Penguins with a chance of... SQUIRREL!!! Photo Dining Review - Final Update 8-18

[Golf4food]

Sub....Im waiting on the GFC review as we are thinking of going there in Nov. I hope this isn't one of the one you skipped....Ill have to wait in see. Great report

Will we? Won't we? Stay tuned!

Great review. I live in England so I am just about to have a cup of tea and some biscuits ;-)

Do you put jelly on your biscuits? Or gravy?

Your pictures are great! Can't wait to see and read more.

Thanks!

Ok, the only thing BETTER than food porn? DEVIANT FOOD PORN!

I am loving your DR so far. Thank you for taking the time, AND making me laugh! I'm pretty relieved you weren't wild about Yachtsman's. When I saw your photos of the place and then the menu, I got nervous I might have to switch some of my own ADRs around. Whew! But my, oh, my...that mac & cheese LOOKS unbelievable!

We were a little disappointed in the Yachtsman overall, but now that we've been we'd be able to put together a meal we'd both enjoy more now: we'd get the NY Strip with Mashed Potatoes, I'd try the Lobster Bisque appetizer, and we'd split a trio of all chocolate caramel (they're very rich). I have no doubt we'd enjoy the meal a lot. But for at least this one trip the Yachtsman falls in line behind Jiko, Cali Grill, Tutto Italia, etc. on our list of favorite places. Top ten, probably, but we were hoping for it to compete with Jiko for #1 and it wasn't even close.

Why on earth would you call a bread roll a biscuit!?!?

A bread roll is what you have with dinner - a biscuit is very different and usually for breakfast... unless you hare having Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner = Brinner). Who doesn't love Brinner? Brinner is awesome.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... brinner............ (Is there a drooling smiley?)

 

[tkyes]

I'm in - loved your last report and can't wait to see this one!

 

[Golf4food]

Ah, Paris... the city of lights (but not during the day, they aren't Motel 6)...

the city of luv-ehrs...

the city of... lunch.

(Which after a fun morning at Epcot is far more important than lovers or lights... or light lovers. "I love lamp.")

And where in Paris should one take their repast?

Chef Remy suggests:

We had a 12 noon ADR, which is their first seating of the day. We arrived early and gave them our name and then took a seat on one of the benches, which were already nearly full, with more people standing nearby, and a few walk ups without ADRs hoping for a table as well.

Now, we have eaten dinner at Le Chef's once before in Dec 2008... we were not impressed. Our meal was mostly bland and but for a couple of highlights we were quite disappointed. However, we have read many reviews that rave about lunch at Le Chefs and so we thought we'd give it one more try. And besides, they have Remy now, so he undoubtedly improves the quality of their cuisine, chef extraordinaire that he is.

We wound up being the very first table called back and were given a table for two right by the front windows - it is actually the first two-top on the left in the photo above of the front room. Great seats for natural sunlight (highly beneficial to photography) and a view of the walkway, and later, entertainment - but that will come in due time.

If anyone wishes to see the menu you can find it here: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

We both chose the Prix Fixe three course menu, but had different options.

I went with:

Soupe a l'oignon gratinee

This was very good. I'd had it the last time we ate at Chefs, and it was the highlight of that meal for me, so I was looking forward to having it again. It didn't disappoint! There was a very nice balance of flavors from the rich cheese to the perfectly cooked onions. Even the traditional bread that they include in a French Onion Soup was good (and that's saying something, because I really hate squishy bread). Great way to start off the meal.

After deciding not to try the lobster bisque at the Yachtsman in spite of its rave reviews, I decided that this was the perfect time to live a little and try it since I'd have the rest of lunch and plenty of snack options around the WS if I didn't enjoy it and needed more food. I'm not a big lobster fan - I never order it and only marginally care to eat it if I'm not paying and can name at least a dozen other seafood items I'd rather eat. I don't dislike lobster, I just don't really like lobster, either. I almost nothing it.

Let me tell you this was amazing. The flavor was outstanding, it was light and creamy, but rich at the same time. There is not a lot of lobster pieces in it (which suited me just fine) nor does it smell overly lobstery. I had planned to only try it or maybe eat half; you can see how well that plan worked.

And so it was the best lobster bisque I've ever had. (It was also, by default, the worst lobster bisque I've ever had. I'm still going to go out on a limb and say it was pretty darn good as far as lobster bisques go.)



