MousetersInc
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2018
- Messages
- 301
I thought I'd drop off my two cent reviews of the dining experiences we had last week. Not being a Disney blogger, we didn't try lots of dishes, so I can only speak to what we tried, but could be helpful.
#1: The surprise standout was Skipper Canteen. Not surprise, really, as we knew it's celebrated and were looking forward to it. We asked to wait for the "butterfly booth" and waited maybe 15' for it. I'm so glad we did; not only is it gorgeous and dramatic, it offered an oasis of privacy and seclusion in the middle of a gridlocked Magic Kingdom. And you get to walk through the "hidden passage" bookcases. It would have been a completely different dining experience in the main room.
My wife had the "winner" dish with the "Sustainable fish"—not the whole roasted fish; this was a fish piece in some pearl couscous and curried broth. It was easily the second most delicious entree we had on the trip, second only to my Cioppino at Hollywood Brown Derby (at that might be a matter of opinion). My "seafood stew," with the mussels & octopus etc, was awesome, but the fish was even better. On the other hand, my daughter was disappointed with her kids' chicken noodle soup; she said the chicken was "dry" and the broth wasn't good. They gave her a mac & cheese instead. They have a cool kids' dessert, though, in the "volcano": a little chocolate cake with some red "lava" icing and a lacy scribble of poured threads of red hard candy sticking out the top.
#2: This shouldn't surprise anybody who's experienced it, but Be Our Guest for breakfast was disenchanting. Don't get me wrong, all the imagineering is beautiful. If it's worth the cost of the meal to see the ballroom and the snowstorm and the music-box-sculpture and the rose and the transforming portrait, then, well (forgive me), be my guest. But it's just sad, because the point of all these things is atmosphere, and they ruin this by funneling a million people through. It's basically a very pretty school cafeteria—crowded, deafening, and rushed. We also came to the conclusion that the eggs and sausage were way better at Roaring Fork, at half the price. BoG eggs were definitely powdered. "Fruit cup" was all melon with one lonely grape. Mind you, lunch & dinner might be better food—but unless they're only filling half the capacity it will still be noisy and crowded.
#3: I was surprised to be disappointed by Columbia Harbor House. I'd heard the upstairs mentioned often as a quiet, secluded refuge, "often deserted," and instead we were in full "stare at them until they vacate a table" mode. Even mobile order pickup was a tense scene and items were missed from our order. The salmon, which was the main reason we'd come, was ok, but on the dry and overdone side, rather than juicy and perfectly-under as we'd hoped. I tried the lobster roll, and while I'm no Maine native and no expert on lobster rolls, the roll was stale-ish and the filling was kinda blah. Mind you, maybe all of this falls under "it's good for counter service, especially in MK," and we were on a very high-traffic weekend, so maybe the tone is saner and the food better on a lower-traffic day.
#4: Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow White: I went into this without a chip on my shoulder, not having been to Artist Point's former incarnation. It's interesting to compare this meal to others. Compared to Jiko or California Grill the food wasn't that good—but then this isn't Signature dining. Compared to Cinderella's Royal Table the food was better, and the character meetings I found more engaging (nothing beats the Evil Queen). Plus the "storybook" narrative structure of the multi-course meal is a more compelling dining experience. But then CRT has more princesses—it's got the star power. And however pretty the lights in the "trees" are for Snow White, ain't nothin but a CRT reservation that gets you into that castle.
At both Artist Point and CRT I felt a little rushed. This could be partly a factor of the time that character meetings take away from the meal. There was a quality of "Here are your drinks now here's Dopey now here are your appetizers now here's Snow White now here's your entree now here's Grumpy now here's your dessert now here's the Evil Queen are you done with that?" If you hop up from your meal to take pictures of your kids with characters four times it's going to take away from the eating time.
I have to give a particular recommendation to the "Smoking Mirror" cocktail. Not only is the presentation impressive, with the rosemary smoke boiling from the snifter, but it's dang delicious. If, like me, your favorite flavor is smoke, then this has got it (and I was pleased to find it lingered in the glass throughout the meal), and the tart/sweet berry flavor is delicious. My wife's "Poisoned Apple" was also a winner.
#5: Jiko was wonderful, though if we're comparing beef-tenderloin-to-beef-tenderloin, California Grill's was better. As expected, the bread-and-dip sampler "Taste of Africa" was the standout of the meal.
Although the kids' menu desserts were inventive, my daughter was under-impressed with the worms-and-dirt cup, and the ruling was that CG's ice-cream-and-cookies was better. Jiko definitely had the advantage of being a quiet, restful, not rushed oasis in a crazy AK day, where CG is bustling and energetic.
#6: As hinted above, for me anyway, the Cioppino at Hollywood Brown Derby was the best dang meal of the trip. This is more a review of that one dish than of the restaurant, but in the midst of such a food desert that is HS, the restaurant is probably a good choice for anything. Yes it's Signature, and yes it's a $46 dish, but it features a scallop the size of a frickin' hockey puck! and it was perfectly cooked and tender.
