While I’ll always have my favorite Disney World restaurant menu items, I always like to hear about new things to try. And while this is by no means an exhaustive list (menus are changing all the time), I wanted to share with you a few changes I heard about and experienced during my recent WDW trip.
If you’ve heard about or experienced other menu changes, let me know! You can contact me via twitter, facebook, or email!
Liberty Tree Tavern
You might have read the Liberty Tree Tavern menu changes blog when I posted it a couple of weeks ago, but I figured I’d get all the info in one place!
There are two brand new dishes at LTT: Chicken and Dumplings and Salmon Cakes!
New Liberty Tree Tavern Menu Items
The chicken and dumplings was not what we expected, and almost tasted like a very hearty, VERY peppery chicken soup. A bit too homogeneous a taste for an entree (we like some sides with our meals), but not a bad dish.
Liberty Tree Tavern Chicken and Dumplings
Unfortunately, the pasta dish has been taken off the menu.
Le Cellier
There have been a few changes over at Le Cellier as well, but one that we tried and loved was the Poutine. Although I grew up very close to Canada, I’d never heard of this French Canadian delicacy! Luckily, our server explained it perfectly. Fries. Cheese. Gravy. Sounds good to us! I asked for the gravy on the side (sorry, Canada!), so that’s what you get in the photo.
Le Cellier Poutine, with gravy on the side
Now, let me pay homage to all of the twitter-ers who commented on my Poutine twitpic that it didn’t do justice to real Canadian poutine. For example, in most Canadian poutine, the cheese is not usually yellow, and it is always in curd form — not melted. (Our server DID mention that he considered this Le Cellier version to be “American” poutine, but it doesn’t make it any less delicious!)
We also tried a few new desserts over at Le Cellier: the Le Cellier Mont Blanc Semifreddo with chilled fruit soup, the Chocolate-on-Chocolate Whiskey Cake, and the Warm Apple Tart with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Maple Syrup.
Le Cellier Semifreddo
Le Cellier Semifreddo Inside
Le Cellier Warm Apple Tart
Le Cellier Chocolate on Chocolate Whiskey Cake
While none of these desserts wowed us, the chocolate cake would have been the best of the three. Our suggestion: forget dessert and head over for a Kaki Gori! 😉
Rose and Crown Dining Room
The Cottage Pie makes a re-appearance on Rose and Crown’s menu! I can recall Cottage Pie on the menu years and years ago, but it’s back again for all of you Anglophiles (including me…).
Rose and Crown updated menu
Rose and Crown Cottage Pie
Rose and Crown Cottage Pie Inside
We also sampled the brand new Lemon Pie at Rose and Crown. It’s pretty much your standard lemon meringue pie, so if you love it, order it. Otherwise, stick with something else.
Rose and Crown Lemon Pie
California Grill
California Grill, as always, is playing around with the “market-inspired” menu as it should, but the dessert menu has really been changed up this time around.
California Grill dessert menu 10-1-09
We sampled the Valrhona Chocolate Cake, which used to be paired with cherries and is now coupled with salted caramel ice cream and roasted pineapple. They’re riding the salted caramel train down at The Wave as well, so I think it’s a “Contemporary” thing. Either way, we loved it.
California Grill Valrhona Chocolate Cake
We also tried their “Sweet Celebration” item, which is a Fall Apple Cobbler, with Walnut-Oatmeal Streusel, Calvados Ice Cream, and Apple Caramel Drizzle. Our waiter kindly let us know that the cobbler wasn’t a standard “gooey” item, but instead was more of a dry dish, with the apples well-formed and not mushy. We’re BIG cobbler fans, so ordered it anyway. We loved the dish, but were glad for his warning as we would have expected something different without it.
California Grill Apple Cobbler
Yachtsman Steakhouse
Yachtsman Steakhouse is doing all kinds of fun things with its menu — a couple of raviolis to try (including Potato and Leek Ravioli!), escargot, and a Cowboy Steak (my favorite!).
But what I’ve got to rave about here is the new Mushroom Risotto side dish. I really dislike mushrooms, but because I was so taken with Le Cellier’s Mushroom Risotto I knew I had to try the new Yachtsman version. And as a result, I have two comments: 1.) They are completely different dishes, and 2.) Yachtsman’s mushroom risotto is unbelievable.
Yachtsman Steakhouse Mushroom Risotto
I couldn’t stop eating it, and probably would have ordered a whole bowl if I could. It’s just that good.
Sanaa
Finally, although I didn’t get a chance to dine there this trip, Sanaa, one of Disney World’s newest restaurants, has changed up a few menu items as well (thanks to Amanda Tinney for the tip).
While many things on the menu remain, the Dum Biryani has been removed as an entree (replaced with a Lamb Kefta, at least at lunch), and the “Slow-Cooked in Gravy” section has been divided into a meat section and a vegetarian section (no more mixing!). Stewed Lentils and Spicy Cauliflower, Onions, Tomatoes, and Mint have been added as options on the vegetarian list, along with the old Paneer Cheese and Spinach.
