Need recommendations on MK area for dinner **UPDATE - Artist Point is the winner!**

[SeaSpray]

We used to LOVE having dinner in the castle on every trip, but now that it's a character meal with a set menu, I'm just not sure if it's worth it for 2 adults, no kids.

Now having said that, we'll be celebrating our anniversary on this trip, so maybe dinner at the castle isn't such a bad idea

We had our hearts set on Chef Mickey's, and I know this will sound strange, but now that I know that they no longer have the "frost your cupcakes", I'm just not interested anymore, especially since the dinner food itself has been getting mixed reviews lately.

I'm also wondering how the Concourse Steakhouse is What is the quality of their steaks??? I'd probably get the sirloin; DH would get either the sirloin or prime rib. We've never eaten there before.

We will only have access to the Magic Kingdom, as far as parks go, and we will be having lunch at Whispering Canyon at the Wilderness Lodge, where DH is going to get the pan-seared rainbow trout, and I'll probably get grilled chicken. We're staying at the Polynesian, so we'll have easy access to any of the monorail resorts; we really don't want to travel outside of the MK area for dinner.

So now, please help me with recommendations on these restaurants:

Chef Mickey's
The Castle
Concourse Steakhouse
Other


Thanks!

 

[limabeanmom2003]

We love:

Ohana at Polynesian
Tony's at MK

And if you would like a character meal, both Crystal Palace and Liberty Tree are yummy buffets.

 

[ihearttink]

This isn't on your list, but what about California Grill? Make reservations so while you eat you can see the fireworks.

 

[SeaSpray]

We love:

Ohana at Polynesian
Tony's at MK

And if you would like a character meal, both Crystal Palace and Liberty Tree are yummy buffets.

Thanks for the replies We love 'Ohana too and will be having dinner there the night before. Tony's is in an excellent location but we don't want Italian food.

I would consider the Crystal Palace because of the variety of foods, but my DH and I are doing the South Beach diet and there just isn't enough variety for us on the dinner menu (the set menu) at Liberty Tree. We've had lunch there before and enjoyed it though

 

[SeaSpray]

This isn't on your list, but what about California Grill? Make reservations so while you eat you can see the fireworks.

That's a great location too, and I keep checking out the menu but nothing thrills me on it. I don't like seafood or mushrooms, and almost everything on their menu has one or the other. I realize that I can ask for a dish be made without mushrooms, but I've tried that at other restaurants (namely, Le Cellier) and when they alter one of their set recipes, it just isn't the same. I two extremely lousy filet mignons at Le Cellier and unless I like an item as it's listed on the menu, I won't order it.

As far as seeing the fireworks, we don't really care about that because we'll be staying at the Polynesian in a lagoon view concierge room with our own private balcony, and able to view the fireworks straight on from there every night

Thanks for the suggestion though, I really wish I liked seafood and mushrooms, it would make dining a lot easier. lol

 

[Tikicampers]

DH and I loved Artist Point at WL. The food was excellent, and we both thought it was pretty romantic.

 

[SeaSpray]

DH and I loved Artist Point at WL. The food was excellent, and we both thought it was pretty romantic.

Hmm...I just looked at the menu and it looks GOOD! I'll run this past DH The only thing is, we'll be having lunch at the WL that day already at Whispering Canyon, and not sure that we want to go back for lunch, although, it seems like a great place for dinner

 

[septbaby]

Narcoossee's or Citricos?

 

[10_Kyle_10]

Narcoossee's or Citricos?

$$$$$$ lol but i hear its fantastic!

 

[septbaby]

$$$$$$ lol but i hear its fantastic!

Well if Artist Point is an option, pricing is similar. I think this is for an anniversary dinner. They are all Signature Dining restaurants.

 

[BriarRosie]

Hiya Cape Girl.

I'm doing Artist Point in October as one of my dinners, but since you are
eating at Whispering Canyon earlier that day, I would suggest the other
dinner we have booked:

Kona Cafe.

Since you're at the Poly (and lucky girl, LV Concierge! ) already, I
think that would be a good option.

 

[Snow_White]

I also wanted to recommend Kona Cafe. It's not as noisy as 'Ohana (or the Concourse Steakhouse due to Chef Mickey's) but has even better food. My husband and I eat at Kona every time we are at WDW and highly recommend it.

 

[earthfaries]

O'Hana and request a window table so you can see the fireworks
We also like Crystal Palace. Chef Mickey's has a great atmosphere, but that's about it. Too bad you don't want to travel. Boma at AKL is wonderful

 

[CaipiraBob]

So now, please help me with recommendations on these restaurants:

Chef Mickey's
The Castle
Concourse Steakhouse
Other


Thanks!

Chef Mickey's - We do it for the kids, not for the food. It's OK-Good, but not much more.

The Castle - We've always done it for breakfast, nothing else. Breakfast was fine, plus walking through an empty park prior to opening provided some great photo opportunities. One time we ran into Mickey and Minnie with the kids, and had what amounted to a private photo session.

Concourse Steakhouse - Their food was good, but below say what you'd get at an "Outback Steakhouse". It's just a very plain, generic appearance restaurant right in the middle of the floor. We wouldn't go back. Mostly because for all it's worth, we could have been eating anywhere.

