I came to Cali Grill with ONE thing in mind. SUSHI! And it did not disappoint. On a past trip to
Disneyland, I had the privilege of dining at Napa Rose. A girlfriend of mine went with me, and it was at the time, and is still to this day, the best meal I have ever had. I was hoping that this would maybe compare to it, and it just simply doesn't. While both focus on California cuisine, I quickly realized it was two very different types of California Cuisine. Napa Rose was much more like Artist Point was, so they really just don't compare.
Our server was Erika. Not sure what it was about her, but she really just rubbed me the wrong way from the get go. She just came off as very abrasive to me. She did however, make a very nice wine recommendation for me, so it temporarily earned her some points back.
Now, I will say that I completely understand that wine by the glass in a restaurant suffers from a severe severe price markup. But for the $16 I spent on one glass of Selbach Riesling, I could have bought an entire bottle of it at the wine shop in Germany, if I chipped in another $2 and the tax. And if you pour the bottle correctly, you should get a total of 4 glasses from it, etc, etc. Pointless rant now over. So, chalk it up to an inexperienced wine drinker, but I really felt kind of cheated by this. And of course, I didn't know this at the time, so it did not detract from my enjoyment of the meal.
So, on to the actual food.
For apps, Adam had Hearts of Romaine - with Roasted Garlic Dressing, Marinated Anchovies, Olives, Aged Parmesan, and Croutons $11
So, kind of like a classic Caesar, but called something different. It got two thumbs up.
I had the well reviewed Spicy Kazan Roll - crab, shrimp, bay scallops, tuna and fireball sauce $22
Um. Oh my God. This was really all that and a bag of potato chips, greatest thing since sliced bread, all of that. DELICIOUS. Just so so so so good. Amazing. But again, a HUGE portion for appetizer. Still, well worth the $22 price tag in my opinion. A similar roll at our local sushi place goes for $12 and is no where near the quality or freshness.
And for entrees, Adam had Grilled Pork Tenderloin - with Goat Cheese Polenta, Button Mushrooms, Zinfandel Glaze, and Sage $34
Beautiful pork, which I usually don't care for, and creamy polenta. A very nice, hearty dish. I for one, appreciated the fact that this came with polenta instead of a potato.
I of course, went with Yoshie's Deluxe Sushi Platter - maki and nigiri $28
EVERYTHING was amazing. However, the one in the lower left hand corner was octopus. Now, I certainly meant no disrespect for the chef by not eating it, but I learned on a previous sushi excursion that Octopus is not for me. Flavor wise, or texture wise, it just won't go down for me. So, despite gobbling up everything else on the plate, and I mean EVERY bit, I actually was scolded by the waitress for leaving the octopus. Not in the joking way either. In the way that I got a lecture explaining that Yoshi was one of the most respected sushi chefs in the country and how insulting it was for me to send sushi back to the kitchen. I explained that I certainly meant no disrespect by doing so, I just know that octopus is a bit too adventurous for my taste and that the chefs skills were evident by the amazing sushi that I just devoured. If she was joking, she took it too far. I had to ask her to please, take my plate away, and bring out the dessert menu for us.
Dessert was also stellar here. We both went with the Valrhona Chocolate Cake - Warm chocolate cake w/molten center, cherry chambord ice cream, sweet whipped cream $13
A really nice dessert that was actually made by the delicious ice cream that accompanied it.
Overall, the view for Wishes, and the over all amazing food made up for the fact that our service experience was pretty much ruined by the lecture I had to endure. Also, while Erika was not the only server to commit the faux paus, it really irritated me when we had a server remind us that gratuity was not included on the dining plan. And Erika mentioned it to us twice. Because apparently we couldn't determine this from the two receipts that state this, as well as the little flyer they insert with the check. While I don't doubt that this may have been overlooked by folks in the past, whether it be honest mistake or intentional, I felt it rude and somewhat awkward to be reminded of this at almost every meal.
Overall though, looking forward to repeating a meal here in the future.
Total Credits Used: 4
Credits Remaining: 30
Total not including Tip or alcohol: $152.25
I don't know what my issue was, but I promise to do my best to get over it by this trip. It will help that we only have 3 buffets!
