Victoria and Albert’s recent service experience not up to par

[julierocks]

I’ll preface this review by saying we have been to V&As four times in the past when we lived in Orlando. Our last visit was in 2014, so it has been a few years. Each visit in the past we were blown away at the quality of the food and service. We visited for a 5th time last week during our trip. I hate to say this because I wanted so much to love our visit again, but it is not the same V&As that it used to be.

Don’t get me wrong, the food is still amazing. Amazing flavors and beautiful playing. The service is not on the same level that it used to be though. Here are some examples.

We were emailed before the visit to see if we had any dietary restrictions and to ask our names (for the personalized menus). I sent the information in and they replied back to confirm my answers. They had my husband’s name wrong, so just pointed that out for them and again emailed them his correct name. Twice I gave them the correct name and they still got it wrong on the menu. No biggie, we didn’t say anything. That wasn’t the biggest issue.

After we were sat, it took 15-20 minutes at least before we were greeted by our servers and they took our drink order. Seriously, at V&As.....we sat for 15-20 minutes before we were greeted....Spending what we were spending, this was unacceptable. The service in the past would have never tolerated this. Now I get that Disney prices always raise over time, and V&As is no exception. However, I didn’t expect the service to be like this when we are paying $700+ for dinner for two people. I will also add that they were not short staffed. There were plenty of servers hanging around standing and talking to each other. It also looked like many of them were confused. A lot of back and forth to the kitchen when it seems like they were forgetting where they were supposed to be.

So it’s not that the food was bad. Chef Amy did an amazing job with the food. The service definitely needs some work for a 5 star restaurant. You go to a restaurant for the food and you come back because of the service. Unfortunately, this means we probably won’t be going back.

We went to California Grill the next night and had impeccable service. It’s sad when that bill was less than half of our V&A’s bill.

Maybe if we hadn’t had the bar set so high for us with our previous visits there in the past, we wouldn’t be so critical. We wanted so much to love the service as much as we did the food.

 

[mommy2mrb]

Hope you said something to management. If they don’t know there is a problem with service they can’t fix it.

 

[Owlpost23]

Not at that price point should the service be any less than impeccable! And servers standing around gabbing? No good.

 

[Jofelior]

My wife and I are going to V&A next week to celebrate our recent retirement. I hope management corrects this unacceptable level of service. We'll see if I can send a very positive post-dinner update.

 

[quanta@optonline.net]

Went to V&A right after they finished the renovations a few years ago. It was not the same. Julierocks' experience was the same as ours - food was good, service was terrible. There was a table of four loud, inebriated people next to us that ruined the classy romantic atmosphere - management was non-responsive to our concerns, and the waitstaff was clueless. And servers really pushed the upcharges, being a little obnoxious (and I'm from New York - I know all about snotty wait staff). Tried reaching out to Disney afterwards, but was told we needed to go through the website which had no clear way to register a complaint. Never heard back. For the money you spend, there is no margin for error. Left feeling robbed. I don't want to dampen anyone else's enthusiasm, but that was my experience.

 

[WDWGeek1971]

After we were sat, it took 15-20 minutes at least before we were greeted by our servers and they took our drink order. Seriously, at V&As.....we sat for 15-20 minutes before we were greeted....Spending what we were spending, this was unacceptable. The service in the past would have never tolerated this.

I am curious as to which dining room you experienced. From the price, it sounds like the main dining room. We have never eaten there--just the Queen's Room and the Chef's Table. Last time was the Queen's Room for our 20th wedding anniversary in November, 2017. The service was impeccable, and we have high standards for service. I am just wondering if we should can the idea of trying the main dining room, and stick with the Queen's Room--or just abandon all hope.

I have to agree that California Grill has recently raised the bar for service. My last experience there in February was stellar compared to other experiences since the renovation. I only bothered to try it because I was staying at the Contemporary. The visit prior to this February left me feeling like I'd discovered a diner that had it all--prices and a view. Yuck. That said, I'll dine there again when I'm staying anywhere on the monorail.

 

[julierocks]

We have always dined in the main dining room. Haven’t tried the Quuen’s room or Chef’s table.

 

[Rickat96]

My Wife and I were at the Queens table in May this year for our 30th anniversary, we go to V&A every 5 years. There was a difference in the service this time as stated above. I did mention this to Isreal (GM) when he visited our table. I told him that there was less tableside service like the past and he did explain that they had changed things up because they want to keep the experience right at 3 hours because guests were getting restless and tired any time after that.

It also took about 20 minutes of sitting around wondering when we could order some drinks.