Warning: We interrupt this dining review to bring you this public health safety notification. Le Chefs de France is infested with vermin. Hariy, grey vermin. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. This restaurant, a pillar of WDW dining, has...

RATS. (Or at least the one.)


Remy!

Cutest. Animatronic. Rat. Ever.

We'd seen it on video before and heard all the stories but nothing can compare you for the cuteness in person.


Up next in Part Deux: entrees and dessert and a little entertainment. "More entertainment than just a moving rat?" you ask. "Yes. Yes, there is," we reply.



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[Linda67]

Morning - it's the biscuit eater here
Great review of Chefs - can't wait to hear the rest
Your photos of Remy are wonderful. I think it is probably worth going for lunch just to see him

 

[disneydreamer98]

Of course you have to start with the beignets while they are still piping hot and fresh:

Here's a cross section so the curious can see what they look like on the inside - as you can see a biegnet is 90% hot air (like politicians, only better <rimshot>):

THESE are the main reason why our kids insist we stay at POFQ! We are counting down the days to beignets!!!

 

[GaRain]

Remy is so cute!! Great pictures! He is definately enough reason to go eat there! Any idea how long he will be staying?

 

[angelmav]

Loving the reviews!

 

[princessallegra]

Great review of Les Chefs!! We are having lunch there as well, and are very excited to meet Remy! Also, I was looking forward to the Bisque du Homard (lobster bisque) so I'm glad to see you loved it! It sounds and looks divine!

 

[Golf4food]

Morning - it's the biscuit eater here
Great review of Chefs - can't wait to hear the rest
Your photos of Remy are wonderful. I think it is probably worth going for lunch just to see him

The only bad (?) part about Remy is that they only run him around once, he's at each table or set of tables for a minute or two and then gone, and he doesn't come back out until the next scheduled time. One and done. No constant rotation like a character meal. It would be great to be able to see more of him and more often, or perhaps they could do something with Remy outside of the restaurant instead of only inside. It is really amazing.

THESE are the main reason why our kids insist we stay at POFQ! We are counting down the days to beignets!!!

That is a pretty good reason. They are the only thing that gets us inside that clown infested food court, haha, so they must be powerful!

Remy is so cute!! Great pictures! He is definately enough reason to go eat there! Any idea how long he will be staying?

I have no idea. I thought at first he was only supposed to be temporary, but I think that was close to two years ago (?) and I've not seen any sign of him leaving - they keep pushing back the date whenever they do make an announcement, kind of like the Wishes dessert party in the MK. If it stays popular it will hopefully stick around.

Loving the reviews!

Thanks!

Great review of Les Chefs!! We are having lunch there as well, and are very excited to meet Remy! Also, I was looking forward to the Bisque du Homard (lobster bisque) so I'm glad to see you loved it! It sounds and looks divine!

I was suprised how much I loved it since I'm not a huge Homard fan... I'd be willing to go back and just order a few bowls of the bisque and eat myself into a happy homard coma.

 

[TeaForTulips]

Subbing!

I penguins too! That alone got my attention from your title. That and a possible UP reference.. throw Disney in there. It's all my favorite things!

Great reviews so far! I'm looking forward to the rest!

 

[vinotinto]

Love the humor in your trip reports! Also, the dual perspective. I could never get my DH to pitch into any type of report.

BTw, the chocolate trio and the pistacchio sampler from yachtsman's looked amazing.

Can't wait to read part deux of Chefs. I have a dinner ressie there that I'm debating changing to Kouzzina.

 

[Golf4food]

Subbing!

I penguins too! That alone got my attention from your title. That and a possible UP reference.. throw Disney in there. It's all my favorite things!

Great reviews so far! I'm looking forward to the rest!

Penguin lovers are always welcome!

Love the humor in your trip reports! Also, the dual perspective. I could never get my DH to pitch into any type of report.

BTw, the chocolate trio and the pistacchio sampler from yachtsman's looked amazing.

Can't wait to read part deux of Chefs. I have a dinner ressie there that I'm debating changing to Kouzzina.

We are both equally bitten by the Disney bug - we have fun with these.

I'm a little scared to try Kouzzina - the reviews so far seem very widely divergent. We might give it some time to settle down a little, though a few of the breakfast offerings especially intrigue me.




We'll have to get Part Deux up tomorrow night, y'all. Late night tonight with church and all. And lots more photos I have to upload to Flickr and that eats up my bandwidth - stupid 14 megapixel camera and it's giant file sizes!

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

Remy is too cute!!!! I can't wait to see the rest of your review of Chef's!

