Shari's Disney Dining Review - Yorkshire stylee! (With pics!)

[mamaboogie]

Our meal at Artist Point really got us thinking on the way back.

We had an ADR at Narcossees for our final night. I've read some amazing reviews of it. But to be honest, our GF afternoon tea had slightly put us off the GF. What if we encountered the same snootiness on what was supposed to be our special last night meal?

Also, we really wanted to go back to Shutters and wouldn't the last night be a really convenient night to do it?

We reasoned that if we cancelled Narcossees that we could go to Shutters on the Wednesday AND have a TS credit left to go somewhere on the Tuesday (which was blank).

Now, I KNOW that many of you out there will think we were crazy to do this! And possibly Narcossees would have been stunning - but we'd just had the most amazing meal at AP and we wanted to be able to relax on our last night and know we'd have a good meal.

We went to OPR to fill our refillable mugs and change the ADRS. We got booked into Shutters for the Wednesday no probs. We'd decided we wanted to try Ohana for dinner on the Tuesday but it was full.

So, here's when things got crazy. There was a table free at the Flying Fish on Tues. Yes, the FF! That signature restaurant!

Si had been there for his sisters wedding in 1999 and loved it. So he was all masterful and manly and said 'let's do it!'

So now, we were short one TS credit!! We decided that we would pay OOP for Shutters.

So that's it - our ADR madness.

How would it work out? You'll see!

 

[Fiona R]

Having had a good spell away from Disney boards (you know, no holiday booked, too many other places to go on holiday, DH not keen on Disney again, work etc! ) I have recently come back and found your amazing foodie reports. It's fantastic reading reports from someone who loves food as much as I do, and with very similar tastes and a great happy style of writing (doesn't seem "funny" at all to me, it's those yanks that talk funny.) We did DDP for 5 nights of our last Christmas trip in 2006 and the HOURS (days, months!) that went into agonising over those meals were legendary. DH didn't realise!

Yes the GF makes me feel like I've walked in with dog muck on my crocs , yet DH and I had a stunning meal at Narcossees. I like plane food, I think it;'s because it's free. Last time we PAID for 5 adults DDP (girls were 16, 13 and 10 think) but I have found some great free flights for August next year and for £1 900 me and the two youngest (will be 13 and 16 then) could have 3 weeks FREE DDP....staying at OKW!!! I have a horrible feeling it will be your fault if I do book as you're doing a superb marketing job of getting us back. Perhaps I should be sensible and just do two weeks for £1 300...............

Love Boma
Have had fantastic meals at underated Boatwrights (POR) and Maya Grill (CS) in the past, would definitely try Shutters from your report.

Le Cellier Mushroom Filet...............gorgeous...

I am sooo hungry, off to find a lettuce leaf as I need to lose another 2 stone if I'm going to contemplate all that food!

Looking forward to the final few....

 

[Blue Kangaroo]

Hi Mama

Stumbled across your reviews this afternoon and read through them all - brought some great memories back as I'm not long back from my holiday and definitely feeling the post-Disney blues!

We got the free DDP too and had great fun eating our way round the world. Just having to readjust to actually paying for food - how dare they!!

Have to reinforce the positive comments about Sci-Fi - the burgers and shakes there are great, lovely service, excellent theming and such a nice retreat from the heat and bustle of the park. Prime Time's great too though.

We had a posh meal at the California Grill too (there were 6 of us including 2 fussy teenagers) and have to say it exceeded my expectations. It was fantastic.

Artist Point looks like a definite must try for next time...

Looking forward to your final installment.

 

[TyRy]

Our meal at Artist Point really got us thinking on the way back.

We had an ADR at Narcossees for our final night. I've read some amazing reviews of it. But to be honest, our GF afternoon tea had slightly put us off the GF. What if we encountered the same snootiness on what was supposed to be our special last night meal?

Also, we really wanted to go back to Shutters and wouldn't the last night be a really convenient night to do it?

We reasoned that if we cancelled Narcossees that we could go to Shutters on the Wednesday AND have a TS credit left to go somewhere on the Tuesday (which was blank).

