Where we ate, Oct. 24-Nov 10, all reviews listed in 1st post

[ElizabethB]

Enjoyed your reviews. One correction -- we used DDE discount at the Garden View Lounge for tea twice last month, so it is accepted there.

 

[liamsaunt]

Enjoyed your reviews. One correction -- we used DDE discount at the Garden View Lounge for tea twice last month, so it is accepted there.

Hmm...I guess our waitress did not know that. I even took it out and showed it to her. Oh well, I will remember that they take it for next time. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[liamsaunt]

Flying Fish Cafe, October 31

So, after circulating around the WS a couple of times, we decided that we were indeed hungry enough to head over to Flying Fish for dinner. DH and I always plan a meal at the Flying Fish on our trips, because we both love the potato-wrapped snapper. We can't get good snapper up here to cook at home, so I really enjoy eating it when we are in Florida.

We had no wait for our table, and were seated at a spacious round towards the front of the room. The chef, Russell, came right out to talk about Liam's allergies and what he could do for him. This time, though, Liam did not require anything special. Once he saw the grilled cheese on the kids menu he was set. Russell promised to use a fresh pan to make the sandwich. (Odd aside--Liam loves grilled cheese at Disney, but never eats it at home, ever! If you ask him if he wants one, he always says no. Weird, huh?). Caili was excited too, because the kids menu also had her favorite dish--steak! This girl is 5 and would eat an entire porterhouse if we let her. The steak (medium rare as requested) came with roasted potatoes and carrots, but the chef also made her a side of fries (unasked) since Liam's sandwich came with them. Wasn't that nice of him?

We had a great waiter (Tim) also. He timed all of the food perfectly, and paid attention to the kids nicely. For starters, the grownups decided to share two appetizers: Ahi Tuna Tataki with wakame, sesame seed crackers, and sweet-spicy garlic sauce, and a timbale of fresh hearts of palm, oven-cured tomatoes, avocado, frisee, and balsamic reduction. The tuna was amazingly fresh, and the wakame was delicious. My favorite though was the hearts of palm. I alwys feel a little veggie-deprived at Disney, and this fresh, light salad helped to alleviate that feeling a bit.

For mains, my Dsis and I decided to split an order of the snapper, and my DH got his own order of it. It was awesome as always--perfectly cooked, nice and juicy, the potato wrapping was not greasy at all, and the red wine butter sauce was so good! Of course, anything with butter in it tastes good to me! Splitting the entree was a great idea. we had just enough food to feel full without being stuffed to the gills. We enjoyed a really nice botle of red wine with the snapper also, but I did not write down what it was in my notes.

Unfortunately, we were too full for dessert, which stunk because they had a cheese plate that sounded amazing. I LOVE cheese and would choose a cheese plate over a sweet dessert anytime. The kids did not want dessert either, so no reports on that section of the menu.

Next up: Artist Point, November 1

 

[oybolshoi]

We have heard so many good things about Flying Fish and your review just confirms it... we are going to have to try it on our next visit.

thanks for sharing - it sounds yummy!

 

[Maleficent13]

Fabulous reviews!!! You make me hungry!

 

[TigerKat]

Great reviews - I planned on having the snapper before I read this review and one other posted a few days ago, NOW I'M SURE, it sounds like the dish for me!

 

[liamsaunt]

Artist Point, November 1

Artist Point and Jiko are my two favorite Dsiney restaurants, so I was really looking forward to this meal. I was not disappointed. Eevrything went perfectly! We were seated in the back of the restuarant, over on the far corner, at a large round table far away from other diners. I was happy with that arrangement because at the time we arrived we were the only group with kids and although we had not had any problems with them yet, I was waiting on the inevitable "kiddie freak-out!" Luckily, we escaped unscathed. The kids were absolute angels. A couple actually stopped us on the way out of the restaurant to tell us how lovely and well behaved they were. I thought that was so nice of them to say!

