The good, the bad and the Meh.... Deluxe dining in September.

[watkinsme]

I am going to be doing our review of our 8 night Disney stay with Deluxe dining. I have photos of our sit-down, non-buffet meals and I will get them posted as well.

First up....Where did we eat?

Sept 20 - Rainforest Cafe - lunch (OOP)
Sept 20 - Cape May Cafe (OOP)
Sept 21 - Le Cellier - lunch
Sept 21 - Cali grill - dinner
Sept 22 - CRT - breakfast
Sept 22 - Narcoossee - dinner
Sept 23 - Tusker house - lunch
Sept 23 - Jiko - dinner
Sept 24 - Play and Dine - breakfast
Sept 24 - Crystal Palace dinner
Sept 25 - Crystal Palace breakfast
Sept 25 - BOG lunch (OOP)
Sept 25 - 1900 Park Fare - dinner
Sept 26 - Chef Mickey's - breakfast
Sept 26 - Akerhaus - dinner
Sept 27 - Sci Fi - lunch
Sept 27 - HBD - dinner
Sept 28 - Ohana - breakfast
Sept 28 - Ohana - dinner
Sept 29 - 1900 Park Fare - lunch
Sept 29 - T-rex lunch

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[tybrilinja]

I'm in. Looks like a lot of good places to eat, waiting to see how you liked them!

 

[watkinsme]

First up.... Rainforest cafe.

We rode the boat from POR to DTD for lunch and had planned on eating at EOS. However our 7 year old saw RFC and begged to eat lunch there - so we decided to see if we could get a seat. We had a 5 minute wait and got a quick table. Dh and I shared nachos and our 3 kids split 2 kids pizzas. I didn't get any photos. Honestly we were so hungry that we had ate half before we realized. Our server was fab, the nachos were as expected (they even added extra cheese on request with no charge) and they were just enough to tide us over till dinner.

Overall - We have visited several of the RFC chains throughout the years (two in Cali, one in MN, one in Tx and both at WDW) we like it enough to go back year after year. Our waiter was awesome, service was quick and the atmosphere is great.

 

[watkinsme]

We debated for months on whether to keep this ADR or not. I usually go because I LOVE crab legs. DH likes to go because he LOVES the oreo bon bon. Since the oreo bon bon is no longer on the menu we went back and forth as to if we wanted to go, especially since it was an out of pocket meal for us. In the end we decided to go. Surprisingly for me I think I ate one "cluster" of crab legs. The reason? THE MUSSELS! OMG Two trips prior I tried some and they were horribly gritty, so bad in fact that last trip I didn't even try any, but this trip - they were cooked in a tomato broth (Tomato Sambuca Broth) and they smelled so delicious. So I got 2. They were so delicious. Not over cooked, had excellent flavor and no grit....not to mention they were much easier to eat than the crab legs. So went back and ate several (aka lots) more. I even managed to get my 7 year old daughter to try them and SHE loved them - she ate a dozen or so herself. My 8 year old does't care for tomato-ish stuff so he ended up trying the clams and ate a few of those. DH said he enjoyed the Paella, but he said it wasn't the best he's ever had. The other items...beef carving, kids foods, etc were good, but nothing compared to those delicious mussels. The deserts were good. I missed the bon bon, but trust me I made up with other things...like the boston cream mini cake (yum) the strawberry shortcake (DD3's favorite) the flourless choc cake (DD7 and DS's favorite) and of course DH loved the lemon cheesecake.

As for the service - it was Meh We saw her twice I think. Our drinks were empty most of the time, she seemed to hang out a lot at the server station. I had to grab another waitress to clear our table twice.

Overall - I was glad we didn't cancel this ADR. Service was lacking, but the food was filling and delicious!

 

[watkinsme]

Our first official day of Deluxe dining....where do we kick off the fun at??? Le Cellier of course!

We were starving upon arrival and were quickly seated. Our waiter started off with the explanation of the different territories yada yada - I wasnt' really listening...we had been there a few times already and my mouth was so hungry for some pretzel bread. We asked our waiter if we could just have pretzel bread ( he laughed and said absolutely)

I chose the Seared Scallops with Celeriac, Butternut-Apple Chutney and Bacon Vinaigrette. It was good except I wasn't a big fan of the cornmeal coating on the scallops....however it was cooked perfectly, and the bacon vinaigrette added a bit of sweetness that just took each bite to another level.

DH had the Kurobuta Pork Belly
Braised Pork Belly, Apple Butter, Jicama, Lucky Sorrel, Maple Gastrique. I was allowed to have a taste of his It was top-knotch too. I noticed this trip the overall theme of the trip was pork belly...a lot of the restaurants had some form of it on the menu. LeCellier's version was exceptional. Myonly complaint was that the apple butter was a little too tart for me, but DH loved it, so I guess there was no complaints since it was his dish

Two of the kids got the cup of cheddar soup for their appetizer. rather than eat it, we all kind of used it as a dip for the bread The third child got a salad. My 7 year old is a salad lover, so whenever salad is a choice that is what she will usually get. I would say that she is a vegetarian, but if you asked her what her next favorite food is (after salad) and she will proclaim STEAK!

Speaking of Steak....

For the main course I got the mushroom filet. Now, I first want to say that I have had this before, but had the risotto replaced with mashed potatoes. Why? I am not a huge mushroom fan. In fact I don't eat them at all if I can help it. But this time I decided to venture out of my comfort zone after DH insisted that it didn't have a strong mushroom flavor. So I tried it, and I liked it. It was delicious, my steak was cooked perfect (rare) and I can safely say that I will be having it again on future trips.

Dh got the ribeye (I got this last time so I knew it was good) He really liked it, he said it was seasoned perfectly, and was cooked right, however the only problem he had was he was unable to eat it all. He tried hard, but he still left some behind

The kids all got the steak - rare - they were all cooked perfectly, and the kids ate every bite (even the 3 year old)

For dessert my 3 year old (who was celebrating her birthday) got a special dessert

I got the "No Sugar Added" Strawberry Panna Cotta
Marscarpone Panna Cotta, Strawberry, Late Harvest Reduction. I am still not sure why I chose it, but I am so glad I did. It was so light and perfect after my heavy meal. Sweet, but not too sweet. I definitely recommend it if you are looking for something different.

DH got the White Chocolate Cheesecake
Citrus Shortbread Cookie, Seasonal Berries, and Raspberry Air. I didn't get a taste of it - so that tells me he liked it. He is a huge fan of cheesecake and he said that it was a great dessert.

My other two kids got the chocolate Moose - I didn't taste it, but I caught my son licking the plate so I know he enjoyed it.

Overall - I know a lot of people say it's not worth the dining credits now that it is 2. However we had top-notch service, and our meal was perfect. This is one place I know will make the list for our next visit!

 

[RGirl]

Joining in! Your LC meal looks wonderful!