My First & Long Overdue DxDP Review..with PICTURES!!

[dixonsontour]

Enjoying all your reviews

 

[CanadianPaco]

Thanks for sharing - looking forward to your reviews!

 

[ilovegrumpy]

I knew while making my ADR's that after the meat bliss lunch at Le Cellier, we would want something totally different for dinner..so I had heard and read many good things about the fish at Rose & Crown and decided to eat there.

We checked in for our ADR and only had a few minute wait until our table was ready. The check in podium is outside and that is where we waited. Honestly I don't know if they have any indoor waiting area. It wasn't raining so we didn't mind being outside.

This restaurant is a very busy place. It was decorated like you would think an English Pub should be. Nothing fancy, which was fine with me..

Our waitress came over and we placed our drink order. Now when you make ADR's online it asks for food allergies. I have one to blackberries. I had checked the box for "other food allergy" and our waitress asked about it. I explained it was to blackberries and she said that she didn't think any of the desserts had them in there and did I want the chef to come out to talk to me? I told her no, that it was fine. Well not even 5 minutes later, here comes the chef to our table to talk to us. He introduced himself and said that the waitress did state that I didn't need to talk to him, but he always comes out and talks to his guests with any type of allergy. He assured me there would be no cross contamination, etc..he was the only chef on property that came and talked me about it, even though I checked that box on most of the ADR's. Granted, I don't think my allergy is no where near the severity of some food allergies other people have to deal with..just thought I would mention it..more on the chef later...back to our waitress..at first we didn't think she was going to be that great, boy were we wrong. We had a table right by the kitchen. Let me tell you, those have to be the hardest working waitresses on property. Not only were they working their own tables, they were helping out their fellow cast members with theirs!! They were constantly moving. Not only were those waitresses busy helping usher food to tables and busing them BUT THE CHEF WAS TOO!!! I have never seen the chef of a restaurant come out and bus tables himself..this guy did. We were amazed. It made such an impression that the next morning we stopped by the front desk of our hotel to tell the management how impressed we were and that chef deserved an "atta boy" or something. We did remember his name then...I just don't now. Management said that they would make sure the right people heard about our praise for him. After seeing our waitress helping out her fellow cast members, we cut her a lot of slack and she ended up being very sweet. We chatted with her while she was clearing some nearby tables and asked where she was from and how long she had been here. She was from Ireland (love the accent) and kept calling us her " little loveys"..

Back to the food..

Our waitress brought us a basket of bread..it was alright. I little tough on the outside, but the inside was soft..

For appetizers DH ordered the salad. It was a standard salad with bacon bits..that big white looking thing at the front of the picture on the plate is a crouton. DH said it was ok...that is all I could get him to tell me about it..

I ordered the Potato & Leek Soup. Living in the South we have potato soup. Our soup has big chunks of potato and some versions have some celery as well..I was expecting something along those lines...I was wrong. This soup had no chunks in it. It was very creamy and had a velvet smooth texture. It had little bits of fried onions on top. Those mixed with the soup was yummy..since it has "leek" in the name, I was expecting a strong onion flavor, that was not the case here. It was very subtle, not overpowering. I really enjoyed it. I was sad when I emptied my cup.

For the main course we both ordered the Fish & Chips. This was by far the best fried fish we have ever had in our lives...the batter was very light tasting, not heavy at all. It was not greasy and had no oily taste to it. These were nice fat pieces of fish. The flesh was very flaky and almost melted in your mouth. Not a very heavy fishy taste, if that makes sense..

On to desserts-DH ordered the Bakewell Tart. It seemed like a custard pie to me. It tried a bite of it. It had a nice light flaky crust. A dessert can have a nice crust, but if the custard is runny and off tasting, it can ruin the whole thing...the custard middle in this tart was nice and tight and had a smooth subtle vanilla taste. Very Good.

I ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding. I hear pudding and am thinking that is what I am getting, a bowl of pudding...the name does not do this dessert justice. It was SO much more. It was a mini bundt cake that had a vanilla taste with some caramel undertones...baked just right...on top of a silky smooth vanilla pudding..all topped off with a rum/caramel/vanilla sauce served warm..Oh my..I have died and gone to dessert heaven. The pearly white gates have opened and extended their arms and doves have flown up, up and away...this was my favorite dessert the entire trip. If I close my eyes tight enough, and dream hard enough, I can still smell and taste it...YUMMY!!! In my head, I had a serious argument with myself about whether I should take the bowl and lick it clean..I sat there staring at the empty bowl for like 10 minutes, I almost cried..it was that good!!

and the perfect partner with my heaven in a bowl...a cappuccino...

