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^ Totally agree. The Carthay is amazing.
We dined in the room with the Snow White landscapes on the ceiling. Very beautiful. The drinks and food were creative and delicious (try the rose soda!). The service was fantastic. I will have to check out all of the dining rooms! Even the silverware has a subtle art deco design.
The drinks in the lounge yesterday were great, too. Dill in a bloody Mary? Excellent.
I had dinner at Carthay on the 15th. I was really looking forward to it as most of my group was. None of us had an enjoyable experience there. Only a few of the dishes were excellect and the staff really showed how new they were. We were seated at an 8 top in the side room. Servers could only reach the closest two people and everyone else had to have everything passed down to them. Sometimes the servers would take plates away from the guests at the far end behind them over the railing. There were more issues here than these but those were the main ones.
I would not recommend Carthay to anyone until they get their game together.
Okay, here's my rundown on Carthay Circle Restaurant:
My partner and I, and our friend, dined at the Carthay Circle Restaurant last night. This was to be the crown jewel of our weekend with the opening of Buena Vista Street.
We arrived at 7:15 for our 7:30pm dinner reservation, checked in and then sat and waited in the lounge where our friend perused through a very extensive cocktail menu. The lounge and restaurant are nothing less than gorgeous! Right on time, the host approached us in the lounge to take us to our table. He gave us a brief tour of the dining rooms, again nothing short of spectacular!
Shortly after we took our seats, our waiter came to the table. He was very friendly and took our drink order. And sadly, it was mostly downhill from there.
My partner and I each ordered a glass of wine, and our friend asked if she could see the cocktail book we had been flipping through in the lounge. Our waiter wasn't sure if that was possible and said that, in the restaurant, patrons were limited to the cocktails on the dinner menu. We thought that was odd and he very politely said he would check about the cocktail book. When he came back he said that that cocktail book was limited to the lounge, but as they featured a full bar, they were happy to make any drink she wished. It was an awkward moment and we didn't want to push the issue further so she ordered a martini from the dinner menu.
Our wine and martini came out promptly, however, the appetizer (Carthay House Biscuits) did not. Our waiter came back not once, but twice to ask if we had received them yet. We hadn't. The biscuits finally arrived to our table at 8:25. I'm not exaggerating. It KILLS me to write this, but yes, it took us nearly an hour for the appetizer to arrive. They were delicious however! :)
After we had finished the biscuits, our waiter came to our table to apologize again for how long the appetizer took and that our dinner had not yet arrived. He mentioned that the staff and kitchen were still experiencing 2nd day jitters.
We understood and told him no worries.
We could definitely sense the chaos and confusion going on in the kitchen and throughout the restaurant; two separate servers brought us two separate rounds of entrees that belonged to another party. Everything they tried to set down looked wonderful, but unfortunately they were not our dinners.
At one point we overheard the table across from us telling the waiter that the dessert he placed on their table looked fabulous but that they didn't order it.;)
We did have to flag our server down several times to ask for refills on water, as did the table next to ours.
When our food arrived everything looked delicious. I ordered the Rib-eye, my partner ordered the pork pot roast, and our friend ordered the pappardelle pasta with turkey meatballs. My friend said the turkey meatball was perhaps the best meatball she'd ever had! Unfortunately, my rib-eye was a bit dry and tough. The sauce was great and added a wonderful flavor, but the meat was not the best I've had.
At this point we were at about 9:10pm, so almost 2 hours. We finished up and our server brought the dessert menu.
I ordered the Fried Banana Monte Cristo Sundae. It came out promptly and it was DELICIOUS!!!!:yea:
After the meal, our server came to the table and chatted with us briefly. He was concerned about experience and apologized again for the long delay.
We settled up the bill and walked out at 9:30pm.
In conclusion, it was a bit of a disappointment in that it took so long for the food to arrive, that there was an obvious sense of chaos and confusion, and that parts of the actual meal were not very spectacular. To compare, I've had phenomenal dinners at Steakhouse 55 (3 times) and Napa Rose (2 times), and unfortunately, this just did not meet up to those dining experiences. Nonetheless, I'll probably visit again in a month or two, and I'm sure it will be awesome! The dining rooms are gorgeous and the waitstaff is great! In time they'll get things ironed out and Carthay Circle will be yet another amazing Disney dining experience.
