Never Eat More than You Can Lift~Miss Piggy,6/22 Update

[medicgirl911]

I wonder if we begged sufficiently enough I could get the fried wontons at the counter servvice part of Yak and Yeti?? I can do quite the puppy dog eyes!!! (how do you think I got my upcoming trip LOL!)

 

[catne]

I'm still hoping to squeeze Y&Y into a trip soon. There's just so many places to try!!!

Don't I know it!!! My bucket list includes eating at least once at every WDW restaurant...so many choices, so little time! We ARE going back for Free Dining with DS & his BFF...so come September, we get to try a few more new ones, as well as a few old favorites. I guess it'll take me lots & lots more trips to get through that list.

I wonder if we begged sufficiently enough I could get the fried wontons at the counter servvice part of Yak and Yeti?? I can do quite the puppy dog eyes!!! (how do you think I got my upcoming trip LOL!)

I say go for it...whatever it takes, ya know. Worst that can happen is they'll say no. Maybe if you go at an off time, they'll even seat you inside just for dessert? Worth a try

 

[floridascgirl]

Thank you so much for the fantastic reviews. You have me sold on Y&Y and R&C for our upcoming trip in December. I have so many places that I want us to try, that we really need to add a day to our trip!!!

 

[Lynn5700]

Hi!!! Loving your reviews so far!!

I'm thinking about trying Rose & Crown after reading your review. We're doiing Deluxe dining in Jan, so we will have a chance to try a bunch of place we have not tried yet.

I'm definitely going to try Yak and Yeti!! You have convinced me!!

 

[catne]

Hi!!! Loving your reviews so far!!

I'm thinking about trying Rose & Crown after reading your review. We're doiing Deluxe dining in Jan, so we will have a chance to try a bunch of place we have not tried yet.

I'm definitely going to try Yak and Yeti!! You have convinced me!!

We tried Deluxe on a 2 night trip last January...holey moley, that's a lot of food! And we stretched it out -- we checked into the Contemporary in the morning, so we went to 2 places on check-in day, then 3 on our one full day there, and 1 the day we left. But it was sooooo fun to try 6 restaurants in basically 48 hours. We had fun - especially since it was record-setting cold in Orlando when we were there -- our MK morning, it was 32F. at rope-drop! In the summer you go in the restaurants for the A/C...in January, we went in to warm up!

 

[catne]

Tuesday...a not-so-Magical-Extra-Magic-MK-morning

We started Tuesday up & out very early, cereal bars & coffee in the car – headed for 8:00 a.m. EMH at the MK…only to find things going very unmagical for our Magic Hour:
first at the TTC, no express monorail to MK, and no ferries running to MK: only the resort monorail, and they’re only allowing ½ of each train to be used from the TTC (saving ½ for monorail resort guests) so it took 50 minutes from the bottom of the monorail ramp to the gate of MK…no rope drop for us. Then, we hustle to Frontierland shortly after 8:00 a.m., and BOTH Mountains were down! Well, at least we got Splash fastpasses. So we did some Fantasyland rides, & went back to get Big Thunder fastpasses. Then we headed for POTC – unbelievable - POTC was down! Could it get any worse than that…

Sadly, yes it could…with all this dashing back & forth across the park, it was time for a break, and worst of all…DOLE WHIP WAS DOWN! AAAACK!!! Then DD said she saw someone walking around with what looked like a frozen mocha slushy, and I thought, oh, find me some heaven in a cup – frozen caffeine – but where?

So we were off in search of the frozen mocha slushies…asked at one of those carts that sell bottled water…she had no idea where, but suggested we stop in one of the regular counter service places like Casey’s where the employees were permanent MK people so they’d know. We stopped at Casey’s, where people were setting up to open in a bit, and asked if they knew where we could get a frozen coffee slushy drink: we were told there are none in MK.

WTH? We just saw someone with one…she says they must have brought it into the park – no frozen coffee drinks anywhere in the MK. At this point, we’re getting desperate for something frozen…it was pushing 90F. So DH says let’s go to the Plaza Ice Cream shop & see if we can get a milk shake – at least it’ll be cold.

