California Grill - reviews

[Bolanette87]

Thank you!! Both for the review and the prompt answer!!

That'll be me staring at the food pics for the rest of the night!!

Bob xoxoxox

 

[A Small World]

We'd love to eat here but each time we've looked at the childrens menu theres not a lot DD likes.
Shes not a fussy eater theres just things she really doesnt like such as salmon and that is one of the things on the menu for her.
I think I looked once and the only thing she would have wanted would have been the Mickey Pizza - would have made it an expensive pizza.

I think we'll have to keep checking the menu.

Thanks for the review and pics - we'll get to eat here sometime as we like good quality food

 

[britchic4]

Ooh that lobster looks amazing! Will have to show that to Dh when he gets home, think I know what he'll be having...

 

[Bolanette87]

We ate here as our special meal this trip, as an engagement present to ourselves.

Robert had booked the table at the NPBC concierge, but owing to a mix up with spelling, he was Mr. Galve for the evening (His name is actually )! Not a problem though!

We arrived at the California Grill to be greeted warmly by the restaurant manager, who greeted Robert by name, and then addressed me as 'Mrs. Galve' which I quite pleased about! He then told us to wait one moment as he wanted to check our table was ready.... When he came back he informed us we'd be: "Dining in style tonight as we have given you a lovely table with a Castle view.".... I was thrilled!!

We took our seats, and we did have a fabulous view overlooking the Castle! Very romantic!

Our waiter was very lovely and attentive... We weren't kept waiting for anything.

Robert had the Chicken and Chorizo Skewers with fork mashed potatoes with basil, and a red pepper and tomato sauce:

This was his favourite meal the whole trip!

I went for the Seabass with courgettes and mint, courgette flower fritter, and an olive oil emulsion:

This was an amazing meal!! I loved it and ate every bite! I have to say, we found the portion sizes here very generous indeed!

Just as we began our meal, the head waitress came over to wish us 'Bon Appetit'... I was fascinated watching the chefs in the kitchen putting the meals together! It was amazing! I was also very touched when the head waitress took two young girls to tour the kitchens, and when they came out they were wearing chef hats and were delighted!! She then vanished for a couple of moments, and came back with a candyfloss for each of them... Very sweet!!

For dessert, Robert had a very rich dark chocolate tart with apricot sorbet, a brandy snap curl, and a chocolate curl:

He loved this. He said the sorbet really cut through the richness of the tart, and made it taste truly fab!!

I had the frozen childhood sweets dessert, which was three scoops of ice cream (Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry) on a sugar twist, with chocolate nougat, a mickey shortbread biscuit, candyfloss, and lots of other lovely little sweet treats....

It was very VERY good!!

Total bill was 114Euro.... And very very worth it!!

We would definately return here, time and time again.......

Bob xoxoxox

 

[Cyrano]

Thanks for the excellent reviews and photos.
I'm sure many will start some new threads to ask lots of questions and comments

 

[gemmybear83]

Updated menu kndly sent via Steve_Rob....

 

[Danauk]

We ate here for dinner on Tuesday 28th October, we have eaten here quite a few times and always return! The menu had changed from the one posted above to an autumn menu.

To start we all had the winter green veg salad with cranberries and walnuts which was very nice.

For main I had rack of lamb with redcurrents, walnut mash and it came with a delicious poached pear.

My dad had the same but lamb shank instead of rack

DH had poached veal with fois grais, which was very nice, but had a huge block of fois grais which was very rich.

For desert, dad had a cheese selection

I had glazed apples with crumble and grapefruit sorbet, it was very nice!

DH and mum had lime tart with pistachio cream which they both said was very nice.

The meal was again lovely, the quality of food outstanding again. Although expnsive it didn't actually cost us that much more than the inventions buffet.

 

[britchic4]

What a lovely restaurant. We ate here twice, on our first and last evening. We didn't have children with us, but there were children in the restaurant and they were provided with colouring.
We had a wonderful seat by the window with a perfect view of the castle all lit up, but on this night I didn't have my camera so no pics, sorry!