The food was good, not what were accustomed too from prior visits, and we received 2 bonus dishes that were not on the menu which were excellent.

Word of advice- wine parings- we did the wine for the first time, we were crocked by the 4th course. The wine was very good, but its a lot of alcohol in a 3 hour period. You can do the wine pairing for one person and share-but you only get 1 wine glass per service.

 

[NYCgrrl]

My Wife and I were at the Queens table in May this year for our 30th anniversary, we go to V&A every 5 years. There was a difference in the service this time as stated above. I did mention this to Isreal (GM) when he visited our table. I told him that there was less tableside service like the past and he did explain that they had changed things up because they want to keep the experience right at 3 hours because guests were getting restless and tired any time after that.

It also took about 20 minutes of sitting around wondering when we could order some drinks.

The food was good, not what were accustomed too from prior visits, and we received 2 bonus dishes that were not on the menu which were excellent.

Word of advice- wine parings- we did the wine for the first time, we were crocked by the 4th course. The wine was very good, but its a lot of alcohol in a 3 hour period. You can do the wine pairing for one person and share-but you only get 1 wine glass per service.

Agreed.
Have never done the wine pairing since our first meal there; too much waste as unlike Citrico's they only give a full pour. Since you never really know what will be on the menu before you get there, I tend to order a glass of champagne to last until the red meat course(s) are served and then order a glass of wine to match whatever the meat is. The Billecart-Salmon is a good bang for the price when compared to Iron Horse Fairy Tale Celebration, even though the latter has such a cute name.

I've never noted a long wait for service so count myself lucky. To date we've only sat in the QVR.

 

[wildernesslodgelover]

Ugh, I hate to hear this. I just posted on another thread that my boyfriend is NOT a Disney fan.... but all he knows is standing in lines at parks, nothing about the resorts and activities and the restaurants. Since we both love dining out, I figured I’d impress him that way. We’ve been to both Citricos and Jiko and had very poor service at both establishments. I’ve dined at both several times but it’s been 5 years or more. The food at Citricos was ok.... Jiko was bad.
We have reservations at V&A later this month and now I’m worried!

 

[Rickat96]

Ugh, I hate to hear this. I just posted on another thread that my boyfriend is NOT a Disney fan.... but all he knows is standing in lines at parks, nothing about the resorts and activities and the restaurants. Since we both love dining out, I figured I’d impress him that way. We’ve been to both Citricos and Jiko and had very poor service at both establishments. I’ve dined at both several times but it’s been 5 years or more. The food at Citricos was ok.... Jiko was bad.
We have reservations at V&A later this month and now I’m worried!

You'll be fine, its is the absolute best. Just be cautious of the wine pairings...

 

[NYCgrrl]

Ugh, I hate to hear this. I just posted on another thread that my boyfriend is NOT a Disney fan.... but all he knows is standing in lines at parks, nothing about the resorts and activities and the restaurants. Since we both love dining out, I figured I’d impress him that way. We’ve been to both Citricos and Jiko and had very poor service at both establishments. I’ve dined at both several times but it’s been 5 years or more. The food at Citricos was ok.... Jiko was bad.
We have reservations at V&A later this month and now I’m worried!

Enjoy the experience. I think the pp's 20 minute wait for drink service was a one off and not the norm.
Put on your glad rags and leave your concerns at the door.

 

[elsbit]

We went for my birthday in September (my 2nd time) and at the end we had to tell them to pick up the pace for our check because we had been there 3.5 hours at that point and if we had not said that, it would have been well over 4 hours, which was way too long for our meal, when we were just sitting there with nothing in front of us and we still had multiple dessert courses to go. I had anticipated 3 to 3.5 hours, but they seemed to be caught up with other tables and we kind of got left to the way side towards the end.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Wife and I just had dinner her with wine pairing on the 28th. The service was amazing for us. It did take us right at 3 hours but I think that's to be expected. Our entire wait staff was very knowledgeable about both the food and the wine, and the maitre d made us feel comfortable and welcome, as opposed to being pretentious. Its crazy expensive($444 with 20% tip with no drinks or upgrades for 2) and something we probably wont do again, but it was a great one time experience.

Edit: Our drink order was taken IMMEDIATELY. They will push the wine pairing so say no of course if you dont want that. Although with each single glass around 35-40 dollars the pairing may be a better deal.

 

[GoingSince1990]

If any restaurant keeps us sitting waiting more than five minutes or so before the waiter comes over to take our drinks order, I automatically reduce the maximum tip (assuming there are no other problems with the service) from 20% to 15%.