I am actually slightly incredulous that this hasn’t come up yet on the blog….but I have a confession to make.

I like Disney.

A lot. Like, really a lot. I’d say any time I’m not thinking about food, I’m thinking about Disney. Disney holidays, to be specific. I won’t go into my entire back-story and tell you how and why this came to such a big part of my life (not sure if anyone is ready for that) but suffice to say I’m a little bit obsessed. My parents first took me to Walt Disney World when I was 7 and we went back numerous times as a family right up until I was 16. I was at college then and went on other non-family holidays to New York, Amsterdam and France but I never stopped thinking about Florida. I went to Disneyland Paris when I was 14 with a friend and her family and my parents surprised me with a wonderful trip for my 18th birthday. When I was 20 and just about to go to Uni, me and Ben went to Disneyland Paris for a short break, he loved it as much as I did and we returned in 2010 for an even longer break, staying on-site this time! Very exciting.

On arrival back from our 2010 Disneyland Paris trip, I felt it was finally time to start thinking about going back to Florida (I say ‘start thinking,’ I’d never actually stopped) and we began researching. We both had full time jobs and for the first time there was actually a glimmer of light at the end of the Mickey-shaped tunnel.

Fast forward a year and we flew to Orlando on 6th October 2011 for 15 amazing, incredible, unforgettable nights.

I planned our trip for a whole year and think I could possibly go into business as a successful Florida travel agent now. We had a pretty packed itinerary. 7 nights on International Drive, 1 night at Universal’s Hard Rock Hotel and 7 nights at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa. We visited all four Disney theme parks, 1 water park, both Universal theme parks, Seaworld and Discovery Cove. It was a crazy, hectic fortnight but it was the best fortnight of our whole lives.

And, more importantly, we ate the most amazing food I’ve ever eaten in my life! Which I’m going to share on the blog as I photographed pretty much everything we ate. It was a lot, trust me. I won’t post everything, just the best of the best. And, the absolute best, and a perfect starting point, was an amazing dinner at California Grill, a Signature Disney restaurant right at the top of the Contemporary Hotel.

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Disney’s California Grill

I was so unbelievably excited for this meal. It was my birthday a week before the holiday and I had added this to my reservation at the restaurant (ADR – Advance Dining Reservation, the only way to guarantee eating at many of Disney’s very popular restaurants. I had made our California
rill ADR 180 days before we ate there!) I also just have to share the beautiful roses that Ben had delivered to our hotel room the day of the dinner. Cute!

Our ADR was at 7pm and we checked in at the podium on the first floor of the Contemporary. We were then taken upstairs in the elevator and led through the gorgeous dining room to a lovely table near the window. I was facing the window and I could clearly see Cinderella Castle changing colour in the distance which was fabulous 🙂 And look! Our table was decorated!

 

Starters first! After much deliberation of whether or not I was going to try some of California Grill’s famous sushi, we decided to share the infamous goats cheese ravioli and the heirloom tomato flatbread. Once we had ordered, the bread arrived which was really lovely, real butter with salt on top and fresh sourdough bread. I’m 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 this our starters were brought out and Ben started with the flatbread while I had the ravioli and we planned to swap half way through.

Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli – With sun dried tomatoes, pesto, shiitake mushrooms and basil. I eagerly tucked in…but it was not to be! I didn’t like it! Disaster and very unusual as I do not meet many foods I don’t like. Also, I absolutely LOVE goats cheese and will slather it on just about anything normally. It was just too strong for me, I’ve never had anything like it. 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 I’ve ever eaten in my life” so we swapped. And he loved the ravioli! So each to their own.

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.

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.

Our server then came to clear our plates and he came back to ask us what we wanted for our main courses. I had known what I was going to have for approximately a year, CG’s signature Oak-Fired Fillet of beef. Done!

While I was dreaming of the steak, Ben was musing over his options. That’s 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 Disney vegan/vegetarian dining reviews and thought Ben would love…the lesser-spotted Vegetarian Unplugged! Basically it’s 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. He decided to go for it and very bravely said to our server “I’ve heard about a dish called Vegetarian Unplugged…are you serving it tonight” and the server was like of course! Coming right up! With that he was off, leaving us to wait in almost unbearable anticipation.

Excciiiiiiiteddd!

And luckily, we didn’t 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.

Here is my absolute beauty of a steak…Oak-fired Filet of Beef – Mascarpone Potatoes, Blue Lake Beans, Arugula Oil, and Teriyaki Barbecue.

It was incredible; tender, flavourful steak, delicious, fluffy mashed potatoes and a rich barbecue sauce. One of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my life, it definitely warrants three photographs!

And Ben’s main was also incredible, he was so pleased he chose it! I’ve had to guess what each dish is as we weren’t told but I think I’ve pretty much got it from studying various menus.

From top right and going clockwise –

Top right – I’m pretty sure this was the side dishes of the pork tenderloin, minus the meat. Goat Cheese Polenta, Roasted Mushrooms, Zinfandel Glaze and Sage which was fabulous as I got to try the very tasty goat cheese polenta.

Bottom right – recognize this? It’s the heir loom tomato flatbread that we had for a starter! Ben could seriously have not been more thrilled by this as he hadn’t wanted it to end!

Bottom left – I think this was the Heirloom Apple Salad . . . Fourme d’Ambert, Spiced Pecans, and Apple Vinaigrette. Delicious!

Top left – Can’t see anything on the menu that looks like this but I believe it was rice with lots of stirfried veggies on top with a soy and ginger dressing. Very refreshing and light.

Phew! What a dish! We both ate every single bite of our mains even though I was starting to feel so full. Even though we were both very full, we had desserts included as part of our Disney Dining Plan so we each ordered one before heading out onto the viewing platform that surrounds the restaurant. It was time for ‘Wishes’ fireworks!

The view on the platform is really stunning and it was incredible watching the fireworks from such a great height. We had a perfect view and although it was a little chilly, it was very romantic snuggling up together to stay warm.

Once the fireworks were finished we headed back inside to our table to find our desserts waiting for us! Perfect!

S’Mores Valrhona Chocolate Cake – Warm chocolate cake with molten center, Tahitian vanilla marshmallow, graham cracker sable, and peanut butter gelato.

It was my birthday a week before we flew out and I added it my ADR – California Grill really went all out to make our dinner special by giving me a birthday badge when I arrived and then adding this amazing solid chocolate plaque to my dessert! Wow! (They actually added it to Ben’s as well which we thought was hilarious, I think there was some confusion in the kitchen about whose birthday it was! Good result for us!)

Bananas and Caramel – Crispy baked phyllo squares layered w/banana, caramel, mascarpone mousse, and caramelized banana.

I took a couple of bites of my dessert and it was seriously amazing, if you like peanut butter even a tiny bit then this ice-cream will be your new best friend. However, I was really full at this point and had to take the dessert home with me all boxed up. Ben was able to eat the majority of his dessert and he really enjoyed it.

We declined coffee and finished our drinks before paying the bill which cost us 2 x Table Service credits each on the DDP. However, if we’d have been paying ‘out of pocket’ this meal would have been incredibly expensive, my steak alone was $44! I’d visit the restaurant without the DDP in a heartbeat though as the food is just out of this world.

Who says Disney is all hamburgers and fries? 😉