Taste of Disney

October 2015 Trip Review

This dining review is a bit painful for me to write. California Grill was hands down my favorite Disney World restaurant from 2010 – 2013. After a couple of less than stellar visits there foodwise in 2014, my good feelings regarding Cali Grill were though beginning to waver. However, my dinner there with my three kids in May 2015 began to restore my faith in it. While the food wasn’t 100% perfect, it was much improved from my previous two visits there and the service was excellent, probably the best of that trip! So it was with much optimism that I traveled to the Contemporary Resort on Sunday evening, Oct. 25th, to have dinner at…

Because I didn’t make an ADR at this very popular restaurant until after my successful dinner there in May (three or four weeks after the 180 day ADR mark), the earliest dinner time I was able to get on this evening was 9:20. Disney bus transportation went remarkably smoothly and fast that evening so I arrived at the restaurant’s check-in desk at around 8:30. However, I was not seated until shortly after 9:00, but still 15 – 20 minutes before my reservation time.

I first ordered my usual Cali Grill cocktail, which is one of their signature cocktails…

Twisted Mai Tai with Mount Gay Rum, Creme de Noyaux, Orange Juice, and Pineapple Juice with a splash of Lime – $9.75

This was again sweet, fruity and delicious!

I did though struggle a bit with my ordering from this point on. Here is the menu I was presented that evening…

And this is also when things went sour with my server. Before taking my order he asked the usual question as to whether I would be using a Disney Dining Plan, to which I answered no. But then he went on to inquire as to whether or not I was a Tables in Wonderland member. This was the only time that I recall being asked this at the beginning of a meal, but I responded truthfully that yes I would be using my TIW card. Now I’m not certain as to whether this was the cause of what followed, or if it was the fact that I was dining solo and only ordered a less expensive entree and a cocktail, or possibly it was a totally unrelated issue that I was not aware of. Regardless of the reason though, after placing my order I did not see my server again at my table until he brought my check.

But let’s rewind a bit to see how this unusual meal went down. Though it had been at least 8 hours since my lunch at the Brown Derby, I still wasn’t all that hungry. I debated about whether to order an appetizer or salad and then maybe have dessert, but none of these really jumped out at me. So instead I decided to order an entree. Not long after placing my order with my server, a food runner delivered perhaps the most pitiful looking bread basket I’ve ever seen. In comparison, the last time I dined solo here I received this bread basket…

But this time I received a single whole-grain roll and a tiny slice of the lavender focaccia and the worst part was that both were hard and cold, like they were last night’s leftovers. At the time I remember thinking that this bread basket was not worth the 4 or 5 MB of space on my camera’s memory card so didn’t bother taking a photo. However, now I regret not having photographic evidence of this bread basket failure. But whatever, I wasn’t very hungry anyway, so this was not a deal breaker (or “meal” breaker) for me.

Before receiving my entree, it was time to go outside on the observation deck to view HalloWishes, which I loved. I didn’t take many photos this time because I wanted to just relax and enjoy them, but here are two that I took…

After the show, I returned to my table to discover that they had delivered my entree while I was gone. Thankfully they at least had it covered…

So what lies underneath that cover? The answer is…

Bell & Evans Chicken with Spiced Mango Barbecue Glaze, Boniato Rosti, Sweet Pickled Peppers, Pole Beans, and Baby Tomatoes – $37.00

Another photo from a different angle…

And one more just because I couldn’t really find any angle in which this entree looked very appealing…

So yes, I admit that I didn’t have much hope for what laid before me on my plate. But I was pleasantly surprised when the meat of this chicken breast was actually fairly moist and had a good flavor. I suppose I should have learned by now that you can’t always judge a book by its cover (or a chicken by its skin ). Even though I liked it, I was still only able to eat one of the two breasts that I was served. It was just too much chicken for me. As for the sides, I was expecting the boniato rosti to be like a sweet potato pancake but it was actually more like very lumpy, slightly sweet mashed potatoes. Oh, and they were not very warm. The pole beans were a bit more al dente than I like so they were left uneaten too.

That’s it for the food, but as for the service (or lack there of) there is a bit more to tell. A good server normally checks on their guest not long after their food arrives to see if everything is okay. My server did not. A good server normally asks if their guest would like another drink when their glass sits empty. Both my cocktail and water glasses sat empty through much of my meal. A good server normally offers to clear your plate when he/she sees that you have quit eating and then asks if you are interested in having dessert. My server did no such thing. He did however fawn over the couple seated at the table next to me…the couple who had appetizers, entrees, desserts, and a bottle of wine. So okay, I suppose that with a bill that was probably 4 or 5 times that of mine they deserved to be fawned over but did I deserve to be totally ignored? I think not. Did my server deserve the 18% gratuity that was automatically added to my bill when I used my Tables in Wonderland card? An 18% tip for merely taking my order, delivering my check, and processing my payment? I think not. But it was late and I was tired, way too tired to haggle over $8.42. Had my server been the least bit attentive I might have ordered another cocktail or a glass of wine and maybe even dessert, thereby increasing his tip. But that didn’t happen so a meager $8.42 was all he got from me, which gave me a small amount of satisfaction.

So although my cocktail and chicken were good, I left California Grill that night with a bad taste in my mouth. In the last 5 years I had previously dined at CG at least 10 times. Though I wasn’t always enamored with my food, during those 10 dinners I had never before experienced poor service there. In fact, more often than not I had great service at Cali Grill, which was one of the main reasons why I continued to go back there. Now that that streak has been broken, is California Grill still among my favorite Disney World restaurants? Sadly, I think not.

Want to know what I did next on this trip or just want to share a comment on this review? Click here to go to this trip’s blog post!