Got in a fairly long line, waiting our turn. Lo & behold, they have Coke Floats on the menu! Perfect: a little magic has been restored in our universe: we CAN get a frozen beverage, complete with caffeine. We ordered a couple, and for some reason, our coke floats are ready in about 60 seconds flat: way ahead of about a dozen people waiting for their ice cream cones – guess floats are faster to make. The floats were delicious, although not very large – one smallish scoop of vanilla ice cream and about 8 oz. of coke. Sorry, no pictures – it was so hot, we were so parched – no time for pictures! They did hit the spot. The coke floats were 1 Snack Credit each.

And the morning recovered just a bit more of the magic - as we stepped out of the shop onto Main Street, to enjoy our floats & wait for DD & BFF…here comes the new “Move it! Shake it! Celebrate!” parade. Somehow, the crowds on Main Street right in front of the Plaza were sparse – we actually were able to lean on the building, in the semi-shade, and still see over the few people at the curb. We never even intended to watch the parade – I’m not one to go sit for an hour to save a space for a parade, so we usually miss them. Just pixie dust to be in right place & time…made a very entertaining break.

After the parade, we headed over to try and ride Buzz, but the crowds were ridiculous -- it was still before noon, yet Buzz had a 60 min. stand by – Monsters Inc had a long line, and even the dread Stitch had a 40 minute wait. Carousel of Progress was open, though, with a very short line. That is the corniest, hokiest ride ever, but DH & I have to admit we sort of enjoy it; the nostalgia is kind of charming, ya know. But the girls were severely under-impressed, and are fairly sure they’ll "never, ever feel the need to repeat that ride, really: no thanks." When we came out, the crowds & lines were even worse and everyone was hungry, so we headed for lunch.

P.S. ~ I’ve since been told that the Main Street Bakery has frozen lattes…DOH! We were sooo close to there. Oh well, now we know where to get a coke float AND where to get frozen lattes!

 

[PrincessTrisha]

Auntie Gravity's in Tomorrowland also serves a cappacino smoothie. Super good (and gave me my much needed caffeine fix).

 

[catne]

Auntie Gravity's in Tomorrowland also serves a cappacino smoothie. Super good (and gave me my much needed caffeine fix).

Thank you, thank you, thank you! That sounds even better than a frozen latte...but I'd take either when I'm wanting my coffee slushed!

We will be back to WDW in September...when it's probably going to be even hotter than end of May. Now I know 3 places to get frozen coffee yumminess. I KNEW they had to have it there, should never have believed that gal in Casey's. Maybe she misunderstood my question

 

[catne]

Magic all week...

I keep forgetting to mention…we were signed up for the What Will You Celebrate? Promo, so when we checked in to the hotel, they knew DH’s birthday was coming…they gave him the Birthday pin. He wore it all week, and he just loved each & every “Happy Birthday, Mark” he heard. And it was very, very often – Cast Members & fellow Disney–goers alike. If I had to put a number on it, I’d guess he heard it at least 3 times an hour.

1900 Park Fare gave him the “Celebrate” laminated placemat & the special Mickey Cupcake…and of course each & every character in there either wished him Happy Birthday (or made a slightly snide/jealous remark about it.)

At Tower of Terror, the little girl in line behind us gave him a mini-card with a peppermint in it when she told him Happy Birthday…they obviously had made these little cards in advance, I guess just to be nice & give people a little gift. Maybe this was their family’s way to spread pixie dust themselves? It was made with heavier scrapbooking paper, maybe, and folded into a tiny little sleeve-like card, just big enough to hold one of those wrapped starlight mints. The print on the paper was like balloons and said “Happy” all over. We thought it was awesome-sweet of this girl, what a little darling. Anyway…major kudos to the parents for raising a thoughtful, generous child.

