Photos and reviews of Tchoup Chop?!

[Debs Hill]

Looking for reviews and photos of Tchoup Chop for our forthcoming trip!! How far in advance can you book? Will they be able to accomodate a nut allergy?
Debsx

 

[patster734]

I just bumped a thread that contains pictures of Tchoup Chop over the past couple of years. Here's a direct link to it: http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=25866291#post25866291

I've found that opentable.com to be great place to check for dining availability and to make the dining reservation for Tchoup Chop.

 

[DLBDS]

I second OpenTable! We really liked the food here. The service was great but it didn't start out well......I booked a reservation (thru OpenTable) for 5:30 (I believe it was) and even though we were one of the first to enter the restaurant at opening, we were left waiting at the bar for 20 minutes. It was DH's birthday so I had to go up to the podium to find out why we hadn't been given a table. Basically, they forgot about us. Most restaurants use pagers but we weren't given one at this restaurant. This was in Dec. '06. It's been awhile. We may or may not go back. It was pretty pricey ($200 range).

 

[Tink_Kel]

We went last July. It has a lovely, romantic, atmosphere, but I didn't care that much for the menu selection. But then, I had my heart set on the Hawaiian plater that was shown on a menu posted on one of the Disney boards, and they no longer had it, so I had to choose something else. For ambiance, I give it two thumbs up , for service, I give it one thumb up , and for menu selection, I give it one thumb down.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

DH & I just returned last week and would be happy to share our experience and photos.

To answer your specific questions, we booked about three weeks out from our date. I called the restaurant direct, but I've used opentable in the past. I don't know on the peanut allergy. I'd call the restaurant direct (when you make your ressie!) to see about that. I know they accommodated my "all stuff needs to be cooked" request, but that's so different from an allergy!

It was our 10th wedding anniversary, and our reservations were for 7:45 p.m. We were staying at the RPR, and the resort had sent up complimentary champagne that we enjoyed before heading down to dinner. Perfect starter for the evening!

(Pardon the clutter!)

First comes what we call the "shrimp poofs." I know there's a better technical name for them, but they're similar to puffy Cheese Puffs, but oily with a touch of seafood flavor. They're served with a peanut-y dipping sauce.

While we're enjoying our poofs, we decide to go with the tasting menu with pairings. Unfortunately, we did not take a photo of the menu! So I'm going from memory here. But my memory's pretty good

First comes a little surprise from the kitchen. This was a fried pot-sticker stuffed with lamb, spices, fresh mint and then topped with a blue cheese creamy sauce. Outstanding. They need to put these babies on the menu.

On to our first course. Scallops atop Boston bib lettuce, smoky-roasted corn rounds, marinated peppers and onions and avocado. The dressing was a light citrus vinaigrette and perfect with the California dry riesling the dish was pared with. This dish originally has the scallops cooked rare, but we did ask for anything brought to us to be cooked. So the scallops were cooked, but somehow cooled down enough to still be delicious and refreshing with the cold salad ingredients. Again, two thumbs up on this one.

Next we're on to the seafood course. Now, I have mixed feelings on this dish. It was panko-dusted prawns served with an Asian-inspired coleslaw. The prawns were OUT OF THIS WORLD. I'm in NE FL, and I know good prawns since we're so close to GA. These were amazing. The coleslaw had way too much raw ginger for my liking. I couldn't eat it just on its own. I had to just do a little bit of slaw with a LOT of prawns. Oh, and drizzled all over the prawns was a thick pineapple sauce/marmalade. Way good on the prawns, but didn't help balance the strong ginger flavor. So this one gets one thumb up for the prawns, but one thumb down for the slaw. The pairing for this was a crisp white out of Australia. I can't remember the name or varietal

For our main course, we both selected the filet mignon with black rice, chorizo and fried plantains. The pairing was a perfect red out of Washington State (I believe -- again, sorry on not remembering the wines. They were all delicious and really paired well with the dishes). The dish was wonderful. I've been very curious about black rice, and I will be learning to incorporate this interesting grain into my cooking at home. The differences in texture between the steak, the fried plantains, the rice and the spicy chorizo was out of this world. Both DH and I carefully balanced a small bit of everything on the fork for each bite!

The photo doesn't do this dish justice. Brown and black food in a photo is just ... well, blech. But I swear, it was awesome!

Dessert was Oreo cheesecake with strawberries and fresh cream. We also ordered cups of Emeril's coffee, and we enjoyed it so much, we took a bag home with us. We'd also been enjoying his breakfast blend in our room all week. Dessert and coffee was scrumptious.

Last but not least, we got a special treat from the kitchen Coconut sorbet with drizzled chocolate. After a week of Mai Tais in the Orchid Lounge, the coconut sorbet was a perfect ending.

This was our second trip to Tchoup Chop. We've celebrated our eighth anniversary there, too. I know I posted photos in the food thread currently on the boards here. We've always enjoyed our meals here, as well as service and drinks. Our bill with tip, pairings, a pound of coffee to take home and the dinner tasting menu was a little over $200. The meal took just under two hours. We had a great seat -- right at one of the "heads" of the lily pad pond.

We wouldn't hesitate to return again.

 

[Debs Hill]

Thank you so much for posting! We will also be celebrating our anniversary so lovely to know that RPR will acknowledge this! Did you tell the resort when you booked or/before or just the restaurant? The food looks fantastic, can't wait!!!!
Debsxx

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Hey, you're most welcome

Regarding the anniversary questions, I did tell the person when I reserved. I'd called the 1-800 Universal resorts number to book and requested theme park view, king bed and she said she'd note it was our anniversary. Now, about 10 days out from our trip, I called the front desk to confirm my ressie and request a certain bank of rooms (per the helpful info on the "post your room numbers" here on the Dis for the RPR). The gentleman I spoke with pulled up my ressie, and none of my requests were on his screen. He took AMAZING care of us. He noted the anniversary and gave us -- in his opinion -- the best view of the entire resort ... room 1723. Boy, it was a good view, too

I called the restaurant direct to make a ressie, and when I gave my phone number, she pulled up my name on her own and said, "You're coming again for your anniversary?" So there must be some kind of database they can see when you give your phone number. When she asked, I just said yes, 10th this time, and that was it.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Hopefully they can accommodate your allergy. It's such a common allergy nowadays, I would think they can. You'll have to let us know what they substitute the peanut sauce for with those shrimp poofs! Definitely head over to the Orchid Lounge (indoors) to enjoy the sunset.

 

[Debs Hill]

It sounds as though they really looked after you, which is so great to hear! Do you have any photos of the view from your room? Was it a conceirge room or normal room?

I will of course let you know what we get that is different due to my nut allergy!
Debsx

 

[LukenDC]

I had dinner at Tchoup Chop a couple of weeks ago and loved it! The restaurant is visually attractive and interesting, the service excellent, and the food delicious. My very picky French friend was with me and he said that it was the best meal of the trip (for comparison, we also ate at Emeril's California Grill, Citrico's and Brown Derby). Be sure to request a booth next to the lilly pond.

I made our reservations on OpenTable.com about ten days before our visit.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Hi, Debs!

Sorry for delay in responding.

Here's three photos of our view. It's kind of a panoramic thing with the first photo looking out the window to the right, then center, then to the left. You could look down out the window and see the water taxi lake. I'm also going to post some in the "post your hotel pix" thread here on the boards.

It was room 1723. Way cool hearing the Hulk early in the morning.

 

[Debs Hill]

WOW! What a great view, my son would absolutely love that! I'm going to request a room in a similar place and keep everything crossed for a bit of magic!
Thanks so much!
Debsx