"We're Just Here For the Free Food"--One vegetarian & one omnivore 8/25-9/4 (w/ pics)

[smartestnumber5]

FONT="Lucida Sans Unicode"]We arrived at Chefs right around our ADR time—8pm—and waited outside for a few minutes to be seated. We got a table that was a little cramped, but not too bad. There was enough room to move around, but we were still a little closer than we liked to the couple at the table next to us. We were so close that we couldn’t help notice some of their conversation. The man seemed to be angry and seemed to be sternly scolding the woman. She was very quiet and I didn’t hear her say much of anything. We weren’t really listening to their conversation so we didn’t know what they were talking about—we just didn’t get a good vibe from the tones of voice we heard--so that made us feel a bit uncomfortable.

At one point while their server (the same one we had) was at their table the man asked about Bistro de Paris. The server explained that it was a separate restaurant upstairs, to which the man responded, “Well what kind of place is it? Is it more expensive than here?” The server said yes. Then the man proceeded to ask how he could get reservation there. The server explained that the restaurants are separate entities and suggested he call the restaurant. Then the man asked for the phone #! GF and I just looked at each other like . We were thinking, "Dude--just walk upstairs if it's so important." How odd.

Can't say I felt all that bad for the server, though, since service here was bad. The server asked us if we were on the DDP first thing and we said yes. Then he asked to see my dining card—like he had to make sure. Weird.

At one point in the meal he referred to GF as “sir” and was inattentive and unfriendly. Our food also came out very slowly—much more slowly than all of the tables around us, so it could not have been a kitchen issue. The slow food wasn’t horrible because it did give us a chance to see Illuminations through the window without having to concentrate on food since we’d been waiting for our entrees for quite awhile at that point. But the service seemed to get worse as things went on. By the time we got to dessert he just plopped our deserts on the table unceremoniously and walked away without saying anything. (I sort of wondered whether he realized his mistake in calling GF “sir” and felt bad and wanted to have as little contact with us as possible?)

I ordered the goat cheese salad as an appetizer. I was debating between the French onion soup, the tomato goat cheese tart, and this salad. I thought I could use some greens so I chose the salad. The salad consisted of greens, walnuts, baked goat cheese, grapes, and a light dressing. It was fine. Not nearly as good as the salad at Flying Fish, but I didn’t expect it to be. (I did realize though that the salad at Flying Fish and the one at Chefs de France were almost exactly the same price—maybe $1 less at Chefs—and yet they were of such amazingly different quality. Interesting.)

For my entrée I had two vegetarian choices on the menu—a gruyere cheese macaroni and a vegetable lasagna. I went with the latter thinking how good gruyere cheese is. We’ve actually made a cream and gruyere cheese mac and cheese with spinach and shallots at home and it was really good. This mac and cheese was not. It just didn’t have any flavor. As soon as I tasted it I reached for the salt, and I am not a person who puts salt on things even at home, let alone at restaurants where things should already be seasoned. Luckily I had eaten a lot of salad so I didn’t need to eat much of this to fill up.

GF chose Escargot as an appetizer and enjoyed it.

For her entrée she went with short ribs even though she wasn’t totally sure what they were. What she got was something like pot roast but with a side of polenta instead of mashed potatoes. The polenta was completely flavorless—worse than the mac n cheese. Polenta is another thing which we have some cooking experience with and which we have made much better. GF said her short ribs were very fatty and hard to eat. The carrots were okay but softer than she likes them.

For dessert I chose a chocolate tart. This was actually pretty good. I think it was a chocolate filled tart with coconut on top and chocolate ice cream on top of that and some fruit on the side. I did happily eat all of this. GF ordered her favorite—crème brulee—thinking that she knew that would be good (she’d had it there before). Well her crème brulee was mostly missing the brulee. At least half of the thing had no burnt sugar on top!

Food—2 out of 5. (Particular items bad and unflavored, but not the food in general—normally it would probably get more like a 3.)
Atmosphere—3.5 out of 5 (nice view of illuminations at least)
Service—1 out of 5.

