Taste of Disney

October 2015 Trip Review

I left my room at the Boardwalk a bit later than I had planned, so despite not having to wait very long for a bus to Magic Kingdom, I still feared that I would be a little late for my 9:15 ADR at Narcoossee’s. But then on my way to the monorail from the bus stop, I noticed the small boat that runs between the Grand Floridian, Polynesian and the Magic Kingdom was pulling up to the MK boat dock. SCORE! Not only is the boat a faster way to get to the Grand Floridian from Magic Kingdom, as it goes there directly versus the Resort monorail which first stops at the Contemporary, the Transportation & Ticket Center, and the Polynesian before reaching the Grand Floridian, but the boat docks right next to the restaurant. This saves more time plus several steps for already tired feet, since it is a pretty good distance from the GF’s monorail platform (on the 2nd floor of the main building) to outside and down the path to Narcoosse’s, which is located waterside.

So I ended up being about 15 minutes early for my ADR rather than being late. However, as luck would have it, I still was not seated until about 9:30. But this gave me a little more time to get hungry, so perhaps it was a good thing.

Now on to the food, starting with photos of their menu from the night of October 27th along with some of Narcoossee’s sourdough bread to feast (your eyes) on while you peruse them…

Though there were several entrees on the menu which appealed to me, I really wanted to try something new. During my last visit to Narcoossee’s my son had ordered (and I tasted) the Pork Chop…

One of my daughters had the Scallops (and again I tasted)…

And the other daughter had the filet…

As for me, I loved the Halibut that I ordered…

And on my previous visit to Narcoossee’s in October 2014 I really enjoyed the Shrimp & Pasta entree…

While I like lobster, I didn’t like its $72 price tag. So that left the chicken (which I had had two nights ago at California Grill) or the ahi tuna (which was probably very good, but I’m generally not a fan). What did I do???

I ordered a salad and an appetizer instead!

At that time, Narcoossee’s had two salads on their menu. The first was their Aunt Debby’s Romaine salad, which I believe remains on their menu year round. But instead I chose their seasonal salad…

Vine-ripened Heirloom Tomatoes with Goat’s Milk Feta Cheese, Tiny Mustard Greens, Central Valley Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Concord Grape Vinegar, Sunflower Sprouts, and Sunflower Seed Brittle

This doesn’t look very pretty in the photos, however it was pretty…DELICIOUS!! Though I’m generally not a fan of frisee, it went well with the tomatoes (I believe there were at least three different kinds of tomatoes), the feta cheese, and the grape vinegar and olive oil dressing. Oh, and the very tasty things which look like croutons made from pumpernickel bread were actually the sunflower seed brittle. This salad was a hit with me!

I wish I could say the same about my appetizer choice…

Crispy Rhode Island Calamari with Peppadew-Banana Pepper-Olive Relish and Tomato Coulis

I love calamari that is crispy, but despite its description, this calamari was not crispy. Since it was covered with tomato sauce, the calamari ended up being rather limp and rubbery. So while I liked the taste of the sauce and the relish (especially the green olives) was good, the calamari was overall a disappointment for me.

Between my salad course and the calamari (which I asked to be served separately), it was time to go outside on the restaurant’s deck to watch HalloWishes. I only took a few photos, of which most didn’t turn out that well, but here is one so that you can get an idea of the vantage point of this location.

After I was finished with the calamari my server asked if I would like to see a dessert menu, which of course I did, if only to take a photo for my review…

I remembered that Jeri (jerseytinkerbell) had once written in a review that she was able to get the cheesecake dessert to go here, so I succumbed to my temptation and ordered this…

Almond-crusted Cheesecake with Lambert Cherry Sauce

Though this didn’t look nearly as pretty in a to-go box as when presented on a dessert plate, it was still incredibly delicious…when I ate a bite back at my hotel room that night, a few more bites the next morning for breakfast, and the rest for breakfast the morning after that. Two days old and it was still wonderful. Narcoossee’s cheesecake is one of my favorite WDW desserts!!

So if you were keeping score, you know that this dinner had two successes and one failure. And as the musician Meat Loaf would say,

“Two out of Three Ain’t Bad”

… especially when combined with good service and a great view of the fireworks.

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!