For six days, DH and DS10 kept asking, "Are you going to take pictures of EVERYthing we eat?" Since I did, I figured I might as well write reviews of the food. 
We tried some new dishes, revisited some favorites, and had both good and bad surprises. These are the TS restaurants we visited:
Maya Grill (CSR) dinner
Whispering Canyon Cafe (WL) dinner
Kona Cafe (Poly) dinner
Maya Grill (CSR) breakfast
Wolfgang Puck Cafe (DTD West Side)
There will be some CS mixed in, too, but I don't have a list at this moment. And not all of my photos turned out well--they seem to be either too light or too dark--but I'll post some anyway.
MAYA GRILL dinner:
Last December I reviewed the Maya Grill, and my family hasn't stopped talking about it. It was the best steak we had all week, better than Le Cellier or Concourse. This year ... not so much.
It started well, with the seafood skillet appetizer:
This has clams, mussels, and shrimp in a tomato-based broth. DH and DS both loved it, all the way to the last bit of broth.
I've never heard anyone talk about the crabmeat chalupa appetizer. After confirming that it has no avocado (I'm allergic), I ordered this:
This is a stack that begins with a disc of soft cornmeal bread (it reminded me of a tamale) filled with black beans. Next is a large ball that I can only describe as a creamy crabcake. It's topped with a finely chopped fresh salsa. The sauce on the plate is a reddish-brown sweet-spicy sauce. I don't remember the pinkish stuff under the corn, and I didn't make any notes on it.
I liked this dish a lot. It wasn't the best crabcake, but the combination of ingredients really worked.
DH and DS were very hungry, so they ordered the mixed grill:
This is a filet mignon, ribs, and fresh catch (that day the fish was tilapia). It comes with a baked potato and vegetables (grilled green and yellow squash, red onion, red pepper, broccoli - salty but good).
I ordered the filet mignon:
After our experience last year, we were looking forward to these steaks. When the dishes arrived, the steaks and ribs were at room temperature. The plates were warm, but the meat was not, and the steak and ribs seemed dry. DH told the server, who removed the plates and brought them back in a little while.
When the plates came back, the mixed grill plates were a mess: The beautiful piece of tilapia was broken into four or five pieces, and the whole plate just looked messy. And the steaks were slightly warmer, still dry, and now crusted with charcoal. The server said that the cook had reheated the food (which we'd already cut and tasted). The manager came over, was very apologetic, and said that the kitchen would prepare fresh dishes.
While we waited, we overheard the customers at the next table talking to the server and the manager about exactly the same problem. It wasn't just us.
Finally, the food came out and it was as it should have been in the first place. It was fine, and if it had been that way the first time, I'd be writing a much more favorable review!
For dessert, DS had the chocolate cake. My photo didn't turn out well, but the cake was good. DH ordered the spiced churros:
These come with coconut ice cream, coconut sauce, and a banana garnish. It's a good dish--something different, nothing spectacular.
I ordered the fried cheesecake:
The cheesecake was soft and creamy, and the wrapper (it reminded me of a flour tortilla, but I don't know if it was) was chewy. The chewiness was not appealing to me, but I liked the rest of the dish. I think the sauce was vanilla and the garnish was some kind of nuts. At this point we were just tired of sitting there, and I'm sure that made the desserts seem less appealing.
On the way out of Maya, we stopped to look at the grill where the steaks are cooked. The display of raw meat, the wood-fired grill ... everything is set up to suggest that the steaks are excellent. Off to the side, between the grill area and the main kitchen, there were trays of cooked steaks. Each had a little plastic skewer, like the ones you see in steaks at the Sizzler.
I guess that, when we ordered our steaks, they were taken from the tray, slapped on the grill for a moment to warm up, then served. No wonder they're dry and cold.
We were very disappointed in Maya, but it only got better from there!
We tried some new dishes, revisited some favorites, and had both good and bad surprises. These are the TS restaurants we visited:
Maya Grill (CSR) dinner
Whispering Canyon Cafe (WL) dinner
Kona Cafe (Poly) dinner
Maya Grill (CSR) breakfast
Wolfgang Puck Cafe (DTD West Side)
There will be some CS mixed in, too, but I don't have a list at this moment. And not all of my photos turned out well--they seem to be either too light or too dark--but I'll post some anyway.
MAYA GRILL dinner:
Last December I reviewed the Maya Grill, and my family hasn't stopped talking about it. It was the best steak we had all week, better than Le Cellier or Concourse. This year ... not so much.
It started well, with the seafood skillet appetizer:
This has clams, mussels, and shrimp in a tomato-based broth. DH and DS both loved it, all the way to the last bit of broth.
I've never heard anyone talk about the crabmeat chalupa appetizer. After confirming that it has no avocado (I'm allergic), I ordered this:
This is a stack that begins with a disc of soft cornmeal bread (it reminded me of a tamale) filled with black beans. Next is a large ball that I can only describe as a creamy crabcake. It's topped with a finely chopped fresh salsa. The sauce on the plate is a reddish-brown sweet-spicy sauce. I don't remember the pinkish stuff under the corn, and I didn't make any notes on it.
I liked this dish a lot. It wasn't the best crabcake, but the combination of ingredients really worked.
DH and DS were very hungry, so they ordered the mixed grill:
This is a filet mignon, ribs, and fresh catch (that day the fish was tilapia). It comes with a baked potato and vegetables (grilled green and yellow squash, red onion, red pepper, broccoli - salty but good).
I ordered the filet mignon:
After our experience last year, we were looking forward to these steaks. When the dishes arrived, the steaks and ribs were at room temperature. The plates were warm, but the meat was not, and the steak and ribs seemed dry. DH told the server, who removed the plates and brought them back in a little while.
When the plates came back, the mixed grill plates were a mess: The beautiful piece of tilapia was broken into four or five pieces, and the whole plate just looked messy. And the steaks were slightly warmer, still dry, and now crusted with charcoal. The server said that the cook had reheated the food (which we'd already cut and tasted). The manager came over, was very apologetic, and said that the kitchen would prepare fresh dishes.
While we waited, we overheard the customers at the next table talking to the server and the manager about exactly the same problem. It wasn't just us.
Finally, the food came out and it was as it should have been in the first place. It was fine, and if it had been that way the first time, I'd be writing a much more favorable review!
For dessert, DS had the chocolate cake. My photo didn't turn out well, but the cake was good. DH ordered the spiced churros:
These come with coconut ice cream, coconut sauce, and a banana garnish. It's a good dish--something different, nothing spectacular.
I ordered the fried cheesecake:
The cheesecake was soft and creamy, and the wrapper (it reminded me of a flour tortilla, but I don't know if it was) was chewy. The chewiness was not appealing to me, but I liked the rest of the dish. I think the sauce was vanilla and the garnish was some kind of nuts. At this point we were just tired of sitting there, and I'm sure that made the desserts seem less appealing.
On the way out of Maya, we stopped to look at the grill where the steaks are cooked. The display of raw meat, the wood-fired grill ... everything is set up to suggest that the steaks are excellent. Off to the side, between the grill area and the main kitchen, there were trays of cooked steaks. Each had a little plastic skewer, like the ones you see in steaks at the Sizzler.
I guess that, when we ordered our steaks, they were taken from the tray, slapped on the grill for a moment to warm up, then served. No wonder they're dry and cold.We were very disappointed in Maya, but it only got better from there!
This is the Kilauea Torte:
