Praying Colonel
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2004
Cast of characters:
Me--44 y/o guy whose Dad was a butcher, instilling a love for a big hunk of meat on a grill every now and then.
DW--Raised in the country, so loves her veggies, the fresher the better--doesn't love beef as much as her husband.
DS16--Now 6-1, 230, can eat just about anything, anytime, except for 1 thing: mushrooms.
DNeph12--4-10, 75 lbs.--loves to eat but just can't eat much--yet.
Day 1--ABC Commissary and L'Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante
We're in a distinct minority. Our family likes the ABC Commissary at MGM. Hopefully that doesn't cause you to immediately discredit these dining reviews.
We stopped in around 11:30 a.m. during our Sunday 8/25 visit to MGM. As we'd experienced in the past, the restaurant was clean, cool and not very crowded. The nice lady running the register was from a town about 30 minutes away from where I grew up, so we talked for a minute about hometown stuff. The crowd was low, so we had time to share.
We like the variety of items you can order here. I ordered the Cuban sandwich, but subbed fries for the plantain chips. (I lived in the Caribbean for 3 years and always found plantains to taste very bland.)
^(Forgive the image quality on these Day 1 pics. Our camera fried and these are taken with a phone camera.)
Thin slices of tender ham and swiss cheese were combined with pickles and mustard on a crusty bun and then grilled on both sides. The sandwich was hot off the grill and everything was still hot. The buttery crispness of the outside of the bun goes very well with the gooey inside. Now that Tusker House is closed for CS (boo!), this is my favorite CS non-burger sandwich in WDW. The fries were your standard WDW fries, which IMHO is a good thing: WDW does fries very well, and these were crispy and warm.
DW and DNeph got the special cheeseburger with black bean salad.
I wish ABC Commissary had a fixins bar like Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bills. But the lettuce and tomato they put on the burger was fresh, and the burger was hot off the grill. DW and DNeph both liked their meals, but as we'd find would be the case throughout the week, DNeph's still a little guy and could only eat about a third of his meal.
DS got the fish and chips.
Battered fish served with your basic WDW fries. The fish tasted like the fish at Columbia Harbor House, a batter similar to what you'll get at a Captain D's. It was also very hot, as if it came right out of the fryer.
Dessert here is sugar-free strawberry parfait, or chocolate mousse. We all got the mousse.
It's a thick pudding on top of a chocolate syrup that has little crunchy chocolate things in it. Very rich, very chocolatey. There's not much there, but the richness of the flavor is still very satisfying. Very good for a CS dessert.
What do we like in a WDW CS restaurant? Food that's supposed to be hot being hot, food that's supposed to be fresh being fresh, a decent variety from which to choose, and efficient service so we can get in and get back out touring. ABC Commissary delivers.
That evening we were supposed to eat at Teppanyaki, but we got knocked out of that due to the refurb being extended. Our next choices (LeCellier, Coral Reef and Chefs de France) were unavailable at a time that worked for us. So we stewed over a 5th choice and decided to try Alfredo's, mainly because it would be leaving soon and we hadn't tried it yet. An added bonus of VIP viewing for Illuminations sealed the deal for us.
We checked in a few minutes early for our 7:00 ADR's and were told it would be a few minutes. The lobby was packed (probably due to the rain outside), so we weren't optimistic. But at 7:05 our name was called and we were taken to our table in the main dining room. Our server was gracious, took the time to explain menu options to us and was very efficient throughout the meal.
She brought bread with basic olive oil to start the meal.
^(Funny how Alfredo's can provide bread with their meals but Mama Melrose's charges extra, huh?)
I love just plain, extra virgin olive oil. This was the real thing, and went so well with the warm, crusty bread that it didn't need any of the spices served with the bread and oil at other restaurants. It was a great start to our meal.
For appetizers, DW ordered Alfredo's Famous Caesar Salad
while DS and DNeph ordered the lobster bisque
and I had to try an appetizer portion of Fettucine Alfredo.
DW liked her salad fine. She thought it had a little too much smoked bacon on it, but she wasn't in the mood for meat that evening. She liked the wafer crouton that was served with it. The dressing tasted house-made and was very creamy with a garlic taste to it.
DNeph didn't like his bisque. He was expecting more of a cream base, and this was tomatoey. He offered some of it to me, and I liked it very much. A creamy, tomato base with tastes of seafood throughout. DS liked his, too.
My Fettucine Alfredo: I never knew what Alfredo really was, I guess. I'd always had this milky stuff sold in a jar at Kroger. This was different, and incredibly good. It was more of a buttery taste with parmesan cheese melted into it. Not the creamy taste I'd always had. It was a glorious appetizer. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat Alfredo sauce from anyone else ever again. This was that good.
For our entrees, DW and DS had the Fettuccine Alla Vodka Con Gamberoni
while DNeph had the Salsicce E Fagioli All'Uccelletto, except served with Ziti instead of white beans
while I had the Arrosto Di Vitello Al Forno.
The Fettucine dish was cooked shrimp served on a bed of fettucine with a tomato and cream vodka sauce. This wasn't a big hit with DW or DS. DW just didn't like the sauce very much, and thought it was lukewarm. DS liked the tastes, but couldn't get past having to cut the tails off the shrimp. I had a taste and liked it fine, but also thought it was a little plain-tasting. Not especially flavorful.
DNeph liked his dish very much, but could only eat 2 of the sausage links and about 1/4 of the pasta. He offered his ol' uncle a taste, and it was very good. The sausage was warm and had a very spicy taste--you could definitely taste the fennel. It went very well with the ziti and the tomato sauce. This sauce was bursting with tomato flavor and spices and had a chunky texture. This all went very well together.
Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was getting when I ordered the veal roast. I certainly wasn't expecting what I got: slices of roasted veal with roasted potatoes, a roasted carrot and green beans cooked al dente, covered in a brown gravy. It didn't look like what I traditionally think of as Italian food: it looked more like what we might have in our house for Sunday dinner. But was it good! The veal was fork-tender and went so well with the roasted potatoes, which were roasted with rosemary and other spices. The carrot was roasted plain, but went well with the other tastes and textures. I don't care for my green beans al dente (I'm a southern boy, so prefer them cooked mushy with bacon grease and onions ), but it was good, too.
For dessert, DW had tiramisu
while DS and DNeph had a chocolate cake (name escapes me now, sorry)
and I had the cannoli.
DW is a big tiramisu fan, and she liked her dessert very much. The cake was spongy and fresh, the whipped cream tasted house-made and the cocoa powder sprinkled around it added a little extra that my chocolate-loving wife appreciated.
DS and DNeph liked their cake, too. The white chocolate garnish was a nice touch, as was the raspberry on top.
Again, I had a revelation. I'd never had a cannoli before. I didn't know what I'd been missing all this time. A cream-cheese filling with chocolate chips surrounded by a crisp, flaky pastry. Wow. I don't like fillings or icings that are too sweet. The cream cheese filling was perfect. You could really taste the cheese in it. The chocolate chips provided most of the sweetness. And the pastry was so good. This was probably my favorite dessert of the week. It left me wondering, "Where can I get cannolis in Louisville?"
Our opinions of this meal were mixed. DW enjoyed her dessert, thought her salad was OK and didn't care for her entree. DS loved everything but his entree, DNeph didn't like his appetizer but loved everything else. Me, I thought it was all wonderful and would rate this my 2nd favorite meal of the week. I wish we could have the chance to try it again, but it's gone now.
I hear it's re-opening at another location in Orlando, so maybe we'll have a chance to try it again. (Especially if the 2008 DDP changes cause us to stay and eat off-site, as I suspect they will.)
For those of you scoring at home, the cost of this meal OOP would've been $203, excluding tip. If we were on the 2008 version of the DDP, we would've had to pay about $36 for the tip and $37 for the appetizers, so our OOP cost on the 2008 DDP plan would've been $73. Add that to the $37.95 cost of the DDP for 4 people, and the 2008 cost to eat on this day would've been $224.80, or $56.20 per person.
Next: Day 2--A new restaurant and a return to an old favorite
Me--44 y/o guy whose Dad was a butcher, instilling a love for a big hunk of meat on a grill every now and then.
DW--Raised in the country, so loves her veggies, the fresher the better--doesn't love beef as much as her husband.
DS16--Now 6-1, 230, can eat just about anything, anytime, except for 1 thing: mushrooms.
DNeph12--4-10, 75 lbs.--loves to eat but just can't eat much--yet.
Day 1--ABC Commissary and L'Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante
We're in a distinct minority. Our family likes the ABC Commissary at MGM. Hopefully that doesn't cause you to immediately discredit these dining reviews.
We stopped in around 11:30 a.m. during our Sunday 8/25 visit to MGM. As we'd experienced in the past, the restaurant was clean, cool and not very crowded. The nice lady running the register was from a town about 30 minutes away from where I grew up, so we talked for a minute about hometown stuff. The crowd was low, so we had time to share.
We like the variety of items you can order here. I ordered the Cuban sandwich, but subbed fries for the plantain chips. (I lived in the Caribbean for 3 years and always found plantains to taste very bland.)
^(Forgive the image quality on these Day 1 pics. Our camera fried and these are taken with a phone camera.)
Thin slices of tender ham and swiss cheese were combined with pickles and mustard on a crusty bun and then grilled on both sides. The sandwich was hot off the grill and everything was still hot. The buttery crispness of the outside of the bun goes very well with the gooey inside. Now that Tusker House is closed for CS (boo!), this is my favorite CS non-burger sandwich in WDW. The fries were your standard WDW fries, which IMHO is a good thing: WDW does fries very well, and these were crispy and warm.
DW and DNeph got the special cheeseburger with black bean salad.
I wish ABC Commissary had a fixins bar like Cosmic Rays and Pecos Bills. But the lettuce and tomato they put on the burger was fresh, and the burger was hot off the grill. DW and DNeph both liked their meals, but as we'd find would be the case throughout the week, DNeph's still a little guy and could only eat about a third of his meal.
DS got the fish and chips.
Battered fish served with your basic WDW fries. The fish tasted like the fish at Columbia Harbor House, a batter similar to what you'll get at a Captain D's. It was also very hot, as if it came right out of the fryer.
Dessert here is sugar-free strawberry parfait, or chocolate mousse. We all got the mousse.
It's a thick pudding on top of a chocolate syrup that has little crunchy chocolate things in it. Very rich, very chocolatey. There's not much there, but the richness of the flavor is still very satisfying. Very good for a CS dessert.
What do we like in a WDW CS restaurant? Food that's supposed to be hot being hot, food that's supposed to be fresh being fresh, a decent variety from which to choose, and efficient service so we can get in and get back out touring. ABC Commissary delivers.
That evening we were supposed to eat at Teppanyaki, but we got knocked out of that due to the refurb being extended. Our next choices (LeCellier, Coral Reef and Chefs de France) were unavailable at a time that worked for us. So we stewed over a 5th choice and decided to try Alfredo's, mainly because it would be leaving soon and we hadn't tried it yet. An added bonus of VIP viewing for Illuminations sealed the deal for us.
We checked in a few minutes early for our 7:00 ADR's and were told it would be a few minutes. The lobby was packed (probably due to the rain outside), so we weren't optimistic. But at 7:05 our name was called and we were taken to our table in the main dining room. Our server was gracious, took the time to explain menu options to us and was very efficient throughout the meal.
She brought bread with basic olive oil to start the meal.
^(Funny how Alfredo's can provide bread with their meals but Mama Melrose's charges extra, huh?)
I love just plain, extra virgin olive oil. This was the real thing, and went so well with the warm, crusty bread that it didn't need any of the spices served with the bread and oil at other restaurants. It was a great start to our meal.
For appetizers, DW ordered Alfredo's Famous Caesar Salad
while DS and DNeph ordered the lobster bisque
and I had to try an appetizer portion of Fettucine Alfredo.
DW liked her salad fine. She thought it had a little too much smoked bacon on it, but she wasn't in the mood for meat that evening. She liked the wafer crouton that was served with it. The dressing tasted house-made and was very creamy with a garlic taste to it.