I’m not sure if it was just that we ordered bad things, hit it on a bad night, had a bad server? We had lunch here on a previous trip and had a fine experience. The French Onion Soup was really good and the rest was satisfying if nothing special. In any case, we won’t be going back (at least not for a very long time).
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[tigger536]

I followed the link to your TRs from the food porn thread. Great reviews! Very detailed! Too bad about Chefs, I've never eaten there but the menu looks really good.

LeCellier and Ohana are two of my favorites so I enjoyed reading about your experiences there. Your experience at Ohana seems very similar to mine. I love the food and will be going back, but the last couple of times the service has been subpar. I've had to beg for drink refills, meat on sticks, more wings (hey, sue me, I like to eat ). I agree its like they don't really want you to have much of it. Oh well, when it comes to those wings, I won't be deterred!

Anyway, great reviews! I love your sense of humor also (too funny about the couple in line to check in at Ohanas). People watching at WDW should be a sport. I'm gonna go check out your TR now...

 

[IcePrincess467]

subbing...I want to read later (when I am not at work..lol )

 

[DLo]

I want to go to Goofy's Candy Co. right now!!!

 

[wdwthanksgiving]

is the "make your own pasta" a new station at riverside mill? we always stay at port orleans/riverside and our last visit was last november- have they changed their menu?
i'm enjoying your post - i have a glass of wine and my laptop - a perfect thing to do while dinner is cooking!
thanks

 

[smartestnumber5]

I want to go to Goofy's Candy Co. right now!!!

Me too!

is the "make your own pasta" a new station at riverside mill? we always stay at port orleans/riverside and our last visit was last november- have they changed their menu?

We actually have never eaten at POR before this trip, so I'm not sure. I think they had it divided into stations--pizza & make your own pasta, carver station, sandwich station, bakery, and maybe one more I don't remember.

 

[Illuminations_Rocks]

i am loving your dining report! I'm gonna have to hop over and check out your TR, too!

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Yummmm!

I am completely loving your report!

 

[MOTHERGOOSE3]

soooo good

 

[Busymom85]

Great report and pictures!

 

[smartestnumber5]

So in the grand tradition of my trip reports/dining reviews, I have left this review unfinished for almost a year! Bad, bad reviewer!


Well we have another trip to WDW on August 26th, so I figure it’s about time I finish this one.

So here we go.

Lunch at Earl of Sandwich

Since it was almost a year ago, I have almost no memory of this meal. I think we sat outside (under cover luckily, because it began storming crazily while we ate). A lot of people crowded under the cover to stay out of the downpour. We encouraged a few people who were holding young children to have a seat at our table since there were extra chairs.

As for the food, it was yummy of course. I chose the Caprese sandwich (fresh mozzarella, tomato, olive oil, basil), a cherry coke, and bread pudding. GF went with the Earl’s Club (turkey, bacon, swiss, lettuce tomato), a coke, and a brownie. And we used a snack credit to split a strawberry and banana smoothie.

GF says she'd choose a different sandwich next time. Hers was too salty and didn't have a distinctive flavor, but was still good. My Caprese was pretty good, but I think the bread (which I really love in other contexts) doesn't go that well with this particular kind of sandwich. I think you really need more a crusty Italian type bread for a caprese sandwich.

The brownie was fine—it was a brownie. The bread pudding was very good. I would have liked it better with some sweet sauce, but even without I was pretty happy. It was very moist and heavy (kind like my family makes stuffing which GF thinks is very strange). GF would have liked it better without the raisins--she's a raisin hater. The smoothie was really yummy. I'm not sure why it's so good. We suspect there isn't any yogurt in there, and that it must be ice cream based.

