OhhBother
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2000
Just got home today after a week to celebrate my 50th at Disney's 50th celebration. We put special emphasis on trying new-to-us restaurants this trip. Here's what we loved and what we didn't.
May 7: Arrival day. We headed to Steakhouse 71 for a late dinner. We shared the bacon and egg (a favorite of ours at The Wave), and we both had the sirloin with au gratin potatoes. We also ordered a side of mac and cheese. The best things about the meal were the sauce flight and the mac and cheese. Everything else was fine. We enjoyed dinner. But there was nothing that would make this a must-do on future trips. We really wanted to love it, because we loved The Wave. Sigh.
May 8: Dinner at Jungle Skipper Canteen. This was a repeat for us, and we split two appetizers for a light dinner -- the Brazilian cheese bread and the cachapas. Both were good, as always. We'll keep coming back here just for the cheese bread. Yum!
May 9: Original plan was dinner at Via Napoli. But we shifted our park plans around a bit, which led us to cancel that reservation and replace it with a to-go order from Olivia's -- Southernmost buttermilk chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy for both of us. This is consistently one of our favorite meals, and it never disappoints. We crave it.
May 10: This was one of our birthday-week splurge meals. We decided to try Bull & Bear for the first time. Oh my goodness, it was divine! The atmosphere, the service and, of course, the food - everything was perfect. We started with the corn soup, followed by deviled eggs for my DH and the pasta explosion for me. He had the fried chicken for dinner, and I had the steak frites. And, for dessert, we split The Lemon. It's hard to say which course was our favorite - we loved every single thing we ate. The thing I'm dreaming of as I type this, though, is the pasta explosion. It was truly one of the best things I've ever eaten. A pricey meal, to be sure, but worth every penny. We especially appreciated the service, which was laid-back and friendly - not at all stuffy. We'll be back.
May 11: For my birthday dinner, we decided to try Citricos for the first time. My DH had the filet, while I had the guava barbecued short rib. Both were good but not exceptional. Maybe it was unfair to Citricos to make it follow Bull & Bear, but in the future. we'll just spend a little more, skip Citricos and have much better food and experience at Bull & Bear. We had hoped Citricos would impress us, but it didn't. Guess it's back to Narcoossee's for our Grand Floridian dinnners.
May 12: And now for the worst meal of our trip. I love Italian food, so we finally decided to try Il Mulino. My DH had a half order of gnocchi, and I had a half order of pappardele. We split the chicken parmesan. The food was "meh" -- and that's being generous. But what was really terrible was the service. After being seated at a tiny table in a back corner, it took a full 25 minutes for a waiter to make his way to us. He never introduced himself, never shared any specials or asked if we had questions. And when we finished dinner (with most of the food still on our plates), he didn't even ask if we wanted dessert. Just brought us the check. It was ridiculously bad service that would have turned us off even if the food had been great. But it just wasn't. So disappointing.
May 13: For dinner, we originally had a reservation for Beaches & Cream ( a long-time favorite), but we decided to cancel it in favor of more park time. We ended up getting a to-go order from Olivia's again - love that buttermilk chicken. But the real star of the day was our brunch at Topolino's. I really didn't expect it to live up to the hype, but it absolutely did. Between the two of us, we ordered the fruit plate, the avocado toast, the quiche and the sour cream waffle. And we washed it all down with bellinis. Everything was perfectly cooked. I was a little worried we'd waste food because we ordered so much, but that didn't happen. I especially loved the quiche -- will definitely order it again. The waffle was also great, as was the avocado toast and even the fruit plate. So, so good. I understand why this reservation is so hard to get.
And that's it. We were on a 6 am flight this morning, so our Disney dining has concluded for the time being -- until we head back down there this fall. We definitely found some new favorites on this trip.
