Uncleromulus
Plain grey will be fine
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2001
- Messages
- 15,529
Our second night at WDW and we had ADR's for Citricos at 6:00. Was looking forward to this, as it had been a couple of years since we'd last visited. And the couple with us had never been. Valet parking with the DDE card, we showed up promptly at 5:45. We had a bit of a wait and were seated almost exactly at 6:00. Our table had a "kitchen view". Many don't realize Citricos has an open kitchen. And it's own bar, with seats. Unfortunatley, there aren't any seats at the cooking area (as at Flying Fish or California Grill) so you can't reall choose that as a seating option.
Before I get to the food, I should point out that Citricos was fairly crowded at 6:00. There was a large party (maybe 15 -20 people) seated just prior to us. There were 3 chefs doing all the cooking and but one bartender. All that spelled trouble service-wise later on.
Our first order of business was drinks--the ladies decided on the recommended wine pairings for their food. The gentleman ordered his usual Long Island Iced tea. I went for the Sam Adams Winter Brew. Bread was served prety quickly, but the drinks took some time. The poor bartender was already overloaded, and had to serve his own bar customers, the entire restaurant, AND the servers from nearby V&A. He never got any help and throughout the evening we saw several servers just go behind the bar on their own and get their own drinks. Unfortunately, our server wasn't one of them.
Meanwhile, back at the kitchen, the cooks were getting overwhelmed, especially by that party of 15-20 that I mentioned. That caused delays for everyone else--our appetizers weren't delivered for at least 10-15 minutes and two of them arrived well before the other. The meal itself didn't come out until 20 minutes AFTER we finished eating the appetizers. Our own server had a hang-dog look about him all night and there were periods where we never even saw him. Almost as though he had tables in a different restaurant! Add to that mass confusion among the runners (who actually bring the food) as to who ordered what (they put a plate down-picked it up-put it down wrong again, etc) and you have what I would call moderate service issues.
Fortunately, the food made up for mostly all of that. I was already in a mellow mood for having found a beer that I liked, and the appetizers were all quite good. I got the Gateau of Crab, described as jumbo Lump crab with orange fennel cream. It certainly didn't remind me of a genuine Md. crabcake, but it was tasty nonetheless and as an appetizer, a good choice. Mrs U got the sauteed shrimp with lemon, white wine and feta cheese. She ate it ALL. The other couple with us split the warm goat cheese salad. Both liked it.
The entrees (when they arrived
were all excellent. Mrs U and I both got the braised veal shank. Probably the signature dish at Citrico's and on the menu for as long as I can remember. A nice sized piece and absolutely fall off the bone tender!! It was the first time Mrs U ever had veal shank and she is now a fan. The other gentleman got Citricos oak grilled filet Sicilian, served with quattro-frommagi crushed potatoes and a veal glace. A fine cut of meat, done exactly medium as ordered. The lady ordered the oak grilled Swordfish which was served with orzo pasta, grape tomatoes, and a saffron-tomatoe broth. She loved it!
All that was quite filling, such that we decided to split two desserts. Mrs U and I got the trio of sorbet. This night it was pear, sour apple, and raspberry. The other couple split the tropical Fruit creme Brulee. I'd had that before and knew it was good. They liked it also.
So--all that took a little over two hours-much of it waiting on our food. I'm giving Citricos some benefit of the doubt as to the service--I really think they were understaffed, or at least not staffed enough to handle all the customers that night. Our service at Citricos has always been good,though our server that night was rather average. And the runners could use some extra training in deportment and how to read a meal ticket that shows seat #1, #2 #3 and #4.
All in all a pretty good meal. We'll go back to Citricos again for sure, tho maybe not in the next couple of trips.
Before I get to the food, I should point out that Citricos was fairly crowded at 6:00. There was a large party (maybe 15 -20 people) seated just prior to us. There were 3 chefs doing all the cooking and but one bartender. All that spelled trouble service-wise later on.
Our first order of business was drinks--the ladies decided on the recommended wine pairings for their food. The gentleman ordered his usual Long Island Iced tea. I went for the Sam Adams Winter Brew. Bread was served prety quickly, but the drinks took some time. The poor bartender was already overloaded, and had to serve his own bar customers, the entire restaurant, AND the servers from nearby V&A. He never got any help and throughout the evening we saw several servers just go behind the bar on their own and get their own drinks. Unfortunately, our server wasn't one of them.
Meanwhile, back at the kitchen, the cooks were getting overwhelmed, especially by that party of 15-20 that I mentioned. That caused delays for everyone else--our appetizers weren't delivered for at least 10-15 minutes and two of them arrived well before the other. The meal itself didn't come out until 20 minutes AFTER we finished eating the appetizers. Our own server had a hang-dog look about him all night and there were periods where we never even saw him. Almost as though he had tables in a different restaurant! Add to that mass confusion among the runners (who actually bring the food) as to who ordered what (they put a plate down-picked it up-put it down wrong again, etc) and you have what I would call moderate service issues.
Fortunately, the food made up for mostly all of that. I was already in a mellow mood for having found a beer that I liked, and the appetizers were all quite good. I got the Gateau of Crab, described as jumbo Lump crab with orange fennel cream. It certainly didn't remind me of a genuine Md. crabcake, but it was tasty nonetheless and as an appetizer, a good choice. Mrs U got the sauteed shrimp with lemon, white wine and feta cheese. She ate it ALL. The other couple with us split the warm goat cheese salad. Both liked it.
The entrees (when they arrived
were all excellent. Mrs U and I both got the braised veal shank. Probably the signature dish at Citrico's and on the menu for as long as I can remember. A nice sized piece and absolutely fall off the bone tender!! It was the first time Mrs U ever had veal shank and she is now a fan. The other gentleman got Citricos oak grilled filet Sicilian, served with quattro-frommagi crushed potatoes and a veal glace. A fine cut of meat, done exactly medium as ordered. The lady ordered the oak grilled Swordfish which was served with orzo pasta, grape tomatoes, and a saffron-tomatoe broth. She loved it!All that was quite filling, such that we decided to split two desserts. Mrs U and I got the trio of sorbet. This night it was pear, sour apple, and raspberry. The other couple split the tropical Fruit creme Brulee. I'd had that before and knew it was good. They liked it also.
So--all that took a little over two hours-much of it waiting on our food. I'm giving Citricos some benefit of the doubt as to the service--I really think they were understaffed, or at least not staffed enough to handle all the customers that night. Our service at Citricos has always been good,though our server that night was rather average. And the runners could use some extra training in deportment and how to read a meal ticket that shows seat #1, #2 #3 and #4.
All in all a pretty good meal. We'll go back to Citricos again for sure, tho maybe not in the next couple of trips.
Strange but true.