This a another "must" do restaurant on our list for the world..

DH-AWESOME
me-ditto

 

[ilovegrumpy]

This was going to be our shopping day at Downtown Disney, so we wanted a place for breakfast near there. AKL, Boma..perfect place. DH didn't really like what he saw on the menu for Cat Cora's place. I have always wanted to see the inside of AKL and of course the Christmas decorations..

We arrived a little early to take our pictures and do the white trash road race (walk laps) around the lobby and made our way downstairs to the restaurant. We checked in a few minutes early. They gave us a pager and told us it would be a few minutes. Honestly, I don't know why because more than half of the restaurant was empty..anyway..we were seated after about 5-10 minutes. Our waitress greeted us and gave us each a glass of the Frunch. This is a specialty drink of AKL. It is pineapple juice, guava juice, orange juice, papaya juice and lemonade all mixed together...I thought it was fabulous, DH didn't care for it.

This is set up in one long line. Each food had a different area. They had a make your own omelette station and an area that had a brick oven that they were roasting chickens in for dinner service. They had a chef to hand carve ham right in front of you.

Standard offerings: pancakes, biscuits, gravy, grits. There was some specialty items from Africa. I was only brave enough to try the scrambled eggs with goat cheese. It was alright, the eggs were somewhat runny..I like them dry..

I found some bacon cooked the way I like. They had the same type of breakfast sausage that Crystal Palace had. The fresh carved ham was very good. Same type of mass produced warehouse club pastries as the other buffets.

Since the restaurant was mostly empty, there really wasn't that many dishes that needed replenishing. What was out seemed fresh. I did notice cast members checking to make sure there was enough in the platters.

Server seemed nice, but it seemed like she really didn't want to be there. We didn't really see her that much and obviously it wasn't because she was busy taking care of other tables. DH ran out of soda and it was over 10 minutes before we saw our waitress for him to ask for more. They were using one of the nearby tables to keep dirty dishes on instead of taking them to the back..this is not what I am used to seeing at Disney. IMHO there is no need for this, especially if the restaurant is half empty.

Would we eat here again, probably not. Not worth the money charged for it.

DH-could take it or leave it. probably leave it.
me-eeeecccchhhh yeah, I think I will leave it too

 

[TheNewMrsB]

Glad to see you had such a nice experience at R&C. We had a terrific time there on our honeymoon - really top-notch - but not so much on our return visit so we've decided to avoid it from now on.

 

[Tracerr00]

Excellent reviews! Le Cellier is my favorite and reading your description of the filet is really making me wish that I'd made an ADR for our trip in August. Why oh why didn't I do that? We decided to try all new restaurants that's why. But I do take comfort in knowing that we are going to Rose & Crown and I'll get to try that sticky toffee pudding!!

 

[wilma-bride]

Glad you enjoyed the Rose and Crown dinner. DH and I never eat there since we are from the UK and we prefer to try some of the other offerings but those fish and chips do look lovely. As far as Bakewell Tart is concerned, it shouldn't be custard filling. It should be a pastry case, with a layer of jam at the bottom and an almond frangipane (which is kind of like a dense, heavy cake) with icing (frosting) on top. The piece your DH had looks very similar to what we would have here.

For us, the best thing about the Boma breakfast was the carved ham. Everything else was just OK. We woun't be hurrying back.

Looking forward to more.

 

[ilovegrumpy]

Glad you enjoyed the Rose and Crown dinner. DH and I never eat there since we are from the UK and we prefer to try some of the other offerings but those fish and chips do look lovely. As far as Bakewell Tart is concerned, it shouldn't be custard filling. It should be a pastry case, with a layer of jam at the bottom and an almond frangipane (which is kind of like a dense, heavy cake) with icing (frosting) on top. The piece your DH had looks very similar to what we would have here.

For us, the best thing about the Boma breakfast was the carved ham. Everything else was just OK. We woun't be hurrying back.

Looking forward to more.

You know, it very could have been cake, for some reason I was thinking it was custard filled...I do remember for sure that there wasn't a jam layer though...it was good though...

 

[ilovegrumpy]

Glad to see you had such a nice experience at R&C. We had a terrific time there on our honeymoon - really top-notch - but not so much on our return visit so we've decided to avoid it from now on.

