Posted this on a similar thread moments ago:
Ok, here it goes, and please do not flame me here!!
We ate a Hollywood & Vine last night for the Fantasmic Package and were quite pleased with the meal. I think there are too many food snobs on here sometimes.
I am a professional chef and write a food column so I do believe I have some credibility here. We put off going to dinner here for years because of the poor DIS reviews...shame on me!!!
It seems too many folks want to bash it more for the fact it is a buffet as opposed to a table service restaurant. Oh, and you can't compare the two styles of eatery in the same breath:table service is made to order and prepared to your specifications, buffets on the other hand are a "you get what they have" with no input.
As for the food, there were many great options. Some I liked more than others, but there was nothing I found poorly prepared or of low quality in the ingredients used. I thought the salmon they offered on the buffet was the best buffet salmon I have ever eaten. Was it prepared exactly as I would have ordered it in a table service restaurant, no, but I wasn't in a table service restaurant either. Other items we found to be very tasty: the roasted beet & apple salad with goat cheese crumbles, broccoli slaw, chilled mussels in champagne vinaigrette, pastrami crusted pork lion with pickled apples, asiago ranch chicken breast, sun dried tomato & garlic polenta, spoon bread, kids meatballs, kids mac & cheese, dark chocolate mousse, apple cobbler and red velvet cake squares.
There were a few items that I didn't care for, but those few things did not ruin the meal for me....if I didn't care for them I didn't have to eat them!
I know everyone has different tastes, but I assure you, you will find something to eat that is good and well prepared if you eat at Hollywood & Vine. Does this restaurant compare to my experiences in restaurants like California Grill, Raglan Road, The Hollywood Brown Derby or Le Cellier....of course not, but neither will Mama Melrose's.
Do not let the opinions of people who do not know you steer you away from something that may very well please you. The only advice I have is decide what best suits you and your family and enjoy your dinner. If you decide the restaurant is not for you then do not go back, but you may very well have an experience you remember for years!!
Remember, every restaurant has it's supporters and detractors. The problem is more often, those who don't like something spout off about it when people who thoroughly enjoy something hold there tongue.....especially on the DIS because they don't want to get flamed for their opinion.
There is no meal on property that will ruin your day or vacation, unless you let it. So enjoy the meal, which ever way you go, and make some Disney memories that last longer than the meal itself!
Howard
