2 meh dining reviews - Flying Fish Grill and Shula's

[brp]

Well, I was definitely expecting more from these places, but they didn't deliver.

First Flying Fish. As soon as we were seated (plenty of open tables as we were early), the manager who sat us broke a wine glass. It happens, and he had a good sense of humor about it. Came and cleaned it up. He did it while we sat there, and replaced all service items in the area. Really, should have just moved us to another table and cleaned it while not there.

The eggplant bisque was mediocre at best. Day Boat scallops were pretty good, but the risotto was bland. Tuna tartare appetizer was very good, but the ahi tuna was just OK (these were my brother's, and I had a taste).

Overall, it was just OK, and not a place we need to go back to.

After reading about the "best steak" we decided to try Shula's. We had really liked (and still do) Le Cellier. On a recent trip, we had tried Yachtsman, based on recommendations here. Definite loser with fairly bland and flavorless meat, although the service was very nice.

I was looking forward to Shula's as the "real" steak. So not the case. Better than Yachtsman, but mediocre at best.

First, the place is trying to be a faux Morton's with the decor and meat presentation. Morton's does it a lot better. Still, the place looked nice, even with the hokey "football on a tee" at our table.

First the wine. Ordered a 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir. Guy brings the wine for me to look at. Only after he sees me looking at the label does he comment that "this is 2009, we don't have 2007." Clear that he knew and wasn't going to say anything until I noticed. Now, he may not know that 2009 was particularly wet in northern California leading to more bloated and less flavorful wines, but I do, so we got something else.

Mind you,they have a $25 corkage fee (quite high, IMO) and it has to be something not on their wine list. Interesting when even they don't have what's on their wine list -the 2009 was not even on the list, and they also didn't have the 2008, which was.

We split the cowboy steak. It was just OK. Good texture but, again, lacking in flavor. My brother got the filet mignon. Something was just not right about it and he couldn't pinpoint it. mrs. brp tasted it and got it -it had a chalky consistency and mouthfeel. Also, instead of the "crust" one expects on the outside of a filet, it was just mushy. Creamed spinach was good, though.

Overall, Le Cellier is far superior to the offerings at Yachtsman and a cut above Shula's. No wonder it is so hard to get a ressie.

Oh yeah, the bottled water part. He asked is we wanted sparkling water,and we said yes. So,they brought some, filled the glasses, and kept filling- as they would do with tap. In the end, the bill had 3 bottles of the water at over $20. I indicted that we had ordered a single bottle and they they would remove the others since they were not ordered. To their credit, they did with no hassle.

Again, a place we don't need to re-visit.

Cheers.

[Beach Club Bum]

That's a surprising review. I had Shula's on my to do list next trip. I think I may pass on Shula's and give Le Cellier another try. I haven't been there in about three or four years- maybe it's improved? I certainly wasn't wowed when I ate there previously.

Shula's elsewhere is a top notch place. Not Peter Luger, but very good. Is it just the Disney Dining curse? Does everything get dragged down in the world? Kouzzina certainly didn't live up to the signature/celebrity chef title.

[brp]

Originally Posted by Beach Club Bum

Shula's elsewhere is a top notch place. Not Peter Luger, but very good. Is it just the Disney Dining curse? Does everything get dragged down in the world? Kouzzina certainly didn't live up to the signature/celebrity chef title.

My brother and sister-in-law live in Fort Lauderdale and have been to Shula's in Miami. They quite liked it, and it just seems that this version (or maybe just this day) wasn't as good.

Luger's - now that's a different experience. I advise to order steak for one fewer person than you actually have. We had 3 people and got "steak for 3." Shoulda gotten 2

Cheers.

[mouseman]

We only hit the Cheesecake Factory.

[logan115]

It's certainly not Morton's (my all-time hands down favorite place to get a steak), but the steak at Jiko is really good and something to think about for those wanted a good steak at WDW.

Our first time there was May 2010 whle staying at AKV, and after the meal Mrs. Logan115 made it her favorite spot to eat at WDW mandatory for every trip going forward. Ate there again this past May and was very pleased.

Chris

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

I also had the Bay Scallops and squash risotto on our recent trip to Flying Fish, and DH felt that the risotto was bland, but I thought it was delicate and nuanced.

Funny how tastebuds work-I wanted to toss my cookies after tasting some of the cheeses, and DH and DD11 loved them-the stinkier the better!

[loadsapixiedust]

Pleased I decided on Le Cellier rather than Shula's this time around. We have never had a disappointing meal at Le Cellier the filet mignon is one of my very favourite things to eat in WDW

[bcmike]

We also had a mediocre experience our last trip to Flying Fish. Our two previous visits were very good, we liked the food had some great wine and good service. On our last visit the food was quite boring. Its a while ago now but I think we ordered their signature dish, some kind of pastry wrapped fish. The dish just didn't work and the taste was quite bland. Service was spotty too. Fortunately we had a nice bottle of wine to save the evening.*

We've decided that on this next trip we're going to forego Flying Fish and go back to BlueZoo, we've found the food to be really good there, so much so it feels like a 'real' restaurant rather than a Disney restaurant. I'd recommend it if seafood is what you're in the mood for.

[Wilkeroo]

Originally Posted by logan115

It's certainly not Morton's (my all-time hands down favorite place to get a steak), but the steak at Jiko is really good and something to think about for those wanted a good steak at WDW.

Our first time there was May 2010 whle staying at AKV, and after the meal Mrs. Logan115 made it her favorite spot to eat at WDW mandatory for every trip going forward. Ate there again this past May and was very pleased.

Chris

I second Jiko for steak. We ate there in October and the steak was to die for (as was the service)

[zebsterama]

Really enjoyed the steak at the "Flying Fish". One of the better one's I've had at Disney, and I had a few on that trip (including Le Cellier which I didn't really like ) But that was almost a year and a half ago. Sorry to hear about the seafood being sub-par. Might have to reconsider this stop on our next trip.

Haven't tried Shula's at Disney.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Zebsterama