I am back from my first visit to Disney World and like I’ve been telling my friends, “it was everything I imagined.” Even at 21-years-old I felt like a kid during my five day stay in Orlando.
If the visit wasn’t enough, I got my graduation dinner at the California Grill located at the top of Disney’s Contemporary hotel (seen above). My mom had to make reservations for last week’s dinner months in advance. If you’re planning a trip to Disney you will be happy that you booked the California Grill so early.
Upon entering the second floor of the hotel, two hostess greet you and hand you off to one of their employees who takes you up to the 15th floor. Glass windows fill the entire restaurant along with a view of the Magical Kingdom and more importantly, the Disney Castle.
There was one part of the restaurant with framed articles showing all the great press this restaurant has received over their 15 years.
Our table was sprinkled with Mickey Mouse shaped confetti and immediately our waiter congratulated me on my graduation. How did he know!? Disney is always watching…
We started off with one of the flat breads top with arugula, serrano ham, asparagus, manchego cheese and a sherry-honey syrup.Manchego cheese comes from a specific type of goat and that flavor paired with the ham was delicious.
Our waiter let us know that their sushi chef is “the best” and that was enough for me to order the spicy Kazan roll.
Crab, shrip, tuna, and scallops were all on the plate. It really was some of the best sushi I’ve had — and that’s even without soy sauce. With the sushi there was a crunchy breadcrumb-like topping. It was served with a fireball sauce which indeed was spicy, but bearable.
In my first course I got the goat cheese filled ravioli.
It was the biggest ravioli I have ever seen! It was filled with of course the goat cheese, then basil, shiitake mushrooms and topped with sun-dried tomatoes.
The food just kept getting better and better as the night when on.
I ordered the crispy chicken with leek and manchego (now we know what that means!) fondue, whipped potatoes, and a pinoit noir chicken glaze.
Above is the pork with goat cheese polenta, mushrooms and a zinfandel glaze.
To top off this delicious dinner my family and I shared the chocolate cake with a warm molten center and strawberries.
This is going to be one of those dinners I never forget and maybe when I’m older I’ll take my kids here and let them experience some of the best food I’ve ever had. Or maybe I’ll just wait till they can afford it themselves.
MEALticulous 