We're bringing DoleWhip back...again! COMPLETE: Sanaa and Yachtsman!

Great review and pics from YSH!!! That's our first meal next trip so it was great to see your pics, especially of the menus. Although I'm sad to see the dessert I've been dreaming of ordering again since last year (the chocolate trio) doesn't appear to be on the menu:sad1:.
 
WOW! That meal at Yachtsman Steakhouse looks wonderful. And how wonderful of the CM's to present you with the surprise dessert for your mom's birthday.
 
I'm so glad to read your reviews, particulary of the Signature restaurants. Would love to know how you would rank the Signatures if you have the time. I'm planning a trip just for DH and I and I can't decide which ones to try and which ones to skip.
 
YUM!!! Every time I read a new YSH review, I get more and more excited for my ADR! :yay:


I'm so glad to read your reviews, particulary of the Signature restaurants. Would love to know how you would rank the Signatures if you have the time. I'm planning a trip just for DH and I and I can't decide which ones to try and which ones to skip.


I second this! I've planned five signature dinners (yikes!) and would love to see if I made the right choices.
 

What a lovely ending to what looks like a wonderful meal at YS

It really is a great restaurant :goodvibes
Agreed on Yachtsman - can't wait to go back there. :thumbsup2

Fantastic review of YS! We've never been but we've read so many great reviews recently that DH and I might have to go for a romantic meal there next time we are in WDW!

Really enjoying all your reviews :thumbsup2
Thanks for reading! I highly recommend Yachtsman, and even though it's one of the noisier signatures, we usually have an early ADR so it's not a problem.

We spent our actual anniversary dinner at Yatchsman and we LOVED it. Personalized menu and amuse bouche but no dessert special.....I'm jealous ;) Glad they made your Mom's birthday special!
The dessert really was an unexpected surprise. We would've ordered dessert anyway, but touches like that really elevate a meal. :goodvibes

Great review and pics from YSH!!! That's our first meal next trip so it was great to see your pics, especially of the menus. Although I'm sad to see the dessert I've been dreaming of ordering again since last year (the chocolate trio) doesn't appear to be on the menu:sad1:.
Sadly, the signature menus change really frequently. Sometimes it's for the better, other times I don't really understand the decision. But I can say there's usually at least one good-tasting dessert on the menu. :thumbsup2

WOW! That meal at Yachtsman Steakhouse looks wonderful. And how wonderful of the CM's to present you with the surprise dessert for your mom's birthday.
It was definitely a great meal - Yachtsman has impressed us so much that we'll return even without any special extras. :)

I'm so glad to read your reviews, particulary of the Signature restaurants. Would love to know how you would rank the Signatures if you have the time. I'm planning a trip just for DH and I and I can't decide which ones to try and which ones to skip.
YUM!!! Every time I read a new YSH review, I get more and more excited for my ADR! :yay:

I second this! I've planned five signature dinners (yikes!) and would love to see if I made the right choices.
I wouldn't say my ranking of the signatures is very absolute, since the menus change so often and the service depends on the person. That said, here's my current ranking:

#1-4 are all extremely close. I'd like to say they're tied, so I'll just list them and explain briefly.

-Artist Point: I love the food and atmosphere. AP is a quiet and relaxing restaurant with peaceful background music and views of the pool and forest. The menu is very seasonal and creative (I think AP is one of the more creative signatures, along with Flying Fish). Plus, there's something about the Pacific Northwest flavors that I really like - seafood, berries, fresh vegetables, etc.

-Jiko: The food is great and unique. I've been to South Africa very often, and I always enjoy when some of the menu items remind me of there. The menu incorporates some authentic African touches while serving upscale yet approachable food. The atmosphere is slightly dark and more adult.

-Yachtsman: I feel that Yachtsman's menu is kind of limited because of its steakhouse label (since most steak entrees consist of a piece of meat and a starch). That said, we've recently had some wonderful, creative dishes here, as well as great service. Of my top 4, Yachtsman is the noisiest, but not as loud as California Grill or Flying Fish.

