UPDATED 2/26 Garden View Tea Room- From The Mara to Victoria & Alberts and Everything in Between

[StayAwake]

Great reviews so far! I see a few of the same dishes on your menus that I had when I dined in the Queen Victoria room in November. Isn't t just a fantastic experience??

 

[Jingersnap]

Great reviews and enjoying all the pictures!

 

[ursalita]

Enjoying your reviews so far!

 

[kastoney]

Wow your meal at V&A looks amazing so far. How wonderful they could customize a menu for you even without an allergy. Your hubby's caviar and crab looks and sounds amazing and decadent. And the lamb serving method eith the smoke is so cool. Glad the smoke actually had a purpose instead of just for show. Can't wait for more.

 

[cynditech]

Loving your pictures and descriptions - I'm drooling, LOL! That caviar looked amazing!!! I'll be waiting here for your next update

 

[MagicKingdomMommy80]

Course 4 was different for DH and I. First up for me was the Roasted Duck with Fennel and Leeks, “A L’Orange”.


I haven’t had much experience with duck but let me tell you, if this is what duck tastes like, bring it on. Very tender and juicy and even though there was some fat on the pieces, it was still melt-in-your-mouth tender. The star of the dish for me was the fennel and leeks, which made up the base for the duck. Beautifully sautéed until soft without being mush, the leeks really shined through. The fennel was subtle and didn’t over-power the mildness of the leeks. The tiny green onions were cute but didn’t add much flavor J


DH’s meal for this course was the Fennel Crusted Nantucket Scallops in a Salt Bowl.


The description of this dish was a little deceptive. I would have expected the scallops to be ON the salt bowl and to pick up some of that flavor. As it turns out, the scallops were served on a shell in the salt bowl. Still a beautiful presentation, just not flavor enhancing. DH loves scallops so this was a huge treat for him. Tiny and sweet, but he didn’t feel like they were fennel “crusted” and didn’t taste the fennel at all. He’s not a huge fan of fennel anyway and he avoided the frond so maybe that was it for the fennel? In any case, there was a citrusy sauce and an orange segment that completed the flavor profile.


For course number 5, DH and I both had the Poached Chicken Egg with Corn Foam.


This…this was my number one dish of the night. Now let me preface this by saying I never eat egg yolk. I’m an egg white only kinda gal. My husband likes his eggs nice and runny. He usually breaks his eggs open with toast and then proceeds to sop up the slimy, half-cooked yolk with the bread while I silently gag beside him. Blek! So I was skeptical about the soft poached egg in this dish. Wow! I’m now a yolk convert!

This dish was creamy, not slimy and the corn foam and corn kernels provided a nice texture that made me forget all the things I dislike about egg yolk. Again, I could have licked this plate.


We also had three bread and butter “courses” throughout the night. This was my favorite: Mmmm truffle butter.




I think there was also truffle in the bread. By the way, they only told us this after but save some of your bread for sopping. It’s encouraged and you’ll wish you did once you taste all the yummy sauces.


Next up was the Veal with Mushrooms.


This was the only dish where I couldn’t finish something on my plate (DH took care of it). From what I remember on the left was a veal “spare-ribs” on a bed of mushrooms. This was very tender and delicious. The mushrooms didn’t have a lot of flavor but they were fine. The item in the center really reminded my of a potato gratin similar to the next dish. If it was something different, I couldn’t tell. On the right was a veal tenderloin topped with veal sweetbreads. And there it is…really they tasted fine but I could get over the sweetbreads mentally so DH had to help out.

 

[MagicKingdomMommy80]

Australian Kobe-Style Beef with Potato Turnip gratin.


This dish had four components: The beef, another “spare rib”, a mini turnip, and a potato turnip gratin topped with a slice of black garlic. I don’t remember much about the flavor of this dish. After so much food, the flavors tend to blend a little together. What stood out to me was the sauce: a four-day demi-glace. This was rich and concentrated in flavor. Hearty and beefy, it stood up well to the meat. The potato-turnip gratin was very similar to the last dish, but still delicious.

Next up the cheese course.


I apologize because I don’t remember what the cheeses were! They were very good however and perfect bite size pieces. As accompaniments, there was a candied nut cluster, a type of fruit cake, dried apricots and marcona almonds. A perfect, small course to set the stage for dessert.

Now thankfully we get to have some coffee and digest a bit before dessert! This is the coolest coffee pot ever! It’s mesmerizing to watch. Best entertainment next to the “smoked” lamb.


Finally two, yes two, dessert courses.

Pear Quark Mousse


This was another beautifully presented dish. The sauce had gold shimmer in it so it sparkled on the plate. The mousse was delicate and light. The pears were topped with maple syrup drops that exploded in your mouth. There was also a candied hazelnut, gingerbread dust, and a thin wafer cookie topped with red berries.

Peruvian Chocolate Timbale with Roasted White Chocolate Gelato


I’m not sure if I was just so full at this point but this didn’t do anything special for me. I thought the chocolate timbale was a little too heavy to end the meal overall but I did enjoy the gelato. You could taste the white chocolate but it also had a nutty flavor. DH enjoyed the timbale but not the gelato. I guess we could have split this J

At the end of the night I got a beautiful long stemmed rose and a selection of “friandise” to take home, which we shared with DD the next day.