On our first night we decided to go for the 7 course taster (Degustation) menu. It was hideously expensive but did include 3 glasses of wine.
First was rolled sushi and smoked salmon sashimi. I don't really know why they felt the sashimi had to be smoked salmon, or whether they thought people wouldn't eat real salmon sashimi? Having lived in Japan for 3 yrs I would have loved it but this course was the most disappointing. Still nice though and beautifully presented of course, as was everything.
Next, foie gras with brioche. A huge portion of foie gras for a tasting menu, and this was DH's favourite. Not to be compared with the foie gras you get in Auberge BTW, a whole different class.
Next, sea bass with Thai black rice. A very nice dish although I was glad it was a taster - wouldn't have wanted it as my main course.
Next lamb parcel with a nest of vegetables - the lamb was divine but the vegetable nest was just wierd, the veg overcooked and mushy.
Next what would have been a full cheese course in any other restaurant - 4 decent size pieces of cheese with biscuits.
Next raspberry and pistachio icecream in a sugar nest - the icecream was to die for!!
Next coffee and funny little petit fours (which we didn't eat, too full!).
With a couple of exceptions it was a lovely meal, and the service was excellent at all times.

 

[A Small World]

As promised up dated menus from this weekend

 

[mummyal]

We had a reservation for 6.30pm on Friday, December 19th. There were only a couple of other tables there at the time but more families started arriving around the 7/7.30pm mark. Again, we used our HB Premium vouchers here and we went for the Tinkerbell set menu (same menu as what Small World has posted before this).

We were shown to our table right away and the kids were given their menu/colouring pencils and they got to work right away.

DH and I had the smoked salmon for starters (and the kids ate some of it as well.... grrrrr lol).

Louise's starter - vegetables, chive creme fraiche dip:

Adam's starter - vegetable soup (which was rather tasty), Mickey crouton:

DH's main - pan-fried sea bass fillet. Unfortunately, the fish was rather tasteless and a bit on the overcooked side, so it was a bit dry. There wasn't much of a sauce to go with it either.

My main - lamb shank in red wine sauce. I have had nicer and more tender lamb shanks before where the meat actually fell off the bone. This one was quite tasty but the meat wasn't as tender and the sauce was actually a bit on the thick side (I know, I know, we're fussy lol).

Louise's steamed salmon steak (which had more taste than DH's sea bass lol), rice & buttered vegetables

Adam's Linguini bolognaise - which was very tasty (and he ate most of it).

Our dessert - caramelised apple tart with choc ice-cream (supposed to be caramel ice-cream). This was lovely!

Louise chose 'Mickey's Painting Workshop', ie pieces of choc jigsaw puzzle. She only ate 1.5 pieces of this as it was sooo sickly sweet (a bit like the Cinderella's slipper).

Adam's ice-cream - 3 scoops with Mickey waffle (the waffle disappeared rather quickly lol)

Once again, we were glad that we had the HB vouchers for this. I think we would've been rather disappointed if we had to pay full price for the meal we had (and we're the sort who do not mind paying for a very nice meal). I would be willing to go back to give it another go though . Perhaps the chef wasn't having a good moment at the time. We found the atmosphere to be really nice and calm. There were quite a few families then with young kids and all were very well behaved, including my two Service was also very good. We got another 'freebie' this evening. Well, not quite a freebie but might as well have been. We also ordered a bottle of wine and 2 coffees at the end, so we would've had to pay an extra 38 euros (yes, the wine was 30E). The lady came back and told us that we didn't have to pay for the kids' meals - they had this offer where one kid ate free with one paying adult if we were seated before 7. So, she used the face value of both their vouchers and we only had to pay 8 euros in the end .

 

[gemmybear83]

We dined here on the 2nd December 08, we used our half board vouchers and had reservations for 8pm.

The customer service was very good, the staff were very polite and explained how the vouchers worked. Henry ate off the tinkerbell menu and I ate off the veggie menu.

Again we were lucky enough to get a castle view whoop whoop! The restaurant interior is quite pretty but I think Walts is a lot more luxurious in decor than the California Grill.

Our food piccies:

Henry had the foie gras to start with which was very nice, very creamy though so you could only eat a small amount

I had the mushroom ravoli which was lovely, very tasty although the food portion was far too big for me!

For mains Henry had the chicken and prawn mini skewers with indian spices

and I had the veggie curry, which was lovely and very mild (but not too creamy!). This also came with poppodoms and dips that I don't have a photo off (sorry!)

For dessert we both had the chocolate dessert which was lovely and came with my favourite pear sorbet!

We both really enjoyed our meals here, the food was very good quality and I enjoyed the relatively slow pace of the meal. I will be dining here again!

 

[torsie24]

Jack and I ate here for our Engagement celebration meal on 20th January 2009 and had a 6.30pm reservation.

The Maitre de noted our special request and we were seated at the best window seat in the restaurant! I was over the moon as it meant I didn’t miss Candlebration!

We got served our drinks and were browsing the menu when I looked up and Chip and Dale were leaning over Jack - they soon dove over and hugged me and we had a group photo! It turned out as Inventions was shut for renovation for our trip, all of the characters were visiting CG in the evenings instead! Result! We also met Donald, Goofy, Launch pad and the cat from Pinocchio.

