mcsue
2 Oct 05, 06:40 PM
We were excited about dinner tonight as we both love the beautifully themed, rustic, woodsy atmosphere of Wilderness Lodge. We’d eaten at Artist Point a couple of years ago and enjoyed fantastic food and service. Unfortunately our evening didn’t turn out so well on this occasion!
Things started out on a poor footing when we were first seated at our table. We looked out onto an empty, bleak, grey concrete courtyard area. We were also in the path of customers either entering or leaving the restaurant. Space was tight here, and people couldn’t help but keep brushing themselves against our table as they walked past.
I asked if we could be seated at another table and our friendly greeter, Mickey, said ‘No problem’.
We waited in the reception area for a few minutes, and were then shown a table by the big windows at the back of the room. It was a vast improvement on the previous location (even with the very loud family at the next table – the kids were fine, but the parents……..)
Anyway, Mickey handed us our menus and we chatted for a bit about all things Disney. He told us he used to drive the steam trains many years ago, and by the way he talked we could tell he obviously had great affection for WDW.
We settled down, looked over the menu, made our choices and waited, and waited…………..
After about 10 minutes we were finally acknowledged with a slight nod of the head, by an unsmiling waiter, as he slowly sauntered past us, on his way to another table.
Even though we’ve been married for twenty years, Paul and I are never short of things to chat about, so we amused ourselves happily, determined not to let anything prevent us from having an enjoyable evening together.
He did eventually arrive at our table and without any apology, took our order.
We chose the Endive and Radicchio Salad with Pear (it was actually apple), Maytag Blue Cheese and Candied Walnuts.
We both agreed that this was the most delicious salad we’d had so far this holiday. The combination of crisp, tart leaves, fresh fruit, sweet crunchy walnuts and soft pungent cheese was superb! It was all bound together by some wonderful walnut oil vinaigrette. Paradise on a plate!
We both had a glass of chilled Viognier which complimented the salad perfectly.
The waiter came back to take away our empty plates and I told him how much we’d enjoyed the salad. I did comment that I was expecting to taste pear, although I thought the apple worked just fine.
‘Yeah, they changed it’ came the disinterested reply.
Isn’t it his job to tell the customer of any menu changes, before they order? Just as well we don’t have allergies or an aversion to apples!
I believe the bread we had was sourdough, but I’m not 100% sure, as when I asked the waiter he shrugged his shoulders and helpfully replied ‘I dunno - it’s just bread’
He was seriously irritating me now, but it gets worse……..
Whilst he was being so chirpy and informative :sad: another server unexpectedly arrived with our entrées, and before I had a chance to remind our ‘attentive’ waiter that we hadn’t even ordered our wine, he was off!
I tried to catch his eye a number of times, but I swear he was deliberately avoiding looking in our direction.
I’d ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon with Celeriac–Potato Puree with Pan Roasted Fennel and Truffle-Honey Brown Butter.
The quality of the salmon was first-rate and perfectly cooked (I didn’t detect any discernable cedar wood flavour though) The root mash was terrific and the sticky, honey glazed fennel was out of this world (I wish there’d been more) It was all totally delicious.
Paul was not so fortunate and did not fare well at all.
When reading the menu, we both thought that the vegetarian entrée sounded really appetizing.
Roasted Butternut Squash on Crimson Lentil-stuffed Swiss Chard with Smoked Tomato Broth.
Nothing the matter with any of those ingredients, Paul is very fond of them all.
But oh dear! What a disappointment it turned out to be. The whole balance of the dish was totally off beam!
The subtle flavour of the lentils was completely lost inside the excessively wrapped parcels of bitter chard leaves. Paul loves butternut squash, it’s one of his favourites, but this was bland, under-seasoned and just sort of, well, plonked on top!
The absolute worst thing of all though was the grim and ghastly sauce. Both the smell and taste was really overpowering. It was dominated by the overwhelming flavour of liquid smoke; it was like the worst bottled Smoky BBQ sauce you’ve ever had the misfortune to taste. Gross!
I had only had a tiny taste on the end of my fork, but still it was enough to make me wince :sad:
Paul scraped away as much sauce as possible and ate some the veggies (not sure why, hungry I suppose – or in shock!) but he left over half. He was not a contented vegetarian tonight!
He would have complained and asked for something different, had we been able to flag anyone down. Remember, we were also still without our wine!!!
Our elusive waiter did finally return to our table – just as I was on my last forkful of food.
