(THIS IS VERY LONG>> I apoligize in advance.. boy I can ramble! )
Three Filets you ask??
Well, what can I say - I LOVE Steak and Cheeseburgers!
We arrived very late on 8/31 for weekend stay at the Polynesian to celebrate my 40th Bday.
We had Three Dinners - The Kona Cafe, LeCellier and The Concourse Steakhouse. We had one Table Service Lunch at The Liberty Tree Tavern.
We had good intentions for counter service, but we really ended up using them at places that required little thought or little inspiration!
At Each of the Table Service Dinners, I orderd the Filet Mignon! I knew each of these restaurants offered a filet, but never really thought I would actually order it again and again!
To compare the three:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
#1 BY FAR - Best Service, Best Meal, Best Experience.... goes to....
(not what you are thinking!)
KONA CAFE!!
We had an early reservation - at 5:30 - we were seated immediately. Our waiter reviewed almost the entire menu, offering us Smoothies for drinks if we desired. We both had Diet Cokes, which were refilled throughout the meal.
For appetizers, I had the crab cakes. These were golf ball size, served on a bed of greens with ginger dressing. They were wonderful. DH had the Kona Chowder - all I can say is it was amazing!
For Dinner, my Filet was unbelievable. It was cooked a perfect medium, so juicy and tender. It was served with the best mashed potatoes and asparagus. DH had the Macadamian Mahi-Mahi, which he LOVED. It was served on Risoto and toped with fried onions.
I made a HUGE mistake on dessert - I was SO stuffed, that I decided to order the Children's Brownie Sundae - which was fine - that is until DH was served his White Chocolate Cheesecake. I am not a huge cheesecake lover, but this was delicious! Flaky and Creamy at the same time.
Service was quick - without being rushed. The restaurant was very busy towards the end of our meal, but the environment still remained quiet and relaxed. Can you tell we loved it here?
Our total bill was $95.52. (DDP 2 TS Credits)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
#2 Meal - Taste of Food
(#3 Service and Environement) - Le Cellier
We dined here on Saturday 9/2. Our ADR was at 7:10. We arrived at 7:05, and we were told that we would not be seated until 15 minutes after our reservations. We took our seats at 7:30.
I had dined here for lunch last year, and right away I could tell this experience would be quite different. We were seated almost on TOP of two other tables. Both who were almost finished with thier meal. One couple who were waiting for dessert, and one party of four who were waiting for thier check. The couple were very talkative, we had a nice conversation with them while we were waiting to be served. The party of four did not even look our way, and since I was about 12 inches from the woman next to me, it felt very strange and awkward.
Our server was Patrick - a very pleasant young man - although I found him very unsincere. He brought us our menus right away, and suggested that we get the most expensive appetizers, entrees and smoothies on the menu. After we ordered our drinks, we waited.............. and waited........... and waited.........Finally we recieved our drinks (Diet Coke for me, and Mango Smoothie for DH) and asked if we could place our order. This was almost 15 minutes after we had sat down!
For appetizer, I ordered the Cheese Soup and DH ordered the Tenderloin Kabob. It took us a while to get these - and we had to ask for Bread with the appetizers. Where was our Pretzel Bread? (Meanwhile, the ladies sitting next to us finally got thier bill, and the couple next to us finally got thier desserts and ask to pay right away). The soup was excellent as expected and DH loved his tenderloin. What was strange, when we received our bread, and our server told us the story behind the three breads, he was actually telling this to three different tables - not next to each other, but spread out from the 6 he was serving. Very strange.
Then came the mystery of the missing waiter. From the time we had our appetizers, to the time our entrees were served (by someone else) we never saw our waiter. Not waiting on other tables either - he was Missing. Also missing was my refill of Diet Coke and DH's water! Where was the service??
The tables next to us filled up with a new couple and a new family. Both were pleasant, but the woman and her son next to us were quite impatient with the service. (Although I was curious about the slow service, we were going with the flow, and realizing they were just too busy for thier own good). She was remarking on how she has heard wonderful stories about LeCellier and how this was not what she expected.
We did finally receive our meals. I had the 7oz. Maple BBQ Filet over Mashed Potatoes and DH had the 14oz Strip Steak. My filet was excellent - but the BBQ sauce was a strange choice for the meat. Although delicious, I enjoyed the Kona better. DH really liked his Strip Steak.
For dessert, I had my heart set on the Raspberry Sorbet that I had last year for lunch. BUT>> with the most recent change of menu, it has just been replaced with a Duo Sorbet of Orange and Cherry. Nope >> not for me! DH and I both ordered the Seasonal Triple Berry Buckle with Huckleberry Ice Cream. We bothed loved this dessert, but I missed my Raspberry Sorbet.
By the time we got dessert and paid the bill, it was 8:55 - just in time for Illuminations. Since we had a 7:10 ADR, I hope you can tell how SLOW service was. The couple next to us were furious at this time. They had 7:30 ADR, got seated at 7:45 - when we left, thier dessert was not even ready - and she had asked to speak with the manager. We were glad that we were not there to witness that!
Overall, LeCellier is still an excellent meal. BUT>> the cramming of people into the restaurant, the slow service and the change of menu really left me feeling like something was missing. The total bill came to $112.20 - our most expensive meal of the trip (2 TS Credits Used).
Coming Up Next
Liberty Tree Tavern Lunch
Concourse Steak House Dinner
and HOW NOT TO USE your Snacks and CS Meals!