Usually, I try to take everything with a grain of salt...sometimes restaurants and the wait staff have an off night. I do know that even though our server at Liberty Tree Tavern was not very good, it is not going to keep us from going back..usually I will give a place 2 times with the food not being up to par before I swear them off..after the second time, forget it, I'm done...I use the old adage "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me"

 

[TheNewMrsB]

Usually, I try to take everything with a grain of salt...sometimes restaurants and the wait staff have an off night. I do know that even though our server at Liberty Tree Tavern was not very good, it is not going to keep us from going back..usually I will give a place 2 times with the food not being up to par before I swear them off..after the second time, forget it, I'm done...I use the old adage "fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me"

I usually feel the same way - except in WDW, where it's a bit too expensive for me to be so generous. I'd rather stick to the places I know I love. Plus, R&C's food doesn't appeal much to DH, so that doesn't help matters.

 

[Krissalee]

Thanks for sharing your reviews!

I have Le Cellier booked for our November trip, but had been thinking about canceling the ADR as I have been reading a lot of negatives lately. Your report makes me want to keep my ADR as is. . I guess I have some time to think about it....

The chef at R&C seems really special. We love it there and traditionally spend our arrival day lunch there - great way to start the trip!

 

[JerseyJanice]

Happy anniversary, OP!

Enjoying your reviews!

 

[vettegirl]

Wow, R&C look sooo good! We love Raglin Road to pieces, but really need to try this place next time.

 

[dawnmichele]

This report looks great! Thanks for all the detailed info, it's fantastic when trying to decide where to dine!

 

[TwingleMum]

Great reviews OP. Happy Anniversary I'm a big fan of Bomas we eat there often but not for breakfast. I would suggest you try dinner sometime. Its awesome. They have plenty to choose from ~ 2 meats on a carving station, kids table, 5 different soups ( I ate so much butternut squash soup and carrot ginger soup I thought I'd slip in a coma LOL) , different entrees,pastas, different salads , different dips ( I think they have like 4 different hummus) different breads, and the dessert station is AMAZING!!! They also have good cocktails and if you time it right after dinner you go outside and sit at the fire pit and here African folktales and use nightvision googles to watch the animals on the savannah. There are animal guides to tell you about the animals and their homeland. A very unique and worth the trip opportunity.

 

[ilovegrumpy]

Since this was DH & my shopping day, we wanted something around Downtown Disney to eat..so we decided on Wolfgang Puck Cafe..

We arrived early for our ADR which was no problem, they went ahead and seated us right away. Our server greeted us and said she would be back for our drink orders. DH studied the menu not quite sure what he wanted. Since he didn't get his burger at Le Cellier, he was leaning towards that. I was torn between the macadamia nut crusted chicken and a pizza.

When our server brought our drinks, she also brought a basket of bread. This had some kind of parmesan flat bread and a garlic/onion bread.

The flat bread a parmesan taste to it, but was too crispy for either of our tastes. Some of the parmesan had a burnt taste as well.

The garlic/onion bread was soft and fluffy with a subtle garlic flavor. Some of the pieces had some onion slivers on the bottom of them.

For Appetizers, we both ordered the Crab Cakes...these were pan fried and had a type of tomato salad with basil on top...the crab cake itself was good. Fair amount of shredded crab meat and nice spice to it. The tomato salad on top, to me tasted like pico de gallo and had some heat to it, like it had some jalapenos in it. DH liked it, but it was too spicy for me. I scraped it off. DH likes jalapenos and hot things, I do not...so he left his on the crab cakes.

For Entrees-DH ordered the Angus Burger. It was cooked per the requested Medium. It had homemade pickles, bib lettuce, tomato, onion and a good amount of bacon on it. We hate it when you order a bacon cheeseburger and don't get enough bacon on it to taste it. DH said it was a good burger, and could taste the bacon on it. Meat was nice and juicy with a strong beef taste. It hit the burger craving spot. He said the fries were just fries...nothing special. The puck sauce was like thousand island dressing. He asked for it on the side and ended up putting it on his burger. He did have to request mayo though, it didn't come with the burger.

I decided on a Margarita Pizza. It did not have sauce underneath all the cheese, just in spots. It was very good going down...however, about 2 hours later, I was regretting that pizza. I take a Prilosec every morning due to GERD. This marinara sauce, broke right through that wall. I had the worst indigestion the rest of the day!!! It was horrible. I had to go buy some Tums and ate about half the roll and still had it...DH tried a piece of the pizza and said it was good. Even the one piece that DH ate, he got indigestion too....BEWARE!!

For Desserts-DH ordered the carrot cake. The piece was HUGE!! DH is not a big fan of sweats, but he does like carrot cake and it sounded good. Traditional spice cake with hunks of carrots, pecans and raisins. The cream cheese icing had a strong cream cheese flavor (DH didn't like it, he doesn't like cream cheese so he only ate the cake part). Moist and a good ratio of carrot; raisin; pecans to cake..Had a nice amount of ginger and nutmeg, not over powering, just enough. Very good carrot cake.