Anyway, on to the food. The chef came out to talk about Liam's allergies. It was interesting, because he said he was allergic to crustaceans too, so did not even have them in the kitchen. For a starter, Caili had a big bowl of fruit. Liam passed. Then they both had the kids mac and cheese, which they both liked very much. When the chef came out to see how Liam like his food, he told the chef: "It's very good. It's 'almost' as good as my Mom's." Heh heh. That kids knows who butters his bread!

As for the grown-ups, we all knew what we were ordering before we even got there: Smoky portobello soup with croutons, chives, ****akes, and chive oil to start. What can I say other than YUM! This soup is amazing--smooth, rich, and smoky, with the croutons providing the perfect bit of crunch. For entrees, my Dsis and I split the salmon, served with mizuna greens, harcourt verts, asparagus, herbed dumlplings, and sage brown butter vinagrette. My DH had the salmon too. It ws incredible--perfectly cooked medium rare as requested, and I love the new side dishes--the asparagus and harcourt verts were crisp tender and so fresh. The dumlpings were neat too--they reminded me a little bit of gnocchi. We shared a bottle of Shea Vineyards Pinot Noir, which was terrific.

The kids skipped dessert, because they had the promise of a mickey bar afterards to look forward to. The grownups split the cheese plate with the rest of the wine. Yum yum!

Funny story: As we were walking down to Roaring Fork after dinner to get the kids their ice cream, my sister overheard somwone talking about us. They said "Look at that family! They are so dressed up, and the kids are holding hands...they must be Canadian." That's us, mistaken for Canadian.

Next up: Breakfast at O'Hanas, November 2

 

[liamsaunt]

Ohanas breakfast, November 2.

This breakfast was a last-minute idea on my part. We had to cancel Chef Mickeys earlier in the trip since Liam was sick, and since I was not able to rebook it at the time of the cancellation, we thought we would not be doing a character meal this trip. Well, I decided on a whim to call Disney Dining the day before and see if we could get in to O’Hanas last minute. No problem at all, we had our pick of times!

We had a great table in the corner of the room with views out to the Magic Kingdom—it would have been a nice spot for Wishes, but of course we were having breakfast. The chef came out and talked about Liam’s allergies. She said that she would make him egg-free waffles, which made him very happy, and also brought out his food on a separate skillet so there would be no cross-contamination from the scrambled eggs in the family skillet.

We started out with the delicious O’Hanas juice. They did not tell us what was in it—I thought mango and guava? DH drank four glasses of it! The coffee was just OK. Then they brought out a plate of fruit (all completely devoured by the children), and a basket of sweet bread—one plain and one with icing. Liam could not have this bread. Actually, none of the grown ups got any of this bread—Caili ate the entire basket!! Humph.

The food came out in fairly short order—scrambled eggs, mickey waffles, spicy sausage, bacon, biscuits, and potato wedges. The kids had cereal also—cheerios for Caili and Fruit Loops for Liam (note to self: never let Liam eat sugary cereal again! He was OFF THE WALL later on.) Everything was hot and fresh, and of course there was way too much of everything. I particularly liked the potatoes—they were nice and crispy on the outside, creamy within, and salty. The biscuits were a bit greasy, but I still managed to eat most of one.

The character interaction was very good. We did not have to wait long for them to come around, and they all took a decent amount of time with the kids—much better than the Princess lunch at Norway in terms of time spent. Characters were Mickey, Pluto, Lilo, and Stitch. Caili was scared of Stitch. He tried to be nice to her, stroking her hand and giving her a kiss, but she hid from him anyway. She really liked all the other characters though. Liam enjoyed meeting Stitch the most—probably because Caili was scared! This was a nice way to start our day. I think we’ll make eating here a tradition.

Next up: Le Cellier

 

[liamsaunt]

Le Cellier, November 2

Well, here it is. The first "meh" review of the trip. We were really disapponted in Le Celllier, despite having enjoyed it before. To begin with, our waiter (name omitted to protect the not-so-innocent) was less than stellar, to say the least. We were seated promptly, but he took 15 minutes (I timed him) to even acknowledge us and bring over water. Not good when you are dining with kids. Liam was starving, so I resorted to feeding him a bagel from my backpack rather than risk a restaurant meltdown while waiting to actually be able to place an order for some food.