Overall a fantastic meal that I can’t wait to try again!

 

[MagicKingdomMommy80]

Great reviews so far! I see a few of the same dishes on your menus that I had when I dined in the Queen Victoria room in November. Isn't t just a fantastic experience??

Just amazing. SO happy we decided to do it.

Great reviews and enjoying all the pictures!

Thanks!

Enjoying your reviews so far!

Glad you're following along!

Wow your meal at V&A looks amazing so far. How wonderful they could customize a menu for you even without an allergy. Your hubby's caviar and crab looks and sounds amazing and decadent. And the lamb serving method eith the smoke is so cool. Glad the smoke actually had a purpose instead of just for show. Can't wait for more.

Yes, I'm very happy they could customize my menu. Truly, I would have been slightly disappointed if I couldn't have some wiggle room for that price.

Loving your pictures and descriptions - I'm drooling, LOL! That caviar looked amazing!!! I'll be waiting here for your next update

Thanks! My husband LOVED the amuse-bouche.

 

[kastoney]

Part two looked even better than part one. Of course you had me at truffles and sweetbreads two of my favorite things. That egg course just looks divine. what else was with it besides the egg? As much "fancy" food that I've eaten nothing beats a perfectly cooked egg.

 

[jedijill]

Wonderful review! Glad I waited to read the complete review...my mouth is watering! I've been fortunate enough to do V&A 3 times in the main dining room but the QV room looks like a special treat! It's on my bucket list...especially when I can talk someone into going with me!

Jill in CO

 

[dj1028]

Great report! Can't wait to read more!

 

[Pfau]

Enjoying your report!

 

[ChrissyBeth29]

Great reviews! Everything looks delish!

 

[Ismo]

Great review! How much time do you recommend allowing for the V&A meal? Was the coffee included as part of dessert or is that an add on? Your review convinced me that we definitely have to eat there in September!

 

[angelmav]

Enjoying your reviews, can't wait for more!

 

[partyof2]

Oh wow! What an incredible experience; everything just sounded mouthwatering - even things I wouldn't normal eat. Your fish free menu was to die for and I enjoy seafood!

 

[JKSWonder]

Thank you so much for this review of V&A. I too will eat absolutely nothing seafood related, so I didn't think it would be possible to ever eat there. Now, that I know differently, I will definitely try to plan this experience for a future trip.

 

[Scoobymoons]

Thank goodness for that....I feel full just reading! And the lap top's just taken another heavy beating of drool. Looks so good - would love to try any of those dishes but the egg and corn one does sound amazing! Thanks for sharing with so much detail

 

[MagicKingdomMommy80]

Part two looked even better than part one. Of course you had me at truffles and sweetbreads two of my favorite things. That egg course just looks divine. what else was with it besides the egg? As much "fancy" food that I've eaten nothing beats a perfectly cooked egg.

I see from the picture there what something red but for the life of me I can't remember what it was ! The egg was sitting on a bed of corn kernels and there was a schmear of hollandaise around the plate. OMG delish!

Wonderful review! Glad I waited to read the complete review...my mouth is watering! I've been fortunate enough to do V&A 3 times in the main dining room but the QV room looks like a special treat! It's on my bucket list...especially when I can talk someone into going with me!

Jill in CO

I am so jealous! We are heading back in August and decided to do it again. Even though we don't have family to babysit, DD is crazy about the kid's clubs on DCL so we'll try out the Poly kid's club in August.

Great review! How much time do you recommend allowing for the V&A meal? Was the coffee included as part of dessert or is that an add on? Your review convinced me that we definitely have to eat there in September!

Coffee is include as part of the Queen Victoria room but I don't know about the main dining room. The meal took us about 3.5 h. Our reservation was at 5:30 but they actually seated us at about 5:15 and we didn't get back to AKV until about 9:00 and we were driving.

Oh wow! What an incredible experience; everything just sounded mouthwatering - even things I wouldn't normal eat. Your fish free menu was to die for and I enjoy seafood!

Everything was fantastic. There were certainly things that I hadn't tried before or didn't have super high hopes for (i.e. the duck), that ended up blowing me away!

Thank you so much for this review of V&A. I too will eat absolutely nothing seafood related, so I didn't think it would be possible to ever eat there. Now, that I know differently, I will definitely try to plan this experience for a future trip.

Absolutely! I read a review on the Disney food blog and they said something to the effect of "It's your $200 meal, make sure you ask for what you want". It was great advice and V&A's was very accommodating.

Thank goodness for that....I feel full just reading! And the lap top's just taken another heavy beating of drool. Looks so good - would love to try any of those dishes but the egg and corn one does sound amazing! Thanks for sharing with so much detail

So glad you're enjoying it. I slacked off this weekend but I'll be back soon with BOG lunch!

 

[jedijill]

Coffee and tea is included in the Main dining room. They will make tea in the brewer as well. It's so fun!

Jill in CO