Snow White & The 7 Signature Restaurants {Update: 9/21 Beaches & Cream and Citricos)

[jude&jonah]

Hello everyone! I've been so excited to write my Disney dining review since I started reading everyone else's while I was preparing for my trip- and the time is finally here! Sadly, that means my Disney vacation is unfortunately over- but the reviews can be just as fun!

I headed to Disney as pale as a ghost (and Snow White! ) Saturday September 10th and left 7 days later with an actual tan and wonderful memories of awesome deluxe dining! Although my Mom ended up contributing a lot to the trip too- my goal was to treat my Mom to a Disney vacation. I'm a 24 year old small business owner and my Mom is a 49 year old heart attack survivor (you'd never believe it looking at her- she's always looked as healthy as an ox!). She had a heart attack 2 years ago and I wanted to take her on a special Mother and Daughter vacation.

Here's us:

Knowing we'd want a lot of heart friendly options and dining is the best part of an adult disney trip, I upgraded our free dining to the deluxe dining for an amazing week of our first extensive experience with fine dining! I am just your typical restaurant goer- not a foodie by any means- but hopefully my reviews are fun and helpful for all of you counting down! Yours were for me!

Here is the restaurants we went to:

Teppan Edo
Flying Fish
Kona Cafe
California Grill
Beaches and Cream
Citricos
Wolfgang Puck Cafe
Boma
Artist Point
Hollywood Brown Derby
Yachtsman Steakhouse
The Wave
Jiko

We feel so lucky to have gotten able to do this trip and I'm excited to share it with you- I'll be starting my first review tonight! Just a note- we took LOTS of pictures... but slacked off towards the beginning of the trip. After the first couple we got into the grove so no worries if you don't see a lot of pictures at first.

Thanks to all who read this!

 

[lobsterkmd]

Looking forward to your reviews!!! I'm in!

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I enjoy the signature restaurants a lot, so I love your thread title!

Plus, six of the signature restaurants you chose (Artist Point, Citricos, Yachtsman, Jiko, Flying Fish, and Brown Derby) are my 6 favorite signatures, so I can't wait to see what you think of them.

 

[Tinker12]

Looking forward to your reviews!!

 

[Tracerr00]

This looks like it's going to be a fun review! Joining in!

 

[Tinkerbellah]

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Sadly our trip is over as well but I look forward to reliving some of our dining spots thru your reviews!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Looking foward to your reviews. I'm considering doing the deluxe plan for at least part of my trip next year.

 

[ILoveMK2008]

This looks great, definitely joining in. Wonder if we were at any of the same restaurants on the same nights?? The nights you were there we did Yachtsman on the 10th, Citricos the 11th, and Narcoossee's the 12th??

 

[Linda67]

Count me in too

 

[starousse]

Also looking forward to hearing your reviews.

 

[deenbrad]

Looking forward to it!

 

[butiflfeet]

Looking forward to your pictures and reviews

 

[MickeyNicki]

Great title and great dining choices! Cannot wait to read all about it

 

[jude&jonah]

Thanks everyone! Let's get this review started! As promised- we got into the groove of taking pictures after the first day or so- so forgive me for lack of Teppan Edo pics!

Teppan Edo


We checked in at Coronado Springs, got into our room early at 12:30, and then immediately headed over to Teppan Edo. We had done this restaurant before around 15 years earlier when it had the previous name and although we liked it then- we knew going into it this time it was an iffy choice since hibachi isn't that exciting these days and we'd read some so-so reviews. Still, we wanted something light as we had Flying Fish that night and figured it would be a fun start.

We arrived at 2:30 in the afternoon for a late lunch. I was worried, based on pictures, the restaurant might be a bit too sterile looking now. It wasn't as bad in person- but to me it just felt a little soulless! I felt a little claustrophobic in the restaurant- it's very sectioned off and not very cozy. Our chef was a woman- which I wasn't sure I loved at first as I pictured a man in my mind- but she was cute and fun. Unfortunately at our table were just three other people on the very opposite end- one man and two women in their 20's it seemed. Neither of the women ate- so it was just the three of us eating. It was odd- the women just got cokes. It made it feel a little not festive- we wanted a fun group of people to sit with for this restaurant as it was the start of our trip.

Oh here's a action shot that I did manage to remember to take:

My mom ordered the garden salad with ginger dressing- which was basic but good. She likes ginger dressing a lot so she knew she'd like her choice. I ordered some kind of beef ribs appetizer- they were really tender and nicely cooked! I don't see them on the online menu though. They were my favorite part of this meal.