Virtually every table restaurant brought out his dessert with a lit candle (even when he ordered coconut ice cream at Le Cellier!) and he had Happy Birthday sung to him by wait staff in French, English (American English, Canadian English-which of course sounds American and also the Brits version) and then in Swahili (a trio of very good singers - complete with drum & shaker instruments…that was not traditional happy birthday song, but an African birthday song – very nice.)

At Main Street Bakery, we stopped to buy his favorite apple turnover for the next day (his birthday breakfast) and as we were standing in line at the cash register to get the snack credits rung up, the gal from behind the counter walks up with her hands behind her back and a big grin on her face…and she says “I bet you think we didn’t notice it’s your birthday, Mark” and then she pulls out a giant free chocolate chip cookie, all wrapped up on a gold-foil tray, and decorated with a Mickey sticker & ribbons. She and the two guys running registers all did a couple of lines of the “Happy Birthday” song, and other employees all chimed in with the “Happy Birthday” as we left. Here’s the cookie - sorry, we all nibbled on it before I remembered to take pictures…it was delicious and stayed fresh for several days of snacking. You can see how big the thing is - compared to the size of the T.V. remote:

Anyway, DH highly recommends wearing that Birthday button just for the “make you feel good” pixie dust that lands on you every time someone smiles and wishes you Happy Birthday

 

[catne]

We’d decided to try Cosmic Ray’s again – hadn’t been there in years. My recollection of Cosmic Ray’s was that it was incredibly crowded, unbelievably loud, and though we had good burgers, they were plain because virtually all of the condiments were empty when we went to doctor 'em up. But I’ve seen so many reviews that promised better, so we were giving it a second go. It was busy this time, too, but not as bad as our previous encounter. There were some tables available (though a CM was standing in the doorway of the main dining room – the one where the robot lounge singer is – telling people unless their party was already at a table in that room, it was full, please look elsewhere for a table.)

The girls headed for the burger lines, which were very long. But for some reason, the chicken/ribs side was virtually empy, so DH & I quickly got our food, and started wandering around looking for a table for four – and not having much luck even though it was still shortly before noon. Then we saw the door to one of the little patio/balcony areas – and there were several empty tables out there so we high-tailed it out. Though it was hot, that area was totally shaded, and bonus! Our view was Cinderella’s Castle…great scenery for a counter service. And there was a little breeze blowing so with the shade it was actually quite pleasant. And much, much quieter out there than it was inside. We were lucky to get those seats: by the time the girls got to the table a few minutes later, all of the seats in that half of the restaurant, inside & out, were full - I assume the rest of the place was also full, since we were way around the side - out in the boonies. I can see why people get so frustrated with counter service seating issues – it wasn’t even noon yet and this place was packed. But we had our table & food, so on with it! DH & I ordered the chicken/ribs platter, served with mashed potatoes and green beans. We both chose coke for our beverage, and the little pre-packaged triple-chocolate cake for our desserts.

Oh, my, this was really good…and it did not taste like fast-food, at all. The ribs were fork-tender, the chicken was delicious, fall off the bone. The mashed potatoes are real – creamy/buttery with some chunks of taters & flecks of peel – tastes like old-fashioned down home cooking. The green beans were fresh, hot & crisp (not mushy canned beans.) So nice to get some real veggies with fast-food lunch...makes you feel like you're getting healthy nutrition with your dessert. We loved this platter, but we decided the next time we’d get one and split it—neither of us came close to finishing even ½ of this. Ate about two bites of the cake – thought about taking it with us but we were afraid the frosting would just melt all over. The cake was fresh and wonderfully decadent (it’s about 1/3 frosting), but it was just way too rich to finish after that large lunch:

The girls both chose cheeseburgers & fries, with cokes. The condiments area was very busy, but this time everything they wanted was available to fix-up the burgers. BFF chose the chocolate cake too, DD chose the “no-sugar added brownie.” Here’s BFF’s – DD was the same, except for the dessert (sorry, didn’t get picture of the brownie.)