Other - You might try California Grill as suggested, and I hear Artist Point at the WL is outstanding. If you are looking for a character meal, we used to go to 1900 Park Fare at the GF, but haven't been in 2 or 3 years. They have changed the characters and I'm not sure about the menu. It used to be one of the best quality buffets after Boma at AKL (but AKL is a hike from the monorail resorts.)

Enjoy either way!

 

[Ron from Michigan]

If you can get a table I would pick California Grill.

 

[byoung]

Kona's is OUTSTANDING.

 

[SeaSpray]

Hey thanks everyone for the comments and recommendations! I appreciate the time you took to reply

Ok, first of all we LOVE LOVE LOVE the Kona Cafe (take a look at my web site, there are a ton of pictures of Kona Cafe food on it, from breakfast, lunch, and dinner, from our various trips! LOL) and we will be dining there for all 3 meals on this trip, but we're looking for something else for this particular night The Kona Cafe is our all-around favorite WDW restaurant!


California Grill: Sure, I'd love to try it some day, but like I had said before, almost all of it revolves around seafood and/or mushrooms, and I don't like either of them. A couple of the items look ok to me, but I'm going to wait for another time to try this place. Maybe when we go with a small group of friends or something; there's just not enough on the menu (yes, I see it is a large menu. lol) that really appeals to DH and myself.

Concourse Steakhouse: Well, I have read a few good reviews of this place, but I just wasn't sure about the ambiance. Right, I was going to have dinner at Chef Mickey's, so how serious about ambiance could I possibly be?? LOL But at least at CM it's a fun and festive atmosphere, and we enjoyed that the last time (in 2001).

Narcoose's and Citricos: Again, I definitely considered both of them, but nothing really stood out on the menu. My DH loves seafood so he'd probably find things, but not me. I did like the idea of the ambiance of those restaurants though... so I kept looking at menus and reading this thread last night...I saw that tikicampers mentioned Artist Point which strangely I hadn't even considered until then, and now....

Artist Point is the winner!!! The ONLY drawback to having dinner here is the fact that we'll be having lunch at the WL the same day, but I had promised DH that we'd go back there for lunch on our MK day, so he could have the wonderful pan-seared rainbow trout that is ONLY on the Whispering Canyon LUNCH menu. You know how I've said that I hate seafood? Well take a look at this, and I had even tried a bite of it and it was good! See for yourself:

So then I started checking out the food threads here on the DIS and I saw what I know I'm going to order: THE PORK CHOP! Oh man, does that look good! I showed DH the pictures and he said it looked good too! We've both been doing the South Beach Diet, which we love and have been doing great on, so we've been eating lean meats, but we WILL each have that pork chop in a few weeks! LOL It looks like a nice restaurant too; not too fancy, not too casual.

Question though: Does Artist Point have a dress code??

So thank you VERY MUCH to everyone who replied, but I think we've found our winner for our anniversary dinner that night! I've already sent off an email to the pre-planning office at the Polynesian, requesting they change our Chef Mickey ADR to Artist Point! We've never dined there before, so it'll be fun to try a brand new restaurant.


Hi BriarLori!

 

[jcc0621]

SeaSpray: AP does have a dress code, business casual. My mom is a seater there and she says basically no tank tops, bathing suits.

If your DH wears shorts or pants with a golf shirt he will be fine. When we ate there last year I wore a pair of khaki shirts, a plain black t-shirt and black slides and I felt very comfortable.

Have a wonerful anniversary trip

 

[BriarRosie]

Artist Point is the winner!!! The ONLY drawback to having dinner here is the fact that we'll be having lunch at the WL the same day, but I had promised DH that we'd go back there for lunch on our MK day, so he could have the wonderful pan-seared rainbow trout that is ONLY on the Whispering Canyon LUNCH menu. You know how I've said that I hate seafood? Well take a look at this, and I had even tried a bite of it and it was good! See for yourself:

So then I started checking out the food threads here on the DIS and I saw what I know I'm going to order: THE PORK CHOP! Oh man, does that look good! I showed DH the pictures and he said it looked good too! We've both been doing the South Beach Diet, which we love and have been doing great on, so we've been eating lean meats, but we WILL each have that pork chop in a few weeks! LOL It looks like a nice restaurant too; not too fancy, not too casual.

Question though: Does Artist Point have a dress code??

So thank you VERY MUCH to everyone who replied, but I think we've found our winner for our anniversary dinner that night! I've already sent off an email to the pre-planning office at the Polynesian, requesting they change our Chef Mickey ADR to Artist Point! We've never dined there before, so it'll be fun to try a brand new restaurant.


Hi BriarLori!

Well, it's supposed to have a dress code, but I've seen people wearing jeans and a polo at California Grill. I'd go in nice capris and a basic knit T and sandals. Resort casual is fine. I wouldn't go in my theme park clothes, but anything else semi-decent is fine. I have some fun dresses from the Disney Store from years ago (a great Hawaiian print with Mickey and surfing gear) that would also work at these restaurants.

 

[SeaSpray]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies regarding dress code!

We'll be back at our room before we go to dinner, so we'll be freshened up and in fresh "business casual" clothes for dinner.

I'm glad to hear that DH can wear nice shorts with a button-down or polo shirt, since I know it'll be very hot when we're there and I'd hate to see him have to wear long pants, but he would if it was expected/required. I'll wear a pair of capris with a nice top, and sandals.

I can't wait... thanks again everyone!