Be sure to keep me updated on the new things you sample on your next trip! Bon Appetit!
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I gather others have commented on poutine, but i wanted to leave a few notes. I think that “delicacy” is maybe not quite the right word for a food that, at least in my opinion, is best served from a roadside truck in rural Quebec. To do it right, it should be cheese curds that just naturally melt from the heat of the french fries and the gravy. And by having your gravy on the side, you missed that gooey, messy, eat it fast before the whole mess cools and solidifies aspect that I consider as much part of the experience as the ingredients themselves.
Jim — Thanks for your comment and for describing “real poutine” as it should be described! I knew there was no way I could do it justice 🙂
Chicken and dumplings…we were just discussing them a few days ago around the office. They are particularly delicious when the temps cool down a bit yes? Thanks for the updates AJ.
OMG, I am salivating already, those all look delish and I am a big fan of the mushroom risotto at Le Celier, so I can’t believe that YS has a better version. All the more reason to add the YS to my list of must dos!! Will be there in 5 days and I cannot wait!!
Thanks for the updates and the pics!!!
Yum! Can’t wait to try some of these things in 33 days! Great post, AJ!
At the end of August I had the Wild Mushroom Risotto at Artist Point. I highly recommend it the next time you’re there. Delicious!
Thanks for the updates! Now I’m even more excited for my upcoming trip.
If I can get into Le Cellier, I would love to try the Poutine. Was exposed to Poutine while on vacation in Montreal a number of years ago and couldn’t get enough of it. There are one or two local places that serve it, run by French Canadians of course, but good to know we can now get that experience in Epcot. If they added smoked meat, it would be an awesome meal.
We’ll be having lunch at Sanaa in 24 days, can’t wait!
Ooops! I forgot to comment on the Chicken and Dumplings. Based on the picture, the dumplings look more like thick egg noodles. Would you call them that or is it just how it looks in the picture? Growing up in the South, dumplings to me are thicker than noodles, chewy and of more substance than noodles.
This blog puts a smile on my face. I love keeping up to date with all of the delicious fun going on at Disney. I need to get planning my 2010 trip asap. Awesome job!
Tim: The Poutine was amazing. I like the idea of smoked meat, but I’m not sure about messing with the significant carb:fat ratio currently in the dish 😉 The “dumplings” looked and felt more like egg noddles, yes; I fully trust their “dumpling-ness,” but the dish felt more like a thick noodle soup.
Allison: Have fun! What a great time to visit the World!
Sarah: Thanks for the recommendation! Apparently my dislike of mushrooms doesn’t count when they’re in risotto!
Lea: Be sure to drop me a line with the updates from your trip!
Melissa: You’re going to love it!
RZ: Glad you enjoyed the post!
The Poutine looks delicious. I believe I had that at a restaurant while in Montreal years ago. Delicious foods in Montreal. When we were at Le Cellier in May we asked about a few favorite items that we were no longer on the menu. The server explained that they rotate the menus 4+ times a year based on the season. The summer one had no started when we were there, so familiar favorites from our June honeymoon years ago were not there.
Fries + cheese = YUMMY! Planning to eat at Le Cellier and Sanaa on our next trip and am now looking forward to it even more! Thanks for the updates, AJ.
That mushroom risotto looks SO.GOOD. I’ve never eaten at the Yachtsman – one of the very few. That dish alone is enough to make me remedy that I think…
Everything looks delicious though, wonderful pictures, as usual AJ! Thanks for keeping us in the know!
You’re making me hungry! (You weren’t by any chance at Narcoossee’s on Saturday Sep 27?)
TheAngelForever: Good to know about the rotating menu at Le Cellier — thank you for the info!
Shayne: Be sure to drop me a line and let me know your favorite dishes from Le Cellier and Sanaa!
Zanna: Yachtsman is truly one of my favorite, not-to-be-missed spots in Disney World. Really good for anniversaries and birthdays 🙂
Tony: Thanks for your comment! I wasn’t at Narcoossee’s on the 27th; in fact, we didn’t even have reservations there during our recent trip! I need to get back there soon…
The only reason I ask … there was a young woman at the table next to us who said she ran a website having to do with Disney food. She was dining alone but taking down a flurry of notes.
Love your site!
Thanks Tony! Nope — it wasn’t me, unfortunately. I would have loved to meet you!
The chilled fruit in the semifreddo is now mango.
American poutine? Something I always ask is – how much can you change a dish, and still call it by the same name? Sorry, but a pile of fries with a melted processed cheese is NOT poutine, it is cheese fries, with or without the “gravy”. I am American, have had many real poutines in Ontario, and even I am insulted by the “poutine” that Le Cellier is offering.