 

[janloz]

Love the reviews, I am in.

We are eating at YS in Sept, my DS's only request for dining was that they have steak and we are staying at BC so YS was top on the list. I will suggest the NY Strip and mashed potatoes for him. He is fussy about no sauces, no "wierd" potatoes so on our last trip he changed sides many times. We are also eating at CG twice (our favorite last time), Tutto, Le Cellier and Flying Fish so I am sure he will find some great steak.

Keep them coming.

 

[Golf4food]

Remy is too cute!!!! I can't wait to see the rest of your review of Chef's!

He's a door bell. (aka adorable - say it fast a few times and it will come out a door bell...)

Love the reviews, I am in.

We are eating at YS in Sept, my DS's only request for dining was that they have steak and we are staying at BC so YS was top on the list. I will suggest the NY Strip and mashed potatoes for him. He is fussy about no sauces, no "wierd" potatoes so on our last trip he changed sides many times. We are also eating at CG twice (our favorite last time), Tutto, Le Cellier and Flying Fish so I am sure he will find some great steak.

Keep them coming.

Have you tried Jiko? Our favorite steak was the filet (with mac & cheese) at Jiko. The rest of the Jiko menu might be decidedly not "meat & potatoes", but that particular dish is outstanding and very familiar. I'd personally cancel one of the CG ADRs and eat at Jiko, but that's just us.

 

[Golf4food]

Chefs de France, Part Deux (like Hot Shots, Part Deux, only better!)

We forgot to mention in part one that we did receive a hot baguette before our appetizers that was great, though it is served with frozen butter packets. Why on earth does a French restaurant serve prepackaged frozen butter packets!?!? This was the only restaurant we ate at the entire trip that had packaged or frozen butter. For shame! At least the hot roll helped it melt fairly quickly...


For our entrees we both ordered le Croque monsieur et se salade verte (the classic French toasted ham and cheese sandwich served with a green salad - no, I don't parlay vooz Frawnsays, that's what it says in the menu):

This was so very good! It was cooked perfectly and had a great balance of flavor between the rich cheese and the tart balsamic dressing. This was definitely the best ham & cheese sandwich I've ever had.

Best ham and cheese sandwich I've ever had, probably by far. Wonderfully rich flavors from the ham and cheese, amazing bread with crunch edges. The salad was a nice mix of greens (the kind with actual health benefits, not cheap iceberg) with a nice balsamic dressing and peeled 1/4 tomato that was also very good. I put some of the greens onto the sandwich itself and it all went together fabulously. It's makin' my mouth water just thinkin' 'bout it.


As we were enjoying our meal we were treated to a show from outside:

If you've never had a chance to catch a performance of Serveur Amusant you are missing out. They perform all day at set times that are in the times guide and the whole show only takes maybe ten minutes. They don't talk at all, but are hilarious. A mime may be a terrible thing to waste (Mel Brooks rocks) but these mimes are never a waste of time.


Now, one thing we have failed to mention is that we had put on most of our ADRs that it was Tazicket's birthday and she had a button, though technically her bd is in June (FL Res Seasonal passes are blacked out in June for her actual birthday, so May is as close as we can get). So when it came time for our desserts to be brought out it was accompanied by a gaggle of young Frenchmen singing Happy Birthday in French and a candle in her cake. This amused her a lot since she never gets birthday wishes at WDW (this is also our first May trip so close to her birthday) whereas my bd is in September and we've been for mine a few times. It was about time she got in on the fun, too.

I ordered the:
Gateau au Chocolat (chocolate mouse cake with ice cream):

It was delicious! The chocolate was rich and the cake was a great consistency. The fresh berries helped to cut the sweet of the chocolate. I might be crazy, but I'm pretty sure I also tasted a hint of cinnamon. Whatever it was, it was absolutely great. And the serenade from the Frenchmen was really fun! A perfect way to end an awesome meal.

I debated between the Vanilla Creme Brulee and the chocolate profiteroles, but since Tazicket had never tried "creamy brooly" I decided to go that route so she could taste it:

Alas, I should have gone with the profiteroles. The creme brulee certainly looks the part and had a very nice crust on top, but it was sadly very lacking in flavor. It was mostly just bland custard. I couldn't taste any vanilla at all and very little sugar except what was burnt onto the top. I don't know if they just forgot to sweeten the custard that day or what, but it was highly disappointing.


Our server Thomas was wonderful; friendly and attentive.

