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

[Pesky]

Ah, thanks so much for the V&A review! I'm dying to try it and your pictures and descriptions definitely cinched it.

 

[MagicKingdomMommy80]

BOG Lunch


Ahhh, BOG lunch. I wanted to give my family a magical dining experience so immediately I thought of the uber exclusive, super elusive, BOG. I tried for a dinner reservation but even at 8:00AM at 183 days, no dice. So I patiently waited for T-25 days to reserve the BOG lunch fast pass, and score! Now most Disney restaurants you can arrive a few minutes early with no issue. Given that it was pouring rain, we headed over to the check-in counter about 15 minutes before our reservation and we were told to come back in 10 minutes. They wouldn’t even check us in until 5 minutes before our reservation! No worries, the rain had tapered off and we were eating at BOG for lunch, which I knew would be a treat for my family!

DH and I however, weren’t really looking forward to this meal. On a previous stay, shortly after BOG opened, we dined there for dinner. The service was lacking, the food was mediocre at best, and the price-to-quality ratio was way too high even for Disney standards. Thankfully, at the time, we had free dining so the blow was somewhat lessened. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with BOG for lunch. Firstly, the lunch menu is different than the dinner menu and it’s priced accordingly. It’s more of a quick-serve/table-serve hybrid at lunch so service wasn’t an issue and the food was good. Now let’s not get crazy, it’s no Vicky and A’s, but good nonetheless.


First up, DH started with the potato and leek soup. This was very good, creamy and without any potato chalkiness. I tried this also and loved the subtle onion flavor of leeks and that was highlighted with the chive garnish. Nice start!




Next up, the main course! I had the vegetable quiche.



This was pretty tasty. It was slightly on the over-cooked side, which left the crust a little dry. If you ate this with the salad, it brought back some moisture.


DH had the carved prime chuck roast beef sandwich.




He loved this sandwich, very tasty and moist. The horseradish cream sauce was a nice contrast to the heavy meat. Instead of the fries he opted for the green bean salad, which was a mistake. Way too salty.

DD had the kids pasta meal.

I liked that everything came separate so DD could really customize her meal. The downfall of this presentation is that the pasta really gets very dry. still a nice flavor and DD enjoyed it.

Despite a few misses, overall I’d return to BOG for lunch. The atmosphere can’t be beat and the new technology for ordering in advance is pretty cool, provided you don’t have any privacy issues. When you order at the kiosk, your food is delivered to your table by tracking the location of you Magic Band in the restaurant! I thought it was pretty cool, if slightly big-brother creepy.

 

[DnA2010]

Loving your dining report, thanks so much for putting it together!! Your V & A report is breathtaking, really hope to dine there some day

 

[Scoobymoons]

That all looks good
We're aiming to do BOG lunch in the summer - I reckon DD would also love the 'construct your own pasta' meal!

 

[Meaghanqt]

I like that the food comes on real dishes.

 

[kastoney]

I'm in the same boat as you on BoG. We were underwhelmed our first time for dinner and hadn't returned since. Doing lunch there this week so hopefully it goes as well for as the second time around. And thanks, now I know not to get there early.

 

[DisneyJo]

Loving your reviews, thanks

 

[ariane37]

Just joining in Really enjoying it so far. Totally agree with the deliciousness of Disney chicken nuggets, and the "meh"-ness of zebra domes!

 

[disnmooner2013]

Great reviews so far

 

[butiflfeet]

Your reviews are great so far! Thanks for sharing!

 

[vassar36]

loving this!!!

 

[MagicKingdomMommy80]

Thanks for following along everyone!

That all looks good
We're aiming to do BOG lunch in the summer - I reckon DD would also love the 'construct your own pasta' meal!

This was a big treat for DD. The pasta was pasta, nothing special, but put everything into separate bowls and it becomes even more magically delicious .

I like that the food comes on real dishes.

I liked that too. Kind of elevates the quick-serve experience.

I'm in the same boat as you on BoG. We were underwhelmed our first time for dinner and hadn't returned since. Doing lunch there this week so hopefully it goes as well for as the second time around. And thanks, now I know not to get there early.

I just managed to get a lunch reservation for our August trip. You'll have to let me know what you thought of the lunch. I'm hoping my experience wasn't just a one-off.

Just joining in Really enjoying it so far. Totally agree with the deliciousness of Disney chicken nuggets, and the "meh"-ness of zebra domes!

Yes! I thought I was crazy for not LOVING the zebra-domes but they're just not my thing.

