OMG...I am so full. First time review. UPDATE-2/9 Mama Melrose/Raglan Road

[skellingtonfreak]

Great update!

Thanks!

Just found your great reviews, loved the pictures of Ohanas breakfast and Brown Derby dinner as these are both meals we try for the first time this trip.

You are going to love both!

Just signing on...thanks for the reviews, they are fabulous! I'm headed to the BD and Ohana in two weeks and now I'm feeling really good about the ADRs (I suffer from ADR remorse! ). Can't wait to read more!

Oh don't ever be scared of your ADR's. Even with a picky eater in our group, we can always find something to eat anywhere we go. And you never know you like a placeuntil you try it, right?

I've never been there, my DD5 is well mannered but I would not want to bother other diners. Did you see any families or was it mostly adults?

We were actually seated right next to a family that had 2 kids under 7 with them, and there were plenty more. The place is kind of loud, so you tend not to notice the kids. And besides...people who go to a park to eat have to expect kids there, no matter how unruly and impatient they become. It goes with WDW territory. You will be fine.

That's the same excuse my aunt used when she licked a plate clean in a fancy restaurant (much to my mum's embarassment).

Good thing I didn't have family there. J tolerates my sauce fetish.

The salad, crab cakes, and grouper look so amazing. I do hope we get to go there in June while we are there. I think it looks very yummmmmmmmy! I can' wait.

You should go. It was very very yummy. And it really was the ONLY place I had to eat everything on my plate it was THAT good.

 

[iluvpluto27]

Really enjoying your reviews. I'm glad you enjoyed the Turf Club (even if your steak was overcooked). We're staying at SSR next trip, and it's one of the restaurants I'm looking forward to trying.

 

[skellingtonfreak]

Today we go to Tutto Italia. Now I have to lay one disclaimer that many other people lay down when trying this place. I am half Italian and I grew up on authentic Italian food, so when it came to eating here, I took everything I tried with a grain of salt. I know a lot of people didn't really like this place when I researched all of the reviews, and I truly took all of that in stride as well.

So I started off with the Italian Margarita. It was okay. Not every strong, but I am used to drinking my margaritas on the rocks, so since it was frozen, I know it wasn't as strong as I would normally have liked. I have to say it was still good though.

We decided on the antipasto platter for two thinking it would be perfect for two people to much on, and J loves salami and cheese, so it was perfect. Holy cow this was HUGE! It took up most of our table. I totally forgot to take a picture of it, so I am so sorry! So I will list out what came on the plate and how it tasted instead. First there was capicolla and genoa salamis, and proscuitto. They were good and fresh. The buffalo mozzarrella was good too. There were roasted red peppers, cherry peppers, and pepperoncini peppers. There were 3 different olives. There were roasted tomatoes and zucchinis. Now, I personally loved this platter and I tasted every single thing on it. It reminded me of all of the platters my grandmother used to lay out on holiday meals. My only thing is that it is so big, it was too big for two people. If you have a family of four or more, do get it.

So J decided on the lasagna al forno. It was actually pretty good. Not as good as mine, but I don't prepare it for a restaurant so I can take two days to make it if I wanted, and I usually do. I have to say it was a heck of a lot better than the Olive Garden though. J did like it though, but she is very easy to please when it comes to lasagna.

I wanted something different that didn't have pasta. I personally think that most people think Italian food means pasta, but I don't. Most of the Italian food I love has no pasta in it whatsoever. I had something new on the menu. Cannellini bean and shrimp bruschetta. This was good. If it were summer, it would have been the best summer dish. The bread was crisoy and tasted great with the EVOO that was brushed on it. My only issue with this dish was they used 2 different kinds of shrimp. There was salad shrimp (the small one that they use in shrimp salad) and larger shrimp. It was a lot of shrimp, so I can't complain too much, and it tasted great, so what AM I complaining about?

J opted out of dessert yet again, but I was having me some cannoli come hell or high water. It was okay. Nothing to write home about, and I have had better, but I loved the flavors of the candied orange zest paired with the filling and the chocolate shell.

