Disney's California Grill Review — Pink Glitter Pumpkins

As you may have read in my previous post, Brad and I just returned from Walt Disney World. We went back to celebrate our two year anniversary. California Grill is a restaurant that we wanted to try two years ago while honeymooning at Disney. We were staying at The Contemporary and we heard that was the place to eat. Unfortunately our honeymoon was during their big refurbishment, so we were unable to eat there. I made it my mission for us to eat there this trip. That was the ONLY reservation I made at the 180 mark because I wanted to make sure we had this reservation at a decent time.

Location - Disney's Contemporary Resort
Date - Sunday, May 10, 2015
Time - 7:30 p.m.
Booked - November 11, 2014
Total - $142.70 before tip

Overall Review

We arrived at the 2nd floor check in booth around 7 pm. We knew we were early, but we thought we would go ahead and give it a shot to check in. We were given a pager then escorted by elevator to the 15th floor. After arrival, we had time to find a seat then immediately our pager went off. We took our pager to the booth across from the elevator and we were escorted to our table. The employee who escorted us was extremely friendly and made conversation the entire way.

We were seated on an outside booth/table. We did not really have a view though. I sat on the booth side of the table and my view was of the open kitchen. My husband sat in the chair opposite of me, but the booth was so high, he could not see outside. The seating was just not as intimate as I expected it to be. I am not sure why I expected it to be that way, but for it to be such a nice restaurant, I was only 6 inches away from the other guests sitting next to us. It did get awkward some because the lady that was next to me was constantly listening/watching our conversations. This would not keep from going back, but it is just something to think about if you are expecting something more romantic.

Quickly after being seated, our waiter arrived with our menus and took our drink order. Brad had his usual coke while I opted for the Passion Fruit Margarita. Brad is not a drinker, and so I only drink on occasion. Since he is not a drinker, he doesn't understand how expensive alcoholic drinks can be. My drink was $11, but for Disney World, I didn't find this too bad. I had a margarita at the Gaylord Palms back in November that cost me $16. So $11 was definitely manageable. To Brad's defense, one of the first things he saw on the drink menu was a $7,500 bottle of wine. I think my $11 drink didn't look too bad after that either!

After receiving our drinks, our waiter took our food order. I read so many great things about their sushi, so we had to try it. We ordered the California Combination Roll. For our entree we both ordered the Seared Jumbo Scallops. Our waiter quickly returned with bread and butter. There were two different kinds of bread. One was more of a dinner roll while the other was more of a loaf of bread. I do not know what exactly the kinds were, but the breads were really good. I personally preferred the loaf style bread rather than the dinner roll. The dinner roll appeared to be more whole grain which is not my favorite.

Soon later our waiter appeared with our appetizer plates, chopsticks, and sushi. Our sushi was not quite what either of us was expecting. Based on the description, I was literally expecting a combination of a California Roll and Shrimp Tempura Roll. However, we received two different rolls. One was a California Roll, while the other was similar to a Shrimp Tempura Roll, but not quite the same. We also received soy sauce as well as some kind of marmalade. I think orange marmalade, but I could be mistaken. Regardless, the sushi was AMAZING. I am not quite sure I would pay $24 again for just 8 pieces, but it was definitely worth trying. If you are sushi lover, I recommend trying their sushi at least once. It literally melts in your mouth and does not leave any fishy aftertaste whatsoever.

Not long after we finished our sushi and the empty plates were removed, our entrees arrived. Again, we each ordered the Jumbo Seared Scallops. We received 3 scallops on top of the onion fondue. Also on top of the fondue was a few spears of asparagus and the carrot salad. The scallops were really tasty and perfectly cooked. I enjoyed topping the scallops with the onion fondue with each bite. The asparagus wasn't anything special, but it wasn't bad by any means. It was cooked perfectly, but no special seasoning or anything else for that matter. The carrot salad was interesting. I ate most of it, but definitely not all of it. It had a hint of citrus in it as well. Overall, the entree was delicious. I would not hesitate to order it again.

After we finished our meal, our waiter offered us the dessert menu. Both of us were entirely too full to even consider dessert, so we passed. We were finished with dinner around 8 pm. Wishes was not set to begin until 10 pm. We could not justify killing two hours to wait on the fireworks. Instead, we stepped outside and took a few pictures of the Magic Kingdom.

Overall, I would most definitely eat here again if I was celebrating anything special. This would not be a restaurant we go to every trip. It is far too expensive, but the food was really amazing and the experience wasn't too bad either. Because of the expensiveness of the restaurant, you only saw a few kids. This was a nice break away from the kid filled restaurants throughout Disney. If you are looking for somewhere special to go while visiting Disney, I highly recommend trying California Grill.