Day 3 Dinner: California Grill
(or, the biggest mistake of my life)
So after doing everything we wanted to do in Hollywood Studios, we headed back to the room to freshen up for dinner. The kid took a shower, I took a shower and while I got dressed he did a little more lightsaber battling with... someone in his head.
I brought basically one nice outfit for each of us because he only has one collared shirt and it's Disney... but tonight seemed like the right time to break it out since we were all freshly showered and stuff. Our plans for the evening were Epcot after dinner... I LOVE the approach from the monorail around future world and wanted to do that at least once this trip... but since we were staying at BWV for the Epcot portion of our trip I figured I wouldn't have a chance to. But then a friend sent me a code for a free uber and a plan was born - we could uber over to the CR and then monorail over to Epcot after and then walk home after fireworks.
So off we went on our uber to the CR. We got there maybe 10 minutes before our 5pm ADR and I requested a window table. This method of table request has not failed me yet: book first seating, get there a bit early, make request for highly coveted table. We went up and sat in the bar while waiting to be seated but I was hoping my method wouldn't fail me tonight.
We sat in the bar and the bar waiter came over with the drink menu. Last time at CA Grill I had the Santa Monica Cider and really liked it a lot. So this is really the most bizarre part of the evening. I tell the waiter that I had that last time and really liked it and asked what he'd recommend. He recommended I get the same thing. I said "well I'd like to try something different." "but if you liked it, why don't you get the same thing?" "because I'd like to try something different. How about the Cucumber Fizz?" "well. if you really like cucumber you might like that. but why don't you get the Santa Monica Cider?" "Because I want to try something different! I'll have the Cucumber Fizz." I don't know that he rolled his eyes when he turned his back but it would not surprise me if he did. So anyway, I got the:
Cucumber Fizz
Chopin Vodka, Limoncello, and Cucumber Water with a splash of Sprite
this drink was exactly what I was in the mood for. I love cucumbers. It did taste like cucumber. and lemon. and summer in a glass with the sun shining through it. It was just what I wanted and I'm still not sure why the bar waiter fought me on it. I paid for it right away like they do there and we were seated shortly after.... but not before taking a clean and showered selfie in the CA Grill bar area:
I just noticed my shirt was all full of cat fur. Oh well.
So we were shown to our table and we did, indeed, have a window table. It was one of those tables that were half booth/half table. I was going to sit on the bench to let the kid have the better view but he really wanted the bench so this was my view:
yeah, it was nice. So then our waitress comes up and introduces herself. Jenny O, I remember it because I glanced at her ID badge (not nametag but the thing they stick in the POS) and it said Jenny O and I was wondering why the O was attached to Jenny and why she introduced herself that way. Anyway she was right away so warm and so welcoming without being overly familiar in a creepy way. She gave us the menus and asked about beverages. The kid had apple juice and I was happy with my cucumber fizz. I was not interested in bottled water or fizzy water so she brought a bottle of "triple filtered" tap water. So maybe I am making too much of the water thing, I don't know, but this water was absolutely delicious. It was chilled to the perfect temperature so that it didn't have to mix with presumably less filtered ice. It was so clean and so refreshing and the kid thought I had absolutely lost my mind when I commented on it. "Can I taste it mom?" "sure" *shrug* "tastes like water."
We were also pretty hungry and she brought the bread at the same time as the water. The bread at California Grill is excellent and it might be the only one that has two kinds - sourdough rolls (I think? now not so sure) and a lavender foccacia. I did not think the kid would like the foccacia because to me it does have that floral note but I guess the kid has never met a crusty bread slathered in butter that he didn't like. I raised him on local artisan sourdough and basically he will not eat supermarket bread. Or anything made with supermarket bread (like cheap kids grilled cheese made with american cheese singles... for his birthday party at a local mini golf place he made the woman's jaw drop when he asked if she had any smoked gouda for his grilled cheese, lol. He is picky but I am too and his pickiness sometimes reflects mine). Anyway I digress. The bread was good and I had to enforce strict limits on it. The kid did not even bat an eye when I told him the black stuff was "fancy salt." Bring it on! I had to stop him at one of each kind of bread, he loved both. I had a roll which was delicious as well but which I knew I'd regret at the end of the meal. AND I DID. But let's not skip ahead.
You can't go out with picky kid all unprepared so I had two plans - one if they let him order off the adult menu and one if they let him order off the kid menu. After learning that we were on the DxDDP, Jenny O let us know that kiddo could order off the adult menu. So, we placed our orders.
The kid had the
Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli
Tomato-Fennel Broth, crispy Mushrooms, Tiny Basil, Benziger Estate Olive Oil
now before you get all icked out, the kid's ravioli had none of that stuff in the description. He does not like sauce, he would not eat crispy mushrooms or tomato broth or any of that other nonsense. He eats a lot of tortellini at home though and he won't eat it with any kind of sauce but does love it with butter. One day I gave it to him plain because I wanted to see if he would eat it without the butter and he did. So that was the end of gratuitous butter on tortellini in our household. So I ordered this big fancy ravioli plain for him.
