foxtrotter
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2005
- Messages
- 283
Spent 7 days at WDW last week and these are my thoughts on dining:
We are not big eaters and my mom, who came with us, eats even less. We were not on any dining plan and often split meals.
Table Service:
Kona Cafe
We always love Kona and this meal did not disappoint. We were sat within a few minutes of our ADR. The place was hopping and our server was very busy but still good. The bread was fresh and warm and absolutely delicious.
We split the potstickers. They were tasty even though the duck is very...ducky.
My husband got the shrimp and scallops but he hates fruit so he skipped the guava sauce. I usually get this so I know how good it is, but he really enjoyed it, especially the scallops, which he said were fresh, clean, and meaty, like a fish steak.
I split the new york strip steak with my mom. Excellent teriyaki taste. The mashed potatoes were wonderful, with the skins mixed in. The broccolini was a little limp for my taste but still good.
My daughter ordered the kid's grilled fish of the day, which was mahi mahi. The server actually said that she did not recommend it because the strong fish flavor turned off a lot of kids, but my daughter LOVED this.
For dessert my husband had the kilauea torte, my daughter had the sundae that comes with the kids meal, and I split the banana-chocolate creme brulee with my mom. All were perfect, and this creme brulee is the best I have ever had.
Le Cellier
This was probably our last visit to Le Cellier. We have had one disappointing dinner there and now one lackluster lunch. I know so many others love this restaurant so we'll leave the ADRs for them from now on.
Anyway, we had an ADR for a late lunch and were seated right on time. The front staff was very friendly and our waiter was busy but still attentive. I like the interior design of this restaurant but, like many others will tell you, the tables are ridiculously close together. The guy next to me, through no fault of his own, had to shove either his butt or his belly in my face when he wanted to get up, then SQUEEZE himself through the 6" space between the two table tops.
Anyway, we started out with the cheddar beer soup and the pretzel bread. I requested only the pretzel bread and they were kind enough to accomodate us. Unfortunately, the bread was overdone and a little hard and the soup was simply not as good as I remembered it. I seem to recall it being cheesier and less peppery. It was okay.
I got the filet mignon with the mushroom risotto. I was really looking forward to this as I love steak, risotto, and mushrooms. No brainer, right? The steak was cooked perfectly but, honestly, was only an average piece of meat. I had similar quality at Texas Roadhouse on the drive home for a fraction of the price. And the mushroom risotto...well, it was completely overwhelmed by the mushroom. My husband likes to experiment with different risotto recipes with different cheeses and cooking broths and I would have considered this one a failure. It was a real bummer because I should have loved it.
My husband ordered the house burger. He ordered it medium and it came well done. He pretty much hated this. He should have sent it back; not sure why he did not.
My mother, she of the miniscule appetite, ordered a side of macaroni and cheese. It was served in a small cast-iron skillet. My mom picked at it for a minute then set her fork down. There was almost a comical amount of breadcrumb topping on the mac and cheese. I make homemade mac and cheese with a crunchy butter, parmesan and breadcrumb topping so we're all used to the idea, but there was literally a half inch (at least!) of dry, way-too-fine crumbs before you could reach the pasta. I picked up the heavy skillet by the handle and dumped the dust onto a plate for her so that she could eat what she eventually said was decent mac and cheese. We all had a laugh at least.
My daughter had the hot dog and she loved it.
We skipped dessert even though I did like the maple creme brulee last time. We just wanted to get out of there!
Coral Reef
Our anniversary dinner. We arrived early but didn't have to wait too long for our table. Upon entering the dining room we were struck by how incredibly LOUD it was. We were seated on the top tier but pretty much every table has a view of the fish tank so that was fine with us. Our waiter, Art, was great, even though it was hard to hear him and for him to hear us.
We split the creamy lobster soup, which was very good (perhaps they could have gone a little lighter on the chervil).
And that was when the screaming started. It was already almost unbearably loud, as I mentioned, with yelling and crying, but around this time two infants just started screaming. And screaming and screaming and screaming...you get the idea. Their parents did not remove them. We could see one, and he was sitting in a high chair at the end of the table. His mother would occasionally rub his back but otherwise ignored him. Sigh.
For an entree I had a dish which is not on the allears menu. It was scallops plopped on top of some small round pasta (perhaps fregula or Israeli couscous) with a thin red tomato sauce. The scallops were good, big and fresh, but the rest was drab and tasted like canned minestrone soup for lack of a better comparison.
My husband ordered the roasted Scottish salmon. He thought it was excellent. I don't generally like salmon but I had a bite of this and it was fresh and not fishy at all.