-Citricos: Not the most creative food, but the Mediterranean-inspired menu has some extremely well-executed, upscale dishes. The atmosphere is elegant (and, like at AP, the dining room features some lovely background music), and the service at Citricos seems to be consistently great.

5. Flying Fish: We really enjoyed our last meal at Flying Fish. Fresh seafood, exciting desserts, and whimsical atmosphere. For us, it's never reached that "OMG!" point like Artist Point or Jiko, but it offers some creative dishes and has a good selection of you want seafood.

6. Brown Derby: My favorite restaurant in the parks, above Bistro de Paris and Le Cellier. The food is very good for theme park food, with some great dishes such as the tuna tartare, cobb salad, and grapefruit cake. I also love the 30's/40's Old Hollywood atmosphere.

7. Le Cellier: I've had 3 dinners here since the signature change, and we enjoyed all of the food here. The problem is that Le Cellier's atmosphere is still the same, including the infamous tables that are too close together. There are some really good dishes on the dinner menu, such as the lobster salad and upscale poutine.

8. California Grill: This is one of the most popular signatures, and for a while it was our favorite. But to us, it seems like the food has taken a backseat to the view. We just weren't impressed very much by our last meal here. I'd still recommend trying it for the overall experience.

9. Narcoossee's: The food was good during our last meal here, even though the menu here is simpler than at other signatures. But the service was horrible. I can't think of the last time we had such bad service at a Disney restaurant, and for that reason, I can't recommend Narcoossee's right now.
 
Boardwalk Bakery is a nice place to grab a counter service lunch.

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We both got turkey club sandwiches on multigrain bread. Very satisfying and filling:

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The sandwiches came with a side of cucumber salad. It was nice, not too sweet or overdressed.

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My mom got carrot cake for dessert. She liked it.

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I tried the s'mores cupcake. I liked this a lot more than the S'mores cupcake at Wilderness Lodge. This one was more chocolatey, and the frosting had a wonderfully creamy, marshmallow flavor. I'd highly recommend this cupcake:

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Chocolate filling:

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The cupcake really liked the view :rotfl:

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If you're a fan of Disney cupcakes, you should definitely stop by Boardwalk Bakery to sample one of their unique flavors. :thumbsup2
 
I am so excited about visiting the boardwalk bakery for a cup cake when we stay at the Boardwalk Villas in October :)
 
Love the BW Bakery review...that kind of lunch is perfect for me...and that smores cupcake...I know what we are going to get!
 
One of these days I'll get to try Yachtsman's Steakhouse....looks awesome!
 
I am so excited about visiting the boardwalk bakery for a cup cake when we stay at the Boardwalk Villas in October :)
Sounds like a good plan! I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts about Food & Wine and some of the Epcot resort area food locations. :goodvibes

boardwalk bakery looks lovely
It is lovely, lots of good options for a snack credit. :thumbsup2

Love the BW Bakery review...that kind of lunch is perfect for me...and that smores cupcake...I know what we are going to get!
Good idea - have a lighter lunch and reward yourself with one of the cupcakes for dessert. :rotfl:

One of these days I'll get to try Yachtsman's Steakhouse....looks awesome!
Hope you try Yachtsman sometime! We really love it now. :)
 
Our last dinner was at Flying Fish Cafe.

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We could see Flying Fish's roof from our room:

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Menu (including cheese):

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We didn't receive any birthday extras here. I guess it's just a Boardwalk thing. :confused3 That said, we weren't really concerned about extras here. We just wanted a good meal. Flying Fish has never really wowed us in the past, and my mom said she wouldn't give it any more chances if this meal disappointed us.

My mom enjoyed the cheese plate appetizer. She liked all of the cheese plate appetizers she tried at signature restaurants (Artist Point, Yachtsman, Flying Fish, and most recently Jiko).