Now, I KNOW that many of you out there will think we were crazy to do this! And possibly Narcossees would have been stunning - but we'd just had the most amazing meal at AP and we wanted to be able to relax on our last night and know we'd have a good meal.

Mama - I wouldn't worry about it too much..I'm one of those that went to Narcoossee's last time and while our service was very good, the food was just kind of eh....I had a filet there and had much better ones elsewhere on property. I was with my DMIL and she agreed. It was nice but the food was just kind of blah. Who knows, maybe we hit it on an off night.

Ty

 

[iluvpluto27]

Great review of Artist Point, I really liked the food there, the buffalo was fantastic but the salmon looks really good too. Looking forward to seeing what you thought of Flying Fish.

 

[MrsJobba1]

Hi

I've just added the ddp today for our 2009 trip , there are soo many restaurants that I want to try - your review is really helping me thanks.

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent

 

[A&A'sGrammy]

I am REALLY loving your dining report. It sounds like you all had a wonderful trip at WDW. I have always found that teens at Disney allow themselves to once again connect with their families. Just another reason to love WDW!!! Your Artist Point review was perfect. Our family of eight, 6 adults and 2 five year olds, found Artist Point to be our favorite meal of our trip. Our waiter was very skilled. The fillet was perfect and the scallop's were wonderful. The kids were taken care of by the staff and they LOVED their white chocolate puzzle.

 

[mamaboogie]

Having had a good spell away from Disney boards (you know, no holiday booked, too many other places to go on holiday, DH not keen on Disney again, work etc! ) I have recently come back and found your amazing foodie reports. It's fantastic reading reports from someone who loves food as much as I do, and with very similar tastes and a great happy style of writing (doesn't seem "funny" at all to me, it's those yanks that talk funny.) We did DDP for 5 nights of our last Christmas trip in 2006 and the HOURS (days, months!) that went into agonising over those meals were legendary. DH didn't realise!

Yes the GF makes me feel like I've walked in with dog muck on my crocs , yet DH and I had a stunning meal at Narcossees. I like plane food, I think it;'s because it's free. Last time we PAID for 5 adults DDP (girls were 16, 13 and 10 think) but I have found some great free flights for August next year and for £1 900 me and the two youngest (will be 13 and 16 then) could have 3 weeks FREE DDP....staying at OKW!!! I have a horrible feeling it will be your fault if I do book as you're doing a superb marketing job of getting us back. Perhaps I should be sensible and just do two weeks for £1 300...............

Love Boma
Have had fantastic meals at underated Boatwrights (POR) and Maya Grill (CS) in the past, would definitely try Shutters from your report.

Le Cellier Mushroom Filet...............gorgeous...

I am sooo hungry, off to find a lettuce leaf as I need to lose another 2 stone if I'm going to contemplate all that food!

Looking forward to the final few....

It's crazy! Simon is trawling the net trying to see if there's any way we can get back next year. Especially as I keep pointing out all the great food we didn't try this time!

Hi Mama

Stumbled across your reviews this afternoon and read through them all - brought some great memories back as I'm not long back from my holiday and definitely feeling the post-Disney blues!

We got the free DDP too and had great fun eating our way round the world. Just having to readjust to actually paying for food - how dare they!!

Have to reinforce the positive comments about Sci-Fi - the burgers and shakes there are great, lovely service, excellent theming and such a nice retreat from the heat and bustle of the park. Prime Time's great too though.

We had a posh meal at the California Grill too (there were 6 of us including 2 fussy teenagers) and have to say it exceeded my expectations. It was fantastic.

Artist Point looks like a definite must try for next time...

Looking forward to your final installment.

Thanks Blue Kangaroo! Sounds like we had similar experiences! You should definitely try AP next time! It was great!
Not only is it difficult to start paying for food, I can't seem to stop eating/snacking!! My body thinks it's still on holiday and I'm bound to pay for it soon!

