Part 23: Dining Reviews
Table Service / Signature Dining
This was my first trip making ADRs. I had a lot of fun picking restaurants out! We weren't on a dining plan, but probably will try to get it next trip. We only planned our trip about a month ahead of time, and were there during free dining, so I'm glad we were able to try the places we did.
Shula's Steak House (Dolphin)
We celebrated my SO's birthday at Shula's. I really wish I had known that you could get gift certificates for it from restaurant.com, but lesson learned. Our reservation was fairly late, and we knew we wouldn't make it on time. They were great about bumping us to a later time. The restaurant was pretty empty, there were maybe 3 or 4 groups there. The food was excellent! My favorite was actually my appetizer, the tomato mozzarella chopped salad. I could have just had that for dinner, it was huge (and I'm not a big steak person). For dinner, we each had steak (obviously) and broccoli as a side. I can't remember what kind of steak we each had, but I know I couldn't finish it. I really liked Shula's. I think it's a chain restaurant, but there isn't one by where we live so I didn't mind. It was perfect for my SO's birthday, he loves steak and the restaurant was a nice break in a very upscale adult atmosphere. It was also great to just take the elevator upstairs after dinner!
The Fountain (Dolphin)
The Fountain is reasonably priced. A lot of the menu is the same as Picabu or what you find on the room service menus in the hotel. The dining area isn't very large, and is inside the hotel, right behind the big fountain outside of the hotel (hence the name). It's supposed to resemble a diner. I had a BLT, and my SO had a hamburger. We brought our hotel mugs for the free drinks, but they just gave us actual glasses at no charge. I don't have a picture from the restaurant, but this picture is at the top of the escalator you take down to the restaurant (bluezoo on the left, Fountain at the right), or outside to the real fountain or to the Swan. I wish we ate here more than Picabu, it would have cost the same.
Garden Grove (Swan)
We ate here for free, so my review might be a little biased. We ate here on Mediterranean night, and were pleasantly surprised. The salad was the best salad of our trip, and the buffet options were actually pretty great. I wasn't too thrilled about the character aspect of it. Pluto and Goofy were there, taking tons of time with each table. The restaurant was not crowded at all, you could have walked right in. I think that if you are staying in the area and want a character dining experience without the crowd, this would be a great pick. I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here, but it was a nice option for being walking distance to our hotel (and, of course, it was free...). You can sort of see Goofy in this picture. The restaurant is circle shaped, with one dining area elevated in the middle, and then tables circling that on the lower level.
California Grill (Contemporary)
Amazing!! My new favorite restaurant ever. We barely made our reservation, but it was a non issue. We had to wait a little while, but that gave us time to check out the view from outside. We went right from Magic Kingdom to the restaurant, which in hindsight was a bad idea. I felt under-dressed, even though I technically wasn't compared to other people in the restaurant (I had a sundress, cardigan, and flip flops on). We were seated in the quiet wine room off the main dining area, which was fabulous. Our server was great, and the food was amazing. I had added my SO's birthday to the reservation, so they had little Mickey confetti on the table. For an appetizer, we had the four cheese flatbread (fantastic!). I had the pork tenderloin for dinner, while my SO had the oak-fired beef. Our dessert was bread pudding with apple. So wonderful! Can't remember which wine we had, but that was great too.
Rose & Crown (Epcot)
We had lunch at Rose & Crown on our Epcot day. The food was o.k., but it did not live up to the hype. I think part of the problem was that I ordered a salad (it was sooo hot outside, that's all that sounded good). I also ordered a small cup of the potato leek soup, because I felt like I should order something British. The soup was great. The salad was the Romaine Salad, which came with small, but delicious, cheddar scones. I can't remember what my SO ordered. Our server was excellent, one of the best (if not the best) during our trip. I added my SO's birthday to this reservation, too. They brought a fun little card out for him. I think Rose & Crown is worth trying at least once, but for $55 (for 2 adults, and only 1 beer between the 2 of us), it wasn't worth it. We only waited 5 min. for our table here, which was nice.
Biergarten (Epcot)
I was not looking forward to eating here, and almost switched our reservation. I don't really like buffets, and am not familiar with German food. I also hated the idea of eating with strangers, I'm not a big people person. I loved Biergarten! The food was great, and the atmosphere was very uplifting and fun. I would not hesitate to eat here again. We only waited about 5 min. for our table because of our reservation, but the walk-up wait was 40 min. (not bad actually, considering how crowded Epcot was that day). Our meal was timed so that we walked right outside to catch Illuminations.
I love the ornament, though. The frame in the box is the black one with tiny mickey heads in it. 
Someone at his work has parents with DVC, who told him all about MVMCP. Now we are saving for a December 2012 trip! He also wants to try every Disney Deluxe hotel there is, so we are going to try to stay at a Deluxe for our next trip. We are going to skip giving each other birthday, Christmas, and anniversary presents, and open a Disney savings account. We've been real sad about being home, but planning for a new trip helps! 
