I have mixed feelings about our dinner last night at California Grill, but thought I'd give a review for those wondering about the new prix fixe menu. We arrived at 5:30, and requested a table in the Mary Blair room that overlooks Bay Lake. This is a preferred area for us, it's a little quieter and overlooks the lake. If you are here on vacation however, you may prefer the area that overlooks the castle. Be warned that at this time of day, the sun is setting, and they close the shades until sunset, so your views may be affected. It's also loud, so I not necessarily a romantic dinner! Our server Simo was top notch, and brought us warm chunks of an herbed soft bread, softened butter, and a tomato olive oil spread. We both preferred the bread with the butter. We don't drink alcohol, so I can't address cocktails or wine. For our appetizers, we chose the short rib wontons and duck al orange flatbread. My son enjoyed the flatbread, but tasted mostly the fig jam and bleu cheese. The duck was like a prosciutto texture, I don't like bleu cheese, so I really didn't care for it, The wontons were good, but kind of like port roast in a wonton, I think they needed something more, but stilll the meat was tender. My son ordered the filet, and this is where the first hiccouph occurred. The filet is served with cauliflower and basically boiled small potatoes. He asked if he could have an order of the gouda Mac and cheese served with the upcharged Tomahawk steak, and was told no. No substitutions. Except they offered to give him carrots instead of cauliflower. We both understand the concept of prix fixe dining, but this seemed a bit unreasonable, so we ended up talking to one of the managers about it. He said they only have one macaroni dish per tomahawk steak, so they can't substitute during the transition to their new menu. So if you don't like part of the entree, you're kind of stuck with it. That being said his steak was cooked perfectly and seasoned well. It had a dollop of sauce on it, that added to the enjoyment of the steak, I had the pork tenderloin dish on polenta, and it was absolutely delicious. Be warned that if you don't like your pork medium rare, you need to let your server know, because it is definitely pink inside, I prefer it this way so I was happy, It was juicy, no dryness, and I loved the figs and polenta. Dessert was a fail for us, We both ordered the Grand Marnier soufflé for dessert, which took a super long tine to come out, even though we told our server at the beginning of our order to allow time for baking. I love dessert, but didn't even bother to finish it. We both thought it was a little dry, flat tasting - no orange flavor noted. they serve it with a little tiny amount of ice cream that I put into the center of the soufflé to provide the "cream anglaise " as it melted.
So would we return? Not any time soon. Our total bill was 230.00 with tip and the annual pass holder discount, and remember, no alcohol. My son always gets steak when we eat out. Literally always. Not being able to choose better sides is a downer for him, He joked later that he would have been happier with fries off of a kids menu, If I went back, I'd probably try the lobster bisque. We really miss the goat cheese ravioli that used to be on the menu. Their sushi is good, but we can get that elsewhere locally or we prefer Morimoto. For dessert, I wish I would have tried the chocolate offering, Vloggers have enjoyed that as well. We both agreed that we have enjoyed our meals at Boathouse, Shulas's and Narcoosee's more, for that kind of cost. We haven't tried Citricos yet, hoping to do so soon. If you are heading to MK after dinner, this took us a full two hours. We were walking over to view Enchantment at 8, so we had our server run our bill as soon as he brought the dessert, and I didn't even give him time to bring us the check. Just gave him the credit card to charge the meal. Thankfully the bill was correct!
"
So would we return? Not any time soon. Our total bill was 230.00 with tip and the annual pass holder discount, and remember, no alcohol. My son always gets steak when we eat out. Literally always. Not being able to choose better sides is a downer for him, He joked later that he would have been happier with fries off of a kids menu, If I went back, I'd probably try the lobster bisque. We really miss the goat cheese ravioli that used to be on the menu. Their sushi is good, but we can get that elsewhere locally or we prefer Morimoto. For dessert, I wish I would have tried the chocolate offering, Vloggers have enjoyed that as well. We both agreed that we have enjoyed our meals at Boathouse, Shulas's and Narcoosee's more, for that kind of cost. We haven't tried Citricos yet, hoping to do so soon. If you are heading to MK after dinner, this took us a full two hours. We were walking over to view Enchantment at 8, so we had our server run our bill as soon as he brought the dessert, and I didn't even give him time to bring us the check. Just gave him the credit card to charge the meal. Thankfully the bill was correct!
"
