Taste of Disney

BACKGROUND: This was my 4th visit to Yachtsman in 18 months, so I guess I don’t have to tell you that this is one of my favorite Disney restaurants. In fact, among my favorite Signature restaurants, YSH is currently second only to California Grill. For Emily though, this was her very first time dining there so I was anxious to see how she would like our…

DINNER AT YACHTSMAN STEAKHOUSE 

We were again seated in my favorite area of the restaurant, an alcove which overlooks Stormalong Bay (the Yacht & Beach Club pool).

Here are a few pictures taken from our table…

 

 

 

I really like the chandelier that hangs from the dome ceiling of this room.

We were then presented with this menu:

 

YSH Menu as of May 20, 2012

I began by ordering my usual beverage, which I always get here…

 

Iced Tea

I love that they serve the iced tea here with a small pitcher of simple syrup so that you can make your own sweet tea.

Next came another one of my YSH favorites…the onion pull-apart rolls.

 

Basket of Rolls (featuring the Onion Pull-Aparts) along with butter and roasted garlic

 

 

For our shared appetizer, I really wanted to order the Braised Beef Tortellini. DD was all for it until she saw that the description included the words…Crispy Wild Mushrooms. So she of course wanted no part of the Tortellini and instead suggested that we share this…

Assortment of Artisanal Cheeses served with Assorted Bread and Seasonal Accoutrements – $16.00
(Cheese Plate #5 of the Trip)

The included cheeses and seasonal accoutrements of this cheese plate were (starting to the right of the bread and moving clockwise): Rogue River Caveman Blue served with nothing???, Nancy Hudson Valley Camembert with pecan-mustard brittle, Beehive Cheese Co. SeeHive Cheddar with honeycomb, Le Grain d’Orge Affine au Calvados (a Normandy Camembert cheese washed with Calvados, a dry apple brandy that is also a product of Normandy) served with apple butter, and Vermont Creamery Bijou (which is a goat cheese that was served inside a jar of extra virgin olive oil, seasoned with peppercorns and thyme). Now as you may have noticed (from my consistent “Very Good” ratings), I am pretty easy to please when it comes to cheese plates. Give me a good blue cheese and a few other tasty cheeses, plus some decent crackers/bread/toasted baguette slices and I’m a pretty happy camper. Throw in some honey and any kind of fruit related item and I’m beyond happy. So on paper, this cheese plate seemingly meets my criteria, right? Well, in reality this was the only cheese plate of the many that we had on this trip that disappointed me. While the first three cheeses that I’ve listed were all very good (except Emily wouldn’t eat the blue one, of course ), neither of us were crazy about the Camembert au Calvados. I think this was perhaps due to it being soaked in brandy??? However, that said, it was definitely not our least favorite cheese on this plate. That dishonor was bestowed upon the nasty glob of oily cheese in the jar. This cheese was so oil-soaked that all you could taste was olive oil; it totally overwhelmed any taste that the cheese might have had. YUCK!   Emily wouldn’t even touch the stuff, making it two cheeses on the plate that she would not even taste. Now I could have maybe forgiven this and still enjoyed the cheese plate, if their “Assorted Bread” (as is listed on menu) had been more than one small wedge of stale bread and one thin Sesame Seed Rice Cracker-type thing. Both of which, we found to be about as useless as a back pocket on a t-shirt.

So now you know why we gave this cheese plate a relatively low rating. I was tempted to even give it a Captain Hook, but I’m hoping this was just a temporary misstep on the part of YSH, as I have had two very good cheese plates there just in the last year.

After a somewhat shaky start with the “Mr. Smee” Cheese Plate, we were both more than ready for a solidly good piece of beef and that is exactly what we got…

8-oz. Center Cut Filet Mignon with Cabernet Wine Sauce and served with Mashed Potatoes

We both ordered this, but her filet was ordered Medium while mine was Medium Well (mine is pictured above). Our steaks were both cooked perfectly as ordered and I’m happy to report that mine was delicious as usual. I have found that the steaks at YSH are always of a good quality and prepared well…with just the right amount of seasoning. And though I do not generally like Cabernet wine, for some reason I always really enjoy the wine sauce that is served with the Yachtsman filet. For me it perfectly complements the steak, without completely overshadowing the naturally good flavor of the beef. I was surprised to see that they had changed their mashed potatoes. They used to be mashed with their skins on and were quite tasty. However, now they are skinless and seemed creamier and very buttery. For Emily and me, this new version was beyond tasty, they were absolutely delicious!

So for me, YSH came through once again and is still the reigning champion of the “Best Disney Steak” contest. Needless to say, my rating of of the Filet and Mashed Potatoes was “Excellent”. For DD though, that wasn’t quite the case. Although she did think her steak was “Very Good” (and she loved the mashed potatoes), her heart still belongs to the filet at California Grill.

However, since I am the one writing this review…the Yachtsman Filet and Mashed Potatoes most definitely gets a “Tinkerbell”.

Okay that just leaves dessert, which we chose from this menu:

 

As I was happily looking over the dessert menu and daydreaming about whether I should order the Creme Brulee (which I’ve had here before and enjoyed) or try something new like the Peanut Butter and Pretzel Gianduja Cake, I was suddenly jolted back to reality by these dreadful words…”Mom, I’m pretty full. Could we just skip dessert?” But do not fear, my friends, thanks to some quick thinking on my part, I WOULD HAVE MY DESSERT and EAT MOST OF IT TOO!

And so, for our shared dessert we had…

 

The Yachtsman Sundae – Trio of Gelato (Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry) and Amarena Cherries, topped with Whipped Cream & Nuts.

You see folks, I know my daughter well. An offer to share the gelato dessert with her would be one offer that she could not possibly refuse. So although this dessert was not anything unusual or creative, it was surprisingly “Very Good”. In fact, I might even consider getting it again next time.

So our overall rating for this meal was: Very Good