The WAVE of disappointment (and nausea)

[starbox]

After reading the Dis review of the wave and looking at the menu - this was one meal I was really looking forward to. I love in-season, local ingredients that are combined in interesting ways - and prefer a little more unusual dining. Sadly - this was the worst dining experience I have ever had at Disney. Stay away from this restaurant!!!!!

We had reservations for lunch last Saturday 6/19. Lunch was at 1:00 and the restaurant was not crowded at all - maybe 10-15 occupied tables.

Atmosphere: The entrance and "lobby area" are very pretty. Unfortunately, the dining room itself looks like something from a circa. 1985 Marriott conference room.

Food:
DH ordered the Angus Burger cooked well-done and papaya slaw. I ordered the herb-crusted chicken salad with local greens, apples, and polenta croutons. I asked for the dressing on the side so that I could control the level of dressing. Based on the reviews - I knew that the salad was said to be over-priced, but I did not mind the lack of value because it sounded like it would be delicious.

We shared a dessert (the trio that included the lemon cornbread) - and I will say that the desserts are very well-executed and the shade-grown coffee is quite good.

When our food arrived DH's burger was so rare it was bleeding. I think it would have moo-ed if it could.

My salad was actually inedible. It tasted like they had dumped an entire container of salt on the chicken. I tried to eat a few bites and just could not do it. I've never tasted anything so nasty - and I figured it had to have been a mistake - like maybe a gallon of salt fell in the chicken? (which should have been caught before it was sent off).

Sadly, our waitress did not come to check on us at all. We sat with our uneaten food in front of us until DH finally flagged down a manager. She was not apologetic at all - but offered to re-cook our food.

So - our food comes back. DH's burger is cooked - but they've given him the potatoes and not papaya slaw. My salad comes back, the chicken is better and I can actually taste the chicken - but they've drenched the whole thing in dressing instead of putting it on the side. The salad is really just not very good - it tastes like an uninspired Wendy's Southwestern salad with 10X as strong chili powder and salt that cancels out any interesting flavors from the apples and greens.

Our waitress was gave the barest minimum level service.

All in all - this was one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had anywhere.

On a positive note - we gave Mama Melroses, Beaches and Cream, Narcosses and Flying Fish first tries this trip and had excellent meals all around.

 

[KatMark]

After reading the Dis review of the wave and looking at the menu - this was one meal I was really looking forward to. I love in-season, local ingredients that are combined in interesting ways - and prefer a little more unusual dining. Sadly - this was the worst dining experience I have ever had at Disney. Stay away from this restaurant!!!!!

We had reservations for lunch last Saturday 6/19. Lunch was at 1:00 and the restaurant was not crowded at all - maybe 10-15 occupied tables.

Atmosphere: The entrance and "lobby area" are very pretty. Unfortunately, the dining room itself looks like something from a circa. 1985 Marriott conference room.

Food:
DH ordered the Angus Burger cooked well-done and papaya slaw. I ordered the herb-crusted chicken salad with local greens, apples, and polenta croutons. I asked for the dressing on the side so that I could control the level of dressing. Based on the reviews - I knew that the salad was said to be over-priced, but I did not mind the lack of value because it sounded like it would be delicious.

We shared a dessert (the trio that included the lemon cornbread) - and I will say that the desserts are very well-executed and the shade-grown coffee is quite good.

When our food arrived DH's burger was so rare it was bleeding. I think it would have moo-ed if it could.

My salad was actually inedible. It tasted like they had dumped an entire container of salt on the chicken. I tried to eat a few bites and just could not do it. I've never tasted anything so nasty - and I figured it had to have been a mistake - like maybe a gallon of salt fell in the chicken? (which should have been caught before it was sent off).

Sadly, our waitress did not come to check on us at all. We sat with our uneaten food in front of us until DH finally flagged down a manager. She was not apologetic at all - but offered to re-cook our food.

So - our food comes back. DH's burger is cooked - but they've given him the potatoes and not papaya slaw. My salad comes back, the chicken is better and I can actually taste the chicken - but they've drenched the whole thing in dressing instead of putting it on the side. The salad is really just not very good - it tastes like an uninspired Wendy's Southwestern salad with 10X as strong chili powder and salt that cancels out any interesting flavors from the apples and greens.

Our waitress was gave the barest minimum level service.

All in all - this was one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had anywhere.

On a positive note - we gave Mama Melroses, Beaches and Cream, Narcosses and Flying Fish first tries this trip and had excellent meals all around.

Sorry you did not enjoy the Wave. We thought of trying it, but the menu did not do it for us. Glad to hear you liked Mama Melrose--we go every year.