 

[MagicKingdomMommy80]

The next restaurant was another new one for us: The Garden View Tea Room. This was a special mommy-daughter meal and it was amazing. What a special and magical experience! In my household, I’m the “working” parent while DH is the domestic engineer. Since I don’t get to spend as much time with DD as I’d like, I planned this as a special treat. If you’re looking for a special experience, I highly recommend considering GVTR.


I decided to go with the Buckingham Tea which included three courses plus tea: 1) Assorted Tea Sandwiches, 2) Buttery Scone and Jam Tart, and 3) Choice of Delicate Hand-Made Pastries, Strawberries and Crème, or English Trifle. There is only one option for kids so DD had the Mrs. Potts Tea, which also included three courses: 1) Assorted Tea Sandwiches, 2) Jam Tart, and 3) Delicate Hand-Made Pastries. Kids get a special “dark’ tea (aka chocolate milk) to go with their meal.


The assortment of tea sandwiches included egg salad, curried chicken salad, cucumber, yellow beet and smoked salmon.


Now, if you’ve been reading along, you won’t be surprised that the salmon was left untouched at the end of the course so I can’t comment on the flavor of that particular sandwich, but the other ones were very good. There was also an onion tart that was probably my favorite bite of the plate. The onions were soft and sweet and just yummy. My next favorite was the yellow beet open-faced sandwich. I love beets so this was a nice surprise (I never had a beet sandwich before). The color was beautiful and the open-faced presentation was functional as well, allowing the beet flavor to shine through without being muted by extra bread.


DD didn’t opt for the “selection” of sandwiches, instead settling for a plate of all PB&J. Not surprisingly, she polished this off pretty quickly.


I honestly can’t remember what kind of tea I had! I did love the tea cozy though! Super cool, and it really worked. I managed to get 3-4 cups out of this pot over the three courses and the temp never dropped enough for me to notice it.



DD didn’t really care for her “tea”. She’s not a fan of chocolate milk in general (I know, weird right?) and in hindsight I should have just asked for plain milk.


Next up were the tarts and scones! I was so excited to taste this that I took a bite of the tart before I managed a picture! The horror!


Let me just polish off that tart and open the scone so it looks like there was no tart…


Tart? What tart? Pretty good cover-up…except for the tart crumbs in the lemon curd.

This was delish! The scone was exactly what you’d expect for tea. Buttery and light, and accompanied by jam, lemon curd and clotted cream (I think), you could make every bite a unique flavor combination.

DD just had a single jam tart but, as it was something dessert-like, of course she loved it.


For the finale DD had the selection of delicate hand-made pastries.


This looked almost too good to eat! A white chocolate-covered strawberry with candy “pearls”, a pistachio cream filled pastry swan (DD ate the head first J) and an éclair. This was WAY too much for DD. Given the chance, I’m sure she would have tried her best to make it through but I restricted her to trying each and finishing one. She chose to finish the strawberry.

For myself, I chose the strawberries and crème.


I’ve seen pictures of this in the past but I was still wowed by the presentation. The taste? Well it tasted like strawberries and whipped cream. It was nothing special, but still two delightfully classic flavors that didn’t disappoint. A nice ending to an already special meal.

With the wonderful memories I have of GVTR, I was a little disappointed to hear about the menu changes and price increases that were announced recently. I would have liked to do this again, perhaps even including DH. However, for what you get, I think I would have a hard time justifying $100 for sandwiches, scones, and pastries for three people. As a special treat, I would do it again with DD but it won’t be a “must-do” every trip at the new price point

 

[jedijill]

I love the Tea. I go there every trip! BTW, you can ask to substitute out the sandwiches you don't like!

Jill in CO

 

[vettegirl]

Great BOG review, I have a lunch ADR for May I scored yesterday. I wil be dining with a 9 month old, so I guess you could call it a semi solo dine Loved the review of the afternoon tea, it looks so elegant and relaxing.

 

[MichelleWDWfan]

Awesome reviews and pics so far.
Last year I ate at V & A and it was the best meal I had ever had!
I dined in the regular dining room and was SO full when I left I could barely enjoy 1 cup of that fantastic coffee!
Someone warned me ahead of time not too drink too much during the meal, and avoid the bread courses.
There was no way I was avoiding the breads and butters, they were so good!
I had one glass of champagne, and barely sipped my water that they kept full all evening.
Every time I took a sip they filled the glass again.

 

[kastoney]

Your tea looks divine, though I didn't realize they'd change the menu and upped the prices recently. What a fabulous mother daughter treat. Its on my bucket list to do with my daughter sometime, but I want to wait until she a bit older to and can appreciate it more.