05/26/09

A Painful Farewell to Fabulous

by ForU2know

During our recent WDW trip, we had four dinner reservations at California Grill. We loved the place for years; fabulous meals, wine, and service.

This year's visit could be our last to California Grill for dinner. Two miserable dinners in succession, May 12+13. We cancelled the rest. Something big has changed. The menu still has some familiar offerings -- but a longstanding favorite is gone: Brick Oven Fired Flatbreads.

Our first night, the entrees disappointed. The filet of beef was too heavily salted to be enjoyed or eaten, and the grouper was cold while the vegetables beneath it were steaming hot. We were told the chef cooks the fish to a medium-rare heat unless instructed otherwise. Hmm... the fish was cooked through, but cold. But we reordered.

The filet wasn't salted the second service, while the fish was too undercooked. We requested they fire it just five more minutes, which should have allowed us to dine together. INSTEAD, nothing come back for about twenty minutes. So one ate without the other having any meal before them.

They redid the entire grouper order; against our request. It was fully cooked but the vegetables were not of the same wonderful quality the first servings had been. Had they left the vegetables on previous service, that would have been good.

We spent over 2 hours to have an entree each; over 3 1/2 hours from seating through dessert and coffee. It derailed our evening entirely.

The manager and server were as good as they could be over it. But being on the Deluxe Plan, we'd prepaid for dinner; "comping" could not wipe away that disastrous dinner ($170.00 + gratuity). We tip generously, in cash.

Because the front of house had been so gracious, we returned the next night, certain the first evening had been a fluke and we had nothing to worry about.

We both ordered the pork tenderloin, a meal enjoyed on numerous visits over past years; I had carrots not polenta. I'd ordered a Sonoma Goat Cheese appetizer. It came out with parmesan and another (?asiago) cheese grated onto it. I don't eat parmesan cheese. I explained this to the server, noting that no additional cheeses appeared on the menu; if it had, I'd have asked them not to apply it. I requested that another without the added cheeses atop. He asked if we might "push the cheese aside?" I said I'd be losing all the other wonderful flavors -- tomato and pesto, because the grated cheese covered everything! The second service was fabulous.

Then the entrees came. Again, salty. The pork was salted; too much for our liking, edible (NOT enjoyable). My carrots were another story. They were served in little diagonal disks; each little sliver of carrot was so salty as to be entirely devoid of carrot TASTE.

What has happened to this fabulous restaurant? Some staff have been there for years; we spotted familiar faces from years past. But the food has suffered. Meals there had been a harmony of fabulous flavor; pure delight. Proper food prep does not over season to overwhelm the taste buds. Food at CGl was never salty before; if salted, it was subtle -- you'd barely notice. We hope things improve before our next visit. But if we dine there again, we might share a meal to play it safe, certain we can dine together.

• Pros: Creative Appetizers Usually Excite
• Cons: Cows enjoy a good salt lick; foodies not so much.

02/28/09

Bad Fish and Worse Managment

by JMcGuire2

Go for the view and skip the food.

It's free to make a reservation and when your table is ready just tell them you changed your mind and nothing looks good tonight.

Menus are diffrent every night and 4 years ago we had a great time and the food was awesome. After the experaince last night I will never return. Waste of time and money. it took 45 min from when we ordered the food untill the time it came to our table. When it did the baked grouper was dry and cold. horrible! The manger said there was no way for the fish to have sat and there was no way it was served cold. Basiclly calling me a liar. This was apauling service. I called the Area Manager Bridget Sherren, and she still hasn't returned my call. Worse thing was this was my special 30th Birthday Dinner. The whole thing took 3 hours and we didn't even have enough time to go out to eat a real meal. The Grouper dish was $35 and yes we had to pay for it.

• Pros: View
• Cons: Bad Service, Bad Fish, Long wait, reservations still have 30min wait.

07/08/08

My favorite restaurant ever!

by jenheidir

It?s pricey for sure, reservations typically need to be made way in advance, and the same clothes you wore to the theme parks that day might not be appropriate at this upscale restaurant. Nonetheless, this is my favorite restaurant in the entire world. The views in this penthouse restaurant on top of the Contemporary hotel are spectacular, especially at sunset and when the fireworks shows are going on next door at the Magic Kingdom. The food is equally exquisite, especially the art-like sushi plates and the flavorful flatbread pizzas. Be sure to save room for dessert! The apple pie I had was AMAZING!

• Pros: views, food, service, ambience
• Cons: expensive, reservations usually necessary