After all our traveling ~ by car, tram, foot, boat and glider ~ we'd worked up quite an appetite. Good thing we did not have to go far for dinner. A short escalator ride up dropped us right in front of Garden Grill.
We had dined here last spring break and came away impressed and satisfied. I had read of a menu change from steak to pot roast (which bummed me a bit) but went in with an open mind. While we were seated shortly after checking in, our server was long in arriving. In fact, Pluto beat him to our table.
Notice the not-so-hidden-Mickey plate arrangement.
We continued to wait for our server. When he finally arrived (without an apology) he took our drink order and quickly rambled that the food was "family style all we could eat" before departing.
Our salad and rolls arrived before our beverages.
"Tuvalu, then why are your drink glasses in this picture?"
Because Em was slow in getting her camera out.
I'm not sure eight rolls are necessary for three people, especially considering the quantity of food yet to come. The rolls were fresh and doughy and I suppose it would be easy to eat more than one. (We did not make that rookie mistake.)
I am not a big salad dressing fan, but whatever dressing was on the salad was DELICIOUS!! It was different from last year, as I remember not caring for the salad. Woody (who knows his dressings) thinks this dressing was likely peppercorn. It was light-textured and really brought out the flavor of the veggies. I went back for thirds.
Sweet potato fries have been replaced by regular fries. Between the fries, mac and cheese and mashed potatoes (oh and the rolls) starch is well accounted for in this meal.
Last year, the meats were brought out on a separate platter. Now everything is mashed (no pun intended) together on a round plate. It makes serving difficult.
From the top: cob corn (no restaurant does this well), pot roast in gravy, mashed potatoes, sausage with peppers and onions, turkey and gravy atop stuffing, and cranberry relish (not sauce, there
is a difference) in the center.
The pot roast was surprisingly good. We all agreed it was the best protein offered. Neither Em nor I are sausage eaters, but Woody said it was fine.
@Courtney6682 mentioned the sausage being pink tinged, but this wasn't. The turkey, on the other hand, was. Now I know smoked turkey can have a pinkish hue, but nowhere was the word "smoked" used and that made me nervous. If you have read any of my trip reports you know I am a turkey-holic and I was really looking forward to turkey. When our server
finally appeared again and asked if he could bring us anything else I requested turkey.
Sadly, the new turkey was also pinkish. I just couldn't eat it.
But a couple of chipmunks soon brought joy to our table.
As did the Mouse himself.
The berry cobbler was SPECTACULAR
. So, so good.
It shouldn't surprise you that it took
forever for our server to bring our check. I still needed to give him my Tables in Wonderland card before paying and figured we'd have to sit there even longer.
(You know you've been at a character meal too long when each character comes to your table a second time. And then suffer the awkwardness of not wanting a picture or engaging in conversation
because you've already done that!)
Anyhoo, our server dropped the check wallet on our table and said, "I already applied your AP discount."
Wait, what?
"I've got Tables in Wonderland," I said.
"It's the same 20% discount," he said.
Okay. But it wasn't the discount percentage that concerned me. It was the fact the server
knew I have an AP.
Is MDE smart enough to somehow mark a guest as an AP holder on an ADR???
It did creep me out a little.
We give Garden Grill a B for food, A for character interaction and D for service. We'll probably go back, but not for awhile.
Thanks for reading!
And let's face it, after 9 hours of sitting in a car, we could use a little exercise!)