Mama - I wouldn't worry about it too much..I'm one of those that went to Narcoossee's last time and while our service was very good, the food was just kind of eh....I had a filet there and had much better ones elsewhere on property. I was with my DMIL and she agreed. It was nice but the food was just kind of blah. Who knows, maybe we hit it on an off night.

Ty

Thanks Ty! Part of me can't quite believe still that we cancelled that ADR!

Great review of Artist Point, I really liked the food there, the buffalo was fantastic but the salmon looks really good too. Looking forward to seeing what you thought of Flying Fish.

Thanks ILP! Simon had been waiting for that buffalo for sooo long! And it didn't disappoint! The salmon was amazing, but if we went back I'd have to try something different - it all looked so good!

Hi

I've just added the ddp today for our 2009 trip , there are soo many restaurants that I want to try - your review is really helping me thanks.

It's nice to get some feedback isn't it? Believe me, I spent months on here looking at food reports and photos. I pretty much knew all the menus and what I wanted when I got there! (Didn't always stick to it though!) Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment!

Excellent

Cheers Minniespal!

I am REALLY loving your dining report. It sounds like you all had a wonderful trip at WDW. I have always found that teens at Disney allow themselves to once again connect with their families. Just another reason to love WDW!!! Your Artist Point review was perfect. Our family of eight, 6 adults and 2 five year olds, found Artist Point to be our favorite meal of our trip. Our waiter was very skilled. The fillet was perfect and the scallop's were wonderful. The kids were taken care of by the staff and they LOVED their white chocolate puzzle.

Thanks! We did have an amazing trip. You're right about the effect that WDW has on teens! I miss my kids now we're not spending so much time together! Artist Point rocks!!

 

[Princesswanabee]

Hmmmm! Bring on the food!
We soon went and checked in . Although we were early they took us straight to our table. We had a great table - the server insisted on giving 'Mom' the best view - hurray for me!! And he even gave Sarah a black napkin as she was wearing black - (take note GF cafe!) He gave BOTH girls some crayons and a colouring page!

Well, we had a simply gorgeous meal here. We decided to push the boat out and all have starters - even though they are not included on the basic DDP.

Kate and Simon both had the venison spring rolls, Sarah had a huge salad with cheese, strawberries and pecans. I had the duck confit and it was sooo delicious!

Sorry I didn't take pics of the starters - we were too busy admiring and eating them. I also didn't know if I should in such an esteemed dining establishment. By the time the main courses came however, I thought - 'Stuff that! This meal needs to be preserved for posterity!'

Simon had his much anticipated buffalo steak and was in paroxysms of joy through the whole dish. His eyes glazed over and it was true love:

Sarah had chicken. I must apologise for Sarah's food - she insisted on taking her own pics and not only are they at a jaunty angle, they're a bit blurred too!

Kate had the filet of beef. How good does this look?

And I had the signature dish of the cedar plank salmon. Actually brought out on a cedar plank!!

All the entrees were amazing. Everyone was very happy. Simon and I shared a bottle of wine but I'm sorry - I'm rubbish at remembering wine! It was lovely though!

Of course, we had to have desserts. Here's Sarah's wobbly, blurry berry mousse:

I had peach upside down cake:

Simon had chocolate tart:

And the wonderful thing was, Steve, our server, offered Kate the childrens's white choc Mickey jigsaw puzzle desserts:

This was great - she'd had one in 2006 and really liked it - but now she was an 'adult' she didn't think she'd get the chance for another one.
That's what I liked about this restaurant - they didn't make any assumptions - Sarah was treated like an adult with the black napkin, but she was also given crayons, Kate ate some of the most grown up food of her life, and a mickey jigsaw puzzle! It's that attention to detail and flexability that makes a truly great meal experience.

Si and I pushed the boat out with a Wilderness coffee - Baileys (again!) Kaluha, cream and chocolate shavings. Oh my! Shari's in creamy drinky heaven again!

We caught the boat back over to MK and then the bus back to CBR.

Sarah said that was the best meal of the trip and I think we all agreed with her. A top notch signature restaurant couldn't have made us feel more comfortable if they'd tried.