We both ordered from the set half board premium menu’s. To start Jack and the Cream of Green Lentils with Crispy Mushroom Ravioli, which was absolutely delicious and I had the Crunchy winter shoots with walnuts and cranberries - which was lovely and refreshing, with a beautiful dressing.

For Main I had the Chinese noodles with soy vegetables which was delicious but way to much food for me finish, and Jack had the Sea Bass with Mash and vanilla leeks - he adored this and says it’s the best meal he’s ever had!

Desserts were bought out to us by lots of staff members and had candles in to congratulate us - we also had people clapping for us which was lovely. I had the chocolate fondant cake with pear sorbet which was to die for!! And Jack had the Caramelised Apple Tart with caramel ice cream and vanilla whipped cream - he loved it!!

We both agree that the meal was absolutely fantastic, and not only the best meal of the trip, or at Disney, but our favourite meal out together ever!

 

[hildasmuriel]

We ate here on Monday 16 Feb 2009.

It's a beautifully decorated and set out restaurant. The staff are all very attentive and polite.

I had the foie gras to start which was delicious.

Dtr had the winter vegetable soup with Mickey crouton. She has hardly stopped going on about it since!

For main course she had bolognese linguine, which she found nice, if a bit salty (this may be because I don't add salt to our cooking at home)

I had the lamb in...um.. red wine thing with a cabbage whotsit and a pear doodah (sorry, I wasn't paying attention). I'm sure you would love this if you like lamb. I'm a bit ambivalent about it, but didn't like anything else on the menu.

For dessert Dtr had the Floating Island Surprise, which was meringue type things in custard.

I had the apple crumble and icecream, which was yummy.

I have to be truthful and say some of this food was wasted on me. I wanted to eat there to see what it was like and because I had HB Premium vouchers, but I don't like rich food enough to get the best of this. If you are a foody, I'm sure you would love this.

 

[A Small World]

We ate here on 17th Feb for the first time and loved it.
DD chose the vegetable soup with Mickey crouton and thought it was absolutely delicious

Then the Linguine Bolognaise which again she thought was delicious

For desert she was excited about being to at last order the Mickey painting puzzle but when we ordered she was disappointed to be told they had none left so had the Ile Flotantes instead which she really enjoyed as this is a favourite desert of ours when we are in France.

DH and I decided to be adventurous and go for the Tasting Menu and it was all absolutely yummy. I cant say there was anything I didn’t enjoy and was surprised how big some of the portions were.

Crispy Scallops with sesame seeds and candied ginger viangrette

Foie Gras with gingerbread, papaya tartar and Espelette peppers

John Dory Fillet with breadcrumb and gomasio crust, ****ake mushrooms, soba noodles, matcha green tea sauce

Pan fried Charolais beef fillet, jus flavoured with penja pepper, potato kadaif with fresh coriander – sorry we had almost eaten it before we remembered that we hadn’t taken a photo.

A selection of cheeses and biscuits

Pear roasted with spices, brown sugar biscuit millefeuilles, white chocolate sauce

Coffee - There was also meant to be petit fours but they didn’t bring any and we didn’t ask as I couldn’t have eaten another thing and DD was a bit tired by this point as we had been in there for a long time

It was a marvellous meal which obviously wasn’t covered by the premium voucher but they took off the AP discount first before the voucher making it a reasonable amount.

I would definitely eat here again but would probably have a normal meal next time but am glad I went for the tasting menu as it gave me chance to try things I wouldn’t normally order.

 

[A Small World]

New Menu from California Grill - April 09. No tasting menu now.

 

[isma]

We had dinner here this Monday at 8pm and were seated at a window table. Thought it is a very nice designed restaurant. Our waiter was great and really funny. We both had the Tinkerbell Menu. As a starter we had the tomato and basil gazpacho, which was very good. Then we had the summer lasagna, very good with baby salad leaves, which weren´t that good since they came without any sauce or dressing.
The dessert was the best, we had warm chocolate cake with apricot dessert and that was very yummy. All in all we were happy and would eat here again.

 

[Bolanette87]

We had an amazing meal here on the final night of our recent trip. Probably the best meal out I have ever had in my life!

We were seated by a very professional CM (In fact, the same one we had last time!) in the very quiet restaurant at around 7pm.

We decided to be decadent and go for all three courses....

We were brought a small appestiser of baby summer vegetables with cream cheese, which was very nice indeed:

Robert opted for the Serrano Ham with Limoncello Sorbet, tapanade, breadsticks and salad (The salad was inside the glass cone):

He loved this starter, saying the ham was of excellent quality and that the sorbet went particularly well with it.