He actually ate half of this before declaring that the inside was a little too spicy. I don't think it was, I think at about halfway he noticed there were herbs in there and decided he wasn't having it. There was still SO MUCH food to come that I decided to just let it go and let him save room for the main course, but I am proud of him for eating half of a tremendous goat cheese ravioli. He did not object to the goat cheese at all.
I got the same thing I got last time because it was so good last time:
Spicy Kazan Roll
Crab, Shrimp, Scallops, Tuna, Fireball Sauce
This should not surprise anyone as it hits all of my high points... seafood, spicy and creamy. Yum, YUM, YUM-O. Did not disappoint. I eat a lot of supermarket sushi at home because there is actually a sushi chef there and he makes some nice rolls. But once they sit in a plastic pack in the fridge for a while the rice gets cold and starts to dry out. The rice was perfect, the fish was perfect, the spicy sauce was perfect, the little baby bay scallops were perfect. This is perfection on a plate, at least for me. The one thing I wished I had remembered to do was ask for them to sub more cucumber for the ginger because I hate that pickled ginger stuff and I love cucumber (sticking out tongue at stupid bar waiter). 10/10, I am not sure I'll ever order another app here just because this one is so good. I crave it between trips (for years usually). I could probably find something awesome here but mama don't pay no $26 for a roll in here at home in real life, that's disney life.
For our entrees, I asked Jenny O if the kid could get the filet done medium and plain... no sauce, no weird stuff, no nothing. She asked if salt and pepper was ok and I said sure... kid loves salt and I use pepper in my cooking and he never complains. I also asked if it would be possible if he could get a side of mac and cheese off the kid's menu. I was actually prepared to pay the $9 OOP for this if they wouldn't do it just because... well I knew he'd love it and I wanted it to be an amazing experience for him too. But Jenny O says "absolutely no problem." So here is the kid's dinner:
Oak Fired Filet of Beef with House-made Macaroni & Cheese
Upon this showing up at our table, I did what I always do and started cutting up the steak for the kid (he is not super coordinated due to fine motor stuff). About 30 seconds later Jenny O shows up to see how our food is. She said "oh I was coming to slice up his meat so you can relax and eat your dinner!" I had already started cutting it up so I politely declined. Then she noticed the butter on top and said "oh my gosh, they put butter on it. Do you want me to have them make it over?" I assured her that the kid was more than ok with it and everything looked great and thank you. I'm still blown away that she was going to come back to the table and slice up my child's steak for me so I could get started enjoying my meal. I thought it was really sweet but it was a level of service that I am not accustomed to as it seems like something I should be doing. Also note that she knew what the order was and came to check that it was correct and offered to replace it when it seemed not correct. But being that my child would dive into a tub of butter and eat his way out if I let him, it was actually better that way. "MOM! I NEVER KNEW YOU COULD PUT BUTTER ON STEAK!!!!!"
So this is where the biggest mistake of my life was made. I swear, I saw the kid's eyes roll into the back of his head a few times eating this steak. Last time at Disney he lived mostly on mac and cheese. This time the mac and cheese sat largely untouched while he devoured his steak, making happy noises under his breath the whole time. So basically, I have allowed my child to fall in love with the $49 filet mignon. Now i'm on the hook for this thing for the rest of my life every time we go to Disney, though I'm sure he will ask at other places too. oh well
Here he is enjoying his steak and leaving the mac and cheese for later, fork a blur:
after declaring it "amazeballs" and the best thing he ever ate, he devoured 3/4 of that HUGE portion of mac and cheese and declared it the best of the trip as well. "Mom. I think this might be homemade!" I think you are right!
I ordered the filet too, but the way it was intended to come:
Oak-fired Filet of Beef
Duck Fat Marble Potatoes, Gruyére-Harp Lager Mornay, Roasted Tomato Peperonata, Whole-roasted Garlic, Cabernet Wine Sauce
maybe it's me, but I actually don't think this is all that super appealing looking. it looks kind of like a big mush on the plate and whatever is between the garlic and the filet looks like it is growing mold. I remember thinking that the presentation was a little weird, so it's not just the photograph. But for however kind of weird it looks, it was delicious. Make no mistake, duck fat potatoes are no joke... they are super rich and the tiniest baby potatoes I've ever seen. I had no earthly clue what a Peperonata was but I googled it when I got home and it's basically an acidic and sweet preparation of peppers, tomatoes, garlic and has vinegar in it. This dish was so rich, it needed that peperonata to cut through it a little. The garlic was roasted to perfection and I squeezed out cloves and ate a bit with each bite of my steak, which was seasoned perfectly and cooked a perfect medium rare and melted in my mouth the way good steaks do. This was all so rich taken together that I couldn't finish it and I actually left about 1/4 on my plate. It was very good and I thought a very big portion. I've seen reviews of CA Grill from when they had the tomato risotto that said their filet portions were tiny. This was a big steak and a lot of potatoes and other stuff. I'm drooling right now thinking about it to be honest.
