The California Grill is an upscale restaurant that sits on top of Disney’s Contemporary Resort. The view of Magic Kingdom and the Seven Seas Lagoon is incredible.
Snagging a reservation at California Grill is no easy task. Now, imagine my surprise when I could snag a 7 pm dinner reservation on Christmas Night! I almost fell over.
Overall, California Grill’s look and feel had not changed much since my last visit. The atmosphere is a perfect combination of romance and excitement. The service is as good as it gets!
In years past, I would have given the food a 10/10 rating. It was perfection. This time around was really close. But I have to give it a 9/10 rating. Here’s what we had and my thoughts about it.
I hate to start with the worst, but we started our meal with sushi. This is the California Combination Roll. It was just awful. Worse than I can even explain. Something was off with the rice; there were zero flavors at all. The dipping sauce didn’t seem to compliment any of it—just a big disappointment.
Luckily my faith was restored when I ordered an all-time favorite appetizer at Walt Disney World — the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli. It was perfection, possibly even better than I’ve ever had it. I crave this dish.
For my entree, I actually ordered the Hearts of Romaine salad from the appetizer section. I was already feeling full, and I thought I’d be good with a salad and a few bites of my wife’s entree. I was pleasantly surprised when it came out, and it was loaded! As you can see, this is no ordinary salad. It was delicious! Next time, I would order this as my starting appetizer instead of the sushi.
My wife’s entree was the Grilled Pork Tenderloin, which completely surprises me as she always gets the filet. She LOVED it, and I have to agree that it was delicious. The pork was cooked perfectly, and the pork sausage was a nice touch.
We were too stuffed for dessert, but I did finish the most delicious Lemon Drop Martini on the planet (I always get this when I dine at California Grill!) and enjoyed the view of the castle, as well as the Electric Water Pageant as it floated past us.
Overall, a wonderful experience, and other than that unfortunate sushi, the food was incredible.
Cheers!