Both girls liked the burgers & said the fries were very good. BFF had about two bites of her cake – she loved it, but was too full too finish it. DD took one bite of the sugar-free brownie and spit it out into her napkin…this thing looked like a square cow-pie, and apparently tasted like one, too. Though it was sealed, it was dry and seriously nasty-bad. DD started reading the label, saw all the warnings about the laxative properties of the sugar-free sweeteners used in this product, and immediately threw the thing away. And then she proceeded to finish off DH’s triple chocolate cake…she just had to wash that the cow-pie taste out of her mouth with real chocolate goodness, . She swore she’d be very, very, very careful to read the menus in the future & avoid anything listed as “no sugar added." For the sake of those who cannot eat sugar, I sure hope other sugar-free desserts are better than that brownie!

After lunch, we headed back to Frontierland to use our fastpasses at Splash & Big Thunder. Big Thunder had stand-by wait of 70 minutes…we walked right passed all those very hot people. Went over to Splash – that was 120 minutes on the stand-by. Again, we walked pretty much straight on – had about a 5 minutes wait at the very end where you get sorted out to load. When we walked passed all those people - they had the full snake-line set up, and it was moving at a snail's pace – whoa, if looks could kill, we’d have been dead a hundred times over. But wow, how wonderful to use the Fastpass system…don't understand why more people don't use it...are there some tickets that won't work in the Fastpass machines? So, anyway, to end our morning at MK, we got just wet enough to refresh on a hot day…and our faith in magic was restored. We headed back to POFQ for a much-needed break in the A/C…and to rest up because later we were going to Epcot in search of a dinner with a French rat.

 

[catne]

Headed off to Epcot Tuesday night, and once again, storm threatening. This time we were not quite as lucky – had to wear the ponchos walking through Epcot to get to France and our date with a rat at Les Chefs De France. We’ve been here before (DH & I – in January) and really enjoyed our experience. This repeat visit was at the request of DD – she wanted to try another “country” in the World Showcase, and this was the one she chose…getting to meet Remy from Ratatouille was a bonus..

First off, we checked in just 10 minutes ahead of ADR time, and were able to sit on the benches under the entryway awning so we were out of the rain…thankfully, because the heavens opened up just then and really started dumping buckets of rain. We were seated just about at our ADR time, give or take a few.

We ordered our drinks first – DH got the Konigsberg (surprise – a beer! At least he tries the restaurant’s specialty beer instead of just getting Bud everywhere, lol.) I ordered the drink I had in January – the Cocktail de Chefs which is a sparkling wine with black currants. I don’t like a lot of sparkling wine, but this cocktail makes my exception list – it is very good, not too sweet:

The girls just got sodas this time, so no special photos there. But shortly after we sat down, we met a celebrity – the rodent movie star, Remy, from the movie Ratatouille, came by to see us. This really is quite cute, and the “comic waiter” (ours was a lady waiter) is also quite amusing.

When Cedric the real waiter came back with our drinks, he began explaining the menu…including the page about the fixed-price option where you get appetizer, entrée and dessert. And, yes, it is allowed on the regular DDP. There are several choices in each category. We had been planning on getting a bowl or two of the French onion soup to share, but after reading the choices, we all figured out that the entrees & desserts we wanted WERE on the fixed price menu, so BONUS, we’d get what we wanted plus appetizers for all. All the girls ordered the French onion soup for starters; DH ordered the lobster bisque – he & I were to share the bisque & onion soup between us so we could have both. Cedric brought the hot French rolls around just before the soup was delivered to the table. Love these rolls- crispy on the outside and soft & chewy on the inside…and hot enough to melt that rock-hard Disney butter, too!

Top is the lobster bisque – I did not care for this at all, way too “fishy” tasting for me (tasted more like a fish chowder to me) Bottom of the picture, covered in melted cheese, is that lovely French onion soup…I just barely shared this with DH (bad me.) The girls enjoyed their soup, also…but quit about ½ way through to save room for the rest of the meal.