The screaming had ended by the time we were done but it was still not even close to a romantic atmosphere so we skipped dessert and headed to World Showcase for beer and the French bakery. Much better!
Oh, our waiter brought us a little chocolate piece for our anniversary, which was nice. Small but tasty.
Sci-Fi Dine In Theater
We arrived a little early for our late lunch and waited about 15 minutes for our table. It was very busy, they were not taking any walk-ups, and the check-in line was out the door the entire time we were waiting. We were seated in a little four-person car and our server was great.
It was so QUIET in the dining room. I half-jokingly commented to my husband that we should have come there for our anniversary dinner. Everyone was munching and watching the screen and there was only the low hum of quiet conversation. Very relaxing.
My mother couldn't find anything on the menu that sounded good to her so she ordered a kids meal, the cheese pizza. She said it was okay, but not as good as Wolfgang Puck, which we had the previous day. (No kidding, mom.)
My daughter ordered the cheeseburger and enjoyed it.
I split three items with my husband: oreo milkshake, spinach & artichoke dip, and the angus chuck cheeseburger. The shake and burger were excellent, and the dip was mostly cheese with little spinach or artichoke. That was okay with us so we enjoyed it. We skipped the Sci-Fi last time but won't make that mistake again.
Crystal Palace
We had an 8:10 ADR on a non-EMH day and arrived at the MK around quarter of 8. They started letting us in a few minutes before 8 and my husband made a bee-line for the check-in. He was one of the first in line and we ended up being one of the first parties seated despite having an 8:10 instead of an 8:05. We ate quickly and the food was great. Plenty of orange juice, a huge chocolate milk for my daughter, yeast donutholes, huge strawberries, perfectly cooked eggs, fresh cottage cheese, pastries, omelettes, sausage, roasted potatoes, potato casserole, puffed french toast, etc.
Unfortunately, our table was in a bad spot for the characters and my daughter would not think of leaving before she had seen them all, even when Dumbo was at stake. We didn't leave until 9 so we missed rope drop in Fantasyland but still practically walked on Dumbo so it all worked out.
Our waitress was good, and she brought my daughter a birthday pin, a birthday card signed by the characters and a cupcake with candle.
We had three other ADRs but ended up skipping them because we simply couldn't eat that much food!
Counter service in the next post.
We are not big eaters and my mom, who came with us, eats even less. We were not on any dining plan and often split meals.
Table Service:
Kona Cafe
We always love Kona and this meal did not disappoint. We were sat within a few minutes of our ADR. The place was hopping and our server was very busy but still good. The bread was fresh and warm and absolutely delicious.
We split the potstickers. They were tasty even though the duck is very...ducky.
My husband got the shrimp and scallops but he hates fruit so he skipped the guava sauce. I usually get this so I know how good it is, but he really enjoyed it, especially the scallops, which he said were fresh, clean, and meaty, like a fish steak.
I split the new york strip steak with my mom. Excellent teriyaki taste. The mashed potatoes were wonderful, with the skins mixed in. The broccolini was a little limp for my taste but still good.
My daughter ordered the kid's grilled fish of the day, which was mahi mahi. The server actually said that she did not recommend it because the strong fish flavor turned off a lot of kids, but my daughter LOVED this.
For dessert my husband had the kilauea torte, my daughter had the sundae that comes with the kids meal, and I split the banana-chocolate creme brulee with my mom. All were perfect, and this creme brulee is the best I have ever had.
Le Cellier
This was probably our last visit to Le Cellier. We have had one disappointing dinner there and now one lackluster lunch. I know so many others love this restaurant so we'll leave the ADRs for them from now on.
Anyway, we had an ADR for a late lunch and were seated right on time. The front staff was very friendly and our waiter was busy but still attentive. I like the interior design of this restaurant but, like many others will tell you, the tables are ridiculously close together. The guy next to me, through no fault of his own, had to shove either his butt or his belly in my face when he wanted to get up, then SQUEEZE himself through the 6" space between the two table tops.
Anyway, we started out with the cheddar beer soup and the pretzel bread. I requested only the pretzel bread and they were kind enough to accomodate us. Unfortunately, the bread was overdone and a little hard and the soup was simply not as good as I remembered it. I seem to recall it being cheesier and less peppery. It was okay.
I got the filet mignon with the mushroom risotto. I was really looking forward to this as I love steak, risotto, and mushrooms. No brainer, right? The steak was cooked perfectly but, honestly, was only an average piece of meat. I had similar quality at Texas Roadhouse on the drive home for a fraction of the price. And the mushroom risotto...well, it was completely overwhelmed by the mushroom. My husband likes to experiment with different risotto recipes with different cheeses and cooking broths and I would have considered this one a failure. It was a real bummer because I should have loved it.