I had the Chocolate Lava Cake..OMG was this good. Second best dessert of the trip...Moist chocolate cake on the outside, melting vanilla ice cream on the top. I dove into the middle and all of that eewweey gooey warm chocolate goodness came flowing out...another one I almost licked the bowl of...after all of the creme brulee's I had all week, I really wanted something chocolate and this hit the spot!! Very good!!

All in all we enjoyed our meal. The waitress checked on us every so often and was prompt with the drink refills. We would go again, however, I am ordering something different for the main course.

DH-good all the way around
me-appetizer was good (after I scrapped that stuff off the top), main course about killed me (felt like I was having a heart attack) should have tried the chicken, dessert was AWESOME!!

 

[wilma-bride]

DH is not the greatest fan of Wolfgang Puck Cafe (I think he just ordered badly both times we went there) but the rest of our family have really enjoyed it in the past. However, I( am going to show him the poicture of that carrot cake when he comes in from work, and I can almost guarantee it will persuade him that we have to go back there. He would LOVE that cake!

 

[auntfrannie]

For Desserts-DH ordered the carrot cake. The piece was HUGE!! DH is not a big fan of sweats, but he does like carrot cake and it sounded good. Traditional spice cake with hunks of carrots, pecans and raisins. The cream cheese icing had a strong cream cheese flavor (DH didn't like it, he doesn't like cream cheese so he only ate the cake part). Moist and a good ratio of carrot; raisin; pecans to cake..Had a nice amount of ginger and nutmeg, not over powering, just enough. Very good carrot cake.

OMG! That carrot cake is HUGE! It looks delicious!

 

[ilovegrumpy]

Let me start by saying I was looking forward to this meal. My mom and I ate here the year before and had a good meal. Not so this time. This was the second worst meal we had all trip, not just food wise but service wise as well.

We arrived for our ADR and checked in and was given a pager. When we were seated, we were told our server would be with us shortly. About 15 minutes later our waiter showed up and told us he would be with us soon..and off he went. Another 10 minutes later he comes back and says that he will take our drink order. I told him that we were ready to place our dinner order as well. He seemed a little fumbled but took it. Well, we had been there 25 minutes already staring at the menu...When the waiter left our table, the 4 top next to us had 2 couples sitting together and they chuckled and looked at us and said "good luck, we have been here for almost 2 hours" "WHAT???" They proceeded to tell us it has been that way all night. They look around for him and can't find him anywhere....see all the other servers walking around but not ours...NOT GOOD!! We did chat with them while we were waiting..they had already waited over 30 minutes for their check..

When the waiter did show back up with our drinks, he brought a basket of bread...you could tell it was fresh made. Nice and crusty on the outside and soft on the inside...since we knew service was going to be slow, we told the waiter to bring us some refills for our drinks right away.

For appetizers-we both wanted something different other than crab cakes so we both ordered a salad, however DH got the Wedge Salad, I can't remember what dressing came with it.

which he scrapped off the blue cheese...and I ordered the Green Goddess Salad..it tasted like a caeser salad to me..

For Entrees-we both ordered the Stone-Ground Mustard-Rubbed New York Strip with cipollini onions. We decided to substitute the fingerling potatoes with the cheddar-bacon mashed potatoes. The steak itself-you couldn't tell it had any kind of rub on it at all. It had nice grill marks on it, however, you could tell that they cooked it to the requested medium but it sat under the heat lamp too long and was overcooked by the time it got to the table. The meat was dry and tough. I decided not to send it back because I didn't want to wait another 45 minutes for one..the initial wait was bad enough. It also had quite a bit of fat. I understand that s strip is not a filet and expect it to be a little tougher and have some fat, but not this much..

The mashed potatoes did have a cheddar bacon flavor. I did add more salt to them. The cipollini onions were cooked correctly and very soft and flavorful. I combined a piece of onion, forkful of mashed potatoes and a piece of meat for every bite. That helped some.

For Desserts-DH had the House Made Vanilla Gelato..he said that it was ok, but the gelato at Tony's Town Square was SO MUCH better.

I had the Double Chocolate Cheesecake with no berries. Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts. This was just so-so. It had a chocolate cookie bottom that was ok. The middle had a hint of chocolate and smooth texture.

DH-not impressed at all-probably won't be back
me-same

 

[wilma-bride]

It appears that Captain's Grille is one of those places which is either excellent or so-so. I am not sure, on the basis of the many not-so-positive reviews we have read that we will be in any rush to try it.