DH & I both ordered the grilled salmon (delicious), which is served with a small whole boiled potato (tasty, very buttery tasting) and whatever that round pile of vegetables was – not so tasty…was like boiled out soup veggies without the soup? Nearly tasteless. We both ate all the salmon & tater, left most of the veggie blob.

DD ordered the beef short ribs (tender, tasty) with noodles (just plain noodles)

BFF ordered the macaroni & cheese – not to be confused at all with the blue box stuff…this was delicious, creamy & very, very rich. She could not finish it:

For dessert, DD ordered the crème brulee; she ate all of this…said it was very good with just the right amount of cracklin on top:

DH, BFF & I each ordered the Profiterolles au Chocolat…that luscious combination of puff pastry, ice cream and the most wonderful chocolate sauce…which looks like Hershey’s, but oh my, way better. I actually think it would be worth eating here just to get this dessert – that good:

So all in all, we enjoyed our meal at Les Chefs…service was excellent, a 10 for sure; décor is lovely, but ambiance was just o.k. – tables are a might bit too close together so that detracts from the experience a bit: give that a 7. Food averaged about an 8 before dessert…but dessert was a 10 for sure (both the profiterolles and the crème brulee are superb.) Would we go back…yes. Cost was 4 TS credits…cash cost of the fixed priced menu is $37.00 each, so would have been about $155 before tip. My cocktail was $9.75 and DH’s beer was $5.95.

 

[oybolshoi]

YUMMY!!!

We're headed back to Chefs this fall ... we like to hit them up for lunch and have always had tasty tasty food there.

Enjoying your reviews as always! BTW ... my hubby and I like the French beer, too!

 

[catne]

YUMMY!!!

We're headed back to Chefs this fall ... we like to hit them up for lunch and have always had tasty tasty food there.

Enjoying your reviews as always! BTW ... my hubby and I like the French beer, too!

Thanks - that's our second time there, and so far not disappointed!

Oh, hey - guess what -- we stopped in Ofallon and gassed up the family truckster on our road trip to Orlando in May!!! And I told my DH, DD & her BFF we were all supposed to yell "so long Stinktown"...and of course they all refused until they know why?

 

[oybolshoi]

Thanks - that's our second time there, and so far not disappointed!

Oh, hey - guess what -- we stopped in Ofallon and gassed up the family truckster on our road trip to Orlando in May!!! And I told my DH, DD & her BFF we were all supposed to yell "so long Stinktown"...and of course they all refused until they know why?

So, did you try to explain?

I listened ... but I sure didn't hear anyone yelling about Stinktown.

 

[catne]

So, did you try to explain?

I listened ... but I sure didn't hear anyone yelling about Stinktown.

I tried...but they weren't buying it. So the best I could do was muster one lonely little "so long, stinktown" as we pulled back on the interstate...but have to tell ya, your wish for us to have good driving worked out very well, lots of pixie dust on that drive. The traffic wasn't too bad going through your end of Missouri this time, because we were going through there about 7:00 p.m. on a Thursday night. We were worring about going through downtown St Louis because there was a ball game that night, but we timed our dinner stop so that we'd go through after the first pitch of the night...we had smooth sailing through all the MO Saint-towns

 

[catne]

We started the day with breakfast in the room…DH had his beloved Apple Turnover from Main Street Bakery. He gobbled this down before I could even beg a bite:

I had an item that was described to me as “banana pudding bread”…well, “this was neither banana pudding, nor banana bread. Discuss.” It looked sort of like a banana bread muffin – looked like it should be moist. What it actually was - it was extremely dense. And extremely dry. And very little flavor, banana or otherwise. Not sure what it really was, but I ate about 1/3 of it and gave up. Not a good choice at all – should have stuck with those delicious cinnamon rolls, but I was determined to try something new. Live & learn.