Mr. Moseypants finally came over with water and breadsticks. We told him about Liam's allergies, and did not get much of a response: no going for the chef, no suggestions from the waiter of what would be OK for him to eat. 'Sigh.'

On to the food. All of the grownups started with the beer-cheddar soup. We all thought it was tasty, but very rich. Also, it tastes strongly of bacon, so keep that in mind if you order it. For entrees, my Dsis and I split the chicken ceasar salad. The chicken was woefully overcooked--very, very dry (we were joking that it was "chicken jerky"), and the greens had way too much dressing. DH fared better with the salmon salad. It was correctly cooked to medium rare, and served with lots of fresh greens.

Kids meals: Caili ordered the child's steak with french fries. It was medium rare as ordered, but extremely tough. My Dsis had real trouble cutting it, even with a steak knife. Liam ordered a hot dog, of which he ate about two bites. No surprise that he was not hungry after mowing down the bagel. Oh well.

Dessert: Liam passed. Caili had the chocolate moose, which was very cute. She burst out laughing when she saw it, and ate about half. I did not try it. Dsis said it was sickeningly sweet. Grownups split the creme brulee duo. Nasty! The vanilla brulee tasted more like jello vanilla pudding than a true creme brulee, and the maple was so sweet it made my teeth shiver.

Our lackluster service continued throughout the meal with uncleared plates, unfilled drinks...you get the picture. We won't be back.

Next up: Redemption at the California Grill

 

[liamsaunt]

California Grill, November 3

This was the last meal of the trip last year, and we decided to continue the tradition this year. Even the kids were excited about the CG—not for the food of course, but for the chance to see Wishes from the roofdeck, and perhaps as importantly, to color.

Food: We were starving when we got there, so put in an order for the kids meals and the triple cheese, carmelized onion, sun-dried tomato pesto flatbread while we looked over the rest of the menu. This was really great—so good that we decided to order another one—the fig and proscuitto, which, although a little sweet, was also greatly enjoyed. The kids both got mac and cheese. Liam pronounced it “too cheesy,” but he was just looking for an excuse not to eat it because he was mowing down all of the really tasty crusty bread on the table, with excellent olive oil. Pasta, bread, same thing, so whatever. Caili ate most of hers. They had no interest in dessert, so their dishes were cleared and they went on to what they had really been looking forward to: Coloring. Last year, the kids amused themselves during our long meal by drawing various rides that they thought up. Little Imagineers in training, they could not wait to design and explain this year’s creations. I came prepared with about 100 sheets of paper, and washable crayons and markers. Our waiter laughed when he saw me setting the kids up with supplies, but hey, it makes them happy, and most importantly, kept them quiet while we navigated the rest of the menu.

Next DH wanted to try the tuna three ways. I would have preferred this prior to the flatbread, but oh well. It was nice, though I only tried a bite of each kind, having psychologically moved beyond raw food at this point. DH and Dsis devoured it though. We also ordered a salad: Warm Bermuda triangle goat cheese, wax beans, frisee, and sherry vinaigrette. I did query the waiter about this one, wondering if the goat cheese would be too strong. He said if we did not like it he would take it off the bill. No worries—it was excellent. The goat cheese was so smooth and rich, even my Dsis, foe of goat cheese in any form, enjoyed it. The veggies were tasty too, perfectly blanched wax beans and frisee in a slightly sweet vinaigrette. For wine, Dsis and I had been enjoying a glass of sancerre. DH had, I believe, a rousanne.

