Well, the appetizer course was a 50/50 success. Now it was time for the main course.
In hindsight, this went pretty well, but I should have stuck my nose into everyone else's business when ordering, considering I knew the menu by heart after two years of constantly stalking it.
So what does a Hick eat when the restaurant is fancy and the food is free?
John - John ordered the
NY strip, with roasted potatoes.
Absolutely NO surprise here.
He must have liked it, because he about licked the plate clean.
Me and the Chef (my son, not the actual chef)- I knew I wanted the filet, because I had had it in '05.
But I had had the lunch version, without bbq sauce.
I was a little hesitant about bbq sauce on such a fine cut of meat.
I KNEW I didn't want the Mushroom Filet, as that's not my thing.
So I decided to trust the chef (the actual chef, not my son), and get the
Maple BBQ Filet on cream cheese mashed potatoes.
The Chef (ds11) didn't know what to order, so I told him to trust me and ordered him the same.
After tasting it, he proclaimed it "Love at First Bite!!!" LOL
I was pleased that my kids are starting to appreciate good food.
The sauce on the filet was mild and very subtle.
I was VERY pleased with the outcome and wish I had one of them right now. Mmmmmm....
Disneygirl and Mom -
Prime Rib Disneygirl is a real carnivore like her dad.
Last time she had picked out a prime rib/french dip type sandwich, which was on the lunch menu, but no longer.
I told her that the meat in that sandwich was prime rib, so she decided to try the actual thing.
Mom loves good prime rib, and decided to try it also.
It came with roasted potatoes and some sort of green stuff.
The also licked their plates clean.
Bionic SIL decided to try the
Mushroom Filet.
Either she didn't read the menu over well, or she wasn't clear on what risotto was, because although she loved the meat, she didn't care for the risotto.
Poch jr. - she, for some strange reason, ordered the
grilled pork chop.
She didn't want the cabbage it came on, so they asked what she wanted substituted (that's service!) and gave her mashed potatoes.
I wish I could have helped her order, but I was busy with my own kids.
She really didn't care for any of it.
**It's sad when you love a place so much, and you bring someone new and they don't like it, but you know it's just cause they ordered poorly.

**
Sarah's Soapbox --Right now on the
DDP, the kids have the option of ordering a pre-set kids meal,
which they can choose between several sides,
but their dessert is apples or fruit cup,
OR they can choose from entree choices in which they can choose ice cream.
This, is a PAIN!
If one child wants the pizza, and another wants the steak, then the pizza kid gets upset that they don't get dessert.
Sigh.
Anyway, here's what they got --
Dangerboy - He decided to get the
kid's steak with fries.
If you are not on the DDP, there is an additional charge for kid's steak, but the DDP waves this.
He liked this very much.
The Inquisitor - He got one of the pre-plated meals, choosing
cheese pizza with chicken (? who came up with that),
veggies and dip, and apples with brown sugar.
He didn't complain about anything, so I think it ended up being a big success.
Princess K - She also picked a pre-plated meal of
Macaroni with Beef Sauce and Cheese,
steamed carrots and green beans, and a fruit cup.
She didn't eat a lot of it, but seemed to like it.
Bitsy - she ordered off the kid's menu, and got a
hot dog, no bun, with french fries.
This was pretty much gone by the time I glanced over at her.
So I call it a success.
Stitch Jr. - No secret here, this is one of the pickiest children I have ever, ever met.
He got the preplated kid's meal of
cheese pizza (NO chicken)
with veggies and dip and apples w/ brown sugar.
I think he ate some of his pizza.
So, for the main course, there was more success than failure.
I never talked to the chef about food allergies, but was able to pick pretty safe GF foods by myself (as we are ok with trace).
And nuts are pretty easy to avoid in kid's meals.
Now, for a bonus, I will throw in dessert for free!
John and the Chef had the Chocolate Moose/Mousse.
Chef shared with the other kids at his table, as he was full after inhaling that filet.
This worked out good as several of them did not get dessert.
It was a light chocolate mousse, covered with chocolate crumbs and decorated to look like a moose head.
They both seemed to enjoy it.
Me, Mom, and Disneygirl had the creme brulee.
My first experience with this dessert was at Le Cellier in '05.
At the time they had a duo of maple and vanilla creme brulee.
This time it was just vanilla, but it came with a lovely dollop of raspberry sauce, and a crispy rolled cookie.
Mmmmmmm....
Everyone loved this.
Dangerboy and Bitsy had ice cream sundaes.
No complaints here.
Bionic SIL and Poch Jr asked what the
sorbet of the day was. It turned out to be
Mandarin orange, and it was delicious!
We were all so stuffed that we didn't finish all the desserts,
but we did taste quite a few of them!
So dessert was big success all around!
Thankful that we ended on a good note, we finished up our meal at Le Cellier.
[This is the only place I actually made note of the cost. $260 for my family alone.
I think the waitstaff at these fancier places make out pretty good.
I would think it doesn't take anymore effort to serve a $30 filet than it does to serve a $10 burger.
Not that I am complaining.
They worked very hard.
It's too bad they are not including the tip in the DDP next year, as I think the staff will not come out as well.]
We highly recommend this restaurant, both for lunch and dinner, and were pleased that our expectations were met once again.
I recommend researching the menu in advance,
and getting your ADRs early,
because they are booked months in advance
and VERY rarely, if ever, accept walk-ups.
Thanks for reading!
Next up: That Wacky Guy from in the Sky....Cosmic Ray....!!!