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I had the chardonnay-steamed mussels with fennel, chiles, pesto crèma, and sourdough crostini. What a great appetizer. The mussels were tender and tasted like the ocean, with a delicious flavor from the fennel. The pesto broth wasn't too thick - the light liquid texture was great with the mussels, and it still had that yummy basil-garlic flavor I expected. The crunchy crostini was perfect for dipping in the broth. :cloud9:

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I enjoyed dipping some of the sourdough bread in the broth.

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So the meal was off to a good start. We were looking forward to seeing how the entrees would go.
 
The entrees arrived while I was still picking at the last few mussels. Honestly it didn’t bother me at all, since the bowl of mussels was huge and there was no way I could finish every last one. :laughing:

For a main course, my mom picked the signature potato-wrapped red snapper with leek fondue, veal glace, red wine and cassis butter reduction. Last time, she thought the sauce was too sweet, heavy, and meaty for the fish, so she got it on the side. Good choice - this time, she enjoyed the flavor of the fish, crispy potato, and creamy leek much more.

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Sauce on the side:

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My choice was the salmon with corn pudding, honshemeji mushrooms, huitlacoche espuma, and chive and truffle-infused oil. Another great dish. The salmon was cooked well and was nicely accompanied by the sweet, cream corn pudding (absolutely delicious!) and earthy mushroom and truffle flavor. I really liked how the sides in this dish all "matched." The corn related to the huitlacoche foam (huitlacoche is known as Mexican corn truffle), which related to the truffle oil, which related to the mushrooms. It seemed like a very thoughtfully composed dish. :thumbsup2

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Before dessert, we had some chamomile tea. Flying Fish's tea selection seems smaller than most of the other signatures' selection.

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Finally, dessert. Here's the menu:

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My mom had litchi sorbet with fresh berries. Absolutely delicious. We love litchi, but it's not something that we've been able to find fresh in New York.

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I chose the Thai chile-laced chocolate mousse and sinful triple-rich brownie with applewood-smoked bacon praline crunch, smokey salt-scented chocolate sorbet and raspberry coulis.

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I was worried about this dish, especially after being unpleasantly surprised by the strong heat in 2 Yachtsman desserts. I have to say, Flying Fish created a much more successful savory, spicy dessert. The mousse had a subtle heat that never overpowered the other flavors. The bacon and chocolate pearls added a crunchy texture, with the smoky, salty flavor from the bacon and sorbet complementing the chocolaty flavor of the dessert overall. The small drops of raspberry coulis added an occasional burst of sweet, tart berry flavor, a welcome addition.

I can happily say this was our best meal at Flying Fish to date, and one that left us wanting to return eventually. We didn't fit it in on our past trip, but Flying Fish is finally in our good graces. The appetizers were both simply tasty, the entrees featured some great components along with fresh seafood, and the desserts provided some whimsical, surprising flavors. :wizard:

Here's a pic of the empty restaurant:

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And the view from our room at night:

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Wonderful review of Flying Fish
I love that you post a pic of the menu at the beginning of each review
I always choose what I would order :goodvibes
We chose the same entree today, the salmon looks lovely
Do you happen to know if the taste of the Boardwalk desert trio is available on the dining plan?
I would pay OOP if not as it sounds sooooo good :cloud9:
 
We really enjoyed FF, (especially those mussels!), except for the Snapper entree, in which, like your Mom, I found the sauce somehow very wrong for the dish. What a great idea to get the sauce on the side! I think next time I'll just order something else. That chocolate mousse dessert looks and sounds like work of art. Glad you had a better meal this time around.
 
Another great review!

What date were you at FF? I'm going in a week on 9/4, so I was thinking the menu you showed might be the one I'll get to choose from!
 
I notice that you have tea with just about every signature. While there are some of the tea menus on WDW website, other signatures do not. I am a fan of fruity sweet teas, did you see that every signature at least had one fruiter tea?
 















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