We liked it here and our waiter was very good. We wanted for nothing and we even had a busser giving us water and anything else we needed and cleared off the plates in a timely manner.

Now I do have to say something at this point. I have been reading for months that people felt rushed here. I can honestly say that beginning to end here took at least an hour and a half. Truthfully, we only felt rushed at one restaurant the entire time we were at any restaurant during this trip.

We would definitely go back here, more than likely for dinner though.

TOTALS
Antipasto - $25.00
Margarita - $10.00
Bruschetta - $19.00
Cannoli - $6.50
Diet Coke - $3.00
Iced Tea - $4.50
Lasagna - $19.00
Tax - $5.66
Tip - $20.00
Totals - $112.66

Next...dinner in the castle...now that was fun!

 

[dizneeat]

I am really glad you liked Tutto! They do have really good food. Since we live close to Italy we do know real Italian food as well and I was really impressed with what they came up with.
We're going back in just 2 1/2 weeks - you just made me want it even more now!

 

[TigerKat]

Great review of Tutto, haven't made it there yet, hopefully in October! I love Italian food and most of my faves are not pasta dishes.

 

[shannn]

I'm a little late, but I'm joining in!

 

[msce2]

Really great reviews!

I especially liked the review of the characters at 1900PF. There's only so much you can do with typical breakfast buffet food, but you made it interesting and original!! Thank you!!!

 

[Mich123]

Thanks for the review of Tutto, we're heading there in two weeks--yum!

 

[skellingtonfreak]

The castle...it brings up so many good memories. One of the things I had to do while on the Deluxe plan was eat in the castle. I figured since we were doing Akershus, it would be best to do the dinner here. One of our missions this trip was to get as many different character meals as we possibly could. This was one of those meals that we could get Perla and Suzy. So we decided to buck up and brave the castle for dinner.

Now getting here was half the problem, I have to say. Our reservation was for 8:30. I wanted it as late as possible, so we could not feel rushed from lunch, and it was extra magic hours anyway, so I figured what the heck. We ended up going back to SSR after lunch and walking around a bit to pick up our packages that we had sent back to the resort anyway. We left the resort at 7:30 thinking that we more than ample time to get where we needed to go. Now, my bad for not remembering the times of the fireworks. We got to the MK at 8:00. Holy crikey! Wall to wall people in the town square, and we had to push our way around the castle over through Tomorrowland around back and through Fantasyland in order to get behind the castle to check in. This took a good 20 minutes while the fireworks were going on. The coolest thing, and I HAVE to remember this spot, we walked right under Tinkerbell as she was flying down from the castle. That was so cool! Part of the problem was this. When you are behind the castle (of which we had never been) during the fireworks, they apparently spend 15-20 minutes checking to make sure there are no leftover fireworks left laying on the ground while the ropes are up. Did not know this. But for future reference...a very good thing to know. And to top it off, a kid got firework debris in his eye. That sucks. It was really windy that night, and I know it happens, but you just feel so bad for their day to be ruined by that. So we watch security and a manager taking down the incident report. More delays...AHHH....But we finally got in to the desk, which was complete and utter chaos. Holy cow, I have never seen so many people checking in at one time. I truly think a lot of it was people walking up trying to get seating, and that was part of the problem. But we were finally in to get our pic taken with Cinderella. YAY! Only 15 minutes late. Phew.

We went upstairs, and it was amazing. I had never been in here before and it is truly an experience every Disney lover has to partake in at least once. I mean, how can you not? We were seated, and our waitress asked us what we wanted to drink, and we ordered the obligatory drinks. She also informed us what was covered on the plan and came back straight away with our drinks.

We ordered appetizers. J had the kid's salad since nothing else suited her fancy, and I had the BLT salad. It was okay. It reminded me of a blue cheese wedge you would get at a steak house. Nothing special. I forgot to take a picture of it...sorry.

I went with the prime rib. It was so good! The potatoes were way too salty (and that is truly saying a lot because I pour salt on everything!). The asparagus was good. Thin, but good. I don't know if the prime rib was salt rubbed, because it tasted like it. But then again...I love salt, especially on red meat. The cabernet sauce was good...perfect texture for a good sauce and plenty of flavor.