‘Are you enjoying your meal?’ he asked
‘Mine’s fine, but I would have enjoyed it much more if we’d had the wine’ I replied
‘Couldn’t you see I was busy?’ he snapped.
He whisked our plates away and marched off, leaving us speechless!
How rude! Paul didn’t have a chance to tell him that his food was actually pretty vile.
Even if he was rushed off his feet (he wasn’t particularly) he should have sent someone else over to check on us. I’d told him when we ordered our salad that we would be choosing some wine to accompany our entrees.
By now we were quietly fuming and just wanted to pay the check and leave (I was thinking bad thoughts by now)
All of a sudden our Prince Charming reappeared, wearing a forced smile and a brandishing a dessert menu.
Would you like to choose a dessert?
I rarely eat puddings anyway - and I certainly wasn’t in the mood for one tonight!
‘Just the check please’
‘What’s up lady? You don’t want to even look at my desserts - because I didn’t get you your wine?’
‘Just bring us the check’
(Writing this now, I feel a mixture of irritation and sheer bemusement - I still can’t quite believe this really happened at a Disney restaurant)
On our way out of the restaurant the endearing greeter, Mickey, noticed the dejected look on our faces.
I told him that we’d had an extremely disappointing meal. He insisted that we speak with the manager – he didn’t want us leaving discontented, without saying something.
Of course, I didn’t need much encouragement and I was soon engaged in conversation with Manager Sarah. She was genuinely interested and concerned, and patiently listened to my detailed analysis (lol) of what was wrong (and to be fair, right) with our evening.
She said that she would be discussing matters with our waiter and the Chef and any appropriate training needs would definitely be addressed. She seemed appalled to hear we’d received such rude service.
I couldn’t help noticing her grimace as we described the ghastly sauce, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she realised they’d missed a sale for a $60 bottle of wine!
Sarah asked if we would be returning to Artist Point. Paul said we only had a couple of days left and he did not feel inclined to eat here again, as he didn’t want to risk another disappointment.
She apologised profusely and gave us her card, on which she’d written an invitation for a complimentary round of drinks at the Territory Lounge.
I’m glad we took the time to speak with her before we left as she did smooth things over somewhat.
Would we go back? Well I would, but I’m not so sure about Paul!
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0906.jpg
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0909.jpg
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0911.jpg
Things started out on a poor footing when we were first seated at our table. We looked out onto an empty, bleak, grey concrete courtyard area. We were also in the path of customers either entering or leaving the restaurant. Space was tight here, and people couldn’t help but keep brushing themselves against our table as they walked past.
I asked if we could be seated at another table and our friendly greeter, Mickey, said ‘No problem’.
We waited in the reception area for a few minutes, and were then shown a table by the big windows at the back of the room. It was a vast improvement on the previous location (even with the very loud family at the next table – the kids were fine, but the parents……..)
Anyway, Mickey handed us our menus and we chatted for a bit about all things Disney. He told us he used to drive the steam trains many years ago, and by the way he talked we could tell he obviously had great affection for WDW.
We settled down, looked over the menu, made our choices and waited, and waited…………..
After about 10 minutes we were finally acknowledged with a slight nod of the head, by an unsmiling waiter, as he slowly sauntered past us, on his way to another table.
Even though we’ve been married for twenty years, Paul and I are never short of things to chat about, so we amused ourselves happily, determined not to let anything prevent us from having an enjoyable evening together.
He did eventually arrive at our table and without any apology, took our order.
We chose the Endive and Radicchio Salad with Pear (it was actually apple), Maytag Blue Cheese and Candied Walnuts.
We both agreed that this was the most delicious salad we’d had so far this holiday. The combination of crisp, tart leaves, fresh fruit, sweet crunchy walnuts and soft pungent cheese was superb! It was all bound together by some wonderful walnut oil vinaigrette. Paradise on a plate!
We both had a glass of chilled Viognier which complimented the salad perfectly.
The waiter came back to take away our empty plates and I told him how much we’d enjoyed the salad. I did comment that I was expecting to taste pear, although I thought the apple worked just fine.
‘Yeah, they changed it’ came the disinterested reply.
Isn’t it his job to tell the customer of any menu changes, before they order? Just as well we don’t have allergies or an aversion to apples!
I believe the bread we had was sourdough, but I’m not 100% sure, as when I asked the waiter he shrugged his shoulders and helpfully replied ‘I dunno - it’s just bread’
He was seriously irritating me now, but it gets worse……..
