Our Oct. dining...new places, new menus

[BCV23]

This report is a little late but we were in WDW from 10/10-19. We dined at many old favorites but tried two new experiences for us...'Ohana for dinner and Tutto Italia.

We've stayed at the Polynesian many, many times but had not ever had dinner at 'Ohana although we did have breakfast there many moons ago when it first morphed to 'Ohana. We were all excited that we were finally trying it. Well, now we can say been there, done that. Our service was very good. At first things were coming out too quickly and my DH asked for a slower pace which was accommodated. None of us cared for the food very much although it is a lot for the price paid IMO. Oh, and our son is diabetic and his needs were addressed in a satisfactory way which is typical WDW dining in our experience. The restaurant enjoys such beautiful views (although our only view was of the entrance to the kitchen) that it seems a shame to me that it can't offer a nicer dining experience as it did years ago before it became 'Ohana. But it obviously is wildly popular so I suppose that is not going to happen.

We also tried Tuto Italia. We like it so much we went back another time. Great service especially for our first dinner, very tasty dishes. Not your typical Italian restaurant at all. The tables are also nicely spaced as well although both dinners we were at banquettes.

We also had dinners at California Grill, Kona, Polynesian room service, Cafe d'Antonio in Celebration, Beaches and Cream and Spoodles.

Lunches were at GF Cafe, the Plaza, Liberty Tree Tavern, Le Cellier, Mama Melrose, Raglan Rd and RF Cafe.

We had breakfast at Kona Cafe, Akerhaus, and Boma as well as yogurt parfaits and omelet sandwiches from the BC Marketplace and Tonga Toast, etc. from Captain Cook's. Akerhaus was also new for us. Also had a couple QS lunches: the bakery in France and Pop. We were not all together for some meals which is why there are a couple extra meals in there.

Lots of new menu...Kona at both breakfast and dinner, Le Cellier, Raglan Road, room service at the Polynesian and I think LTT. Perhaps another restaurant or two. It seemed almost every where we went, the server started the meal by telling us it was a new menu. And of course, California Grill always has a fresh menu.

Anyway, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

 

[mla973]

Do you recall what was new at Kona for dinner?

 

[bolgers love wdw]

I am wondering about LTT. I had read here a bit ago that the lunch menu was changing a few things. Were you there for lunch, and if you were do you remember what the changes were?
Thanks.

 

[BCV23]

Do you recall what was new at Kona for dinner?

We tried three new entrees. DS2 had steamed ono with sticky rice which he loved. Very simply prepared and I think I'll try that next time we have dinner at Kona.

My DH ordered the Tuna Oscar which was a very pretty dish. It's served with fried green tomatoes, tempura style jumbo lump crab and wasabi hollandaise.

I ordered the pomegranate bbq pork chop which was good but my DH and I ended up trading. He really enjoyed the pork chop. It's served with fingerling potatoes and braised Swiss chard.

We had already had some appetizers before dinner so didn't order those at Kona but our server praised the braised pork belly sandwich.

 

[BCV23]

I am wondering about LTT. I had read here a bit ago that the lunch menu was changing a few things. Were you there for lunch, and if you were do you remember what the changes were?
Thanks.

We were there for lunch but nothing we ordered was new. My husband and I ordered the Tricorner sandwich and the Colony Salad and shared both entrees. Our son had the cheeseburger which looked good as always. We shared the fried cheese appetizer which is so good!

But I think the salmon on pumpkin bread was gone or at least no longer served on the bread. Sorry, wish I could remember more.

 

[bolgers love wdw]

Thanks for the info on LTT. As long as they didn't get rid of the pot-roast or Pilgrims Feast, all is ok!!

 

[wdwthanksgiving]

we will be at wdw in less that two weeks! one of our reservations is at spoodles - it has been years since we ate there and i remember it as being loud and the food so so ---we thought we would give it another try - what did you think of the food and atmosphere?
thanks for your review (by the way, was tuna spicy at kona?)

 

[Belle5]

Yay! BCV23 says Tutto Italia is good!!! (What did you order that was so good?) Now I know I am going to love it!

Welcome back! I couldn't agree with you more about 'Ohana! Been there and done that! That griddled pumpkin bread with salmon was our very, very favorite entree at LTT. Oh, well...at least I have the recipe! I would like to hear about your experiences at GF cafe. Also, how was your experience at Raglan?

 

[BCV23]

bolgers, I'm not sure if those two choices were still on the menu or not. Sorry!

wdwthanksgiving, we all enjoy Spoodles. The appetizer of flatbread and various spreads is a favorite. Our service was friendly and relaxed as it has always been. It is a fairly loud restaurant I guess but we've only had one dinner at which it bothered us and it wasn't this trip.

Belle5, what a nice thing to say! The first dinner I had the pressed chicken, split the antipasto appetizer with my husband and had the chocolate torta. The pressed chicken has a different texture....more dense yet still moist and you can certainly taste the hot pepper. The antipasto plate is huge and lots of good things on it. The prosciutto fans in my family loved it there as it wasn't as salty as it can sometimes be. Second dinner I tried the lasagne which is quite different. The pasta in it isn't ruffled or corrugated like most versions. Instead the sheets are thin and flat but cooked al dente if you pull a bit out to test. No mozzarella cheese. The texture is much lighter than most versions of lasagne that I've had but it is also incredibly rich. Different and good. The chocolate hazelnut torte was to die for. It was served with a few raspberries on one side and a dollop of whipped cream on the other. Yum!

We love GF Cafe for lunch. I'm going to have to look at my receipts to remember what I ordered this time and get back to you.

Sad to say, Raglan Road is off my list now. Our last time there, it was incredibly noisy with slow service so we thought we'd try for lunch. It was more quiet but service though friendly was still so slow! This with the restaurant mostly empty. In addition, we were using a TS credit here and this has now got to be the absolutely worst use of a TS. You can't get an appetizer as there are none on the lunch menu. With an entree you do get to choose one "side." So the fish doesn't come with chips but you can order that as a side. Soup is another choice as is a salad. Sorry can't remember what else.

One reason I wanted to return to RR was to order the Dalkey Duo which is sausages with a good dip. I'm not much of a sausage fan in general but these remind me of Ireland and are very different. I asked our server if I could order them as they are still on the dinner menu. He checked and then said no. But as we left, I noticed they were on the children's menu so they were available. Not good customer service in my opinion.

We later discovered that the server had only charged us for two TS instead of four. I went to the lobby concierge at the BC to see if they could rectify it. She said she could certainly take off the two extra credits from our "bank" but didn't think the server would get the extra tip. She checked about it on the phone. It appeared the only way to ensure that was to go back to RR. I considered doing so but in the end we just let those extra two credits expire. It was his mistake, I'm not sure he actually deserved the extra tip, and the Dalkey Duo thing ticked me off!

We enjoy the food at RR but think service has slipped enough that we'll wait a bit before returning.