Now I have to say. Disney is the only place in the world where I always get a bigger piece of meat than sides. Why is that? Does anyone know? I usually get filled up on the sides (which is so much cheaper) and never eat all of my meat. I didn't have that problem here. I devoured the prime rib and left sides. Has anyone else ever noticed this phenomenon?

J got the pork chop. Well done. Well...not quite well done. She had mashed potatoes and said they were very good. Can you screw up food service mashed potatoes though? I don't think so. She didn't touch the veggies (as she normally doesn't). She ate the outsides of the pork chop because once she saw pink, she wouldn't eat most of it. Oh well. She was having the worst luck with meat temps on this trip. But she said she had enough, so all was well. No big deal.

So while were were eating dinner, we noticed a lot of commotion going on a few tables from us, and it turns out someone got proposed to! That was kind of cool. That would definitely be one of the most perfect places to be proposed to at. We then experienced the whole fairy godmother bit.

J decided not to do dessert again...what a surprise. I wasn't going to have one either, but since I wasn't quite ready to leave yet (taking it all in), I had the Chocolate Cream Cheese Buckle. It was okay. I ate most of it, so I guess it was. Our server ended up bringing a cupcake too. Lots of desserts that night.

So all in all, we had a great time. The food was okay. Not spectacular, and not the worst meal of our trip by any means. Would we return? More than likely, but only for the chance to get Ariel in her ballgown during the day.

TOTALS:
Meals - $42.99 each
Tax - $13.11
Tip - Included!
Total - $104.69

Next...More princesses and EPCOT in the wee early hours!

 

[skellingtonfreak]

I am really glad you liked Tutto! They do have really good food. Since we live close to Italy we do know real Italian food as well and I was really impressed with what they came up with.
We're going back in just 2 1/2 weeks - you just made me want it even more now!

I know. I really want it again and I want to save room for even more yummy goodness next time!

Great review of Tutto, haven't made it there yet, hopefully in October! I love Italian food and most of my faves are not pasta dishes.

Yay! I am not the only freak out there!

I'm a little late, but I'm joining in!

Welcome! Glad you could join us!

Really great reviews!

I especially liked the review of the characters at 1900PF. There's only so much you can do with typical breakfast buffet food, but you made it interesting and original!! Thank you!!!

Thank you. I find the buffets to be all the same after a while, and at Disney, it is pretty muc the same food, just different characters and locale. I wanted to change it up a bit. Glad you liked it!

Thanks for the review of Tutto, we're heading there in two weeks--yum!

One of my all-time faves now! I want to go back again next trip, but the powers that be might not let that happen.

 

[Matt71]

Now I have to say. Disney is the only place in the world where I always get a bigger piece of meat than sides. Why is that? Does anyone know? I usually get filled up on the sides (which is so much cheaper) and never eat all of my meat. I didn't have that problem here. I devoured the prime rib and left sides. Has anyone else ever noticed this phenomenon?

It's kind of funny, I was looking at the pic and thinking, "wow, Disney really skimped on the sides". Seriously, I've seen bigger asparagus out of a can. Don't let them fool your into thinking you got a larger portion of meat; they just gave you smaller sides - probably to save money.

 

[wilma-bride]

Great reviews so far - I am kind of picky so I can sympathise with J. It sounds like you both ate pretty well though - some of your meals looked delicious. Looking forward to more

 

[chocolateMinnie]

We love CRT and your pictures are great. I went with the lamb last time but the prime rib looks good too.

 

[skellingtonfreak]

This was my actual birthday day and we decided to do all of the things I wanted to do...our plan was to character stalk and just generally hang out in my favorite park until it was time to switch parks for dinner. All went according to plan, amazingly. At least the morning did.

We left the resort on time, got on the first bus, got to EPCOT, checked in, and slowly walked through the empty park to our restaurant of choice for breakfast. It was a nice morning and it was actually comfortable! YAY! Nothing like a nice sunny warm day to make the birthday even better. Today, I was determined to make my day fun and stress free. And we did.