A wonderful, wonderful meal. We would go back in a heartbeat!

Comin up: We finally make it into the Cellar! Was it any good?

We just ate at Artist Point and I totally agree with your review! We also had great service and the food was delicious! Glad you had such a good experience. Next time we go, I am going to order your Wilderness coffee!!

 

[irongirlof12]

fab review of AP -so glad you enjoyed it. food looked delicious

 

[mamaboogie]

We just ate at Artist Point and I totally agree with your review! We also had great service and the food was delicious! Glad you had such a good experience. Next time we go, I am going to order your Wilderness coffee!!

Oh that Wilderness Coffee was just a perfect ending to a perfect meal! Yummm! You'll love it!

fab review of AP -so glad you enjoyed it. food looked delicious

Thanks irongirl! The food was amazing. We ate so much good food on the holiday but that was one we all enjoyed loads!

I'll try and post an update tonight - Shari finally finds the Norway bakery (where have you been all my life?) and gets to see what all the fuss is about at Le Cellier!

Thanks for reading guys!
Shari xx

 

[mamaboogie]

Hi guys!

Well, we're up to Monday 25th August. Razorlight are playing 'America' on Radio 2 just to taunt me. Oh well.

Today was another EPCOT day. We did our usual thang of getting on some rides early and then going to Sunshine Seasons for some brunch.

Kate and I had the breakfast platter - this was just as good as before - except there was no french toast and maple syrup!!!! How rude! I didn't want to ask for it in case it shouldn't have been given last time. Everything else tasted yummy though. Simon had a ham sandwich and Sarah had a noodle platter. We had a really good lady on the till who explained what came with the breakfast platter - last time we had missed out on our 'extra' drink.

After brunch we headed to World Showcase. We started at Mexico and worked around clockwise. In Norway whilst Si and Kate were on Maelstrom, Sarah and I went for a little breather at the Kringla Og Bakeri. Oh man! How amazing is this place? It's so little and cute but filled with so much puddingey goodness! Sarah's eyes immediately fixed on the cloudberry horns so we had two of these. We ate them in the little seating area outside the bakery.

Ohhhhh.....! These were soooooooo good! Sarah and I employed different methods of eating them. She started at the top and worked down - but was eventually disappointed that the cream didn't go all the way to the bottom. I started at the bottom, taking the risk of being covered in cream by the time I finished. The horns had both long gone by the time Kate and Si joined us!

So off we wandered some more. After China, Germany and Italy we stopped in 'America' at the Liberty Inn once more for a drink and snack to keep us going until Le Cellier at 5pm. I had a rice Krispie Mickey treat - very nice!

After more wandering, shopping and character shenanigans we ended up here:

I was really looking forward to this meal. I think we all were. I heard mixed reviews but I was prepared to keep an open mind and judge for myself.

The guy at the check in desk was really friendly. (When we left he said to Sarah - 'You know, you are the image of someone I know back home.' Sarah said 'I hope she's nice' and the check in guy responded 'Beautiful.' Sarah talked about it for ages!)

We had a little wait for our table but not too long! The restaurant wasn't as dark and gloomy as I'd worried. We had a round table near a pillar and didn't feel squashed up at all! We were in Quebec apparently! Our server was called Adam and although he was obviously really busy he was very attentive. He was constantly updating us on the progress of our food - he seemed worried that we'd complain about waiting but we were quite happy and nothing seemed particularly slow.

Please let me apologise in advance about the photos - they are not very good. I've tried to titivate them but to no avail! They certainly don't do the food justice!

Here is Simon contemplating the breadsticks:

They were sooooo delicious! I know a lot of people on here like the pretzel bread but I loved them all! I tried to be restrained and save room for the other courses but it was very hard!

We decided to share a bowl of the cheese soup - it was delicious for dunking the breadsticks in (must stop dribbling!) but I couldn't have eaten a full bowl by myself - it was so thick and quite salty for my taste. It was yummy though!