Main course: Dsis and I ordered the same thing: gnocchi with roasted butternut squash, shi-ake mushrooms, truffles, and parmesean in a shi-ake (the filter bleeps out the real name!) broth. This was awesome. The squash was nutty and a little crisp, which nicely offset the pillowy gnocchi, and the whole dish had that great truffle aroma. The only thing that would have pushed it over the edge was if the shi-ake broth had been a shi-ake cream sauce. Yeah, it would have had about 500 more calories, but it would have been REALLY GOOD. DH had the grilled pork tenderloin with creamy goat cheese polenta, cremini mushrooms, zinfandel glaze, and sage. The pork was perfectly cooked to a nice pink, the polenta was rich and creamy, and the zinfandel glaze was rich and perfectly complimented the pork. Yum yum! With our entrees we shared a bottle of the Storybrook Vineyards zinfandel, which was amazing—rich and fruity.

At this point, we were stuffed and Wishes was about to start, so we decided to skip dessert (though I saw the cheese plate and it looked amazing!). I told the waiter we were going to watch Wishes from the deck and he should feel free to flip the table for the next seating while we were gone—it was really busy that night. Wishes was amazing, as always, though it was COLD out on the deck! The wind was a-blowing! What a great way to end an evening, and to end the trip with the kids. The best part: My nephew turning to me at the end of Wishes and saying: “This trip was 10 times awesomer than last year. My wish is for another trip next year. I bet that one will be even ten times awesomer than this year!” We’ll see… J

One final note for our waiter: He rocked! CG was slammed when we got there, but he was still able to be extremely attentive to the kids, bringing them drink refills, goldfish refills, whatever, while still presenting us with impeccable service. We never felt rushed, and we never felt like we were just waiting around for him to show up, bring food, etc. either. The only thing I disliked was that he would kneel down to talk to us. That really bugs me in any restaurant. On the other hand, CG was extremely loud, so I decided that maybe it was a way to project his voice across the table. He was also knowledgeable about wine, which was fun—we got to trade some stories. Great service from waiter Gary. Thank you Gary!

Next up: Counter Service quick reviews, all in one post

 

[oybolshoi]

We finally tried California Grill for the first time last month on our trip and it was excellent - I also had the pork tenderloin and it was great. I'll tell you a little secret though...I thought the polenta was the star of the show. Unbelievable how good that was.

thanks for all the reviews - it's been good reading!

 

[liamsaunt]

Counter Service Round Up:

Starring Rolls (MGM Studios):

We split a veggie sandwich from here. It was a whole wheat pita spread with hummus and then filled with roasted vegetables: zucchini, eggplant, carrots, red onion, plus cucumber, all tossed in a light vinagrette. Potato chips are included in the price of the sandwich. We ate this in the picnic area of Anaheim Produce--which got lots of our money in fruits for the kids and icy waters for all. Highly recommended.

Lunching Pad (Magic Kingdom)

OK, what was up with this place when we were there? The origin of the famous handwich (for me) has stooped low indeed. Right now, the current menu is as follows: Turkey legs, spicy cheese filled pretzels, sweet cream filled pretzels, and fountain drinks. I think they may have chips also. Anyway, the first time we stopped by, they had no soda and no pretzels. Another day, they had soda, but no spicy pretzels or turkey legs. Begone Lunching Pad! To the Martian atmosphere!

Pecos Bills Tall Tale Cafe (Magic Kingdom):

DH and Dsis got burgers here. Described as "satisfying...murph...munch, chomp..aah." OK, then. They report that other than brown lettuce, the toppings bar looked very fresh and well stocked. I had some fries, which were undercooked, but whatever, I was hungry.

Caseys Corner (Magic Kingdom):

Liam's favorite! That's right, of all the places we went, Casey's was the best, according to Liam. When we were there, there were no waits at all. After we got back to the parks post-Liam-illness, he, after eating nothing for 24 hours, polished off most of two Caseys dogs.

Kids review of Caseys: Liam: Yummy! Juicy! Caili: Good, but TOO BIG! Liam: Can I have the rest of hers?

Flame Tree BBQ (Animal Kingdom):

This place smells great. We ordered 1/2 smoked chicken, 1/2 slab ribs, onion rings and fries.