We got to the Akershus and went in pretty promptly. Got our obligatory pic with Belle, and then was seated in the buffet room. This was a pretty fun spot to sit and watch everyone. Yeah, it wasn't in the main room, but I personally think where we sat was far more entertaining. The cold buffet itself was set up pretty wierdly. You went up, and it was the exact same thing on both sides of the buffet with pastries in the middle. The fun part about this was no one was telling people things were the same on both sides. So, everyone was lining up and waiting on one side of the buffet and waiting. We ended up telling people to go to the other side because it was exactly the same, and they gave us these looks like "huh?". Finally, people just listened. I mean, come on...would I lie to someone about something like that? Oh heck no. Karma is a pain man...and messing with someone in line is one of the worst karmas out there.

So the food was pretty good. The eggs were a little runny, but tasted really good. The bacon was iffy at best. Really thin and not a lot of flavor. The sausage was really good. The potatoes were oh my god good. We even got seconds on those. The cold buffet was really good too. My only issue with the cold buffet was they didn't tell you what kind of fruit was in the danish. If I had known it was lingonberry...I would have been all over that. It looked like cherries. I had never seen lingonberries that red before. But I made myself some croissant and lox. It was pretty good. Would have been better on a toasted bagel, but you make do with what you have.

Sorry there were no pictures, but it was a buffet. What can ya do? Would we go back? Definitely, but I would think for dinner instead. One cool thing I did get was a card signed by all the princesses and main characters. That was a cool souvenir that I couldn't have asked for.

TOTALS:
Buffet - $28.99
Tax - $3.77
Tip - $11.00
Total - $72.75

Next up! Les Chefs De France! Woohoo! I had been dying to eat here ever since I first saw it, and I was not dissapointed.

 

[skellingtonfreak]

It's kind of funny, I was looking at the pic and thinking, "wow, Disney really skimped on the sides". Seriously, I've seen bigger asparagus out of a can. Don't let them fool your into thinking you got a larger portion of meat; they just gave you smaller sides - probably to save money.

Weird isn't it? You would think they would be making the meat portions smaller since they cost so much more. Oh well...at least it was good.

Great reviews so far - I am kind of picky so I can sympathise with J. It sounds like you both ate pretty well though - some of your meals looked delicious. Looking forward to more

One of our things is that she has to at least taste it before she says yuck. She found out during food and wine that she liked crawfish etouffee. So thanks!

We love CRT and your pictures are great. I went with the lamb last time but the prime rib looks good too.

Thank you very much.

 

[Matt71]

Weird isn't it? You would think they would be making the meat portions smaller since they cost so much more. Oh well...at least it was good.

True, but by making the sides smaller, the meat looks bigger and that's what you're paying for. I'm sure they have some imagineer doing all the math on how small they can make each part of teh meal before people notice

 

[brendaziz]

I think we have like the exact same taste in food and you've gone to lots of places i've never been so this have been a very fun review to read

Is it weird that I'm gonna be sad when you go home?

 

[momofdbsdc]

We have been considering Aukerhaus. I think that we may have to try it on our next trip!

Thanks Again,
Kim

 

[skellingtonfreak]

Now here is where Impressions de France comes in handy. The first time we ever saw that movie, we couldn't help but laugh at how the guy said thank you for coming to Impressions de France. If you are lucky, you have seen it, so you know what I am talking about, and everytime we say Chefs de France, we say it like they do. Inside humour...sorry. I will go onto the food now, I promise!

Like I have said earlier, I have been wanting to go here ever since I first saw it and smelled it. I read most of the dispeep's reviews, and I am not so picky on the food, and I don't normally order what everyone else does anyway, so I wasn't going to let a whole bunch of bad reviews of this place ruin anything!

We start off with a great waiter. No snobby French attitude either like I was totally expecting...we are off to a great start! We always had water and beverages at all times, and the rolls were super great.

I talked J into getting the cheese platter because it is almost exactly like the one we always get with our friends when we go. She was not disappointed at all. It had the usual cheeses - brie, goat cheese, edam (I think), and muenster (maybe). I am not really up on my cheeses, and the only ones I had were the brie and the goat cheese (which was very strong). We definitely polished it off, except for the salad, of course.