Then came the main courses. Kate and I plumped for the famous mushroom filet. I would normally choose potatoes over rice but I knew I had to have this dish as it was meant to be:

I didn't regret it. It was far more amazing than the picture shows. Much bigger too - and I think Kate's was even bigger! The filet was the nicest steak I'd had of the holiday so far!

Simon enjoyed a big meaty prime rib:

And Sarah had the pork tenderloin with noodles and peanut sauce which was very adventurous for her!

We had to try dessert of course! There was no hesitation in my mind - maple creme brulee for me!! I really wanted to lick the dish!

Kate had the s'mores, Sarah had the chocolate moose and Si had the chocolate cake. All were totally delicious. I also had a coffee to finish off what was a wonderful food experience. Great service, amazing food and a wonderful relaxed atmosphere. I heartily recommend le Cellier and I can see why it's so hard to get an ADR here!

When we came out of the restaurant we were confronted by this:

The mother of all thunderstorms! We hid in the Kidcot station for ages! There was the loudest clap of thunder that I've ever heard - the whole group of people sheltering jumped two feet off the ground!

Phew! What great eating we had on this day! And fear not, I nipped back to Kringla Og to get a school bread to go. I simply had to see what all the fuss was about! I didn't take a piccy as it was a bit squashed by the time I got it back to our room. I ate it anyway! I really liked it - especially the custardy bit! It was very big too! Next time I want to try an almond pretzel (more dribbling!).

Coming up - our last minute Flying Fish reservation. Will we live to regret it?

 

[Jenvenza]

I am getting soooo hungry reading all your fabulous reviews!! We leave in 2 days - hopefully I can hold out until then!!

 

[mamaboogie]

I am getting soooo hungry reading all your fabulous reviews!! We leave in 2 days - hopefully I can hold out until then!!

I'm getting hungry just writing them! You know they say you should never go shopping when you're hungry? Well, you should never go on the DiS when you're hungry either - it's pure torture!

Thanks for reading - have a fabulous time and tell us all about it when you get back!

Shari xx

 

[Princesswanabee]

Great review of Le Cellier! I can't wait for the Flying Fish review as we cancelled our reservation for it last time and I am really regretting it. Can't wait to hear your thoughts...

 

[mamaboogie]

Great review of Le Cellier! I can't wait for the Flying Fish review as we cancelled our reservation for it last time and I am really regretting it. Can't wait to hear your thoughts...

I'm hoping to get FF done tomorrow - I've already downloaded (uploaded?) the photos so I'm raring to go - but not tonight because it's Friday and I've had a glass of wine and some Hagan Daaz ice cream and I'm sleepy!

Also - I'm coming to the end of my food review and I don't want it to be over!

Thanks for reading and for your kind comments!

Shari xx

 

[mjhd]

I know! we were gobsmacked! But I have to say how fantastic the other places were! I found it ironic that my twelve year old could have the chocolate wave with brandied cherries at Coral Reef with no problems. And lots of other desserts the kids had have alcohol in them!

Great reviews! Still reading through them but wanted to chime in and say that our DD 11 was NOT allowed to have the chocolate wave with cherries or the liquored mousse at Coral Reef. The server did say she would serve the wave without cherries if dd wanted. It must be an individual server thing???

 

[Think Pink Tink]

Welcome Gentle Reader, to my dining review. Come on in, sit down, relax and put your feet up. In this review you will read about some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten.

Here's who we are:

Me (Shari): One time Disney cynic, converted by :-
Simon (My hubbie): Disney fanatic, step dad extradinaire and all round amazing person. I found the magic thanks to HIM.
Sarah (14): Looks EMO, one of the nicest 14 YO you will ever meet. (Yes I'm biased!)
Kate (12): Simon's rollercoaster buddy. Determined to eat WDW steak by steak!

Between us we have differing food likes and tastes. Our main objective? To try lots of new food without worrying about cost. For we were on the free DDP! (Free food? I'm still wondering how we swung that! Especially considering some of the wonderful food we ate!!)