May 7: Arrival day. We headed to Steakhouse 71 for a late dinner. We shared the bacon and egg (a favorite of ours at The Wave), and we both had the sirloin with au gratin potatoes. We also ordered a side of mac and cheese. The best things about the meal were the sauce flight and the mac and cheese. Everything else was fine. We enjoyed dinner. But there was nothing that would make this a must-do on future trips. We really wanted to love it, because we loved The Wave. Sigh.
May 8: Dinner at Jungle Skipper Canteen. This was a repeat for us, and we split two appetizers for a light dinner -- the Brazilian cheese bread and the cachapas. Both were good, as always. We'll keep coming back here just for the cheese bread. Yum!
May 9: Original plan was dinner at Via Napoli. But we shifted our park plans around a bit, which led us to cancel that reservation and replace it with a to-go order from Olivia's -- Southernmost buttermilk chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy for both of us. This is consistently one of our favorite meals, and it never disappoints. We crave it.
May 10: This was one of our birthday-week splurge meals. We decided to try Bull & Bear for the first time. Oh my goodness, it was divine! The atmosphere, the service and, of course, the food - everything was perfect. We started with the corn soup, followed by deviled eggs for my DH and the pasta explosion for me. He had the fried chicken for dinner, and I had the steak frites. And, for dessert, we split The Lemon. It's hard to say which course was our favorite - we loved every single thing we ate. The thing I'm dreaming of as I type this, though, is the pasta explosion. It was truly one of the best things I've ever eaten. A pricey meal, to be sure, but worth every penny. We especially appreciated the service, which was laid-back and friendly - not at all stuffy. We'll be back.
May 11: For my birthday dinner, we decided to try Citricos for the first time. My DH had the filet, while I had the guava barbecued short rib. Both were good but not exceptional. Maybe it was unfair to Citricos to make it follow Bull & Bear, but in the future. we'll just spend a little more, skip Citricos and have much better food and experience at Bull & Bear. We had hoped Citricos would impress us, but it didn't. Guess it's back to Narcoossee's for our Grand Floridian dinnners.
May 12: And now for the worst meal of our trip. I love Italian food, so we finally decided to try Il Mulino. My DH had a half order of gnocchi, and I had a half order of pappardele. We split the chicken parmesan. The food was "meh" -- and that's being generous. But what was really terrible was the service. After being seated at a tiny table in a back corner, it took a full 25 minutes for a waiter to make his way to us. He never introduced himself, never shared any specials or asked if we had questions. And when we finished dinner (with most of the food still on our plates), he didn't even ask if we wanted dessert. Just brought us the check. It was ridiculously bad service that would have turned us off even if the food had been great. But it just wasn't. So disappointing.
May 13: For dinner, we originally had a reservation for Beaches & Cream ( a long-time favorite), but we decided to cancel it in favor of more park time. We ended up getting a to-go order from Olivia's again - love that buttermilk chicken. But the real star of the day was our brunch at Topolino's. I really didn't expect it to live up to the hype, but it absolutely did. Between the two of us, we ordered the fruit plate, the avocado toast, the quiche and the sour cream waffle. And we washed it all down with bellinis. Everything was perfectly cooked. I was a little worried we'd waste food because we ordered so much, but that didn't happen. I especially loved the quiche -- will definitely order it again. The waffle was also great, as was the avocado toast and even the fruit plate. So, so good. I understand why this reservation is so hard to get.
And that's it. We were on a 6 am flight this morning, so our Disney dining has concluded for the time being -- until we head back down there this fall. We definitely found some new favorites on this trip.
Sounds like a great trip. Isn't Bull & Bear just absolute perfection? I love it so much. Oh, that fried chicken. And the lemon! If you're a caesar salad fan, theirs is outstanding and I love the tableside prep. And those frites are so delicious. As you said, everything is, and love the team service as well. I want to go hit the lounge one day and try their burger -- I bet they make a phenomenal one! And Topolino's brunch is another of my favorites. The avocado toast is new -- glad to hear it's good. I totally agree with you on Il Mulino, I hear all the raves and I just had an ok meal but am willing to give it another try. I've never been to Olivia's... may have to correct that in the future! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
