An Aussie Perspective on Disney Dining - updated 3/9 - Citricos FINALLY!

[MomsOf2boys]

Morning tea is the general term for a drink and snack between breakfast and lunch also termed as smoko depending where you are from. In the UK they also refer to this time as elevenese. Afternoon tea is the term for the break between lunch and dinner (also called tea again depending where you are from)

It gets very confusing

Kirsten

Thank you Kirsten... I have never heard of elevenese even! Love the idea.. I need to venture out farther than Disney one day!

 

[eurasian81]

Day 7 was very wet and very cold. We headed out to Hollywood Studios and lined up for Toy Story Mania after rope drop. After the ride and before our Fast Pass Return Time to do it again, we searched from breakfast.

The options at HS are limited for counter service. We headed to Starring Rolls and I had read somewhere that it served savory as we all as sweet in the mornings. Nothing was displayed in the counter but we eventually tracked down a black forest ham sandwich (with greens, dressing and turkey as well), a cinnamon scroll, packet of chips (saved for another day) and some tea (one counter service credit to split).

After Toy Story Mania the 2nd time, the rain intensified and we started to re-assess our options (being at Disney for 10 nights affords the option of skipping the parks in wet weather!!). We decided to head for warmth and as we were leaving we walked past HBD and looked at the menu. It didn't make the original list of our restaurants but after seeing the menu posted that day (differed quite a bit from the one on www.wdwinfo.com) we rushed to guest services to see if we could get in. It appears that we got the last free spot as it seems everyone had decided to head indoors about 5 minutes after us!!!

This was an OOP meal for us so we ordered as we pleased......

For appetizers, we split the Cobb Salad. I'd give it very high marks for taste but the texture was a little squishy as everything was chopped so finely. Granted, it is a classic so who am I to critique, but for my liking it would have been perfect it the lettuce wasn't as finely chopped as it went soggy quickly.

For mains, I had pork tenderloin served with greens (spinach or swiss chard), caramelised onions and mustard cheesy spaetzle (my all time favourite accompainment!!). When it arrived I was concerned as the pork looked very dry, however it was beautifully cooked.

Dad had duck two- ways: a duck pastrami with a salad (can't remember) and confit duck with pureed carrots. It was delicious!!!

Neither of the above dishes were listed on any of the menus we saw before coming to Disney. I guess it just goes to show that restaurants do update their menus seasonally and when you need to book 90-180 days out, the dish you had your heart set on may not be there, or conversely, a restaurant you weren't interested in, could be a great meal.

I was getting full and didn't really want dessert but the Banana White Chocolate Toffee Tower - Served on a cocoa almond cookie and Bananas "Foster" did sound good. We agreed to split it.

It wasn't quite a cake, or a mousse but it was delectable!! The waiter also brought out a smaller chocolate mousse type dessert for me (on the house) to celebrate my birthday later in the week.

Overall, this was a great meal and ended up being on of the highlights of our trip. Given that the meal was in a theme park and it was raining however, they seemed very keen to turn the tables and I think the whole meal was a grand total of 75 minutes which did seem a little rushed.


We weren't too hungry for dinner that night so we headed to Earl of Sandwich and get some food to take back to our hotel. I had the Original (beef and horseradish sauce), Dad had the BLT which we had 1/2 each off and we got a brownie (saved for another day) and a jello fruit cup (tasteless) for dessert. The Original was both our favourite and the Brownie (eaten two days later) was the best yet (better than the Main St one in my opinion).

Next up, Whispering Canyon Cafe (breakfast), Le Cellier to go (lunch) and Artist Point (dinner)....

 

[zebsterama]

Truly enjoying the reviews and the pics!

Thanks for sharing.

FYI - With my work travels I made a number of trips to Australia in early part of this decade. Spent most of my time in Brisbane and Sydney.

It's an incredible country, you are very lucky.

Can't wait to see more.

