I was a little concerned how long it would take to get to GF for my dinner at Narcoossee so I left MK a bit earlier than I needed to. On the bright side, I saw that the boat to GF was on it's way in so I opted for that (a first time ride) rather than the Monorail.
Now, for anyone who saw any of my previous plans and posts about my ADRs (you know, because you should remember what I had planned at every step of the way), you should be saying "but wait! Didn't you have Artist Point booked for this night?" Well, you'd be correct in that. I did have AP booked for a long time and it TYPICALLY is one of my favorite restaurants. As I did the typical disboard behavior of checking and rechecking menus, I noticed some changes I wasn't too jazzed about. I'd be thinking I'd like to try the porkbelly appetizer that was on the menu, then that went away. Then they went and monkeyed with the buffalo entree (again) and that was just the last straw. It was turning into "Why do I want to go and have to make concessions and substitutions to be happy? What else is out there?" So I poked around the other signature menus and landed on Narcoossee. I'd always been able to find something for my picky self to eat on the menu but AP held that buffalo over my head and always won out. Not this time though and I managed to score an ADR I think 2 or 3 weeks out, I know it was pretty close to trip time.
I'd told a friend of mine I was going and she goes "NO TSHIRTS!" and told me I needed to at least wear something a little nice.. I knew I could technically wear a tshirt but I ended up wearing the plain tank top I'd had on all day and threw a light weight cardigan over it and I will say, I did feel a bit more like I fit in. I checked in a bit early and was seated a bit early which was fine with me because I was hoping I could kind of "rush" the meal so I could get back to MK to get my party on. I knew it'd be a longer meal but it ended up being a bit longer than I figured.
There weren't many people seated when I got there, but it got busier by the time it got dark (I'm sure people looking to see Hallowishes)
After being seated I thought to myself "Self, you deserve a drink." So I started out with a water, a coke, and my very first official Disney alcoholic beverage, a Magical Star. Holy crap...I love those darn things. Fruity and sweet and multicolored goodness but not too much of anything, it's honestly very refreshing! I took a video of it on my phone and sent it to my friends to rub it in
.
For an appetizer I decided to go for the cheese plate. Nothing else was calling to me as it was mostly seafood and I don't do that.
I was familiar with 2 of these cheeses from work, and truth be told, I typically don't eat a lot of cheese. I'm around it too much to enjoy it anymore and just a little bit satisfies my taste for it. Starting from the left, the cheeses were Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Mt Tam triple cream, Humboldt Fog, Petit Agour and Roaring 40's blue. The pairings, again from left to right, were honey comb, candy cane figs, some kind of glazed nut and serrano ham. To the far right was a thin toast. Pleasant Ridge is too much like gruyere for my tastes, even with the pairings I'm not a fan. The Mt Tam is fabulous, very creamy and delicious with the nuts and the honey. Humboldt Fog can be ok but this was a very young wheel. What I normally have in at work is further along than this picture shows and it just wasn't appealing to me. The Petit Agour was the big surprised here. I can't figure out quite how but it's a little spicy. Not sharp mind you, but peppery. I don't eat blue cheese so I can't tell you what the Roaring 40's was like. The server did say the figs were "the best the chef has ever tasted" but honestly, I thought they were very meh. I've had plenty of figs before but these were pretty bland. I would never pay out of pocket for a cheese plate but considering this was "included" I was pretty happy with it. I'll say its a
and a half. It's a good mix of cheeses, lots of different tastes but if I found something else that interested me on the menu, I wouldn't have a problem passing this up to try something new.
Now that I'm looking at the pictures, I realized I forgot to talk about the bread! I had such high hopes. It was hot and fluffy and smelled great. It tasted pretty good too BUT it was so hard to eat in that I had crumbs all over me and its like they cut it into pieces but don't cut through the bottom crust so since it's so soft to begin with you smush your fingers through the bread trying to break a piece off the loaf.
For my entree, I opted for the filet mignon. I wasn't into the sides it came with (and honestly I can't even remember what they were now) so I asked for the roasted potatoes from another dish and was told "No". I was a little stunned by that as it's never been an issue before. The reasoning was "well the chefs only make so many of them and each plate gets a certain amount so we have to save them for people who get that dish". Now granted, I understand kitchens do make a certain amount of food based on estimated business but I refuse to believe they don't account for substitutions and accidents. What if someone had knocked over an order that those potatoes? Would it really be "oops, sorry! You've met your potatoe quota already so you can't have any more" It was jarring to say the least. The server then asked if mashed potatoes would be ok. I really wasn't going to cause a fuss over this and I dig mashed potatoes so I said that'd be fine.
This did come stacked up on each other but in my food lust I almost started eating before I took a picture, so just picture everything stacked up ok?
I ordered my steak medium rare and it was perfection. Cooked right, thick and juicy, and tender as all get out. The steak knife that I didn't even notice was there til half way through was totally unnecessary. The butter knife was more than enough to cut through it. The potatoes on the other hand... I felt shafted. They weren't normal potatoes, as it turned out they were mashed boniatos which are a white sweet potato. Not a huge issue but they aren't the same. These were almost sugary sweet and it was like.. Ok bear with me here. Have you ever picked up a drink, say a water thinking it was something else, like Sprite? And for that split second it doesn't just taste wrong, it tastes gross? Then since it's not what you really wanted it to be you deal with it but it's just not right? Yeah, it was like that. I'm not a spinach fan, or really even a veggie fan so I didn't taste the spinach. The steak was absolutely a
and the potatoes I'll say were
but don't go into them thinking they taste like a normal potato.
For dessert I opted for the baked chocolate mousse.
This was really good but very rich, and a bit heavy after the meal. I don't know what the cookie type thingy sticking out of it was, but it was good and I actually used it as a spoon for a few bites. The caramel sauce with it had bourbon in it and it was waaaaaay too strong for me. I was glad it came on the side otherwise I wouldn't have been able to eat it. About half way through I gave up knowing I still had a lot of walking around to do and I wouldn't be able to do it if I ate any more.
This meal ended up being over 2 hours long. I thought I was giving clear signals to the server and it felt rude to say "let's move it honey". It was really the only time to fit a signature in though, and I'd imagine I would have spent about equal time at AP even if the meal had been shorter just with the added travel. It wasn't worth it to me to change my whole plan to move meals around to spend more time at the Halloween party. I'm very glad I tried this place and would definitely try it again, but on a night where I didn't have plans afterward. The great potato switcharoo was kind of lame but I can't say it ruined my night. So all in all,
and a half.
App $16, Entree $45, Dessert $10, drink $2.99, OOP drink $10.50, tax $5.50, grand total $90.73.
Next up, I finally meet some Buffalonians!
. I was a very happy camper. I've never had anything else at Casey's so I really can only recommend it if you want to board the train of nugget love. I consider this a solid 
So...I'm back. I'll sheepishly offer you a report to appease you.