Overall this experience more than made up for the lackluster meal we had for dinner last time and restored our faith in Le Chefs. We both gladly give it the coveted Cinq Pengveno rating:

This was the meal we were hoping to have last time and cannot wait to return for lunch again in the future.


Bill:
Prix Fixe Menu x 2: $40.00
Two iced teas: $5.90
TIW Discount: ($9.18)
18% Gratuity: $8.26
Tax: $2.39
----------------------
Total: $47.37

Total TIW Savings: $43.98





Up next we continue our jet setting ways and see more of the world (showcase) before winding up in exotic destinations for a dinner with a bang.






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[Linda67]

Wonderful review
I want that Chocolate Cake right now but it is 9am in England so Oatmeal it is

 

[Golf4food]

Wonderful review
I want that Chocolate Cake right now but it is 9am in England so Oatmeal it is

Why not? Cake is made with flour and milk and eggs - all possible breakfast foods. Chocolate comes from a bean, so it is a vegetable.

Is it any worse than pancakes and syrup? Probably not.

Cake for breakfast!

 

[KELLY]

Just joining in! We are staying at POR this trip. Grat reviews so far.

 

[Golf4food]

We forgot to include second breakfast earlier (yes, we're kind of like hobbits, but taller, and will smaller, less hairy feet) and also had an afternoon snack to tide us over until dinner, so here we go with a double dip of snackity goodness:


After our breakfast at POFQ and a ride on Soarin' and Living with the Land we had some time to kill before our Soarin' fast passes would be good, and needed some more nutrients anyway, so we hit Sunshine Seasons (makes sense) to find something at least mostly nutritious.

As luck (?) would have it they carry Silk Vanilla Soymilk and Silk Yogurt - I doubt you can get much healthier than that in WDW.

I love Silk Vanilla milk - no surprise here. Never had the Silk yogurt before. I was expecting it to be sweet like most yogurts, so I was really surprised to find it is real yogurt! Still pretty good, though. (And this is coming from someone who doesn't typically like peach yogurt all that much - it was the only flavor of Silk yogurt available.)

Silk milk isn't my favorite thing in the world to drink. I don't like my milk much lower than 2%, but I can at least tolerate the vanilla Silk. Never had the yogurt either, but it is real yogurt, not full of sugar like most, with enough peach to give it some natural sweetness to counteract the bitter yogurt taste. Not bad, but I don't think I'd want it every day. I'm not a huge natural yogurt fan.


After lunch we enjoyed a fascinating and free (at Disney!?) 20-minute tour of the English Tea Garden - if you ask nicely we could include a mini-review of that experience, rode some rides, rode some more rides, walk around, took some pictures, then headed back into the opposite side of the WS and headed for Norway to hit Kringla Bakery - and I was planning to continue on to Germany for a slice of Black Forest Cake (my favorite cake in the world ) but got sidetracked by the yummy looking offerings at Kringla and never made it further, because of...

Sweet Pretzels:

and Cream Puffs:

Sweet Pretzel with no almonds (they have a version with almonds - duh): this was pretty good. Nice flavor. The raisins were a nice touch. This was the consistency of a danish but shaped like a pretzel.

Cream Puff: THIS WAS GREAT!!!!!! This was the first day that they had these available on the menu (per the CM behind the counter) and we really lucked out. It was very light and not overly sweet. It was nice and pleasantly cool on a warm day. The berries tasted fresh and tart and were a good compliment to the cream.

Sweet Pretzel: Not a chewy exterior like you think of for a pretzel - just soft, danish-like dough. Slightly sweet bread, golden raisins, drizzled with sugar and chocolate syrups. Yummy, but not "great". I'd happily eat it again, but...

Cream Puff: they'd have to take these off the menu first. Light and fluffy, cool and smooth, slightly sweet cream with wonderful strawberries and blackberries. Gold medal winner for sure. Next time you are at Kringla be sure to try one - we don't think you'll be disappointed.

Overall we both give our Kringla snack four penguins (the cream puff gets a five, the sweet pretzel only three, average of four):

Bill:
Berry Cream Puff: $3.99
Pretzel: $4.29
Bottled Water: $2.50
Iced Tea: $2.19
-----------------
Total: $13.66



Our time in Epcot is running short for now, however. We must make our way to the front of the park, ride Spaceship Earth (woo hoo giant golf ball!), and the hopefully ride the Tronorail over to the TTC to make our dinner reservation at the Kona Cafe...



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