Again, thanks for reading!!
We had an ADR for Wednesday at 11:30am, but didn't want to have to leave our house so early to make it (we live almost 8 hours away). I kept checking the online ADR system, and I was able to book a dinner for 5:45pm!! I was so excited!! I changed all our other dining reservations with no problems to accommodate the Le Cellier reservation. I couldn't believe all the openings just 2 weeks before our trip.
At first, I was concerned when we were led to a table in the back corner of the restaurant. However, it ended up being great. I could only see the two other parties sitting back there with us and one party left within a few minutes. This made for a secluded and quiet meal.
Our server was fine. She was very slow to refill our glasses. After she delivered dessert, she never brought any more water.
Unfortunately, I only have pictures of desserts here. We were so excited upon receiving our steaks that I didn't think about pictures until we had taken several bites. I really wish I had pictures of the appetizers to share since those aren't posted very often.
We decided to share the duck three ways and the appetizer for two which included samplings of the cheddar cheese soup, the lump crab and corn custards, and the tomato stack.
The duck three ways (Confit, Rillette, and Fleischnecke) was an okay dish. I wouldn't recommend it. We ordered it because we thought my step-dad would want to eat a good bit of it. However, he didn't touch it. I'm not sure which type of duck was which except that the leg was confit. I didn't care much for the leg. One of the ways tasted similar to a potsticker, and it was pretty good. I honestly don't remember much about the other type.
I wish we had ordered the bowl of cheddar cheese soup. We almost ordered one out of pocket to dip our pretzel bread in, but refrained. I wish the samples had been bigger of the soup, because it was wonderful!
The lump crab and corn custards was good, but had a VERY spicy aftertaste. I believe it was paprika. I could only eat one bite at a time.
I don't care for tomatoes, but I believe my parents thought the tomato stack was pretty good. I did like the salad and cheese on and around it though.
We all had the Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon. My mom and I had it with the fabulous cream cheese mashed potatoes. (Thank you DISboards for the recommendation!) I much preferred the potatoes over the risotto. The bite of my step-dad's risotto didn't taste like much of anything to me. His steak was overcooked, but he didn't send it back because it was still very tender. I asked for a thin line of pink. I never saw any pink, but I didn't care since I usually order the thin line of pink just so the steak will be juicy. However, the steak was juicy, flavorful, and fabulous!! It was definitely the best steak I have ever had. I'm not a big red meat eater, mostly because restaurants can't cook a steak the way I like it, and I can't stand fat on my meat. This steak was perfectly cooked and had no fat, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Only complaint - I wish the steak was served beside the potatoes instead of on them. I moved the steak to the side so I could cut it without getting potatoes all over it. However, this is difficult because of the shape of the plate. It's more like a bowl and there isn't enough room for the steak beside the potatoes.
One warning - My mom is allergic to mushrooms. We thought that with her not having the risotto, there would be no mushrooms. However, they are still served on top of the steak. She was able to remove them with no problem, but I thought I would give this warning in case someone reading this has a serious allergy where the food they are allergic to can't even touch what they are eating. The mushrooms were delicious to me, though!
My mom asked for more pretzel bread to be brought to the table. She thought I wanted more, but I only wanted more if we were going to order more soup. We ate one piece and asked for something to wrap the other two in, so we could take them with us. The server ended up bringing us three new breadsticks wrapped up and ready to go. That was very nice of her, but I hope the other two weren't thrown away. I hate wasting food, and we really didn't need the new breadsticks. But, they have been nice to reheat in the toaster oven at 400 degrees for about 7 minutes. They still taste great when reheated that way. BTW - the sourdough and multigrain breadsticks in our first basket were good, but the pretzel bread is so much better.
Dessert - My step-dad and mom had the chocolate whiskey cake.
I ate a portion of my step-dad's piece as he couldn't finish it. I thought it was good, but the alcohol flavor is strong. I preferred eating the icing over eating the cake. My mom really liked it as she finished hers and ate some of my step-dad's. She usually doesn't eat chocolate cake, so I know she had to like it.
I had the chocolate moose mousse. I thought it was great!! I also liked the cookie antlers and tongue. I preferred the taste of my mousse to the whiskey cake's icing.
For drinks - step-dad had a virgin pina colada that he really enjoyed. Mom and I had vanilla shakes to go. I thought they had a good flavor even though they were a little icy. My mom didn't care for it, so I drank hers too. Unfortunately, I ended up being VERY full and VERY cold for quite some time, but I didn't want the shake to go to waste.
We have definite plans of returning to Le Cellier and the steak lived up to it's hype.
One more thing I want to mention. It rained some in Epcot before our reservation. The rain really wasn't that bad, but the park cleared out, and Le Cellier was half empty when we arrived and when we left. I saw a couple of people who were able to get in as walk-ups when the restaurant was booked solid for days. Kept this in mind if you want to get into a restaurant on a rainy day. This is the same for Boma. The next day, we escaped a very scary looking storm in the Animal Kingdom. We decided to hop on a bus to AKL and sit around, refill our mugs, and wait out the storm. Step-dad decided he wanted to eat at Boma. We were told the only time available was a possible walk-up at 4:30. I called the ADR line just in case to see if we could get in later as we weren't hungry at the time. They said there was no availability. The hostess told me to come back at 5pm if we wanted to eat a little later. When I returned at 5, she asked if we could be seated then as we could definitely get in. Boma was half empty. They were fully booked, but no one was showing up. It remained half empty the over 2 hours we were there. Mini review - Boma was fabulous as always!! I believe this could have been the best meal out of the 6 times I've eaten there. Favorites - crab soup, salmon, couscous, and zebra domes. Everything else is very, very good with honorable mentions going to the falafels and bobotie.
so glad i read this