The meats all had nice flavor, but man, they were dry! Dsis commented that the chicken tasted like it had been put in the smoker in 1983. The ribs, same story. We resorted to dipping the dried out chicken into the baked beans to moisten it a bit.

(Aside to other allergy people: I asked about the ingredients of the onion rings, and was told I had to wait for a manager. So, I did. After a while, someone came, I told them what my question was. They brought out the book for the item in question, I read the ingredient list and told them what I thought, then they brought out a sheet and wanted my name? Is this common in CS ordering with allergies?? I honestly was wondering what the heck was going on. They freaked me out enough that I didn't let Liam eat the item I asked about--onion rings, btw.)

ABC Commissary:

I have flamed this place before, but I have to admit it: We actually found their fish and chips edible! Granted, the fries were undercooked, even raw in spots, but the fish was freshly cooked and not greasy. Maybe it was because we got there right when they opened.

Aside: why the heck is there a place in MGM that is called Flatbread Grill that, oh, has NO flatbreads??? Just askin'...

ESPN Club, Disney's Boardwalk:

I am including this in the CS stuff because we ate on the bar side and only ordered nachos (and beer). The nachos were originally delivered completely uncooked. They never, and I mean never, saw the heating source. We did wonder how the runner never noticed. Anyway, they took them back and recooked them. We ate them, and they were OK, though I think the chips they use are both too thin and too salty. Pats lost, rotter.

Columbia Harbour House, Magic Kingdom:

We split a Lighthouse Sandwich here. Wow, this is really good. First off, the bread is toasted, keeping the entire thing from being soggy. The sandwich is hummus, tomatoes, and broccoli slaw on multigrain bread. We rated it our "best-of" counter tasting!

Up next: Jiko

 

[liamsaunt]

Jiko, November 4

Jiko is one of our favorite places to eat at Disney, tied with Artist Point. It was also going to be our first meal “just the two of us,” so that we were really looking forward to it. We had to wait a bit past our adr for a table, but not too long. We were seated in kind of an odd spot. It was a table for two, right next to the cooking place, next to a round column. There were no other tables around. At first we were not sure if we liked the spot, but then decided that it as kind of like private dining, so decided to keep the table.

No one acknowledged us for about 10 minutes, which we found odd. There was a large party across from us, so we thought maybe that guy was our waiter, and he was obviously overwhelmed, so we had no problem waiting. He in fact was not our waiter. Our waiter eventually came up to us and said “Oh. Has anyone waited on you yet?” We said, “No,” so she then took over our table. Or else she was our waiter all along and had been off doing something else. Whatever.

We started out by ordering the taste of Africa: Kalamata olive hummus, durban tikka masala, and malay sagh dahl dip, with lentil papadam, whole wheat lavosh, and flax seed naan bread. We have had this before and really like it. My favorite bread was the naan--nicely bready with a crunchy exterior. Our favorite dip was the hummus--nicely salty and not too garlicky like some hummus can be.

After we put in the order for the Taste of Africa, we ordered a coffee-barbeque-chicken flatbread. It came out really fast—in fact, the waitress ended up bringing this out before the Taste of Africa, which was a little annoying, but we were hungry, so just ate it. I do wonder if we ended up with someone else’s order. It was nice enough, but I think I prefer the kalamata-olive goat cheese flatbread.

For entrees, we both wanted fish. DH really wanted to order the dish that is my all time favorite: the maize crusted seared halibut with vegetables of the moment in tomato beurre blanc. I really this this is Jiko's best dish. The fish was perfectly cooked, and the sauce was amazing; light yet buttery, and the perfect texture. Vegetables included edamame, tomatoes, green beans, and a few others that I forgot (sorry!). I ordered the broiled arctic char with braised beets, roasted potatoes, applewood bacon, black chickpeas, and edamame with peppadew vinagrette. This was a nice thick piece of char (thicker than what I am used to seeing), and all the flavors worked really well together. If I did not know that half of the halibut was waiting for me, I could easily have eaten most of this.

