Victoria & Albert's for not so adventurous eaters?

[MaC410]

My wife and I are in the early planning stages of a very special trip that we are looking to take towards the end of next year. Every time we have looked into our dining options for previous trips we always think about V&A's but end up not doing it out of concern that we wouldn't really like the food. We aren't very adventurous eaters. Give us a burger and we are happy.

However, over this past summer I had a business trip at Disneyland and my wife and I were invited to Club 33. We were concerned that we wouldn't enjoy the food for the price but we just couldn't pass on the opportunity to go to Club 33. We ended up absolutely loving our meal. We tried a few things we wouldn't normally try and loved everything we ate. Having this experience has opened us up a little more to trying new things and now we are back to thinking about V&A's for our next trip.

I guess we feel a bit confused about how V&A's works. Some things I read makes it sound like there is a standard/seasonal menu and other things I read makes it seem like the menu is custom to your likes/dislikes. How does it actually work? And to go with the thread title, does anyone here have experience with or as a not so adventurous eater at V&A's? If so, how was their/your experience?

 

[TinkLoverSam]

My in-laws are not so adventurous eaters and we enjoyed our meal there with them for our wedding dinner. After asking all our guests for 6 months to let me know any food allergies and such my mil day of told them she did not want to eat seafood (!) so they customized her meal on the spot. They do customize the menu to your tastes but I would go in with a very open mind and baring allergies eat whatever they serve.

 

[kiford]

They have a basic concept/seasonal/standard menu but they customize it based on your preferences and/or allergies and what they may be able to acquire at the time of serving. I'm allergic to seafood and a few other odd items so they substitute or modify courses for me from that base. DH loves caviar and had even asked for it there once when it wasn't on the menu and they were able to accommodate him. Since then, they always put that and a few other upcharge items that he may order or has ordered in the past on his menu. Last time we asked and they said that they do look at previous history before making up the menu in addition to any other information you may provide to them when they check with you a week or so beforehand.

I would say that I'm a reasonably adventurous eater now although I didn't used to be. I do remember my first meal at V&A back in 2000. We had the option in one course of either a mushroom pasta or seafood. Since I'm allergic to seafood, I couldn't select that and I didn't know that you could tell them that you didn't like something or were allergic and they would substitute. So I selected the mushroom pasta. I loathe mushrooms. With a passion. But it was only one course out of the 7 that they served at the time so I figured I'd pick at it and just not eat it. To this day, I still remember how it tasted. Glorious. I ate the whole dish. I still loathe mushrooms. But I learned that, in the hands of an expert, the experience is very different. It's the only place that I am willing to eat mushrooms. In fact, I will eat anything that the chef cares to make as long as I'm not allergic to it. There have been some that I thought were meh, some good but not my favourite and some that I absolutely loved. I don't particularly like fruit sauces with my meat but we were there last week and I had a meat dish (bison I think) with passionfruit. Wow. Just wow.

If you are willing to open yourself up to the possibilities that you may like something you think you don't then it's worth going even if you don't consider yourself to be adventurous. Given your experience at Club 33, it sounds like you might be able to do that. The good news is that the dishes are quite small - just a few bites per course - so if you don't like something, you don't have a giant plate full of it. Even though the dishes are very small, there are a lot - I always have to take the final chocolates to go as I can't possibly eat them then. It's one of the things I like the best. You get an opportunity to try so many different things without a commitment to a single selection that you regret. It's partly V&A that has made me a much more adventurous eater.

 

[cobright]

It's hard to say much of this without sounding like a condescending jerk. Which I often am, but I never wish to sound like one. So I will preface this by saying I love "fine" dining but I think that using such terms for it pre-supposes it to be better dining than other choices. It's not. Probably my most enjoyed meals have happened in Waffle Houses. So...

I've never eaten at Club 33, but I pulled up some images of past menus and I would say the cuisine there looks about as 'adventurous' as California Grill. California Grill is one of our favorite WDW eats, partly because their menu blends haute cuisine with comfort food. Two years ago at CG I ate Chicken and Dumplings.

If you really have a timorous palate there's a great deal at VnA that will be wasted on you. The meal will consist number of smallish courses, usually very complex blends of ingredients and flavors where if you tend to 'stick with what you know' you will end up leaving a lot on the plate.

If you have the $$, I would recommend VnA in a heartbeat. Go there, be put in awe of the fantastic setting and service. Eat what you like from each plate. Push yourself to eat more. Then if you're still hungry when it's over, grab some appetizers or a basket of fries at the resort bar.

Or... Go to CG or Yachtsman or similar and push yourself into their more adventurous options, get your feet wet somewhere a little safer and a little less expensive. There's nothing worse than paying $500 for a meal and end up not liking it.

 

[MaC410]

It's hard to say much of this without sounding like a condescending jerk. Which I often am, but I never wish to sound like one. So I will preface this by saying I love "fine" dining but I think that using such terms for it pre-supposes it to be better dining than other choices. It's not. Probably my most enjoyed meals have happened in Waffle Houses. So...