#1: The surprise standout was Skipper Canteen. Not surprise, really, as we knew it's celebrated and were looking forward to it. We asked to wait for the "butterfly booth" and waited maybe 15' for it. I'm so glad we did; not only is it gorgeous and dramatic, it offered an oasis of privacy and seclusion in the middle of a gridlocked Magic Kingdom. And you get to walk through the "hidden passage" bookcases. It would have been a completely different dining experience in the main room.
My wife had the "winner" dish with the "Sustainable fish"—not the whole roasted fish; this was a fish piece in some pearl couscous and curried broth. It was easily the second most delicious entree we had on the trip, second only to my Cioppino at Hollywood Brown Derby (at that might be a matter of opinion). My "seafood stew," with the mussels & octopus etc, was awesome, but the fish was even better. On the other hand, my daughter was disappointed with her kids' chicken noodle soup; she said the chicken was "dry" and the broth wasn't good. They gave her a mac & cheese instead. They have a cool kids' dessert, though, in the "volcano": a little chocolate cake with some red "lava" icing and a lacy scribble of poured threads of red hard candy sticking out the top.
#2: This shouldn't surprise anybody who's experienced it, but Be Our Guest for breakfast was disenchanting. Don't get me wrong, all the imagineering is beautiful. If it's worth the cost of the meal to see the ballroom and the snowstorm and the music-box-sculpture and the rose and the transforming portrait, then, well (forgive me), be my guest. But it's just sad, because the point of all these things is atmosphere, and they ruin this by funneling a million people through. It's basically a very pretty school cafeteria—crowded, deafening, and rushed. We also came to the conclusion that the eggs and sausage were way better at Roaring Fork, at half the price. BoG eggs were definitely powdered. "Fruit cup" was all melon with one lonely grape. Mind you, lunch & dinner might be better food—but unless they're only filling half the capacity it will still be noisy and crowded.
#3: I was surprised to be disappointed by Columbia Harbor House. I'd heard the upstairs mentioned often as a quiet, secluded refuge, "often deserted," and instead we were in full "stare at them until they vacate a table" mode. Even mobile order pickup was a tense scene and items were missed from our order. The salmon, which was the main reason we'd come, was ok, but on the dry and overdone side, rather than juicy and perfectly-under as we'd hoped. I tried the lobster roll, and while I'm no Maine native and no expert on lobster rolls, the roll was stale-ish and the filling was kinda blah. Mind you, maybe all of this falls under "it's good for counter service, especially in MK," and we were on a very high-traffic weekend, so maybe the tone is saner and the food better on a lower-traffic day.
#4: Storybook Dining at Artist Point with Snow White: I went into this without a chip on my shoulder, not having been to Artist Point's former incarnation. It's interesting to compare this meal to others. Compared to Jiko or California Grill the food wasn't that good—but then this isn't Signature dining. Compared to Cinderella's Royal Table the food was better, and the character meetings I found more engaging (nothing beats the Evil Queen). Plus the "storybook" narrative structure of the multi-course meal is a more compelling dining experience. But then CRT has more princesses—it's got the star power. And however pretty the lights in the "trees" are for Snow White, ain't nothin but a CRT reservation that gets you into that castle.
At both Artist Point and CRT I felt a little rushed. This could be partly a factor of the time that character meetings take away from the meal. There was a quality of "Here are your drinks now here's Dopey now here are your appetizers now here's Snow White now here's your entree now here's Grumpy now here's your dessert now here's the Evil Queen are you done with that?" If you hop up from your meal to take pictures of your kids with characters four times it's going to take away from the eating time.
I have to give a particular recommendation to the "Smoking Mirror" cocktail. Not only is the presentation impressive, with the rosemary smoke boiling from the snifter, but it's dang delicious. If, like me, your favorite flavor is smoke, then this has got it (and I was pleased to find it lingered in the glass throughout the meal), and the tart/sweet berry flavor is delicious. My wife's "Poisoned Apple" was also a winner.
#5: Jiko was wonderful, though if we're comparing beef-tenderloin-to-beef-tenderloin, California Grill's was better. As expected, the bread-and-dip sampler "Taste of Africa" was the standout of the meal.
Although the kids' menu desserts were inventive, my daughter was under-impressed with the worms-and-dirt cup, and the ruling was that CG's ice-cream-and-cookies was better. Jiko definitely had the advantage of being a quiet, restful, not rushed oasis in a crazy AK day, where CG is bustling and energetic.
#6: As hinted above, for me anyway, the Cioppino at Hollywood Brown Derby was the best dang meal of the trip. This is more a review of that one dish than of the restaurant, but in the midst of such a food desert that is HS, the restaurant is probably a good choice for anything. Yes it's Signature, and yes it's a $46 dish, but it features a scallop the size of a frickin' hockey puck! and it was perfectly cooked and tender.
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. Maybe we'll hit Skipper this trip if we can do a walk up or grab a cancellation
. 