We were too full for dessert! I can't believe we passed up another amazing cheese plate.
Next up: Portobello Yacht Club

 

[liamsaunt]

Portobello Yacht Club, November 5.

We decided to end our stay with a late lunch/early dinner at the PYC. We were both in the mood for carbo loading and pasta always fits that bill. We were seated outside, which is a nice, relaxing spot with a view of Saratoga Springs and Fultons.

Our waiter was a bit of a character, and not really in a good way. Right off the bat, he told us that he “hated Disney,” (???) that he was “flaky,” (????) And that he also “hated to wait tables.”(?????) In fact, he said, he was “meant to be on MTV, which would be the next place we would see him.” Erm, OK . All of these things may be true, but why the heck would you share all of this with your customers? Customers who presumably are going to leave you a tip based on the service you provide, part of which is to have, if not a friendly demeanor, at least a professional standard of behavior? But I digress. On to the food.

We started with an appetizer of fried calamari, which was quite nice. The breading was light and not greasy at all, and the calamari was tender. The only quibble we had was that it came with about a tablespoon of marinara sauce. We could have used a bit more than that. The calamari did come with lemon though, so we just seasoned with that once the sauce ran out.

For entrees, we each selected a pasta. Mr. fabu-waiter pushed a bit too hard for us to order salads also, which I was glad I did not once I saw the pastas. Each was large enough to feed at least three people with good appetites. Way, way too much food, to the point of being offputting. DH ordered spinach ravioli with a chicken sausage Bolognese, which he said was just OK. I did not try it. I ended up giving him some of my dish, which he preferred: “Straw and hay” pasta (spinach and egg spaghetti) with shi-ake mushrooms, peas, proscuitto, cream, and parmesean cheese. It was fine at first, but after only a minute or two the texture had completely congealed. The taste was nice, but the texture was unappealing.

We were full after tackling pasta mountain (if it was Mt. Everest I regret to inform you that we did not even make base camp), so skipped dessert. However, we did have to endure not one, but two pushes to order it. Guess how much a double espresso costs at PYC? $5.75. The wine list was badly overpriced also. I think this was our last visit to PYC. Too bad, because I like sitting on the deck there.

Next up: DH’s reviews, all in one post.

 

[liamsaunt]

DH's reviews:

Epcot Private Dining:

DH decided not to put up a review of this, as it was a work-sponsored event, and he figured his review wouldn't do anyone else any good. He did say that the prime rib was tasty and he got to ride Test Track three times in a row without getting off. (Grr!)

Shulas Steakhouse:

DH had to take a client of his to dinner here. They flew in from London for the conference, and did not want to dine in a "Disney" hotel. They did want steak. DH says:

"The menu is written on a football. It was somewhat amusing to me, but my clients were a little taken aback. They did not care about football at all. For me, it was a bit of torture to be surrounded by all that Miami dolphins stuff. I hate the Dolphins, and I especially hate Don Shula!

(aside: He explained why here, but whenever the talk turns to football I kind of zone out. Those of you who know why a Pats fan would hate Don Shula must know why...the rest of you don't care anyway!)

Food: All ordered oysters on the half shell to start. They were from Long Point, and they were...inedible. They had been pre-shucked, I think, because the edges were sticking to the shell. They were also not the correct temperature. I really had to labor to swallow the one I sampled (spitting out food in front of a business client=really bad idea). The client hated them too, so at least I only had to eat that one.

Bone in rib eye steak: medium rare as requested, very well marbled piece of meat, not overly fatty. Well seasoned and very tasty indeed. My client was happy with their steaks also. No one had sauce with the meat.

Sides. All served to share. Mashed potatoes: fine, nothing spectacular, but that is mashed for you. Spinach with garlic: excellent, perfectly cooked. Asparagus: huge, finger-thick spears. Perfectly cooked to crisp tender.