Cheers,
Zebsterama

 

[eurasian81]

We were seated at around 7.50am for a 7.35am ADR. The waiting area was a zoo; people were everywhere and the hostess had to keep turning away walk-ins.

When we were finally seated, only about 1/4 of the restaurant was used. I understand staggering the seating so the kitchen doesn't get overwhelmed with orders in one go, but it made the crowd at check-in trying to get tables even more frustrated.

We both ordered to BBQ Eggs Benedict (2 eggs, beef brisket and BBQ hollandaise on toasted english muffins) with a side of potatoes.

It was perfect!! I'd had my eye on this menu item for months as I liked the concept of mixing smokey BBQ flavours with breakfast and it didn't disappoint at all. As usual, the portion was way too big but I loved every mouthful.

I had a strawberry all-you-care-to-drink milkshake for my drink (included on the DDP). It came in a glass mason jar and wasn't really a milkshake but just frozen vanilla/strawberry swirl softserve. I needed to wait a while for it to melt and needed to use two straws to get sufficient suction. It was very tasty but having seen it frozen, and knowing it was basically a huge jar of ice-cream, made the diet-monster in my head keep me from drinking too much. I got through about half.

With regards to the atmosphere, at that time of morning, there is none, nada, zip. As we were leaving they did the "ketchup call" but no one actually had any ketchup on their tables. So they did a "crayon call' for a little kid and that got some responses but the restaurant really needed to fill up first.

BTW, we had dinner at Artist Point that night and when walking past the WCC we could see the atmosphere was much more jovial.

Next up... how to get cheddar cheese soup without a reservation....

 

[Alice in Oz]

Weird yellow fake cheese!? We never see that here in Oz....

 

[eurasian81]

I've been a little slack over the Christmas break but am back on board.

Artist Point is a tied first for my favourite meal in Disney and one of the top meals of my life.

We used the DDP so this was a two credit meal.

To start, we were given bread and butter (can't remember exactly but it was delicious)!!. Dad and I also had a couple of cocktails to kick off.

For mains, I ordered the salmon Dad had the buffalo with goats cheese polenta (both had different sides than what is listed on www.wdwinfo.com - must be a seasonal thing). We agreed to eat half of each as we could try both.

The salmon was cooked to perfection - it was very nice but I must admit that I didn't really get a strong hint of the cedar that was I expecting.

It was served with a sourdough bread dumpling that I didn't care for (but Dad did). The brocollini was cooked perfectly.

The buffalo was absolutely lip-smackingly wonderful.

It was served with asparagus and goats cheese polenta. The sharing plan went out the window as once tasted, Dad wouldn't part with half to share with me!!

In addition, on the DDP included in the plan is a side dish for the main course.
We had the truffled fries and tillbrook cheddar mac and cheese.

The fries were lovely, hand cut, rock salt and served with truffle mayo.

The mac and cheese had a strong cheddar flavour (no fake orange cheese sauce here!!) - the photo was overexposed (sorry).

After perusing the dessert menu, and considering our full stomachs, neither Dad or I really felt dessert. We aksed our waiter if we could have the cheese plate instead (an appetizer on the menu) to which he said "sure". There was a cheddar, a blue and another that I can't remember but they were listed separately on th menu. I remember enjoying all of them. In addition, because we were celebrating my birthday during this trip our waiter also brought out two complimentary glasses of sparkling red dessert wine to match the cheeses. It was perfect!!!

Incidentally, I noticed that the cheese on most disney menus is an appetizer where as back home, it is usually an alternate to dessert, or an after-dessert.

Coming up, Birthday dinner at Citricos

 

[mossyflossy]

Thanks for the review of AP, one of many good ones over the last few days.

can I ask whether the macarroni cheese was baked or soft? thank you

 

[msce2]

Great review of AP! Can't wait to try it in June!

 

[woodleygrrl]

that is our first night reservation. we have never been there so I am happy to see such great reviews!