Caprese—5.75
Earl’s Club—5.75
Drink—1.75
Drink—1.75
Brownie—1.95
Bread pudding—1.95

Food: 3.75 out of 5
Atmosphere: 2.5 out of 5 (could use more indoor seating)

 

[smartestnumber5]

California Grill is pretty much our favorite WDW restaurant. We make sure to go every trip and always have a great meal. This time was no disappointment.

We arrived about 20 minutes early for our ADR but we were taken right upstairs anyway. Once there we were given a buzzer and only waited a few minutes before it buzzed. We were seated at a four person table to the right of the elevator. It had a somewhat good view for wishes, though it 3 or 4 tables back from the window.

We decided to only use 2 TS credits (for one person) and then just share and buy a little OOP. Our server had no problem with that with that. She was very nice and helpful and friendly and even volunteered to put the cheapest things on the OOP bill.

She explained what we could get on the DDP—the cheeseplate counted as appetizer or dessert, not entrée. Also we couldn’t get Yoshi’s deluxe platter or the snake in the grass as an appetizer on the DDP. (Not sure if you can get them for entrees or not). Apparently Yoshi is the name of the sushi maker. We also asked about the “vegetarian unplugged.” She told us it was some of the vegetarian things on the menu—essentially whatever the chef feels like putting on. Sounded good to us.

We decided on the cheeseplate (all 5 of course) which we always get, one of the flatbreads (roasted chicken, red pepper, cheese, pineapple, mango ketchup ) and asked for chicken only on half of it. GF had the rainbow roll (tempura, avocado, lemon, fish, green roe on top). And we split the vegetarian unplugged. For drinks we both had iced teas. And we got banana and butterscotch buzz for dessert.

Roasted chicken flatbread—Very spicy. The spice seemed to be both on the chicken and in the mango ketchup. GF says the kick almost made her cry—perfect balance of hot, sweet, and salty. There was less kick on my half since I had it without the chicken). I thought it was a good choice—very different and very yummy.

Sushi—GF said it was a good, but she is never really that impressed by CG sushi for some reason. She suspects the fish isn't as good or as fresh as she's had at other places.

Cheeseplate—
1) Coulommiers—brie (cow’s milk) like cheese w/ apple chutney
2) Saenkanter—hard butterscotch cheese w/ candied almonds
3) Clochette—soft goat cheese
4) Pecorino Sardo—(ewe milk) w/ raisins
5) Hubbardston Blue—blue goat cheese w/ pear paste

We enjoyed this as always. It's nice that the cheeses are different each time we visit so it's always a new adventure. I found 5 way to strong to eat; it was a combo of goat and blue just didn’t work for me. I didn’t like 3 much either—very goaty. 1 and 4 were good and 2 was just so interesting--amazingly it really did taste like butterscotch! GF said she thought the plate had a nice variety, but that there was no one cheese she was really excited about.

Vegetarian unplugged—Yummy! This included the polenta (topped with mushrooms) which is usually served with the pork entree, parto of a flatbread, a mini-salad, and some vegetables. The polenta was wonderful. I think it had to be made with butter or cheese to make it taste that good. The flatbread was good. Of course we had ordered an entire flatbread, but I love them so I was happy to get to try another one. There was a nice little salad of tomatoes, greens, and onions. And then some veggies (green beans with truffle maybe) and potatoes. I liked everything and it was the perfect kind of entree for me because I love variety!

Bananas Buzz great as usual.

We had a great view for wishes. We've been to California Grill together three times before this, and at least one of those times was at the exact time of wishes, but we'd never really gotten to see it. It was nice, but I can't say we really understood the narrative. Overall it was a great meal!


Food—5 out of 5.
Atmosphere—4.5 out of 5.
Service—4.5 out of 5.

 

[Stefy]

Love all the reviews and pics, can't wait to see more

 

[smartestnumber5]

Lunch on Sunday was apparently not very exciting, as I have no notes about it at all other than what we ate and where.

We ate at Pop and I had cheese pizza, a brownie sundae, and chocolate milk and GF had nachos supreme, a hot fudge sundae, and a poweraid.