:eek: A Fried Banana Monte Cristo Sundae! NO WAY! Please describe what this dessert is made of. It sounds heavenly!Quote:
Originally Posted by cadematthews
On a side note: I love the Monte Cristo served at Cafe Orleans but I can never seem to stomach it as an entree -- the sweet overpowers the savory, in my opinion, so much that I can only eat very little of it. Odd as it sounds, I always order one as a dessert to split with my family. But... a Monte Cristo Sundae now that sounds amazing and right up my alley.
Here is some info on the desserts and a picture of the monte cristo sundae from the Disney Parks Blog!Quote:
Originally Posted by 2ndStar2theRight
"Youll want to save room for seasonal desserts, including toasted lemon pound cake with fresh marinated blueberries, lemon curd cream and Tahitian vanilla chantilly, and Peaches In All Their Glory with peach and white chocolate cannolis with fresh grilled peaches and peach sorbet. (But we think the best-seller just might be the fried banana split Monte Cristo sundae with raspberry and chocolate fudge ice creams, toffee nuts and warm caramel rum bananas.)"
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I`m trying to figure out how much it will cost a party of four to qualify for the WOC passes. Are the Starters considered the Appetizers. It says Starters meant to be shared, but do all four people have to order a Starters/Appetizers order. And what are the prices for the Desserts? Could we order one Appetizer and three Deserts and four Entrees to qualify for WOC?
I ate and drank at the Carthay Circle Lounge on Saturday. It was AMAZING from top to finish. Our waiter was obviously classically trained, made recommendations, and had JUST the right amount of patter with us.
As a bartender, I wanted to read the cocktail menu like a novel. Classic, CLASSIC, old-school drinks. Martini's with LILLET vermouth, scotch tastings, an entire page devoted to the BRANDY ALEXANDER...in HEAVEN.
I had a Carthay Vodka Martini with truffle stuffed olives. Delicious. Super crisp. And it came with this ultra purified ice sphere. This ice was so clear, my husband couldn't find the sphere in the picture I sent him.
I also had the Rose Water. Sparking water with rose essence and a sugar coated rose petal. Delicious and refreshing! And only $3.50.
And the food. Yes. It's pricey. But SO GOOD. If you are a foodie, this is your bar. We had the Deviled Eggs with Smoked Salmon and Lemon Creme Fraiche, Pad Thai Lobster Roll, Duck Confit Sliders, Morrocan Lamb Meatballs and the trio of Cake Pops.
As I said to my companions, this lounge is going to be an expensive addiction this summer. I still LOVE Trader Sam's, but the Cathary Circle lounge is at least on equal footing.
Yes, the Fried Banana Monte Cristo Sundae was INCREDIBLE! Highly recommend!!!
I would imagine a table that orders one starter, an entree for each person, and at least one dessert would qualify; I'm not certain, however. I would hope your example would qualify for WOC passes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerryp49
Unfortunately, I don't remember what the prices were for all the desserts; I know the Monte Cristo Sundae was $15. We order the Carthay House Biscuits ($8) as a starter for the whole table.
I had the Royale Sandwich at the FF&P Cafe on the special media day (June 14) and it was great! I loved the muffelotta sandwichs down in New Orleans and this was pretty darm close. The size was huge - I'd say at least 1/2-pound of cold cuts, so much so I will be surprised if they don't cut back a bit as I could barely finish it. Wonderful service and I got to talk to the F&B manager and chef (chef was on loan from WDW). Good news if you have a Starbucks card as it will be honored here for ALL items!
Haven't seen many pictures of this.
The Red Car Trolley container for sundaes at Clarabelle's. Any sundae will go in there for $11.99. I chose the Mocha Sundae.
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Thanks for sharing pictures fitztwg! I've be wanting to know what the red trolley cups look like. Guess I'll be buying a sundae too then. It's adorable!
They're very cute. Just a pain to clean out after a full day at the parks, lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by 2ndStar2theRight
All Carsland and BVS threads have now been merged back into the main Disneyland Resort Forum.