and 6.

DH is a steak guy and he generally orders either the filet or the NY strip. DD6 and I must have our cheddar cheese soup and I love the chicken and chipotle sausage. In looking at the lunch and dinner menus, I see that the dinner filet is $10 more than the lunch option and the soup and sausage are each $2 more. I am fairly certain this is because dinner is now a "signature" (2 credit) option, but is the portion the same?

We prefer dinner over lunch as our TS meal of the day, but it is very hard to justify paying $14 more for dinner, especially if it is EXACTLY the same food, KWIM? We have the TIW card so that helps, and my dad (who is paying for the trip) has given our family a very generous food allowance so I can fit either lunch or dinner into the budget. If the dinner portions are a little larger, then I am OK with the extra cost and we will stick with our dinner plans. If they are the same (which I suspect they are), then maybe we'll eat at 3:30 for lunch instead of 5 for dinner.

 

[KatMark]

We've done both lunch and dinner at LeCellier in the past. We had no intention of going this year because we were not on the dining plan. However, our 25-year old son, decided to go with us for a few days and I was able to snag a dinner ressie at LeCellier about two weeks before our trip.

IF we go back to LeCellier, it will be lunch only. The total bill for the three of us was $173.00 for dinner and none of us had a cocktail or dessert. I was very disappointed with the dinner as you can no longer make some of the substitutions you could in the past (no cream cheese mashed potatos at dinner, no Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake, etc). Although my filet was good, it was NOT worth the price at dinner.

 

[Mikey'swife]

I think lunch portions are small, I would hope dinner might have more. It is probably easier to get an adr. Since you have had lunch try dinner.

 

[kirrrby]

Is there anyway people in your party can split a meal? We split meals between 4 adults, 2 entrees get an appetizer to share and salads and bread and it's plenty of food for us. Just a suggestion.

 

[KatMark]

I think lunch portions are small, I would hope dinner might have more. It is probably easier to get an adr. Since you have had lunch try dinner.

My filet in September was no bigger than the ones I've had at lunch, unfortuantely.

 

[kristenrice]

Is there anyway people in your party can split a meal? We split meals between 4 adults, 2 entrees get an appetizer to share and salads and bread and it's plenty of food for us. Just a suggestion.

Unfortunately, no, because DH is a pretty good eater and he needs an entire entree for himself. I usually just order the chicken sausage appetizer and a bowl of soup. Then, we split a dessert if we still have room. The girls each get a kids meal and they eat all of it so we couldn't have them share.

Even if I could convince DH to share a steak with me, I don't think I'd want to. He likes his steak well-done and I like mine medium-rare. I know that there is magic at Disney, but I'd like to see them try and prepare a steak like that!

 

[purple figment]

We had lunch and dinner at Le Cellier last month. The server quoted the filet size as 5 oz at lunch and 8 oz at dinner. Looking at our pictures the size (diameter) of the steaks were about the same, but the dinner filet is about twice as thick. Also, the dinner risotto had larger pieces of mushrooms and they used a greater variety of mushrooms.

 

[kristenrice]

We had lunch and dinner at Le Cellier last month. The server quoted the filet size as 5 oz at lunch and 8 oz at dinner. Looking at our pictures the size (diameter) of the steaks were about the same, but the dinner filet is about twice as thick. Also, the dinner risotto had larger pieces of mushrooms and they used a greater variety of mushrooms.

Thanks for the info!

If the portions are larger, I can justify the higher price. I just couldn't do dinner there out of principle if they were jacking up the prices just to make the value of the DP more appealing. If there is another reason for the higher prices (i.e. larger portions), then I am OK with it.

 

[TDC Nala]

The filet is a few ounces larger at dinner. The soup is the same soup but I don't know if the bowl is any bigger than the bowl at lunch, as I always order a cup. My friend did order the bowl at dinner, but there's nothing for me to compare it to as I don't know what the bowl at lunch looks like.

I go there all the time without DDP, but I don't get an entree. Usually 2 or 3 appetizers.

 

[Forever Fairy]

The bowl of soup seemed to be the same size between lunch/dinner. Honestly, I've gotten better steak at Yachtsmen then I ever had at Le Cellier. Love the CC soup and the pretzel bread though. If I had a choice, I'd go for lunch and like TDC Nala, get a few appetizers instead.

 

[GeorgeG]

Just my opinion, but I think you can do better at counter service than Le Cellier. I think they're coasting on what used to be a good reputation and doing a very poor job of it. That's kind of a trend going on at many WDW restaurants these days.

 

[figment_jii]

Here are two photos of the filet at Le Cellier.

Lunch

Dinner

As you can (kind of) see, the lunch filet was about the same size as the dinner one, but the dinner filet was much thicker. Both tasted really good, but I have to admit that I couldn't tell the difference between the Canadian (dinner) beef and the non-Canadian (lunch) beef.

 

[aubriee]

Just my opinion, but I think you can do better at counter service than Le Cellier. I think they're coasting on what used to be a good reputation and doing a very poor job of it. That's kind of a trend going on at many WDW restaurants these days.

I agree! Le Cellier used to be a must do for me every trip. I go to WDW 4-5 times a year and have always been very lucky getting an ADR there every trip. Last Dec I lucked out and got two (one for lunch and one for dinner). My lunch was so bad (really poor service and food so salty I couldn't eat it--and the waitress didn't even ask why I had taken only two bites of my risotto and steak), that I canceled my dinner for a few nights later on the way out. When they asked why, I politely told them I had been a big fan for years, but the food was inedible that day. A few nights later, I did a walk in at Flying Fish and had a much better steak when I ordered their char crusted strip. When I got home, I called and cancelled the ADR I had there for our May trip. I'll be giving them another chance for lunch when I'm there next week and am hoping the food and service has improved.