I've never eaten at Club 33, but I pulled up some images of past menus and I would say the cuisine there looks about as 'adventurous' as California Grill. California Grill is one of our favorite WDW eats, partly because their menu blends haute cuisine with comfort food. Two years ago at CG I ate Chicken and Dumplings.

If you really have a timorous palate there's a great deal at VnA that will be wasted on you. The meal will consist number of smallish courses, usually very complex blends of ingredients and flavors where if you tend to 'stick with what you know' you will end up leaving a lot on the plate.

If you have the $$, I would recommend VnA in a heartbeat. Go there, be put in awe of the fantastic setting and service. Eat what you like from each plate. Push yourself to eat more. Then if you're still hungry when it's over, grab some appetizers or a basket of fries at the resort bar.

Or... Go to CG or Yachtsman or similar and push yourself into their more adventurous options, get your feet wet somewhere a little safer and a little less expensive. There's nothing worse than paying $500 for a meal and end up not liking it.

Thank you for your post, it definitely didn't come off condescending so no worries! We will definitely research the other options you suggested as well. We agree that the last thing we want to do is spend hundreds of dollars on something we wouldn't appreciate.

 

[cheryl.UK]

There are some choices on the 7 course menu but not on the 9. Check out sample menus on this site and others. We've been 4 times and loved every one.

Cheryl

 

[ambgoph]

I’ve been a few times and I took my Mom who is not an adventurous eater at all. I had a feeling she would not really enjoy it, but I wanted her to experience “fine dining”. She said she was glad that she tried it, but wouldn’t go back again. I think all of the the different courses were just too much for her.

 

[Mazz519]

We love VnA but we also love taking chances and will eat anything, if your not into small plates and a little different food VnA might not be for you

 

[sullyfam]

Life is short. I wouldn't hesitate booking VA if I were you. Obviously you are aware that it's $$$$ and are still considering it, so that rules out that argument. I think everyone should have a fine dining experience at least once in their life, and VA is just that, a fine dining one of a kind experience. Who knows, you may surprise yourself and end up really enjoying the food or find some new things you never knew you liked. For me, it would be a definite yes.

 

[kboo]

I will agree with all the previous posters. We have gone 2x for special occasions, and consider ourselves adventurous eaters. (I ate a fried grasshopper on a dare the other day - that was a little much for me, but I am glad I did it once and can say I tried it.)

V&A is definitely NOT like the fried grasshopper. It is probably mine and DH's favorite restaurant in the country, and we live in NYC. California Grill is our 2nd favorite restaurant at WDW. Take a look at the menus online. Many of the main courses are variations on meat/fish/poultry and starch and vegetable, it's just that they are prepared in a slightly more adventurous way. The first time we went, we had a hard time thinking about how much "better" it would be over CG that would justify the higher charge, the restriction on kids, the more restrictive dress code, etc. But we were pretty much blown away and didn't hesitate to go again. We can't really justify the cost of the meal + child care for every trip, but we absolutely would do it again for a special occasion.

In addition to the food, the whole experience is an experience. No rush, it's super quiet and calm, tables are far enough apart that you feel like you can talk about anything. We really enjoyed talking about the food with our server(s). The wait staff there are not like typical CMs - they've been recruited from fine restaurants all over the country and had a lot of interesting stories to tell about the restaurant business, the history of V&A, etc. One of our servers helped Emeril Lagasse open one of his early restaurants, for example.

Finally - about a month before your reservation, they will call you (not every call from a (407) number is someone trying to sell you a timeshare!) and ask if you're celebrating a special occasion, and also ask about your preferences and restrictions. Each course is small, so if you're not a huge fan of anything, you *can* just pick at it, but we found we loved everything so much that we ate it all and had to waddle out of there. I do think they recognize that there may be less adventurous eaters for whom this may their first (or finest) "fine dining" experience, and also people for whom this might be a once in a lifetime experience, so they do try to make things accessible and enjoyable to everyone. It doesn't help them to have patrons leave and say, "I felt like it was overpriced/pretentious for what we paid." I did not notice any typically "challenging" foods like sweetbreads or other organ meats, or too much in the way of shellfish, even. And I adore mushrooms, so I was sad not to see more mushrooms. LOL.

 

[gharter]

For each course you have multiple options. Some are more adventurous and others, not so much.
The entire experience is amazing as is the food.

 

[JKMastalski]

Was just there last week....since they have switched to the 8 course, $235 per person menu, they have done away with the "choices" of courses. When we arrived, our menus were custom set to our preferences and we were asked to take a few minutes to look over to see if we wanted anything alternative to a certain course. The only choice of courses we were given is if we wanted the cheese board or the gelato.
I am not very adventurous, and my menu was perfect for me! You will have a fantastic time!