Taste of Disney

October 2015 Trip Review

After a short wait I was seated at a table in the upper tier of the restaurant and presented with this menu…

I had dined at the Brown Derby fairly recently (May 2014) so this was another rule breaker meal. But in my defense, I had tried for quite awhile to get an ADR at Mama Melrose (a restaurant I hadn’t been to for many years). For some reason though I was unable to get a lunch reservation on any open day during my 2 week trip. I had no idea that this restaurant was that popular. But anyway, since I had dined at 50’s Prime Time on my last trip (May 2015), I was having breakfast at Sci-Fi, and I didn’t really want to eat at Hollywood & Vine, that left me breaking my rule yet again and returning to the Brown Derby. So I therefore needed to at least order something different than what I had had in May 2014, which was the appetizer portion of the HBD Cobb salad…

Then for my entree I enjoyed the Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp…

And for my mini-dessert trio I chose the Amaretto Flan topped with Opalys White Chocolate Whip and an Almond Cookie, Banana Toffee Cake on Cocoa Crunch and Strawberry Banana Pearls, and the Brown Derby Original! Mini Grapefruit Cake. I was also given a complimentary Chocolate Sphere with Hazelnut Praline Chocolate and Orange-White Chocolate Mousse for my birthday…

The only one of these that I really liked was the Banana Toffee Cake, the rest were just okay.

So this time I ordered this for my appetizer…

Appetizer portion of the Cobb Salad made with finely chopped greens, turkey breast, bacon, egg, tomatoes, crumbled bleu cheese, avocado, chives, and Cobb dressing. – $9.00

Yes, I had to get the same appetizer as last time because I love the HBD’s Cobb salad. This was delicious once again and the price had even remained unchanged in the last 1 1/2 years!

The Cobb salad was actually brought to my table unmixed, so looking like this…

Also, I was brought a basket containing three rolls and whipped butter topped with Hawaiian sea salt and sprigs of ( I believe) thyme which were very good.

I did though order something different this time for my entree. There were actually two of the special lunch entrees (listed in the enclosed box under the Entree section of the menu) that I was interested in. The first was the Andouille-crusted Chicken Breast Sandwich. However, as I was looking over the menu my server delivered the chicken sandwich to the lady seated at the table next to me. While it looked good for eating, it didn’t look all that great for photographing for my dining review (and to post on my Instagram account).

Therefore, I decided to go with my other choice…

Grilled Wagyu Beef Burger with Gruyere Cheese, Pastrami, Heirloom Tomato, Avocado, Fried Egg, and Cognac-Mustard Aioli onToasted Brioche, served with Hand-cut Steak Fries – $22.00

And a look underneath the egg…

Now this was a beautiful sandwich!! But was this burger as good as it looked?

Sadly, not really. Due to it’s massive size I had to cut it in half and remove a few of the toppings (tomato and lettuce, I believe) just so it would fit in my mouth. My next problem was that with the grease from the fried egg and pastrami this sandwich quickly became a sloppy mess. The bun fell apart almost immediately and I gave up trying to eat it like a sandwich and ate most of it with a knife and fork…which kind of took some of the fun out of eating a burger. So though the pastrami was tasty, I would probably suggest that they replace it with bacon for a less messy sandwich, one you could actually eat with your hands. Oh, and the steak fries were not very good, in case you were wondering.

But things got better with dessert.

This time I chose the two desserts which I didn’t try before plus my favorite one from last time. So here was my mini-dessert trio…

From left to right: Warm Blueberry Cobbler with Creme Fraiche and Orange Blossom Honey, Double Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee, and Banana Toffee Cake on Cocoa Crunch and topped with Strawberry-Banana Pearls

These were all very good. The cobbler was filled with a ton of plump, juicy blueberries…

But my favorite was once again the banana toffee cake…

Whenever I do return to the Brown Derby, if these three desserts are still available I would choose them again.

So my lunch at the Hollywood Brown Derby started and ended well. The in- between part was a little disappointing but at least I got some pretty good photos!

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!