thebigman65
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2010
Hello All,
DW and I just got back from a week long trip and I wanted to share our experiences with the new updated menu's at both California Grill and Monsieur Paul. I want to start by saying that these restaurants are 2 of our favourite places on property, but both of them had gone through some updates so we want to share our experience.
California Grill:
I will start by saying that we absolutely did not like the 50th anniversary menu when it came out and we went there to try it. Some of the same items are on the updated menu, but it was the entire experience that put us off. It was rushed, pre-made and not up to the usually high standard we had come to expect from California Grill.
Our reservation was for 5:40 pm on our arrival day. We arrived at our resort fairly early in the day so we had a lots of time to get settled prior to our ADR. We arrived at approx 5:30 pm and were seated almost immediately. Our server was great but unfortunately I cannot remember their name.
We started with our appetisers:
DW had the Goat Cheese Ravioli (sorry I did not get a pic). She said while it was quite good, the filling was very rich, a little too rich for her. One note was that the server who brought this to us (not our server) was very rushed and basically dumped the broth over top and rushed away. Some more training required there....
I had the famous Spicy Kazan Roll:
Now I have to say, when I saw this come back on the menu I was very happy. It was by far my most favourite app, and I was sorely disappointed when it was not on the 50th menu. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed in the updated version. The roll itself was fine (although smaller in diameter than before or than a typical maki roll) but the spicy kazan sauce and scallops was a very very small dollop. Now admittedly this dish in the before times was probably a little large, but they have swung too far the other way. An extra tablespoon of this sauce/scallops would have been good! Overall, it was tasty, but lacking from what it once was!
For our mains DW had:
The Cast Iron Grill Pork Tenderloin:
DW loved this! It was moist and flavourful and the polenta is out of this world! The only thing of note was that the pork belly is very rich. This is more of a preference thing, not a quality thing. This dish was outstanding!
For my main I had the:
Halibut
I am usually wary about getting halibut at a restaurant as they usually over cook it. Not this time! This was seasoned perfectly and sat on a bed of Red Quinoa with a Squash-Yogurt Purée, Charred Onion Butter, Citrus Agrodolce. This dish was excellent and also not too filling which was good.
For dessert DW had:
The seasonal Panacotta:
This was a seasonally spiced panacotta on top of a soft sponge with (i believe) a strip berry compote on top. Two things on this dish. One, it was very well done and tasted great if you care for fall spices such as cinnamon, clove, etc. and Two, as you can see, it is shaped like the contemporary! Pretty nice touch IMO!
I had the:
White Chocolate and Cherry Creme Brulee!:
Almond Chiffon, Dark Chocolate Crémeux, Almond Crunch, Morello Cherry Gel, Black Plums. This was excellent and very rich. I could not finish it, but I would order this again in a heartbeat!
Overall, our experience with the updated post 50th menu was great! I would have like to see a bit more attention to the appetisers, but cannot complain too much about that. It is definitely back on our rotation!
Next up Monsieur Paul!
DW and I just got back from a week long trip and I wanted to share our experiences with the new updated menu's at both California Grill and Monsieur Paul. I want to start by saying that these restaurants are 2 of our favourite places on property, but both of them had gone through some updates so we want to share our experience.
California Grill:
I will start by saying that we absolutely did not like the 50th anniversary menu when it came out and we went there to try it. Some of the same items are on the updated menu, but it was the entire experience that put us off. It was rushed, pre-made and not up to the usually high standard we had come to expect from California Grill.
Our reservation was for 5:40 pm on our arrival day. We arrived at our resort fairly early in the day so we had a lots of time to get settled prior to our ADR. We arrived at approx 5:30 pm and were seated almost immediately. Our server was great but unfortunately I cannot remember their name.
We started with our appetisers:
DW had the Goat Cheese Ravioli (sorry I did not get a pic). She said while it was quite good, the filling was very rich, a little too rich for her. One note was that the server who brought this to us (not our server) was very rushed and basically dumped the broth over top and rushed away. Some more training required there....
I had the famous Spicy Kazan Roll:
Now I have to say, when I saw this come back on the menu I was very happy. It was by far my most favourite app, and I was sorely disappointed when it was not on the 50th menu. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed in the updated version. The roll itself was fine (although smaller in diameter than before or than a typical maki roll) but the spicy kazan sauce and scallops was a very very small dollop. Now admittedly this dish in the before times was probably a little large, but they have swung too far the other way. An extra tablespoon of this sauce/scallops would have been good! Overall, it was tasty, but lacking from what it once was!
For our mains DW had:
The Cast Iron Grill Pork Tenderloin:
DW loved this! It was moist and flavourful and the polenta is out of this world! The only thing of note was that the pork belly is very rich. This is more of a preference thing, not a quality thing. This dish was outstanding!
For my main I had the:
Halibut
I am usually wary about getting halibut at a restaurant as they usually over cook it. Not this time! This was seasoned perfectly and sat on a bed of Red Quinoa with a Squash-Yogurt Purée, Charred Onion Butter, Citrus Agrodolce. This dish was excellent and also not too filling which was good.
For dessert DW had:
The seasonal Panacotta:
This was a seasonally spiced panacotta on top of a soft sponge with (i believe) a strip berry compote on top. Two things on this dish. One, it was very well done and tasted great if you care for fall spices such as cinnamon, clove, etc. and Two, as you can see, it is shaped like the contemporary! Pretty nice touch IMO!
I had the:
White Chocolate and Cherry Creme Brulee!:
Almond Chiffon, Dark Chocolate Crémeux, Almond Crunch, Morello Cherry Gel, Black Plums. This was excellent and very rich. I could not finish it, but I would order this again in a heartbeat!
Overall, our experience with the updated post 50th menu was great! I would have like to see a bit more attention to the appetisers, but cannot complain too much about that. It is definitely back on our rotation!
Next up Monsieur Paul!