Three Filets you ask??
Well, what can I say - I LOVE Steak and Cheeseburgers!
We arrived very late on 8/31 for weekend stay at the Polynesian to celebrate my 40th Bday.
We had Three Dinners - The Kona Cafe, LeCellier and The Concourse Steakhouse. We had one Table Service Lunch at The Liberty Tree Tavern.
We had good intentions for counter service, but we really ended up using them at places that required little thought or little inspiration!
At Each of the Table Service Dinners, I orderd the Filet Mignon! I knew each of these restaurants offered a filet, but never really thought I would actually order it again and again!
To compare the three:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
#1 BY FAR - Best Service, Best Meal, Best Experience.... goes to....
(not what you are thinking!)
KONA CAFE!!
We had an early reservation - at 5:30 - we were seated immediately. Our waiter reviewed almost the entire menu, offering us Smoothies for drinks if we desired. We both had Diet Cokes, which were refilled throughout the meal.
For appetizers, I had the crab cakes. These were golf ball size, served on a bed of greens with ginger dressing. They were wonderful. DH had the Kona Chowder - all I can say is it was amazing!
For Dinner, my Filet was unbelievable. It was cooked a perfect medium, so juicy and tender. It was served with the best mashed potatoes and asparagus. DH had the Macadamian Mahi-Mahi, which he LOVED. It was served on Risoto and toped with fried onions.
I made a HUGE mistake on dessert - I was SO stuffed, that I decided to order the Children's Brownie Sundae - which was fine - that is until DH was served his White Chocolate Cheesecake. I am not a huge cheesecake lover, but this was delicious! Flaky and Creamy at the same time.
Service was quick - without being rushed. The restaurant was very busy towards the end of our meal, but the environment still remained quiet and relaxed. Can you tell we loved it here?
Our total bill was $95.52. (DDP 2 TS Credits)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
#2 Meal - Taste of Food
(#3 Service and Environement) - Le Cellier
We dined here on Saturday 9/2. Our ADR was at 7:10. We arrived at 7:05, and we were told that we would not be seated until 15 minutes after our reservations. We took our seats at 7:30.
I had dined here for lunch last year, and right away I could tell this experience would be quite different. We were seated almost on TOP of two other tables. Both who were almost finished with thier meal. One couple who were waiting for dessert, and one party of four who were waiting for thier check. The couple were very talkative, we had a nice conversation with them while we were waiting to be served. The party of four did not even look our way, and since I was about 12 inches from the woman next to me, it felt very strange and awkward.
Our server was Patrick - a very pleasant young man - although I found him very unsincere. He brought us our menus right away, and suggested that we get the most expensive appetizers, entrees and smoothies on the menu. After we ordered our drinks, we waited.............. and waited........... and waited.........Finally we recieved our drinks (Diet Coke for me, and Mango Smoothie for DH) and asked if we could place our order. This was almost 15 minutes after we had sat down!
For appetizer, I ordered the Cheese Soup and DH ordered the Tenderloin Kabob. It took us a while to get these - and we had to ask for Bread with the appetizers. Where was our Pretzel Bread? (Meanwhile, the ladies sitting next to us finally got thier bill, and the couple next to us finally got thier desserts and ask to pay right away). The soup was excellent as expected and DH loved his tenderloin. What was strange, when we received our bread, and our server told us the story behind the three breads, he was actually telling this to three different tables - not next to each other, but spread out from the 6 he was serving. Very strange.
Then came the mystery of the missing waiter. From the time we had our appetizers, to the time our entrees were served (by someone else) we never saw our waiter. Not waiting on other tables either - he was Missing. Also missing was my refill of Diet Coke and DH's water! Where was the service??
The tables next to us filled up with a new couple and a new family. Both were pleasant, but the woman and her son next to us were quite impatient with the service. (Although I was curious about the slow service, we were going with the flow, and realizing they were just too busy for thier own good). She was remarking on how she has heard wonderful stories about LeCellier and how this was not what she expected.
We did finally receive our meals. I had the 7oz. Maple BBQ Filet over Mashed Potatoes and DH had the 14oz Strip Steak. My filet was excellent - but the BBQ sauce was a strange choice for the meat. Although delicious, I enjoyed the Kona better. DH really liked his Strip Steak.
For dessert, I had my heart set on the Raspberry Sorbet that I had last year for lunch. BUT>> with the most recent change of menu, it has just been replaced with a Duo Sorbet of Orange and Cherry. Nope >> not for me! DH and I both ordered the Seasonal Triple Berry Buckle with Huckleberry Ice Cream. We bothed loved this dessert, but I missed my Raspberry Sorbet.
By the time we got dessert and paid the bill, it was 8:55 - just in time for Illuminations. Since we had a 7:10 ADR, I hope you can tell how SLOW service was. The couple next to us were furious at this time. They had 7:30 ADR, got seated at 7:45 - when we left, thier dessert was not even ready - and she had asked to speak with the manager. We were glad that we were not there to witness that!
Overall, LeCellier is still an excellent meal. BUT>> the cramming of people into the restaurant, the slow service and the change of menu really left me feeling like something was missing. The total bill came to $112.20 - our most expensive meal of the trip (2 TS Credits Used).
Coming Up Next
Liberty Tree Tavern Lunch
Concourse Steak House Dinner
and HOW NOT TO USE your Snacks and CS Meals!