Our ADRs:
Shutters
Liberty Tree Tavern
Tusker House
Coral Reef
SCi-fi Dine in
California Grill
Ohana breakfast
Whispering Canyon
Boma
Artist Point
Le Cellier
Narcosses

I have to warn you - we did add some other ADRs and take away one of them? Which ones? You'll have to wait and see. We also had some good food experiences out of Disney which I'll mention in passing too!

We did take lots of pics, some are slightly blurry and we didn't take pics of everything - apologies in advance!

Anyway. To the dining! As you may have guessed, we are from England so we got up very early to get to Manchester Airport. Once there, we had our first holiday food:

A bacon butty (sandwich) for Si, Kate and me and a tuna sandwich and yoghurt for Sarah. Yes, I know it's not Disney food but it's the start of our holiday food! And with the high cost of the airport food I was mighty glad the Disney food would be free!

Now, I'm a bit sad. I actually like having food on aeroplanes. I love all the little packets and things they give you. All the fiddly things you have to open.

As soon as you get on they give you a drink and a small packet of pretzels.

Pretty much immediately they then serve you your main meal. Bear in mind this was about 11am our time! I had chicken with cheesy mash potato, which also came with pasta, crackers, cheese, a bread bun, a fruit pudding and a glass of wine (coffee came later). Kate, as a child (with Virgin if not at Disney!) had pasta, haribo, cheese dippers, a bag of fruit, yoghurt, shortbread and a fruit drink.

Later on we were served a sandwich, yoghurt bar and a drink.

Now, I know what you're thinking - I must have pretty low standards if I get excited about aeroplane food - but it's just part of the whole holiday experience!

We checked in at the Carribean Beach Resort with no problems. Si and I went to concierge because we wanted to amend some ADRs. This was surprisingly easy. We made our first night Shutters reservation earlier so we could go our afterwards, we added tea at the Grand Floridian Cafe for Sarah and myself and also Raglan Road for after La Nouba (I'd read so many good reviews of RR on here!)

Anyway, our first official Disney meal was to be at Shutters, the CBRs table service restaurant. To be honest, we didn't really expect very much from it - we just wanted the convenience of eating in our resort.

I have to say, we were most pleasantly surprised. This was a wonderful meal and a wonderful start to our holiday.

Our server was called Oskar and he was great fun - lovely with the kids, especially Sarah (14).

I had the plaintain crusted red snapper with spicy shutters potatoes and vegeatables. It was wonderful and very filling! Si and Kate had the NY strip steak and I had my first case of food envy as it was delicious! Sarah had a feta/chicken/chorizo pasta which looked great. She also had a freezed apple sour drink with a cherry on top while Kate had a pirates punch with a glowing Tinkerbell. Si and I had a beer each which was very welcome.

Here's Kate, Simon and Sarah at Shutters:

The plaintain crusted red snapper:

Kate attacking her NY strip steak:

Sarah and her sour apple freeze:

As we were on the DDP we only paid for the beers, pirate's punch and tip. Our first use of the Dining plan - result!

We were made to feel so welcome and looked after here - just what we needed after getting up at 3am (it was now 11pm in England!) and having an 8 hour plane journey! I would really recommend this restaurant, good food and good service, a good family meal.

We were too full to eat dessert (must have been all that aeroplane food!) so we got them to go. (I do believe we might have eaten some of them for breakfast next morning - a recurring theme! )

Just to say we also bought the refillable mugs at Old Port Royal and got quite a lot of use out of them!

Well, that's the end of my food news on our first day in Disney. Lots more to come!

Shari xx

First off, I LOVE the reviews...but I HAD to share that I spell my name the same way. I am sure you have had people spell it as many ways as I have...Sherry, Sheri, Sherri, Cheri, Sherie...to name a few

Just thought I'd say hello from one Shari to another

xoxox
Shari

 

[crispywelsh]

I have really enjoyed all of your reviews, you make all the food sound scrummy, and the pics are brilliant. You make me so excited about our trip in December. I still shake my head in disgust everytime I think of the sherry trifle incident, it is so, so silly, I am sorry you had a bad experience there. xx