Dessert. Bowl of fresh berries with heavy cream. Blackberries, raspberries, etc. Very nice.

Wine: Very surprised by the extensiveness of the list. Also, it was not at horribly overpriced as steak house lists can be. Way cheaper than the wine lists at the Boston steakhouses--better value too.

"Second dessert:" One of the gentlemen in my client group asked to see the "liquor tray." This is standard at, say, Morton's, but the waiter seemed taken aback a bit by the request. He recovered in fine form though, either remembering that they did have a tray, or else he invented one. He brought out a selection of old ports, 100 year Grand Marnier, etc. The client was very happy, and ordered a scotch from the tray.

Service. Excellent, excellent, excellent! At a business dinner you HAVE to have good service. This waiter fit the bill completely. He recognized it was a business dinner, he identified me as the one taking out the client right away, and then worked with me through the meal to help them have the experience I needed them to have to make our business run smoothly."

(me: Business dinner. snore!)


Next up: two off-site reviews from DH, with addresses.

 

[liamsaunt]

Finally, the last two places:

Chatham's Place Restaurant
7575 Dr. Phillips Blvd.
http://www.chathamsplace.com/

DH says: Fascinating old place. You enter through the back door. Very old school--the owner came out to meet us when we arived. we had to switch tables because at the first one a cooling vent was dripping water on to us, The host was not happy about moving us, but there was no way we were taking a shower with our meal! That was the only glitch in service though.

We started out with seafood towers--one of the best I have ever had. Top layer was crab cakes seared in balsamic vinegar. They were excellent--big lumps of very fresh, sweet crabmeat. There were raw oysters on the second level which were delicious--cold and briny. The third layer had chilled jumbo shrimp and lobster meat. Yum! Good thing that this was so tasty, because the entrees were poor.

For an entree, I had the veal saltimboca. This was really mediocre. The veal was overcooked and leathery. It had no sides at all--just the veal. The others in my group all ordered the special--roasted grouper with mushrooms in a red wine sauce. This was very, very bad. It smelled off. My co-worker said that it tasted like...well, nether regions. Urgh! Maybe it was just an off night or something.

The wine list was nice and decently priced. We skipped dessert after the poor entrees. Overall, we were dispappointed. This place has the top rating for food in Orlando in Zagats, so others must have had better experiences than we did.

Salt Island

7500 International Drive
http://www.saltislandrestaurant.com/

DH says: "This place looks a bit odd from the outside--there is a giant fish in front of it. There is no view to speak of, unless you like looking at that giant human slingshot. It's basically in a strip mall.

We sat outside anyway, and it was nice. They had a steel pan drummer and a gas fireplace going. The menu is huge, and focuses on seafood and prime beef. We started with some fried calamari. It came with two sauces, a standard marinara, and a 'really' spicy creamy orange sauce. The calamari was outstanding--not greasy at all. Another appetizer we tried was frie, breaded lobster skewers. I forget what the accompanying sauce was, but I do remember that I liked it!

My entree was unbelievably good! Grilled black grouper served key lime style. It was a massive, thick, perfectly cooked slab of fish, tender with smoky grill flavor. The sauce was a lemon lime beurre blanc, and it had stone crabmeat in it too! Honestly one of the best fish dishes I have had anywhere.

I skipped dessert, but one of my coworkers had a slice of chocolate cake since it was his birthday. it was massive, rich and fudgy, and he pronounced it the "best birthday cake ever!"

The food and wine prices were great. We found a really nice sauvignon blanc for $30/bottle, and my grouper was only $20. I really liked this place, and am definitely going back next trip."



That's it for this trip! Thanks for reading.

 

[D&R love Disney]

I loved reading your reviews and experiences. My best friend had similar experiences with the chefs (her daughter is diabetic) and since it was their first family trip to Disney it made table service dining easy on them.

To bad you didn't try the cheese plate at Jiko, it's wonderful.

DH and I love Shula's for the food and suffer being surrounded by Dolphins memorabelia LOL (we are Pats fans too).