Our 11 Day Deluxe Dining Report With Pics! *Update 5/1 Complete*

[JessicaKnits]

Hello all! Just returned from a fantastic 10 night/11 Day trip to the World. This was our very first (and probably only trip for a long long time) to Disney World so we went all out with the Deluxe Plan. Along the way we enjoyed some great, and some not so great dishes, all for you to relive along with us through the course of this report. I did start a pre-dining report awhile back, but abandoned it due to far too many changes made on my part. Here is a run down of what will be reviewed in this report:

Day 1:
Dinner at Raglan Road
Day 2:
Breakfast at Crystal Palace
Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern
Dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse

Day 3:
Breakfast at Kona Cafe
"Lunch" at Wolfgang Puck Cafe
"Dinner" at Wishes Dessert Party

Day 4:
Lunch at 50's Prime Time Cafe
Dinner (Fantasmic Style) at Mama Melrose's

Day 5:
Lunch at Via Napoli
Dinner at Les Chefs de France

Day 6:
Breakfast at Tusker House
Lunch at Yak and Yeti
Dinner at California Grill

Day 7:
Breakfast at Grand Floridian Cafe
Lunch at Tutto Italia
Dinner at Le Cellier

Day 8:
Breakfast at Kouzzina
Lunch at Sci Fi (Cancelled)
Dinner at Artist Point

Day 9:
Breakfast at Boma
Dinner at Jiko

Day 10:
Breakfast at Akershus
Dinner at San Angel Inn

Day 11:
Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table

Best and Worst

We went to Disney to celebrate our Anniversary. More on how that played out along the way as well.

I will say that I am a major, major food lover, and have quite a bit of service experience throughout my life. I consider the cost of tip as a part of the cost of going out. If I can't afford to tip well, no dinner out for me. More on how that played out in the coming posts.

Up Next: Raglan Road

 

[My sister's princess]

I'm in!

 

[Kathy Z]

I'm in!

Me too!

 

[DLo]

looking forward to your reviews and pics. especially via napoli - trying to decide if i want to keep that adr.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

joining in too...

 

[mackait0307]

Joining too!

 

[shezfrombermuda]

Looking forward to reading your reviews!

 

[JessicaKnits]

So, let's get things started off right away!

Raglan Road was a last minute add in for me. I really wanted this to be Wolfgang Puck, but Wolfgang's only had an opening for 4:30PM. Our flight wasn't scheduled to land until 2:20, and we were taking the ME to Pop. Rather than having to run like the wind, I gave in and got us a 6:30 reservation at Raglan Road instead.

We ended up getting there at about 6, and were sat right away. Our server was Chris. Other than a few, very minor, timing issues with the meal, he was outstanding as a server. This was our first meal, and he was really excellent at explaining how the menu there worked and what we could, and could not have, on the Deluxe plan.

Now, on to the good stuff. For drinks I had a pomegranate lemonade, and Adam had a Diet Coke. I had a really hard time deciding on my appetizer, but finally decided on the Kinky Crab, and yes, that is really the name of it.

I don't see this on any online menus, but if its still on the menu when you go, it is a MUST. When I ordered I asked if this had any tomatoes in it. (I have some textural issues with any type of tomato that is not in a pureed form that I haven't ever grown out of) Chris did say that there were some dried tomatoes on the side, and I asked if they could be left off. These are very much like egg rolls, and were filled with amazing fresh crab. Being from Wisconsin, you rarely ever see real crab on a menu because its really not very easy to get, and most people won't pay the price to have it brought in, so this was really a treat. They rolls came out hot and were absolutely delicious. The dipping sauce was a tomato based sweet chili sauce, and went perfectly with the sweet crab. What I really appreciated about this dish was that this was all crab on the inside, no filler like you would find in a crab cake. It was really lovely!

Adam got an heirloom tomato salad, also not listed on any online menus.

Now, while I absolutely can't stand tomatoes, Adam would actually probably trade me in for a tomato, if they were in short supply. He enjoyed the tomatoes, but did not care for the dressing, which was very bitter.

For my entree, I went with the "It's not Bleedin Chowder". It is potatoes, mussels, prawns, scallops and fresh seafood infused with white wine and finished with cream $24 (From AllEars). This as well, was really excellent. It also had some succulent gulf shrimp in it. No problems at all there. And the best part, by far, was the white wine sauce. If it would have been socially acceptable, I would have licked the bowl. Really wonderful, and like nothing I've ever really had before.

Adam went, not surprisingly, with the Mighty Mixed Grill:

Lamb cutlet, Guinness banger, sirloin steak, black pudding, chicken drumstick and bacon $28 (From AllEars). Everything got a substantial thumbs up, with the exception of the black pudding. For those of you who have tried it before, you know it is definitely an acquired taste, one of which Adam has yet to acquire. The potatoes that were piped along with the dish were also really delicious.

Somehow, I missed pictures at dessert time, because all that comes up on the camera is this:

but I had Ger's Bread and Butter Pudding, and Adam had the Strawberry Apple Crisp. Both were good, but neither were anything to right home about. I enjoyed the Pudding because it was not a "sweet" dessert, but the portion of it was huge. I only got about halfway through it, and Chris said that most people don't even get that far.

I unfortunately didn't swipe the receipt that had our actual total on it, but I remember clearly the total was $90 and some change, so overall, a very very good value on the plan for dinner!

Summary:
2 Table Service Credits Used
58 Table Service Credits Remaining
Total Covered by the plan: $90.21


And now on to our first snack credit. Leaving dinner, we both remarked on how positively stuffed we were with all that delicious Raglan Road food, but went down to Everything Pop when we got back from Downtown Disney to fill up our mugs. It was then that Adam spied that Nutter Butter's were on the Dining Plan as a snack credit, so we picked up a box.
1 Snack Credit Used
39 Snack Credits remaining.
2 Refillable Mugs
Total Amount Covered by the plan: $31.63
Up Next:
Crystal Palace

 

[canoe86]

IN!!!

 

[Sazzo'sMommy]

Keep 'em coming! Really nice start!

 

[ChefColette]

I love hearing about the signature restaurants.

 

[MisplacedTraveler]

Joining in

 

[jcander]

I'm in!

 

[bluejasmine]

Im here! Looking fwd to it especially lunch at Via Napoli which we will be doing next Sat!

 

[darthtatty]

great start

 

[butiflfeet]

Great start with Raglan Road! Looking forward to reading more of your reviews

 

[Symans3honeybees]

Great start! I really like your restaurant line-ups a lot

 

[Minnesota!]

In!

 

[sctigger]

 

[Ullis]

I´m in! Looking forward to see if you liked Wishes and 50's prime (we have ADR there in october but the reviews of these two have not been so good lately).