 

[UKDEB]

We've got a reservation for lunch in November. We want to give it a try because it's new more than anything else. I can't say this review particularly surprises me: I haven't really been inspired by anything I've read thus far. The dinner menu looks better than the lunch one, but, as I said, we're doing it more out of curiosity than because we expect a stellar experience. I don't mind hopping over there for lunch on a MK day, but nothing I've heard encourages me to devote a dinner slot to this place.

 

[DisneyTabby]

We had a ressie for 8-23. I'm so happy I cancelled it, even before I read your review.

 

[septbaby]

It is not uncommon for new restaurants to trip up early in the game. Sorry they "practiced" on you. I'd expect them to only get better and up to Disney quality in food and service.

 

[JessicaFaye508]

We were going to try this place. Now I'm glad they didn't have any open reservations

 

[MickeyNicki]

Sorry you did not enjoy the Wave. We thought of trying it, but the menu did not do it for us. Glad to hear you liked Mama Melrose--we go every year.

Ditto, I think the exact same thing!

 

[thegrimdwarf]

Sounds terrible!! Thanks for the review. This is the ONLY non-character meal ADR we have for our October trip, and I was on the fence about keeping it. Pretty much off the fence now, lol.

 

[Disneydonnam]

Sorry your experience was so bad. Thank you for the review now I don't feel bad not making a reservation there

 

[LindyN]

Last month (mid June) DS, DD and I had a fabulous meal at The Wave.

I ordered crab cakes, which were a bit pricey but quite good.

DS had the beef tenderloin which was a great cut of meat, prepared exactly as ordered, which was medium well. They butterflied the beef to get it cooked properly, which is what they are supposed to do (they also told us it would be butterflied.)

DD had the pork tenderloin with the funky rice--which she loved. I was surprised she ate everything as the portions were generous.

My entree was the lamb shank, which was yummy. The lentil stew was not really a stew--think of a wet rice consistency. I loved it. I've had lamb shanks at Jiko and Akershus too--this one was quite good. (Hard to beat the lamb at Jiko and I don't compare the two.)

For dessert DS had the crunchy thing, which he gobbled up. DD had the sherbet--the basil one was strange but think of it as a palate cleanser. It was not "dessert-y" at all.

Service was very good with a chatty server answering all of my questions about the Concourse changeover and menus at The Wave. I also liked the decor--I thought it was chic and fit well with the "contemporary" feel of the resort. We had a leisurely meal, well paced, with plenty of fresh bread while we were waiting for the meals.

Sorry to hear they were off the mark for your meal. I've actually had two dreadful meals at LeCellier with the moo-ing burger with oily cheese and inedible chicken caesar salad which had to go back to the kitchen.

I will go back to The Wave; it was a nice relaxing meal.

 

[Pumbaa_]

Thank you for sharing your review. I am going to move this over to the Review board as it is a better fit there (and i know folks are looking for wave reviews)

I think the most upsetting part of the meal is the lack of service. They screwed up, they had a second opportunity to get it right and they failed miserably!!

That manager should have been back and checked on you after having to flag him down originally.

Hope the rest of your dining experiences were far better than this one!

 

[starbox]

Thank you for sharing your review. I am going to move this over to the Review board as it is a better fit there (and i know folks are looking for wave reviews)

I think the most upsetting part of the meal is the lack of service. They screwed up, they had a second opportunity to get it right and they failed miserably!!

ITA - I spent my college years waiting tables at various restaurants and I know that stuff happens and - especially with a new restaurant - there are kinks to be worked out.

BUT - a good server and manager should have been checking to make sure that everything was prepared properly and that guests were pleased. Food coming out wrong once happens. Food coming out wrong twice, and without an apology for the kitchen's original mistake - that's negligent management.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Sorry you didn't enjoy going there.

 

[mrsturtle]

sorry about your experience and thanks for the warning.

 

[LaNina72]

Thanks for the review. We had ADR's at The Wave but decided to cancel because family was visiting the parks with us and we could not adjust the ADR number. After reading your post I don't feel so bad....

 

[World Bouncer]

Thanks for the input we "were" thinking about going, but will skip it for this trip.

 

[buckeyebill1995]

Sorry you didn't enjoy the Wave! We were just there and had a good experience. I think, however, the service makes a huge difference, though. We had a bad experience at the Y&Y and coincidentally, the service was horrible. At the Wave, the food was pretty good, not fantastic, but we had a good server which threw it into the positives for us.

You were right on about the decor! The podcast referred to it as looking like it came out of an Ikea catalog!