California Grill WDW

This again was a 90 day PS and once again everything ran smoothly. I think I will describe the ambience of this Restaurant in two parts, pre Wishes and post Wishes. Before Wishes starts the restaurant is quite loud and full of a mixed variety of diners, some appear to have dressed smartly (I wore a Jacket and dressed smart casual), whilst some look like they may have just walked in from the park. I think given how this venue describes itself, the Disney CM`s need to get a firmer grip on the dresscode.

Fortunately we had made a PS for 9.00pm and as there was no chance of any tables being freed up before Wishes had finished, we did not get seated until around 9.30pm, so we took a cocktail in the lounge area and then watched Wishes along with everyone else.The whole restaurant duly erupted into applause at the end of the display. Then there seemed to be quite a mass exodus of families who had obviously lingered just that bit longer over coffees to make sure they caught the display.

My recommendation therefore if you want to have a nice romantic meal is not to bother making a PS until after 9.00pm.

Post Wishes, the volume level drops considerably and the whole place turns back into a sophisticated modern restaurant.

We were seated on the left hand area as you enter near to the open kitchen and the sushi area.

Our server Dale went carefully through the menu with us and tempted us both to have a starter made up of the sushi chefs selection from the sushi bar.

Absolutely gourgeous and so fresh you could almost taste the ozone from the sea, needless to say it was also beautifully presented but one word of warning: be very careful with that wasabi mustard :eek:

Jackie ordered a nice cut of pork tenderloin which Dale explained the chef would be cooking slightly pink if that was ok (At last a chef who understands this cut should not be cooked as dry as cardboard, Anthony Worrel Thomson would be in heaven). This was served on a bed of wet polenta with a sage infused jus, It was also garnished with some lovely crispy leaves of deep fried sage.



I had the pan fried scallops served on a hand made ravioli of seasoned white crab meat with a saurce vierge and a tiny julienne of vegetable.

We had yet another great Sonoma zinfandel, these Sonama zinfandels have a fantastic balance of spice and fruit when compared to some of the over oaked beasts from Napa.



For dessert Jackie had a mandarin sorbet with a real vanilla ice crean served in a citrus syrup.



We had coffee and as it was another cold night ended on a 12year old glass of mcallen for warmth, and I didn't even have to say no ice. View from the California Grill


Check came out at $155 inc tip a resounding 9/10

Thanks though to ClareH for prewarning me through the Dibb boards that this was going to be a noisy environment to start with as I might have felt slightly annoyed on arrival. In the end though once we sat down and began the meal it was truly fantastic.