My husband ordered the house burger. He ordered it medium and it came well done. He pretty much hated this. He should have sent it back; not sure why he did not.
My mother, she of the miniscule appetite, ordered a side of macaroni and cheese. It was served in a small cast-iron skillet. My mom picked at it for a minute then set her fork down. There was almost a comical amount of breadcrumb topping on the mac and cheese. I make homemade mac and cheese with a crunchy butter, parmesan and breadcrumb topping so we're all used to the idea, but there was literally a half inch (at least!) of dry, way-too-fine crumbs before you could reach the pasta. I picked up the heavy skillet by the handle and dumped the dust onto a plate for her so that she could eat what she eventually said was decent mac and cheese. We all had a laugh at least.
My daughter had the hot dog and she loved it.
We skipped dessert even though I did like the maple creme brulee last time. We just wanted to get out of there!
Coral Reef
Our anniversary dinner. We arrived early but didn't have to wait too long for our table. Upon entering the dining room we were struck by how incredibly LOUD it was. We were seated on the top tier but pretty much every table has a view of the fish tank so that was fine with us. Our waiter, Art, was great, even though it was hard to hear him and for him to hear us.
We split the creamy lobster soup, which was very good (perhaps they could have gone a little lighter on the chervil).
And that was when the screaming started. It was already almost unbearably loud, as I mentioned, with yelling and crying, but around this time two infants just started screaming. And screaming and screaming and screaming...you get the idea. Their parents did not remove them. We could see one, and he was sitting in a high chair at the end of the table. His mother would occasionally rub his back but otherwise ignored him. Sigh.
For an entree I had a dish which is not on the allears menu. It was scallops plopped on top of some small round pasta (perhaps fregula or Israeli couscous) with a thin red tomato sauce. The scallops were good, big and fresh, but the rest was drab and tasted like canned minestrone soup for lack of a better comparison.
My husband ordered the roasted Scottish salmon. He thought it was excellent. I don't generally like salmon but I had a bite of this and it was fresh and not fishy at all.
The screaming had ended by the time we were done but it was still not even close to a romantic atmosphere so we skipped dessert and headed to World Showcase for beer and the French bakery. Much better!
Oh, our waiter brought us a little chocolate piece for our anniversary, which was nice. Small but tasty.
Sci-Fi Dine In Theater
We arrived a little early for our late lunch and waited about 15 minutes for our table. It was very busy, they were not taking any walk-ups, and the check-in line was out the door the entire time we were waiting. We were seated in a little four-person car and our server was great.
It was so QUIET in the dining room. I half-jokingly commented to my husband that we should have come there for our anniversary dinner. Everyone was munching and watching the screen and there was only the low hum of quiet conversation. Very relaxing.
My mother couldn't find anything on the menu that sounded good to her so she ordered a kids meal, the cheese pizza. She said it was okay, but not as good as Wolfgang Puck, which we had the previous day. (No kidding, mom.)
My daughter ordered the cheeseburger and enjoyed it.
I split three items with my husband: oreo milkshake, spinach & artichoke dip, and the angus chuck cheeseburger. The shake and burger were excellent, and the dip was mostly cheese with little spinach or artichoke. That was okay with us so we enjoyed it. We skipped the Sci-Fi last time but won't make that mistake again.
Crystal Palace
We had an 8:10 ADR on a non-EMH day and arrived at the MK around quarter of 8. They started letting us in a few minutes before 8 and my husband made a bee-line for the check-in. He was one of the first in line and we ended up being one of the first parties seated despite having an 8:10 instead of an 8:05. We ate quickly and the food was great. Plenty of orange juice, a huge chocolate milk for my daughter, yeast donutholes, huge strawberries, perfectly cooked eggs, fresh cottage cheese, pastries, omelettes, sausage, roasted potatoes, potato casserole, puffed french toast, etc.
Unfortunately, our table was in a bad spot for the characters and my daughter would not think of leaving before she had seen them all, even when Dumbo was at stake. We didn't leave until 9 so we missed rope drop in Fantasyland but still practically walked on Dumbo so it all worked out.
Our waitress was good, and she brought my daughter a birthday pin, a birthday card signed by the characters and a cupcake with candle.
We had three other ADRs but ended up skipping them because we simply couldn't eat that much food!
Counter service in the next post.
That's why my mom never wanted me going to the drive-ins, lol