For entrees- my Mom ordered the shrimp and chicken and I ordered my first of 4 filet mignons on this trip- hah! The portions were true to what other reviews said- small- but we were okay with the small portions, as we had wanted a lighter lunch for our first day. Unfortunately I found the noodles and vegetables to be very tasteless and bland. Even worse, the filet mignon was not cooked accurately at all. I'm a girl who likes my steak very rare- kill it and put it on my plate. I typically say medium rare although always fear they will cook it on the more medium side- and of course- they did. It was interesting because the guy we were sharing the table with also ordered his steak medium rare and his came off the grill about 2 minutes before mine! I'm convinced that chefs never believe a woman really likes rare meat. I got my steak and it wasn't even pink at all- what a disappointment! For the rest of the trip I took to ordering my steaks in between rare and medium rare- insisting I do not like it overcooked.

Although I did not take pictures myself- I did some googling and found a similar picture of what it looked like online. Mine was almost identical to this. Not my photo:

For dessert, I got the ginger chocolate cake. I was pretty full from forcing myself to choke down the overcooked filet mignon (okay, I'm being a bit dramatic...) but my approach to dessert on this trip was just trying things for fun since it was included- so I was okay if I didn't like it. I didn't! It didn't seem chocolatey at all and the ginger was so strong. Oh well! I knew I was taking a chance- just not to my taste.

The oddest thing is I googled the ginger cake and found this:

Mine did not have that chocolate on top! In fact, it looked quite different. Oh how I wish I had a picture of it right now... anyone else get a ginger cake that didn't look like this?

My mom ordered the green tea pudding- which is basically like a flan. She wasn't going to order dessert but I forced her to out of principle of getting our money's worth and trying it. It was better than mine- and I'm not even a flan fan! It looked something like this person's:

Before I reveal the score- I want to quick clarify our rating system. We debated if we should have an official system- x amount of points for atmosphere, x amount for food, etc., but eventually decided we were on vacation! That was way too much work- taking pictures of all of the food we ate as a part time job as it was In the end we decided we'd give the restaurants whatever overall score we felt described our experience there. Although we attempted to slightly adjust the scores based on unrelated factors (any personal moodiness, other restaurant patrons sitting near us, etc.) those unrelated factors undoubtedly affect the scores some- as it is an overall experience score. So take our ratings with a grain of salt... totally not scientific

Overall we gave Teppan Edo a....

It was actually the worst meal of our trip (and one of the only two I wasn't very happy with- the rest blew us away actually!)- but at least we got out it out the way early! Would not go again- just nothing special at all especially in an age where hibachi is typical.

Up next…. dinner at the Flying Fish and two very exhausted travelers who had to rally to make it through the whole meal!

 

[jude&jonah]

This looks great, definitely joining in. Wonder if we were at any of the same restaurants on the same nights?? The nights you were there we did Yachtsman on the 10th, Citricos the 11th, and Narcoossee's the 12th??

Too funny! We didn't do narcoosees (although it was the one signature I wanted to try but couldn't fit in!) but for Yachtsman we were there the 15th and Citricos it was the 12th I believe- one day off!

 

[jude&jonah]

Flying Fish Cafe

We had a 9:15 reservation for Flying Fish that first night- which made us nervous with Illuminations but it was all I could get. Still, I wanted to see Illuminations that night so I calculated that if we watched Illuminations from the England area, we could ditch the final 3 minutes or so and run to Boardwalk only 5-10 minutes late. We're Disney goers- we're allowed to be a bit nutty at Disney- right? Hah. Fortunately, we're quick movers at Disney after childhood years of rope drops- so the plan didn't bother us too badly.

We abandoned our spots for illuminations at 9:12- at the very end of Illuminations- right on schedule- and jogged/speed walked towards Boardwalk. We were shocked that we made it over there by 9:17- not bad! The walk was a lot shorter than I remembered.

After changing into fancier shoes and jewelry in the bathroom, we were seated by the windows at a nice table and although I don't remember our waiters name- I'll refer to him as Frank. He seemed like a Frank. Frank was a man in his 50's. At first he came across as a bit snooty and cold- but we all warmed up to each other and ended up liking him a lot. I think we only had one waitor on our trip that we didn't love- but I think if you are warm and friendly towards waiters at these signature restaurants- 90 percent of the time they'll be the same way back.

Frank made some nice recommendations for appetizers and we took his suggestions. My mom got the crab cake and I got the cheese platter. I am a sucker for a cheese platter.

I want to take a moment to comment on the restaurant itself. There are a lot of things I liked about it- for instance the really pretty pastel mural on the wall, the flying fish from the ceiling, and the windows facing out to the boardwalk. It's a pretty restaurant! However, we both agreed it was too bright. It made it feel very cafe ish (then again- it IS a cafe... but still) and we felt if the lighting was a little more dim- it would feel more like a fancy signature restaurant. Picky- sure- but it wasn't as relaxing as we hoped.

