California Grill
Tonight was our dinner at California Grill for my birthday (which was a week before we left) and my excitement levels were reaching quite alarming heights having anticipated this dinner for an entire year. We stopped at the shop in SSR first to buy a few drinks for the room (an extremely difficult feat, Disny really do make it very difficult to buy booze, I had to ask for the prices of the vodka in a cabinet behind the till haha!) and wallkd back to our room trying not to let the other guests see that we were carrying alcohol on Disney property
When we got back to the room I was very very very shocked to see THIS:
A HUGE beautiful bouquet of roses from my darling boyfriend
He had actually ordered them as an Anniversary present for me but had got a bit confused with our ADRs as our Anniversary dinner was at Narcoosees at the end of the week, BLESS HIM which made it even cuter. Isnt he the best!? Just had to share these as it made the night extra special
After a little while I was finally ready, new dress on, false eyelashes on, hair curled and styled and hairsprayed. I took some photos of us all dolled up! We scrub up pretty well I think, its hard to believe these are the same people who only days ago were floundering around underwater with salt water ridden hair and lycra highlighting our problem areas:
We got a bus to the MK (feeling very overdressed but I was loving it!!) and then it was just a short walk over to the Contemporary and then we were there! I cannot stress how much I was looking forward to this meal, I must have read 10,000 reviews of the restaurant and I was just so hoping it lived up to everything I hoped it would be.
Upon entering the Contemporary we were wowed but I felt it was a bit soulless... My idea of an expensive hotel is the kind of over-the-top luxury of the Grand Floridian which is my dream hotel so thats just my opinion, I know lots of people love it! Its just if I had the money Id go to the GF or the Boardwalk Inn. Interestingly, Ben much preferred the styles of the Polynesian and AKL and I think hed loved Wilderness Lodge too. Luckily well never have to make the difficult choice of where wed stay with these opposite ideas of what is nice as well never have the money!!! All Stars it is
We headed over to the podium on the 2nd floor to check-in. They wished me a Happy Birthday which was lovely! I asked if it would be possible to have a window table but they said unfortunately the wait would be about an hour and half (our ADR was at 7.55) but they had a lovely table ready for us! Which was fine by me!! We were then taken upstairs in the elevator and led through the gorgeous dining room to a table only one table away from the window which was lovely! It was a table for 2 in the middle and we loved it. I was facing the window and I could clearly see the castle changing colour in the distance which was fabulous. We were going to go out onto the viewing platform to watch Wishes anyway.
And look! It was mega decorated!
Pretty pretty place setting
We sat down and our server came over. Now, I cant remember his name but he was a nice guy, just a bit
firm!! We had spoken to some friends of ours who had described the server they had at CG who they had liked but who theyd felt had been a bit pushy and forward in his service; for example telling them they really shouldnt substitute items on the plates as they all work together so well etc which is fair enough but if someone doesnt like something, they can change it if they want! And we are pretty sure we had the same guy. We liked him though and appreciated his knowledge. But much preferred our Narcoosees server if were going to be comparing Signature waiters
First things first, drinks! We didnt fancy wine as wed already started on spirits back in the room so I got a vanilla vodka and diet coke and Benj got a beer. Then it was time to peruse the menu!! Not that I needed to as I knew it off by heart but I took the opportunity to look again
We were going to pay OOP for CG but after cancelling Akershus (I booked CRT and Akershus to increase the chances of seeing Ariel
we saw Ariel at CRT so I cancelled Akershus!!!) we decided to use our 2 TS credits each and pay OOP for a cheaper meal later in the holiday which was probably going to be Sci-Fi. $18 burger vs $44 steak
no brainer!
EXCITED TO BE HERE!!
Starters first! After much deliberation of whether or not I was going to get sushi, we decided to share the famous goats cheese ravioli and the heirloom tomato flatbread. Once we had ordered, the bread arrived! NOM this was stunning. Real butter with salt on top and fresh sourdough bread. Im a bit of a salt fiend so having salt on my butter was a huge treat and it tasted so good! Lets just say this was all gone quite quickly.
Shortly after our impressive looking starters were brought out and Ben started with the flatbread while I had the ravioli and we would swap half way through.
I was so excited to be sat in California Grill about to eat the goats cheese ravioli!!!! Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli - With sun dried tomatoes, pesto, shiitake mushrooms and basil - $14.00
I eagerly tucked in
but it was not to be!! I didnt like it!!!! Disaster and very unusual as I think it is clear in this dining report that I do not meet many foods that I dont like, bar the evil mushroom. Ew. Also, I absolutely LOVE goats cheese and will slather it on just about anything!! It was just too strong for me, Ive never had anything like it
I couldnt even eat it it was that strong whereas normally I will plough through in spite of the taste (Cuba Libre vinager-based dish springs to mind.) Ben had eaten half of the flatbread by now and barely spoken during this time only to breathlessly declare it one of the best things Ive ever eaten in my life so we swapped. And he loved the ravioli! So dont be put off by my review as it is an award winning dish just tragically not to my taste. The flatbread however, oh my lord. This was heaven on a plate. Brick oven Fired Flatbread - Chef's Garden Heirloom tomatoes, baby mozzarella, tomato Jam, micro basil - $13.00
It was so delicately flavoured, I have never had tomatoes that taste like that before, wow, and the micro basil just took it to the next level! It literally took me seconds to eat my half of the flatbread. Ben quite often talks about the flatbread and he'll trail off with a look of ecstasy on his face, he cant wait to have it again.
Our server then came to clear our plates and we had a look at the menu for our mains as obviously I didnt know what dish I was going to feel like after my starter!! I should have known though that it would remain the same as it had for about a year, the oak grilled filet! I did quite fancy the pork with the goats cheese polenta but I knew Id regret it if I didnt get The Steak!!
While I was dreaming of the steak, Benj was musing over his options. Thats right, options plural! He could have had the veggie dish of the day which I believe was a fettucine affair, or a plate of vegetarian sushi. But, I was really trying to persuade him to ask about a dish I had read about a few times on various vegan/vegetarian dining reviews and thought Ben would love
the world-famous Vegetarian Unplugged!! Basically its a plate made up of 4 little plates that each holds a different dish that gets passed around the kitchen and made by 4 different chefs. Sounds awesome doesnt it! He decided to go for it so when our server came back Ben very bravely said Ive heard about a dish called Vegetarian Unplugged
are you serving it tonight and the server was like of course! Coming right up! Wooo! I ordered my steak and he was off, leaving us to wait in almost unbearable anticipation
And luckily, we didnt have to wait long. Our main courses arrived with a flourish and we sat staring at them for a good while before we tucked in.
That's the main reason we don't get the greedy mcgee dining plan. DD and I share meals and then fill up on desserts. 
which no-one really needs to see but the the heck!
very expensive way to spend an afternoon but sooooo worth it 
xxx
Uh oh! Do no American's like Olive Garden!? Is it a bit chain-y and not very nice? We have restaurants like that over here...Hungry Horse pubs spring to mind...but I guess with Olive Garden being American I was BOUND to love it and also, a not-very-good restaurant in the US is still about 8x better than a good restaurant over here!!
I can tell you they keep a very clean kitchen. And my kids love it. My foodie DH on the other hand isn't a fan. Their kids Mac n cheese is SO good; creamy and cheesy and just the right portion for me.
