As you may have noticed if you have read my former installments, this was a very food-heavy day: three meals, four TS credits per person
Calorie overkill!
By wandering around MK for hours and hours however, walking for what felt like literally miles and miles and miles (boy, were my feet killing me!) and then going for a swim at our resort pool, however, we had managed to train off some of those calories and miraculously work up an appetite for dinner
.
And this was a good thing, too, as we were facing another Disney Signature Dining Experience this time at Narcoossee's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. I had heard lots of good things about this restaurant, and I was very much looking forward to checking it out.
Our previous experience with the Grand Floridian hadn't exactly been great (if you want to know why, flip back to my report on our 1900 Park Fare dinner
), and today didn't really start off much better:
We arrived by car for the first time, and DH was majorly put off by the fact that self-parking was so extremely far away from everything, even out of the grounds and across a road and through a gate ("Imagine being a guest here", he said angrily, "you pay so much per night already, and still you have to park outside the hotel grounds like some poor unwanted cousin-twice-removed if you're not willing to pay for valet parking"). Even though it didn't anger me as much as it did him, I could certainly see where he was coming from.
Consequently, when we had a look around the hotel grounds, he said he found it stuffy and unpleasant, and he was glad we were not staying here (which is good, because we couldn't have afforded staying here even if he had declared his everlasting love for the hotel!
).
Anyway, I for my part found everything beautiful and tried to calm my poor DH down a little, consoling him with the prospect of some delicious dinner. I mean really, it was so beautiful here:
We entered and had to wait no more than about two minutes until we were led to our table by a very nice and friendly CM. When I saw the interior of the restaurant, it was love at first sight: I really liked the atmosphere, the round dining room and the many windows. And now finally even DH had to admit that this was neither stuffy nor pompous, but just extremely nice
.
Check out the view from our table, across the water to the Magic Kingdom (which you can see in the distance if you look real close somehow it was easier to see in reality than on this photo):
Talking about drinks for a minute:
At home, we love to have a glass of wine with our dinner, and before this trip I had planned on trying lots of great wines, and cocktails, and whatnot.
However, with DH driving our rental car most nights and therefore not wanting to drink anything, and with the astonishingly high prices for alcohol, I usually settled for only softdrinks or, at most, a beer (or more than one, when Prince Charming happened to be present
).
Tonight, however, I decided to have a glass of red wine with my dinner. I can't remember what it was apart from it being an American dry red wine, but it was very nice! On our next trip, I'm definitely going to budget a bit more for alcohol and have wine with the dinners! (How convenient that we will be on a cruise so DH won't have to drive after dinner and will therefore be allowed to get blind drunk any day he wants
)
Anyway this installment has been going no far too long already without any mention on food, so here goes:
For an appetizer, I had the Chefs Recommendation, the Grilled Jumbo California Asparagus with Prosciutto and Blood Orange Dressing. I had been looking forward to trying the Yellowfin Tuna Tartare, but alas I love, love, LOVE asparagus so there was simply no way I could pass that up (much less since it was Jumbo Asparagus with all those formidable capital letters
).
Well, what can I say
It was really nice, and I did not regret ordering it, even though I would have suspected something a bit more, well, fancy. This was good, but not too interestingly seasoned. I kind of expected more from that dressing. But the asparagus and prosciutto were gorgeous, nonetheless. (And I will STILL try the tuna tartare next time after all we wont be visiting in asparagus season!
).
(Incidentally, another reason why I felt very much at home there that night is that there was a honeymooner couple seated at the table next to ours (much braver than us wearing the bride and groom ears
), and the whole time the bride was busy taking pictures of the food they were served, while the groom was acting a bit embarrassed about her strange behaviour. Just like us!
I should probably have asked her whether she was also preparing a dining report for the DIS, but I didnt want to disturb them. So if you are out here, DIS bride who took food porn pictures at Narcossees on May 8th after 7:30 pm, just say hi!
)
Anyway, back to culinary matters: DH had the Crispy Duck Roll which came with spiced apple chutney and soy-chili glaze. Shame on me I was too busy with my asparagus to try it! He really liked it, though, and it was very beautifully presented as well:
For our main course, we both knew all along what we were going to order: The Surf and Turf (twin medallions of filet mignon, butter poached rock lobster tail, potato gratin, and choron sauce, that is). Both of us.
Sigh I know its horrible to choose the most outrageously expensive item on the menu simply because you can and it is all paid for; but thats what we both did!
.
We just figured there was no way we would otherwise shell out $ 58.00 per person for an entrée, and neither of us had ever had lobster before (a bit embarrassing to admit, I know), so we went for it. We comforted ourselves with the fact that this automatically meant a bit more tip for our server, so were doing something good for everybody
.
So here it is probably the most expensive entrée I have ever eaten either on mine or you guys' side of the Atlantic Ocean:
Awestruck, we both had our first bites. Looked at each other expectantly. And came to exactly the same conclusion, both of us:
The filet mignon was gorgeous and to die for!
And the lobster was boring and tasting of nothing but molten butter!
Nothing we will ever need to eat again, probably. Maybe we are just not lobster persons (what a horribly uncultivated thing to say, though, isnt it?).
So anyway, we wont be having that again next time we visit Narcoossee's (which we will, that much is certain!). There are lots of other things I'd love to try here, though like the salmon or the tuna, or maybe just have a whole big portion of that delicious filet mignon -, so I wont go hungry!
By then, the time for Wishes was fast approaching, and we asked the waiter whether we could have our desserts to go, like we had recently learned at the Flying Fish. The server was really sweet, we told him we wanted to watch Wishes outside (didn't want the obstructed view with everybody standing in front of us on the verandah) - so he really hurried our desserts, two portions of Key Lime Crème Brulée, as well as our bill, and we were out of there within less than five minutes after telling him of our plans
.
So we ambled over to the marina, snuggled up close to each other in the beautiful fresh evening air, and watched first Wishes and then my beloved Electric Water Pageant. So romantic!
.
The dessert, by the way, didnt look anywhere near fit to be photographed when we took them out or their carton at the hotel, so no pictures here, sorry! We enjoyed them the next day, though, no matter how they looked
.
All in all, this was a great meal, in a great setting and with really nice and attentive service. The Surf and Turf left a bit to be desired for us, especially considering the steep price, but that was the only downside in an otherwise beautiful meal. And like I said what did that matter? We were on the DxDDP, the food was paid for anyway!
Coming up next: Breakfast with Lilo & Stitch at Ohana