Whilst he was being so chirpy and informative :sad: another server unexpectedly arrived with our entrées, and before I had a chance to remind our ‘attentive’ waiter that we hadn’t even ordered our wine, he was off!
I tried to catch his eye a number of times, but I swear he was deliberately avoiding looking in our direction.
I’d ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon with Celeriac–Potato Puree with Pan Roasted Fennel and Truffle-Honey Brown Butter.
The quality of the salmon was first-rate and perfectly cooked (I didn’t detect any discernable cedar wood flavour though) The root mash was terrific and the sticky, honey glazed fennel was out of this world (I wish there’d been more) It was all totally delicious.
Paul was not so fortunate and did not fare well at all.
When reading the menu, we both thought that the vegetarian entrée sounded really appetizing.
Roasted Butternut Squash on Crimson Lentil-stuffed Swiss Chard with Smoked Tomato Broth.
Nothing the matter with any of those ingredients, Paul is very fond of them all.
But oh dear! What a disappointment it turned out to be. The whole balance of the dish was totally off beam!
The subtle flavour of the lentils was completely lost inside the excessively wrapped parcels of bitter chard leaves. Paul loves butternut squash, it’s one of his favourites, but this was bland, under-seasoned and just sort of, well, plonked on top!
The absolute worst thing of all though was the grim and ghastly sauce. Both the smell and taste was really overpowering. It was dominated by the overwhelming flavour of liquid smoke; it was like the worst bottled Smoky BBQ sauce you’ve ever had the misfortune to taste. Gross!
I had only had a tiny taste on the end of my fork, but still it was enough to make me wince :sad:
Paul scraped away as much sauce as possible and ate some the veggies (not sure why, hungry I suppose – or in shock!) but he left over half. He was not a contented vegetarian tonight!
He would have complained and asked for something different, had we been able to flag anyone down. Remember, we were also still without our wine!!!
Our elusive waiter did finally return to our table – just as I was on my last forkful of food.
‘Are you enjoying your meal?’ he asked
‘Mine’s fine, but I would have enjoyed it much more if we’d had the wine’ I replied
‘Couldn’t you see I was busy?’ he snapped.
He whisked our plates away and marched off, leaving us speechless!
How rude! Paul didn’t have a chance to tell him that his food was actually pretty vile.
Even if he was rushed off his feet (he wasn’t particularly) he should have sent someone else over to check on us. I’d told him when we ordered our salad that we would be choosing some wine to accompany our entrees.
By now we were quietly fuming and just wanted to pay the check and leave (I was thinking bad thoughts by now)
All of a sudden our Prince Charming reappeared, wearing a forced smile and a brandishing a dessert menu.
Would you like to choose a dessert?
I rarely eat puddings anyway - and I certainly wasn’t in the mood for one tonight!
‘Just the check please’
‘What’s up lady? You don’t want to even look at my desserts - because I didn’t get you your wine?’
‘Just bring us the check’
(Writing this now, I feel a mixture of irritation and sheer bemusement - I still can’t quite believe this really happened at a Disney restaurant)
On our way out of the restaurant the endearing greeter, Mickey, noticed the dejected look on our faces.
I told him that we’d had an extremely disappointing meal. He insisted that we speak with the manager – he didn’t want us leaving discontented, without saying something.
Of course, I didn’t need much encouragement and I was soon engaged in conversation with Manager Sarah. She was genuinely interested and concerned, and patiently listened to my detailed analysis (lol) of what was wrong (and to be fair, right) with our evening.
She said that she would be discussing matters with our waiter and the Chef and any appropriate training needs would definitely be addressed. She seemed appalled to hear we’d received such rude service.
I couldn’t help noticing her grimace as we described the ghastly sauce, and her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she realised they’d missed a sale for a $60 bottle of wine!
Sarah asked if we would be returning to Artist Point. Paul said we only had a couple of days left and he did not feel inclined to eat here again, as he didn’t want to risk another disappointment.
She apologised profusely and gave us her card, on which she’d written an invitation for a complimentary round of drinks at the Territory Lounge.
I’m glad we took the time to speak with her before we left as she did smooth things over somewhat.
Would we go back? Well I would, but I’m not so sure about Paul!
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0906.jpg
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0909.jpg
http://www.thedibb.co.uk/photopost/data/538/785Disney_Apr05_0911.jpg