I'm thinking this was probably a pretty average CS meal. I don't remember anything really great about it, but I don't remember anything bad about it either.

Hmm, my notes say we had two sundaes, but the pictures show a yogurt parfait?

 

[smartestnumber5]

I think by this point in the trip we started to get a little overloaded with food. (That's not good because in a few weeks we're going to be on the DXDDP--so wayyy more food than we had during this trip .) I distinctly remember sitting in the chairs in the Poly lobby after dinner for a little rest while holding my stomach, hoping it wouldn't burst!

So here goes the review:

I had the Kona salad, the pan Asian pasta, the macadamia nut tart, and a strawberry-banana smoothie. GF had the potstickers, the mahi mahi, and an orange-passion fruit smoothie, and the banana caramel crème brulee.

We started with some bead and sweet butter (I think with it was whipped and had nuts in it). This was great--I think it was GF's favorite part of the meal.

The smoothies were a nice treat (and it was nice to have them count as drinks on the DDP) Mine was good, but nothing special. It had a few too many pieces of ice in it and could have been blended better. GF's smoothie was very tasty—kind of like a creamsicle (one of her favorite things) with a little kick.

The Kona salad was very good and a large portion. It was fresh greens, light but tasty dressing, blue cheese, red onions, toasted almonds, and apples (what about the strawberries? It was supposed to have strawberries according to the menu on all ears ).

GF's potstickers were pretty good. She said they had a bit too much spice but were served with a nice cream sauce.

The pan Asian pasta was a lo mein like dish. It had better flavor than Ohana’s, but I still thought it was too many veggies—do people actually eat this many vegetables in one sitting? I would have preferred more noodles. An addition of tofu would have been nice too. So overall it was a fine dish, but nothing outstanding.

The Mahi Mahi was very good but it could have been better. GF felt like the rice was gummy and not in a good way like risotto is, but unpleasant. The fried onions were nice and crunchy and flavorable. But GF thought they were a little weird as an addition to the dish. She also felt like she didn’t know what the mac nuts were doing in the dish.

The macadamia nut tart was just my kind of dessert. So sweet and heavy. I totally hurt myself trying to eat all of it and still couldn’t finish it. I'd go back just to have it again!

GF described her crème brulee as just okay. She said it was too sweet (for some reason I can't fathom, she does not like things very sweet ). She may also just have been creme brulee-ed out at this point in the trip.

So overall in terms of food nothing was really “wow." But everything was really good. Unfortunately the menu is small and doesn’t seem to change much so there isn’t much else on it which is vegetarian. But I think I would go back.

(Actually now that I'm finally posting this review and it's been a year since we were there I'd totally go back--in fact, I'm just now thinking, "hmm, why didn't we get an ADR there for our upcoming trip?")

In terms of service things were bad. Our server was really obviously trying to rush us and the people around us. She came over and introduced herself and asked what drinks we wanted. We ordered them and she quickly came back with them and asked if we knew what we wanted for appetizers. We said no. She came back within three minutes or so and asked again. At that point we only had decided on appetizers, but not on entrees. So we just ordered our appetizers. A few minutes later she brought our bread and took our entrée order but we didn't have our drinks yet. A few minutes later out came our appetizers, but still no smoothies.

We noticed that the people next to us had their appetizers for a very short time and were still actively eating them their entrees came out. I saw that and decided I’d better eat my salad faster because my entree would be out soon and the salad would be going bye-bye. And indeed, that's what happened. In fact a couple of times during the dinner I had to say I wasn’t done yet with something as the server tried to take it away. I felt like I got some indigestion from eating so quickly. We tried to take our time, but we just couldn't help feeling rushed.

Food: 3.5 of 5. (Balancing GF w/ a 3 and me with a 4.)
Atmosphere: 3 of 5. (The restaurant is small and we were seated very close to other diners.)
Service: 2 of 5.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

its almost midnite here in NY and Im starving and your food porn is driving me NUTS!!!
Great report, thanx for writing!