DNeph didn't like his bisque. He was expecting more of a cream base, and this was tomatoey. He offered some of it to me, and I liked it very much. A creamy, tomato base with tastes of seafood throughout. DS liked his, too.
My Fettucine Alfredo: I never knew what Alfredo really was, I guess. I'd always had this milky stuff sold in a jar at Kroger. This was different, and incredibly good. It was more of a buttery taste with parmesan cheese melted into it. Not the creamy taste I'd always had. It was a glorious appetizer. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat Alfredo sauce from anyone else ever again. This was that good.
For our entrees, DW and DS had the Fettuccine Alla Vodka Con Gamberoni
while DNeph had the Salsicce E Fagioli All'Uccelletto, except served with Ziti instead of white beans
while I had the Arrosto Di Vitello Al Forno.
The Fettucine dish was cooked shrimp served on a bed of fettucine with a tomato and cream vodka sauce. This wasn't a big hit with DW or DS. DW just didn't like the sauce very much, and thought it was lukewarm. DS liked the tastes, but couldn't get past having to cut the tails off the shrimp. I had a taste and liked it fine, but also thought it was a little plain-tasting. Not especially flavorful.
DNeph liked his dish very much, but could only eat 2 of the sausage links and about 1/4 of the pasta. He offered his ol' uncle a taste, and it was very good. The sausage was warm and had a very spicy taste--you could definitely taste the fennel. It went very well with the ziti and the tomato sauce. This sauce was bursting with tomato flavor and spices and had a chunky texture. This all went very well together.
Honestly, I wasn't sure what I was getting when I ordered the veal roast. I certainly wasn't expecting what I got: slices of roasted veal with roasted potatoes, a roasted carrot and green beans cooked al dente, covered in a brown gravy. It didn't look like what I traditionally think of as Italian food: it looked more like what we might have in our house for Sunday dinner. But was it good! The veal was fork-tender and went so well with the roasted potatoes, which were roasted with rosemary and other spices. The carrot was roasted plain, but went well with the other tastes and textures. I don't care for my green beans al dente (I'm a southern boy, so prefer them cooked mushy with bacon grease and onions
), but it was good, too.For dessert, DW had tiramisu
while DS and DNeph had a chocolate cake (name escapes me now, sorry)
and I had the cannoli.
DW is a big tiramisu fan, and she liked her dessert very much. The cake was spongy and fresh, the whipped cream tasted house-made and the cocoa powder sprinkled around it added a little extra that my chocolate-loving wife appreciated.
DS and DNeph liked their cake, too. The white chocolate garnish was a nice touch, as was the raspberry on top.
Again, I had a revelation. I'd never had a cannoli before. I didn't know what I'd been missing all this time. A cream-cheese filling with chocolate chips surrounded by a crisp, flaky pastry. Wow. I don't like fillings or icings that are too sweet. The cream cheese filling was perfect. You could really taste the cheese in it. The chocolate chips provided most of the sweetness. And the pastry was so good. This was probably my favorite dessert of the week. It left me wondering, "Where can I get cannolis in Louisville?"
Our opinions of this meal were mixed. DW enjoyed her dessert, thought her salad was OK and didn't care for her entree. DS loved everything but his entree, DNeph didn't like his appetizer but loved everything else. Me, I thought it was all wonderful and would rate this my 2nd favorite meal of the week. I wish we could have the chance to try it again, but it's gone now.
I hear it's re-opening at another location in Orlando, so maybe we'll have a chance to try it again. (Especially if the 2008 DDP changes cause us to stay and eat off-site, as I suspect they will.)For those of you scoring at home, the cost of this meal OOP would've been $203, excluding tip. If we were on the 2008 version of the DDP, we would've had to pay about $36 for the tip and $37 for the appetizers, so our OOP cost on the 2008 DDP plan would've been $73. Add that to the $37.95 cost of the DDP for 4 people, and the 2008 cost to eat on this day would've been $224.80, or $56.20 per person.
Next: Day 2--A new restaurant and a return to an old favorite