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Thanks for the review on Artist Point...enjoying your reveiws.

 

[Condorman]

In addition, on the DDP included in the plan is a side dish for the main course. We had the truffled fries and tillbrook cheddar mac and cheese.

What do you mean by this? I've never heard of a side dish being included with any dining plan, particularly when the entrees all come with sides of potatoes and vegetables. Do you mean when you received the bill you somehow weren't charged for the fries, perhaps as a courtesy, or did your server actually say this was some sort of new perk?

 

[eurasian81]

What do you mean by this? I've never heard of a side dish being included with any dining plan, particularly when the entrees all come with sides of potatoes and vegetables. Do you mean when you received the bill you somehow weren't charged for the fries, perhaps as a courtesy, or did your server actually say this was some sort of new perk?

When we were seated, our waiter, Jim, explained how the dining plan worked at that restaurant.

He explained that for this meal we could have an entre, side dish, dessert and drink each. We thought it may be because it was a signature meal (using two credits) but this was the only meal we had the side-dish included (certainly not Citricos or HBD).

It was a really nice surprise as we were going to order those two sides anyway but it was an added bonus.

 

[eurasian81]

can I ask whether the macarroni cheese was baked or soft? thank you

It had a crunchy topping but I am going to go with "soft". It was definately saucy and the cheese was all gooey.

 

[Belle5]

Really enjoying your reviews and your perspective.

 

[Condorman]

When we were seated, our waiter, Jim, explained how the dining plan worked at that restaurant.

He explained that for this meal we could have an entre, side dish, dessert and drink each. We thought it may be because it was a signature meal (using two credits) but this was the only meal we had the side-dish included (certainly not Citricos or HBD).

It was a really nice surprise as we were going to order those two sides anyway but it was an added bonus.

Congratulations! You are the first person for whom that has ever happened. It makes me wonder what those on the DxDP would get in addition to the appetizer. Nice going.

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Congratulations! You are the first person for whom that has ever happened. It makes me wonder what those on the DxDP would get in addition to the appetizer. Nice going.

We were actually told the same thing when we ate at AP on 12/26. We ordered 3 sides along with our meal and were told that they were included in the dining plan. I don't think all restaurants follow this but it appears that AP does.

 

[eurasian81]

Just a short reviews (sans photos) :
Le Cellier Take-away

After reviewing the menu for this restaurant, we decided that we weren't keen to eat here as there were so many other restaurants we wanted to try on this trip. However, months of reading these boards made us very curious about the cheddar cheese soup - so we got take-away.

We simply walked up to the front desk and asked to get two cups of soup to go. A waiter then came out to confirm our order and asked "would I like one breadstick or two" to which I said "two breadsticks". About 3 minutes later, two cups of soup arrive (in takeaway coffee cups with lids) and a foil package of six breadsticks (two serves). I didn't really want to make a fuss and change the order as he also brought out the bill at the same time. Two cups, plus two breadstick serves plus tax plus 18% tip included was about $22 which we both thought was incredibly steep.

The soup was good - more like a runny cheese sauce and I only had about half the cup as it was quite rich. Dad and I make it though about 1 and a half sticks so there was a lot of wastage.

All in all, quite enjoyable - would I do it again - yes, but only one serve of breadsticks and only on a rainy cold day (which is what we had) as I don't think I could eat the soup sitting on a bench in the heat of summer!

 

[elizabethswan]

i didn't even know you could take out from these restaurants. that's good to know. your review has been great, thanks for posting all of this info. i am surprised that they charged gratuity for a take out , but again, i didn't even know they had take out. is this something that is available from all disney restaurants???

 

[zhazhazsu]

WOW you got TO GO soup at Le Cellier..... good to know! I never would have dreamed that this was possible.

You have seriously opened my eyes to a whole new dining possibility Thanks!

 

[angelmav]

Great reviews, I have rreally enjoyed them!