I had a couple of nibbles off DH’s birthday cookie from the Main Street Bakery…much better than the banana-whatever-it-was:

After doing a couple of rides at Epcot (and getting Soarin fastpasses for Wednesday night) we took off for DTD for a special birthday treat…we were going to ride Characters in Flight. Our luck was holding – the storms predicted for Wednesday morning had not shown up yet…and we bought our tickets & got in line…only one balloon-full in line ahead of us. But within a few minutes, there was a humongous line behind us. Some of the people in line were being told it would be 45-60 minutes wait. Here’s a pic of the balloon going up (this was the group ahead of us)

And here’s a picture I took while we were up in the balloon:

That’s the resorts right across the water from DTD. They really looked beautiful as the balloon went up & you could see all the lush landscaping.

That’s Epcot through the net – the little white ball just to the right of center in the photo.

This really is an awesome ride – highly recommend it. But don’t do it if you have any fear of heights, or are prone to motion sickness. While it’s really a smooth trip going up with just a “bump” at the top when they stop, coming down and landing can be sort of unsettling, especially if there’s a stiff breeze going. Several people were fine with the ride until the landing, since down was not near as gentle as up.

Next up…lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express.

 

[TigerKat]

Thanks for the pics of Characters in Flight, first review I've read of it!

 

[JerseyJanice]

I'm loving your reviews so far, Cat. Keep up the good work!

So did I read your Chefs de France review correctly in that there are now choices with the French menu? Last time I looked on allears, it appeared that if you pick it, you can get only the onion soup, roasted chicken and creme brulee.

Both the soup and creme brulee appeal to me very much, but I wasn't too excited over the chicken. If I can get the short ribs instead, that will be fantastic.

 

[catne]

Sorry about taking so long to get back to you folks -- been running like crazy today so very little time to get to my Disboards!

Thanks for the pics of Characters in Flight, first review I've read of it!

Glad to do it -- kind of wondered if I should put it in a dining review, but it's something relatively new, thought people might like some first-hand info...we did it just before lunch that day, so what the heck figured I'd squeeze it in between reports of breakfast & lunch. We really did enjoy it -- though it's a short ride -- about 10-12 minutes from the time you step on the balloon -- we thought it was worth the price.

I'm loving your reviews so far, Cat. Keep up the good work!

So did I read your Chefs de France review correctly in that there are now choices with the French menu? Last time I looked on allears, it appeared that if you pick it, you can get only the onion soup, roasted chicken and creme brulee.

Both the soup and creme brulee appeal to me very much, but I wasn't too excited over the chicken. If I can get the short ribs instead, that will be fantastic.

Well, I always say allears is a great resource, but only for "general" ideas about what's what...I research the heck out of places we want to go, even checking right before we leave on the trip. Have never, ever found an allears menu that is actually the same as what we see. But in all fairness, we found the same thing was true with the "brand new" Disney menu links on some of the restaurants on the official Disney website - like they just put up the Rose & Crown menu shortly before our trip...and then we got there & the menu was different. So if Disney can't keep their own stuff current, how can a volunteer-run fan site do it?

But back to Les Chefs, yep, the menu had like a whole page that was all the choices for the fixed-price meal (don't think they called it "the French menu" -- I think that name was maybe what used to be on the lunch menu?) Anyway, this was the dinner menu. I don't actually recall if there was a "name" on the page...but basically there were several appetizer choices, several entree choices and several dessert choices. We were so thrilled that our entree & dessert choices were on there, because that meant we could also get our appetizer soups included - SCORE! - we had been planning on paying OOP to get the French Onion soup. I hope they keep it that way...

 

[catne]

How’s that for taking alliteration too far, lol. So we were off to Wolfgang Puck for the birthday lunch. This was our first experience with Wolfgang Puck -- they don't have any around our part of the world. We've seen them on our travels, just have never stopped. What a treat this place is for a counter service restaurant…first off, you go to the counter to order…and the counter guy seems 100% thrilled, really happy, to find out you’re on the DDP. He positively gushed about how great the plan was & immediately started pointing out what he considered the tastiest, most expensive things on the menu. Which just happened to be what DH & I were interested in, anyway. So you order at the counter, and then they give you a number to put on your table & a server brings your food, and constant refills on beverages too. So it’s kinda fast food/kinda table service.

