So that night was our big dinner at...
California Grill!!
We were both really looking forward to this meal. I'd heard so much about it from the DIS boards, and DH really liked the look of the menu. We were so excited when we could finally make our reservation for California Grill, 180 days out! So needless to say, we were very excited to be eating there that night!!
So our ADR was for 7.20pm, and we arrived right on time. We checked in and were escorted up to California Grill, feeling very special. We only waited around 5 minutes for a table, and were seated in the far end of the restaurant, by the window. Nice!
Now, I'd timed our reservation at California Grill so that we would be able to watch Wishes while we were there. We couldn't see the Magic Kingdom from our table, but knew we could head out onto the balcony to watch it at 8pm. Yay!
So we sat at our table, and waited for our server. And waited. And waited. While we waited, I took a photo of my place setting...
And then we waited some more. Ho-hum. We had quite a while to look around the restaurant, and I was quite shocked at how large it was. Lots of people crammed in, and it was actually quite noisy. Not really what I'd expected!
Eventually our server arrived. Phew! She gave us our menus, told us to look at them, and off she went again. Hmmm.
I'm just going to say it - our server wasn't good. She was scatty and seemed a bit distracted all night. Plus, she looked a bit... dishevelled! Basically she was just a bit of a mess. Which I didn't expect from California Grill! I was imagining the servers to be pretty fancy and professional, like they were at Yachtsman Steakhouse.
But anyway, she came back (eventually), and we ordered our wine, appetizer and entree. She was kinda shocked that we were ready to order everything at once, but I guess that's what's happens when you leave us there for 10 minutes with nothing but a menu.
I asked her which wine she would recommend between two particular wines, and she basically said, "I don't know! I've been on vacation for a while and I'm not really up to date with the menu." Huh. Okay then...
Our wines arrived... I think DH ordered a Merlot of some sort, and I ordered a Sauvignon Blanc, but I can't remember the details I'm afraid! We were both happy with our choices, anyway.
By this stage it was around 7.50pm, and I was a bit worried that our appetizers would arrive just as Wishes was starting. So when our server dropped off our bread, I let her know we'd be going out on the balcony to watch Wishes, so maybe our appetizers could be held for a little bit? Eeek.
So here's our bread, which was nice and fresh, although I've never been a huge fan of just olive oil...
So at 7.55, just as we were getting ready to head out onto the balcony, our appetizers arrived. Seriously!? Our server said, "They were ready to come out, so here they are!" Ummmmmm. Right.
Now, maybe we should have just asked for her to take them back, but we were both a bit overwhelmed that they'd arrived in the first place. So, we had a choice to make. Do we shovel down our appetizers really quickly, then rush out and see Wishes, or do we go and watch Wishes and let our food get cold? Argghhhhh.
In the end, we both ate half our appetizers before going out to the balcony.
The plus side was that our appetizers were fantastic! DH ordered the Roasted Chicken Flatbread - with applewood bacon, romaine lettuce, sweet onions and lemon mayonnaise.
He really enjoyed this. At first I think he was a bit taken aback by all the lettuce, but he said it had a great flavour and was really fresh and tasty.
For my appetizer, I chose the Goat Cheese Ravioli - with sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, shiitake mushrooms and basil.
This was FANTASTIC! I love fresh ravioli like this, and the goat cheese on the inside gave an excellent flavour. It was probably one of my favourite appetizers of our whole trip. If only I didn't have to leave it to get cold!!
So at 8, we headed to the balcony to watch Wishes. It was already pretty crowded with people, and I'm pretty short. So actually, I could hardly see. It sounded pretty - I love the Wishes soundtrack - but I could only see flashes now and then through people's shoulders.
I admit it. I think I had a couple of little tears at this stage. And no, not happy tears like I normally have during Wishes! Our meal just wasn't going as planned. I'd been so looking forward to California Grill, and things just weren't going as I'd hoped! I think sometimes that's the downside of planning so much... we have such high expectations that when things don't go perfectly, it's so sad!!
