Special dining experience

[WDW Princess]

Need a brainstorm session please! Trying to find a unique restaurant for DH's b-day. We've been to both of Emeril's restaurants (not really impressed, but were still satisfied since it was different and had a great time there). I would like to try something we have never tried before. I was originally considering Bubba Gump since we have never had a chance to eat there, but I think DH would prefer something more romantic/classy for the actual b-day dinner, with the least possible amount of kiddos (still planning on Bubba, but on a regular very casual day). I am looking at Bice, but am wondering if it's really worth the price. I don't want to spend more then $200-250 on b-day dinner (I am not trying to be cheap but we have so much planned for that week at RPR and PBH that I have to make sure I stay within budget) but would like something nice and romantic.

Last year, I took DH to Bistro de Paris / EPCOT and we were both horrified since the only thing "French" about our meal was a French speaking au pair server. While speaking in my native tongue was a lot of fun (but I definitely could have done this with my family over the webcam for a lot less $ ), the meal was not spectacular to say the least and I felt horrible that I picked it out for DH's birthday. So I am now cautious about pricey theme park or resort restaurants that claim to be "authentic" because most of the time, their cuisine simply does not justify the price and it's not quite authentic. Has anyone tried Bice though? Is it real Italian or is it more American Italian, such as Carrabba's, Pastamore etc...? Just looking for something unique close to RPR/PBH.... You know what? Forget authentic! Just something tasty, romantic, quiet and close to resorts. Any suggestions?

 

[idgystripes]

Great question---I'm interested too-

 

[PlutoLuvr]

Thanks for the head's up on Bistro. DH & I were eyeing that place for our anniversary dinner in September. It's one of the few that don't participate in the Disney Dining Plan, so we were hopeful we'd get a decent meal that hasn't been homogenized.

We focus the bulk of our evening dining at USO (resorts or CW), but we usually eat one or two meals over at WDW. We're trying Citricos this trip.

Any-way ...

Depending on the time of evening you're planning on eating, the place that hits the "romance" factor for us time and time again is the back patio at O'Briens. We request a table that's a bit quieter, enjoy the fountains, the stars, the atmosphere and a hurricane with dinner. Their coffee is superb with a bag of beignets for dessert. By the time we're leaving, the "nightclub" feel is just beginning so we just walk around CW for a while.

We've never had a bad meal there -- actually, we have a few must-dos (the blackened redfish dinner, the crawfish etouffee nachos, and the po-boys).

Bubba Gumps is a wonderful meal, but I just don't know that I'd put it in the category of "special occasion."

Hope you guys have a wonderful time with whatever you decide

 

[WDW Princess]

Hey PlutoLuvr,

Thanks for the input. DH actually mentioned O’Brian’s a few weeks ago so I'll definitely check it out…Good to hear that your meals have been consistantly good there! Last night, I kept searching various restaurants in the area and decided to make reservations at Bice, Margaritaville, Tchoup Chop and will now look at Pat O’ . I figured I’d do something different this time and give DH a choice for b-day dinner instead of surprising him with a pre-planned restaurant. Since we’ll be there for over a week, I’ll have him decide the day I "reveal" where we are going, so we can cancel the rest of the reservations well in advance without being inconsiderate towards other patrons. This way, if dinner is not great, the responsibility of picking a restaurant is not on me but on him… Whether he wants something more “stuffy”, such as Bice, or something totally casual – the choice is his! You see, we are going to Discovery Cove that day so I wanted a nice relaxing meal near by, without having to go somewhere far. We’ ve been to Tchoup Chop several times (which would be perfect since it’s right there!) but I wanted something we’ve never tried before…. What is Margaritaville like? I can’t quite get a feel for it from looking at their website. Do they play loud music?

I also wanted to mention about Bistro. This was purely our opinion; I’ve read multiple reviews where people raved about their meal at BdP. It’s hard to rate a restaurant because we are all so different with such different tastes…. May be you should try it.. It’s just…I felt it was not what was advertised. On most pictures I’ve seen, tables were nicely spaced out; however, in actuality, most of them are within few feet from each other. The entire restaurant was practically empty but they put a young child right next to us: she’d come up to our table and just stare at us eat; she then decided to practice for American Idol and started singing loudly right by our table… Soooo, needless to say the romance struggled to survive (on top of not so good food). I dunno… may be that was part of our dissatisfaction (by the way, nothing against the child– just her parents ).