My family had the pleasure of dining at the Wave Saturday, March 7th. I had been looking forward to this because this was my first time in this restaurant and it gave me an opportunity to check out the CR's Concourse in all its revamped glory. Our reservations were for 5:35, but we arrived a little early. We were given a pager and roamed around the lobby area until we were seated. Accompanying me were my DW, DD (6), and DS (2).
Being tired and not having a fine eye for detail, my overall impression of the atmosphere is that it was nice and perfectly fit in with the Contemporary style while not being as elegant as the California Grill. There were plenty of families in there taking a break from the parks (like us!).
To start, my wife ordered the Avocado and Citrus salad, while I tried the soup of the day- an artichoke and hazelnut bisque. For children, the Wave has a three course meal, which includes an appetizer (in our case a small salad), an entree, and a dessert. Both of my kids went with the linguine with marinara for the entree.
My soup was outstanding. I cannot recall if they called it a bisque, but it was very creamy, so that is what I called it. It was incredibly smooth with just a little texture from the hazelnuts. I love artichokes, and if you do, I recommend ordering the soup. My wife, on the other hand, did not enjoy her salad. She loves avocado, which is why she ordered the salad, but the presence of overly tart grapefruit was a bit too much for her. As a side note, the bread was decent, but what I thought was cool was that the butter had a sprinkling of Hawaiian sea salt, which is a dark brown and has a slightly different flavor than kosher salt. Nice touch, in my opinion.
Before getting to the entrees, I wanted to mention the service. It was very good. Our server was at our table the right amount of times without being obtrusive. The food came from the kitchen in a timely fashion and piping hot, so the Wave did a good job there as well.
For the entree, my wife had the beef tenderloin, which was accompanied by fingerling potatoes and a little veg (cannot remember what it was) on the side. She loved the tenderloin. I tried a bite, and I agree, it was perfect. I had the lamb shank. People usually have very strong opinions about lamb- they love it or hate it. I love lamb, but I am very cautious about ordering it at restaurants because, when lamb is not cooked right, it can be very baa-aad
! I was very happy I went with it. The lamb shank fell right off the bone, and was served over a bed of bulgur wheat and lentils. It was simply wonderful. I cut off a bit for my son, who called it 'pot roast.' Then he wanted more pot roast and more pot roast. Fortunately, there was a lot of succulent lamb shank. I admit to being a big eater, and there was more than enough for me. The kids of course loved the linguine, but we all knew what they really were looking forward to was the sundae after the meal.
By the time we finished the entree, I was in no condition for dessert. The kids each got their own bowl of ice cream. On each of their plates were three bowls, one with chocolate sauce, one with chocolate chips, and one with Mickey sprinkles. The kids loved building their own sundaes, and I enjoyed watching my kids eat it.
My wife ordered a cappuccino. I wanted a coffee. Now, for full disclosure, I am a coffee guy. I enjoy coffee, so when I can, I want to get good coffee. When traveling, I will use my google search app on the iPhone to find a Starbucks or other coffee shop. I also know it can be extremely difficult to find good coffee in Disney World. I was pleased to see that The Wave has an organic coffee from a particular region of Columbia instead of Nescafe. It sounded promising, and it delivered. To me, a good dinner should always be finished with a wonderful cup of coffee, and this one did the trick.
I will sum it up by stating that, from start to finish, with one minor exception being my wife's salad, The Wave was a great place to enjoy a very nice meal in a pleasant but not formal atmosphere. I am looking forward to staying at the CR soon, and we will be back to The Wave! Big thumbs up
Being tired and not having a fine eye for detail, my overall impression of the atmosphere is that it was nice and perfectly fit in with the Contemporary style while not being as elegant as the California Grill. There were plenty of families in there taking a break from the parks (like us!).
To start, my wife ordered the Avocado and Citrus salad, while I tried the soup of the day- an artichoke and hazelnut bisque. For children, the Wave has a three course meal, which includes an appetizer (in our case a small salad), an entree, and a dessert. Both of my kids went with the linguine with marinara for the entree.
My soup was outstanding. I cannot recall if they called it a bisque, but it was very creamy, so that is what I called it. It was incredibly smooth with just a little texture from the hazelnuts. I love artichokes, and if you do, I recommend ordering the soup. My wife, on the other hand, did not enjoy her salad. She loves avocado, which is why she ordered the salad, but the presence of overly tart grapefruit was a bit too much for her. As a side note, the bread was decent, but what I thought was cool was that the butter had a sprinkling of Hawaiian sea salt, which is a dark brown and has a slightly different flavor than kosher salt. Nice touch, in my opinion.
Before getting to the entrees, I wanted to mention the service. It was very good. Our server was at our table the right amount of times without being obtrusive. The food came from the kitchen in a timely fashion and piping hot, so the Wave did a good job there as well.
For the entree, my wife had the beef tenderloin, which was accompanied by fingerling potatoes and a little veg (cannot remember what it was) on the side. She loved the tenderloin. I tried a bite, and I agree, it was perfect. I had the lamb shank. People usually have very strong opinions about lamb- they love it or hate it. I love lamb, but I am very cautious about ordering it at restaurants because, when lamb is not cooked right, it can be very baa-aad
! I was very happy I went with it. The lamb shank fell right off the bone, and was served over a bed of bulgur wheat and lentils. It was simply wonderful. I cut off a bit for my son, who called it 'pot roast.' Then he wanted more pot roast and more pot roast. Fortunately, there was a lot of succulent lamb shank. I admit to being a big eater, and there was more than enough for me. The kids of course loved the linguine, but we all knew what they really were looking forward to was the sundae after the meal.By the time we finished the entree, I was in no condition for dessert. The kids each got their own bowl of ice cream. On each of their plates were three bowls, one with chocolate sauce, one with chocolate chips, and one with Mickey sprinkles. The kids loved building their own sundaes, and I enjoyed watching my kids eat it.
My wife ordered a cappuccino. I wanted a coffee. Now, for full disclosure, I am a coffee guy. I enjoy coffee, so when I can, I want to get good coffee. When traveling, I will use my google search app on the iPhone to find a Starbucks or other coffee shop. I also know it can be extremely difficult to find good coffee in Disney World. I was pleased to see that The Wave has an organic coffee from a particular region of Columbia instead of Nescafe. It sounded promising, and it delivered. To me, a good dinner should always be finished with a wonderful cup of coffee, and this one did the trick.
I will sum it up by stating that, from start to finish, with one minor exception being my wife's salad, The Wave was a great place to enjoy a very nice meal in a pleasant but not formal atmosphere. I am looking forward to staying at the CR soon, and we will be back to The Wave! Big thumbs up