Here's a picture swiped from google:

Appetizers arrive at our table and they are works of art- particularly my gorgeous cheese platter (although of course, I'm biased). It was 5 different cheeses with 5 seasonal garnishes- or whatever you call those. I only liked 2 or so of the garnishes- but the cherry compote (which is kind of like a very firm cherry jam) with the drunken goat cheese was truly amazing together! I love a cheese platter mostly because I love an activity and it keeps me busy without filling me up too much since I don't always eat a ton of it.

Here's the picture- the cherry compote is actually at the top right- the other items were various kinds of like figs or dried fruit and fresh honey.

My mom said the crab cake was good- but I'm not a big crab cake fan so my tasting of it wouldn't do it justice. Of her three crab cakes of the trip- this one ranked middle.

For our entrees, my mom ordered the signature snapper and I went to order some kind of seafood ravioli. Frank politely said, "Okay very good- although I will tell you… our best entrees are x, x, and x." One of the ones he suggested was the pork tenderloin- which had been my other choice anyway I love how they make suggestions for you in high end restaurants (although they do it without bruising your ego!)- and said why not- so I switched to the pork. It was described as this:

Rainforest Pepperberry-grilled Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin - leek, fontina and truffle-laced pasta Mac n Cheese, grilled asparagus and a cherry port wine, balsamico, carmelized onion and trumpet mushroom compote $37.00

He worked there everyday afterall- he probably knew best! Besides- who can argue with a form of Mac and Cheese? I'm an American- I live any carb covered in hot cheese.

It was our first meal of our trip and by the time entrees arrived we were feeling almost full already! Our stomachs definitely hadn't adjusted yet. We struggled through exhaustion- only had slept about 3-4 hours the night before and then spent all day in epcot- and feeling full. Looking back, we were in a daze the whole dinner- unable to truly take it all in. I wish I hadn't booked a signature restaurant for that first night- but sometimes you never know until it's too late!

As for the entrees- my pork was really amazing! And the leak mac and cheese was truly delicious too- I just wish I had been in a better mindset to enjoy it all! I have to admit I was nervous to see how 'blackened' it was as I don't think I've ever eaten blackened anything in my short 24 years- however once you cut into it it tasted good to me!

My mom liked her snapper a lot- but wished the potato around it wasn't so crispy. It was more like a potato crunch- just a breadcrumb kind of. It wasn't what she was picturing and she was a bit disappointed- but she isn't too picky and enjoyed it anyway!

Here is her snapper (oh and we finally discovered food pictures at night are much easier to see with a FLASH on! If you can believe it- I own a photography studio in Southern CT- and yet cannot figure out how to work a point and shoot for the life of me ironically enough!) :

We got the banana napoleon to go with intention of eating it with breakfast the next day. My mom never ate hers, but I did and it was alright. I wasn't jumping off the roof tops about it- but I think it's more of a taste preference. I don't claim to be any form of a true 'foodie'.

Overall, we gave it a....

We could tell it was a nice place and the food was great- but we just weren't in the right mindset that night. I hope to give it another chance in the future.

Up next…. Kona Cafe sans tonga toast- a disboards infraction!

 

[cdtommie]

A fellow CT'er here (from southwest)... nice FF review. We've learned over the years not to schedule a signature restaurant on the first night especially after an long travel day...I think it's hard to enjoy finer Disney dining when you're tired (we are doing R&C next month on the fly-in day - just something basic that puts us in Epcot right about an hour or so before Illuminations (and also lets the vacation drinking begin ).

 

[jude&jonah]

A fellow CT'er here (from southwest)... nice FF review. We've learned over the years not to schedule a signature restaurant on the first night especially after an long travel day...I think it's hard to enjoy finer Disney dining when you're tired (we are doing R&C next month on the fly-in day - just something basic that puts us in Epcot right about an hour or so before Illuminations (and also lets the vacation drinking begin ).

Totally a lesson learned! Haha- never again! Especially with a 6am flight!

Where in CT? I'm in Hamden and my studio is in Westport- although originally from Avon area up north!

 

[cdtommie]

Hi there...lived and Hamden for two years back in the 80's (and then Orange) - now in New Fairfield (very close to the NYS border) for about 15 years...work in Westchester.

I remember about 2-3 years again we went to Yachtsmans with BIL/SIL and their two kids and BIL's MIL about 9PM the first night after the 6AM flight and everyone was miserable. I think something simple until you rest up is the way to go...now the last night...we usually like to hit a signature for our final dinner and a lounge afterward.