I went for the crispy langoustines with summer vegetables, aioli and olive oil dressing...

WOW is the only way to describe them. Perfectly cooked, and absolutely delicious. A perfect starter!

I went for the seabass with red rice, zucchini flower fritter and grilled zucchinis... It was absolutely delicious! The olive oil based sauce was light and gave the fish a lovely mild, creamy aftertaste. The red rice was very nice- Rather nutty in flavour which cut through the richness of the fish pefectly. The zucchini flower fritter was fabulous- The California Grill definately makes the best ones of these I have ever tasted!

However, my main course PALED in comparison to what Robert ordered. He went for the Rib of Beef (Cooked Medium Rare) with Bernaise Sauce and chips. It doesn't sound like anything amazing, but believe me it was. I was insanely jealous when he reluctantly cut me off a tiny piece to sample- It was the most amazing piece of beef imaginable, and he nearly cried when there was none left as it was so wonderful (No exaggeration, it was honestly that good!). The bernaise sauce was excellent, as were the chips and tasty side salad:

It was then time for dessert... Robert opted for the roasted apricots with spices, served on homemade shortbread with an almond sorbet and a honey creme-brulee:

He really enjoyed this and said it was probably one of his favourite Disney desserts ever. The flavours and textures were amazing together...

I went for the crisp chocolate and cherry dessert which consisted of wafer thin tiered chocolate filled with cherries and rich, smooth chocolate ganache. This came with a green tea sorbet (Great for palate clensing with a rich dessert), cherry mousse, cherry coulis and a chocolate twirl. This was, without a doubt, one of the best desserts I have ever eaten in my life.

We were now full to bursting, but had enjoyed every single bite beyond measure. We shared a large bottle of mineral water, and the bill came to a total of 152Euro. Expensive, yes, but absolutely worth it for one of the best meals I have ever had in my life, if not the best. We will certainly return to the California Grill!

I also feel it is worth pointing out that there is still a tasting menu on offer, but the chef chooses five different dishes every day. It is also only available if everyone at the table orders it.

Bob xoxoxox

 

[lilacgems23]

We didnt eat here but took photos of the menu

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[DLPDreams]

DH and I ate here on Friday 30th November. We had a particularly lovely meal and very good service. However, I did feel the atmosphere wasn't to everyone's tastes and I'm not sure I'd rush back. I certainly wouldn't take the children here (although there were a few children dining when we did). But if you want fine dining, and good service (and don't mind the price tag) then this is the place to eat in DLRP!

I managed to delete some of our food photos but did take some of the menu - there are several different options.

Starters:

Mains:

Desserts:

Child's menu:

Tasting Menu:

Premium Voucher menu:

Tinkerbell menu (set menu):

We didn't have a starter as we had, had brunch (late breakfast) in the DLH that day. We had a main course from the a la carte menu.

DH had the fillet of beef (looked divine) and then the cheese board for after. The waiter asked him if wished to pick his own cheeses or let him do it. DH chose the latter. Unfortunately I deleted these photos - sorry!

I had the lamb shoulder in a pastry shell and then the Chef's recommended 'Beauty & the Beast' dessert - it was heaven. The main was one of the best I have tasted and the dessert was something I wouldn't normally pick as it was flavoured with rose. But it just looked so pretty (they had a sample outside the restaurant to show), so I couldn't resist. Pleased I tried it as it was gorgeous and so, so pretty. I took a few of the sweetie petals and the rose back for the girls .

Here was the sample dessert:

My main:

My dessert:

We also ordered a bottle of the 20th Anniversary wine - it was a Chardonnay (it wasn't on the wine list which is extensive at Cali Grill!). It was quite nice.

Can't remember the exact price but with shareholders discount it was about 140 euros for the two of us.

Like I said earlier, we thoroughly enjoyed an 'adult' meal at DLRP, and I would recommend it for this, or for a special occasion, but it's not something I would rush to do every trip.

 

[dhidra]

DH, DS1 (age 3.5) and I are here in March 2012. It's a beautiful restaurant; a really nice and calm setting for meal after a long day at the parks.

We had Premium meal vouchers so we ordered from the set menu.

I can't remember what I had for starters, sorry!

For mains, I had Vegetable curry. You can see DS's burger & chips in the background of the photo too.

This was my dessert and coffee:

All in all, a delicious meal; my DH said it was his favourite in DLP. (My favourite was Inventions!). Worth a visit if you like fine dining or have Premium Meal Vouchers.