Now one thing I have to point out…allears, wdwinfo AND the actual menu hanging on the wall in Wolfgang Puck Express all show “rigatoni with chicken Bolognese”…that’s actually been discontinued. Now it’s “rigatoni with beef Bolognese”…same dish, but beef. Which is what DH ordered. This comes with either a ceasar side salad, or garden greens salad. He chose the garden greens salad…and it comes with a slice of warm cheese bread. Both of us ordered sodas as our beverage. Here’s his Bolognese:

This is a huge serving – no way could he finish this. He loved it, though. Me, not so much. There was enough garlic in this thing to guarantee that no vampires, werewolves, or humans would want to be within 10 yards of the guy (and I had to share a bedroom with the guy, lol.) Suffice to say I was feeding him peppermints non-stop for the next 24 hours. Anyway, HE thought it was great.

I opted for the rigatoni with chicken alfredo, also taking the garden side salad; mine also came with the cheese bread. Here’s the salad

Very tasty, creamy ranch dressing tasted homemade. And here’s the rigatoni alfredo:

This was outstanding – sometimes alfredo sauce just tastes like slightly flavored white sauce…not this. This was so rich & cheesy…scrumptious. Also a huge serving – these dishes were like dinner-plates, but bowls. We could have easily split one of these meals (but not his – no way could I eat that much garlic!) Anyway, loved this pasta dish.

DD went for one of WPE most popular items, the personal pizzas. She chose the mushroom & pepperoni…she really, really enjoyed this lunch. Said the pizza was “everything a pizza should be…great crust, great cheese, great toppings, cooked just right.” This could be shared, but not quite as big a serving as the pasta dishes are.

BFF had the Chinois chicken salad (which they very nicely tell you is pronounced “shin-wah” so you don’t make a fool of yourself ordering it.) This thing was fabulous to look at – like a mini food sculpture. BFF really enjoyed it…and it was also a very large portion:

DH & I both opted for the WPE crème brulee, topped with a strawberry that day (server indicated that the fruit garnish changes a lot.) O.K., people have raved about the crème brulee there…have to say this: meh, it was o.k. Nothing spectacular. It was made properly & all, but was just plain crème brulee. I’d probably try the cookie or brownie next time.

DD did order the brownie, but ended up taking it with her because she was way too full to eat it then. BFF ordered frozen yogurt, which they brought out later…she enjoyed it, but nothing special about it either. Sorry didn’t get a picture of either of the girls’ desserts.

So anyway, on to costs – of course we paid with 4 dining plan counter service credits (one per person) Now I have to say if I’m perfectly honest about it, I doubt that we’d ever eat here in a million years if we were paying cash out of pocket…the food is very good, but I seriously don’t think DH & I had a lunch worth $48.01. Yes, that was the total on our lunch – just DH & I – before the tip. No booze or any extras. The pasta dishes were excellent, and very large. The salad was nice. The dessert was good enough, the soda drinks were soda drinks. But really, nearly $50 for lunch? In what really is a fast-food place with table delivery? Guess I’m too cheap, but pasta for $50 better be loaded with crab & lobster, served on silver by a guy in a funny black suit with a towel over his arm,lol. Thank heavens for the DDP, though. DD & BFF’s bill came to $37.70…guess they chose “cheap” menu items (but again, $37 for a small pizza and a dinner salad?) Oh, well. Décor – a step up from McD’s, but still fairly fast-food looking…give it a 6. Service , that was a 10…they really were very helpful at the counter when we ordered and then our server was always there the instant a drink needed refilling, the second a plate needed removing, etc. The food, I'd say an 8.5 (entrees were 10s but desserts just were not all that.) Overall – a high 8, I guess. Would we go back, sure, but only on the Dining Plan. Without the dining plan, don’t think so, unless those prices came down substantially. But it was a great birthday lunch for DH.