So of course next comes dessert, because we are doing the DxDDP. Kid and I discussed it and I told him if he wanted to order off the kid menu he could. But then he said "mom, what's cream broo-lee??" I said "creme brulee. it's like the most decadent rich creamy vanilla pudding you ever had with a sugar crust on top." "wow, that sounds like it could be good. Especially with s'mores." SOLD. The kid had:
S'mores Creme Brulee
Marshmallow Custard, Milk Chocolate Ganache, Caramelized Turbinado Sugar
I'm not really a dessert person, I admit, but I freaking love creme brulee. This. was. amazeballs. My only regret truly is that I was too stuffed to enjoy it. I mean to help my son enjoy it. Because I like, wouldn't be eating my son's dessert out from under him... what kind of mother would do that?!? um.... yeah. He loved it too but was too stuffed to make more than a dent in it.
I ordered the
Warm Homemade Fritters
Apple-stuffed, Cinnamon-dusted Fritters complemented with a Trio of Dipping Sauces
This is kind of a departure for me. I am generally the one that orders the chocolate dessert. always. But I was stuffed and after my kungaloosh disappointment I decided I wanted something that somehow felt lighter. An apple fritter is light, right?
Well actually they were. I am not a donut person at all... except for cider donuts fresh out of the fryer dusted in cinnamon sugar in fall at the apple orchard, and that is exactly what these reminded me of. The dipping sauces were... I wish I had taken notes because they weren't on the menu I photographed, but it was a vanilla (maybe creme anglaise), cranberry and a caramel. They were all phenomenally good, even not really being a dessert person and even being stuffed to the gills and even wishing they had a thing where you could come back for fireworks AND dessert (yes I realize what a logistical nightmare that would be)... They were so simple but so perfectly prepared and the sauces were all so perfect too. So really the kid got to keep his creme brulee and I just had a taste because I was happy with my fritters (and I gave him one or two also because the kid loves cider donuts as much as I do).
Also I had been saving my non-alcoholic beverage credit to go with dessert. All of the sigs have these pricey press pot coffees it seems and I thought that an $8 cup of coffee would be a lovely way to bang out my DxDDP credits... but honestly it just felt too heavy after the rich meal, so I ordered a herbal tea, which before the last few years I NEVER liked. I hate tea... a bad experience with my dad and unsweetened iced sun tea makes me want to gag whenever I taste real tea. But I do like herbal tea and they had one on the menu that sounded appealing:
Harmony Tea
Organic peppermint leaves, organic chamomile flowers, orange blossoms, and allspice. A fresh and minty herbal blended for complexity, balanced with the fragrant notes of allspice.
this was... lovely. The best cup of tea I have ever had in my life. I'm not sure if it was the food buzz or the lovely Jenny O or my kid declaring it the best meal he's ever had, but it was just the right perfect lightness and sweetened with a little honey... a little bit of delicate mint flavor and the all spice was definitely there... and an absolutely perfect end to the meal (and Jenny O assured me it would aid in digestion). And $7.49 for it so I still got my DxDDP value out of it. It was served pre-brewed to perfection for me (it is a loose leaf tea) strained and in a little stainless tea pot and there were a good 2.5 cups in there... and I drank all of it.
So overall except for the kind of creepy bar waiter, this meal was a home run. It was perfect in every way, except for my entree maybe not being the most beautiful presentation ever.
This meal would have been $187.64 but we paid 4 DxDDP. I need to be more organized in reporting about the money aspect, sorry. I left the lovely Ms. Jenny O a $40 tip on this meal because she was that good. I paid the check and before we left she came by to thank me, which was again sweet of her. This meal was truly the highlight of the trip, although we had many more good meals after this one... we were truly at the top of the world for this one.
Our time in Epcot was also truly magical... I got my nighttime monorail ride around future world, we did spaceship earth and Soarin' with a FP+, both of our two favorite rides and then walked over to the international gateway bridge to watch illuminations only to see that the island down below was not closed off for a special event, so we went down to my favorite illuminations viewing spot and sat and relaxed and waited about an hour for the show (we were both exhausted) and leaned against the fence and cuddled and hunted pokemon until our favorite nighttime show started. I will leave you with one picture of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth to end off our super magical night. We even caught the boat with no wait back to the boardwalk. The night was just perfection... I am totally filled with warm fuzzies just thinking about it right now.