Anyhoo, DH gave me a little cuddle to cheer me up, and took some photos of Wishes with his arm in the air, over people's heads. Heh.
DH's cuddle and Wishes both cheered me up - after all, we were at Disney World!! So when it finished, we went back inside to finish our meals, which were now a mix between lukewarm and cold. Still yummy though.
Soon after that, our entrees arrived. DH ordered the Oak-fired Filet of Beef - with cheesy Yukon gold potato mash, sautéed broccolini, and teriyaki barbecue sauce...
He liked this too, although not as much as his steak at the Yachtsman. He loved the teriyaki sauce though!
I was a bit torn as to what to choose for my entree. I didn't really feel like steak, so instead I chose the Crispy Petite Chicken - with gnocchi, leek fondue, chanterelles, fava beans, mustard cream and natural jus.
I know, right!? Sounds a bit bizarre. I really didn't know what to expect! I don't think I'd ever eaten a petite chicken before. Heh. And I really don't know what chanterelles are. But I thought I'd be adventurous and try it!
It was... different!! I liked the gnocchi, although it was kind of hidden under lots of other things I wasn't quite sure of. The chicken was tasty, but tricky to eat because it was so small and fiddly. I think I ended up leaving a lot of it, just because I couldn't get my knife around the teeny little wings and legs!! I thought it would be a bit uncouth to just pick up a wing and start munching on it. Hehee.
I can't say I loved my petite chicken, but I didn't dislike it either. It was just... different and hard to eat!!
Our server saw me taking photos of our food (how embarrassing!), so she offered to take one of the both of us. Here it is...
Errrm... yeah! That photo just about sums up our server - blurry. Hehee!
Up next was dessert time!! We waited quite a while to see the dessert menu (of course) and then waited a long time for our server to come back and take our orders. I think she was more into chatting with people about her vacation than actually serving food. Which is nice, but everything in moderation, you know!?
DH ordered the Chocolate Temptation, which was the no sugar added dessert. It consisted of a Chocolate pyramid with chocolate gelato, berry compote and chocolate-hazelnut crunch...
He loved this! He especially loved the gelato. I don't think he ate it all because it was quite rich, but it was definitely a hit. His favourite part of the meal.
And I chose the Valrhona Chocolate Cake - which had a warm chocolate cake with molten center, housemade raspberry ice cream and raspberry sauce...
Yum!! Wow, this was rich! It was like eating spoonfuls of really, really, really rich melted chocolate. Here's the inside of the cake...
Chocolatey goodness!! What's not to love!?
I really liked the raspberry ice-cream that went along with it. It was definitely a nice change from all the chocolate!
Again, I didn't eat all of this, but it was definitely delicious!
There was a cute old lady on the table next to us, who couldn't stop looking at my dessert. She asked me what it was. Then she asked me if it was good. Then she asked me what the ice-cream was. Her husband joked that I should just give her a bite so she'd stop asking questions. Hehee. Cute. She ended up ordering it as her dessert too, and adored it.
Of course, we waited a long time to receive our bill, and even longer to get our server to come back with the receipt and our card. Ho-hum!!
We were in the restaurant for almost 2 and a half hours all up, which I think is a long time to sit in the same place! It would have been fine if that had been our choice - if we were really enjoying our time and drinking lots of great wines and cocktails, etc... but actually, most of our time was spent just waiting for our server to come with something we'd asked for.
So overall, California Grill just wasn't what we'd expected and hoped. The food was great - especially the appetizers and desserts - but the service and the atmosphere was not what we'd imagined. I really think if we had a different server, it would have made a massive difference. There were lots of other lovely servers walking around, and a few actually even filled up our iced waters and asked if we wanted anything else, since our server hardly ever seemed to be around. Grrr, server!!
We gave California Grill 3 out of 5 smiley men.
Next up... Breakfast at
Kona!!
I think I'll try to add an early brekkie for our April Trip now!
him. As our server said last time, "That Stitch is just naughty." 