I went with the classic French Onion soup. This is a soup I can exist on if I had to. Of course, sometimes I like it without all of that yummy goodness of the melted gruyrere all over it, I know...that is sacriligious...no worries. I had it the regular and super fattening way. I actually ended up eating all of the cheese and the crouton that was in the soup because I wanted to save room for dessert here. This was sooooo good! If it were cold out, I would have been content with just that and left. But...since we were on the plan, we had two more courses to go. Oh boy...

Disclaimer on the soup though...it didn't come like that. I started mixing all of the cheese into the soup before I remembered to take a picture. Sorry!

We then went to the main course. J got the ham and cheese sandwich. It looked like it was loaded with cheese. Like half a pound or more! Look in the pic and tell me it needed more cheese. I dare ya! She loved it. But then again...she can live on mac and cheese, so this isn't much of a stretch palette-wise. Anyway, there was cheese on the inside, cheese on the outside. It was like the ham was an after-thought almost. It definitely looked good. I did not partake of any of it. I am not a fan of the ham and cheese sandwich, and besides...I had my most fabulous meal coming my way.

I had something most people don't order. If they have, I have never ever seen a review of it. The Nicoise Salad. Now, this is not like most nicoise salads I have ever had. I was expecting big hunks of tuna and lots of hericoverts and some major nicoise olives. But no...what I got was this huge salad with tuna salad and some beans and a toast with olive tapenade. It was good...and I ate all of the tuna and extras in the salad before I gave it up. But you know how you have had certain things before, and there is very little variation on it, and then you go somewhere and order something you were expecting, ad it turns out to not be even close to what you were expecting? Well, I got that with this. I did like all of the major components, so I can't really complain. It just wasn't what I was expecting. Oh well. It would have been worse if it had actually tasted bad, and thank god it didn't.

Guess what came next? That is right...J didn't want dessert yet again. This seemed to be a pattern with her. But I can't fault her. We had been eating every few hours for three days now. Ugh...we were full all of the time. But because one of our missions is to eat at every single establishment WDW has...we had to take one for the team. But what do ya know...I had dessert! I saw something on the menu I hadn't before and I was happy it was there. It was a lemon tart! And I ate the whole entire thing, along with the sorbet that came with it. It was that good, and I will never ever pass up a lemon tart. So while I may be biased on how good this was, I will give an unbiased review.

The sorbet was good. Not sweet and definitely tasted orangey. The tart itself was very good. Strong lemon flavor. The crust was buttery, but since it was really cold, it didn't really flake up like a good crust should. The meringue on top was good, and actually not very sweet at all, big bonus. Nothing worse than over-sweetened meringue.

They sang Happy Birthday in French to me when they brought me the tart. That was fun.

Will we ever return here? Of course. It was good, and I really wasn't disappointed in anything except for the salad, but was my own expectations that made it disappointing, not the actual salad itself.

TOTALS:
Cheese Plate - $8.95
Ham ad Cheese - $12.25
Iced Tea - $2.95
Diet Coke - $2.95
Nicoise Salad - $15.75
Onion Soup - $5.95
Lemon Tart - $7.95
Tax - $3.64
Tip - $12.00
Totals - $71.69

Two left to go....bummer...the end must come though, since I am home and all writing this report reliving the glory days. Next up. Mama Melrose's...good Italian food. Or is it?

 

[skellingtonfreak]

True, but by making the sides smaller, the meat looks bigger and that's what you're paying for. I'm sure they have some imagineer doing all the math on how small they can make each part of teh meal before people notice

Yup. You are correct. Most people will not care. It isn't like we go to Disney for the food, right?

I think we have like the exact same taste in food and you've gone to lots of places i've never been so this have been a very fun review to read

Is it weird that I'm gonna be sad when you go home?

Awww... Don't worry, we are going back in a few months to partake of the QS dining plan. Thank you for being so supportive! It makes me feel good that people are actually reading this drivel!

We have been considering Aukerhaus. I think that we may have to try it on our next trip!

Thanks Again,
Kim

You really should. Especially if you have little girls. But...it is fun making the boys blush by getting their jabs from the princesses while they are there too.