Trip Report One enormous BirthdayversaryPalooza! aka 2 Broke Guys & a dog & Irma COMPLETED

We've been using the "2 Broke Guys" moniker for so long now, we've outlasted the TV show "2 Broke Girls" on which it was based. (Canceled!)

The idea was a year+ of saving Disney Chase Visa points to see if we could go to Victoria & Albert's for our 10 year wedding anniversary completely on their dime - and keeping a running total including additions and withdrawals (for little WDW trips along the way) much like they did at the end of every episode of that TV show - like this:

$1,678.91

And that figure is actually what we have left to spend on our trip - about double what we would need for our V&A dinner! Not to mention: points paid for our 2 AP's, some of our lodging for this trip, and many mini-trips along the way. All that meandering, planning, brainstorming and trip reporting is on this thread:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...table-of-contents.909657/page-43#post-7874545

But that can take awhile. I'll give a little background in another post. Shout out to @dizfan917 for accidentally naming this thread in a post on that one, and to @Tuvalu for inspiring the "mother thread" with links to other thread(s) format.

Also to all those who have been following all this time! As those folks know, I go back and forth between posting with my phone and my laptop, and I'm more comfortable on the laptop. I'm using the phone now, whilst not asleep in Orlando, and anxious to get this first post out of the way before I do something to accidentally make it go poof! I will tag the others in a separate post.

Can't believe we're finally here!!

 

[Tiggerish]

I love those ties!! All of them, natch, but especially the Tigger ones.

Anxiously awaiting the story of dinner!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Per usual, we were not late but right on time. I would've preferred an extra moment for our walk just to take it all in, but it is what it is. Getting dressed was like an episode of Top Chef with each of us alternating calling out, "Eight minutes to go!" "Four minutes at the absolute latest!"

Brisk walk through the steady drizzle wondering if we should've gone back for the umbrella, if we had time, if we wanted to carry it anyway LOL.

The picture I posted was taken at 6:28 PM for our 6:30 PM reservation.

They did have canceled reservations; however, not for the chef's table. Hey, I had to try one more time.

We were in The Queen Victoria room with seating for four tables of two persons each.

Here is the view from our table:

It's a beautiful room; elegant but warm and comfortable. Nice, but not too stuffy.

As you can see, there is an entryway to the main dining room, but we did not have visibility from our table.

One other couple had been seated before we arrived. They were on the side of the room opposite the walkway to the main dining room, as were we.

Unlike many Disney signature dining areas like Monsieur Paul and, to a lesser degree, Yachtsman Steakhouse, the tables were spaced fairly far apart.

At first I thought two couples had canceled, but I soon learned they just stagger their reservations although there is technically only one seating per evening.

The other couple had been there probably about a half hour longer than we had. This way, we would have different courses at different times.

Each table was attended by the same two servers. One focused more on the food and the other more on the wine.

It turned out the other couple was also from South Florida. I didn't expect this, but we had a very friendly and casual chat albeit almost yelling across this elegant setting lol. They were very friendly, and it was their anniversary as well.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

The servers were knowledgeable, attentive, and friendly.

They started us off with a celebratory glass of champagne.

I wrestled a moment with whether to post the menu first or last. The reason I might want to hold it back is, well, twofold: first, to not spoil the surprises; and second, believe it or not, the menu did not do justice to the dishes.

You know how I'm always posting excerpts from various menus and below the descriptive title is a more detailed dive into every type of morsel on the plate?

This was not that.

Ultimately, I decided to show you the menu first because that is how it was presented to us at the restaurant. They showed us the menu first.

If you don't want to see it yet, scroll past the next post.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

(Explanation to follow.)

 

[Tony the Tigger]

So my first reaction to the menu was a little bit of a "meh" and wondering if this would be worth it or if it was overhyped. Yes, there were a lot of courses and some fancy ingredients, but the menu seemed much simpler than most I've seen at WDW.

I'm a little bummed about that because I will not be able to adequately describe the dishes, every one of which was far more impressive than the menu represents.

We'll have to rely on pictures and my memory.

I took two pictures of every dish because the plating was so unique, I wanted to represent the full presentation including the plate, and then also do a close-up of the food so you can see more detail.

The one exception, sadly, is the first course - the cauliflower panna cotta with caviar. I love cauliflower and this was excellent, but I was still settling in and neither of us took a picture of it. (Just this one, I promise!)

Basically it was a dessert-sized bowl that looked like vanilla pudding with caviar on top. Delish!

Side note: wherever you see prices on the menu, those are optional upgrades. We passed on the caviar upgrade since we are not that big on caviar, and this was already a splurge!

We did, of course, opt for the wine pairings, served as 8 half glasses, each matched perfectly per course and explained to us in depth like we've had done at the Flying Fish (and our wine guy knew Craig from FF.)

The first few wines were white, as the first few courses were fish. The wines progressed as the proteins did, eventually moving to reds.

Let's get some pics going starting with course #2!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Here's the Alaskan king crab with watermelon and finger limes.

Not mentioned on the menu: that transparent part that looks like a piece of plastic separating the top from the bottom is actually made of jalapeño.



The chef is a wizard!

At this point, all concerns about hype and value were settled. This was a stunning beginning, a lovely pairing, one of my favorites of the entire long evening, and we knew we were in the right place. Sweet, crunchy, new (to us) ingredients - awesome!!

Next, please!!

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Roasted Sablefish with baby bok choy and coconut curry broth:

Absolutely delicious, the broth was very thick and flavorful - another home run!

We were a little giddy at this point, not gonna lie.

I learned a lesson on this course: they brought out a little bread earlier. There were special different butters to go with different courses, also. I hadn't saved any bread from the previous course, and this course had none - but I'd have loved to sop up that plate with it! So from then on, when I got bread, I saved some just in case lol.

Between courses, conversation continued to flow with our fellow diners. We loved that. During courses, we left each other alone. Loved that, too.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

We skipped the wild turbot upgrade. There were so many fish courses already. Plus, budget.

Next up: New Zealand langoustine with nage crema.

Finally, my (little cousin of) lobster!

Omg omg omg I would love to have this again.

As you can see, there are two langoustine, one with the nage crema and the other without. The nage crema is basically a seafood broth flavored creamy sauce. I don't typically prefer a cream based sauce. I like Manhattan style clam chowder and will not eat the New England style.

But omg this was incredible!!

The idea was to experience different combinations of flavors. Those two Orange Tigger stripes on the plate are another strongly flavored sauce, so you had the langoustine on the left with and without the Tigger stripe; and then you had the one on the right with the crema - with and without the Tigger stripe.

Poof!

That was my mind being blown.

Of course, I went back and forth between the two sides, trying to figure out which I liked best, because I do something weird:

Ever since I was a kid, I like to have the last bite on the plate be the best bite - because I'm either a little nuts or very passionate. OK, both.

So for example, if mom made pot roast with potatoes, carrots and onions, and I wasn't crazy about the carrots, there would be no carrots left for my last bite. There would be no fatty meat. There would not be too much potato. My ideal last bite would be a nice, clean piece of meat with just the right amount of potato on the fork, hopefully extra onion, all soaked in the "jus" (although I just called it "juice" at the time.) Because - why end the meal on an off note?

Anyway, I've always done that. I still do that. More than you ever wanted to know about me.

What's next?

 

[Tuvalu]

I feel like I am in the middle of a good book and finally reached the climax! V&A AT LAST!!!

I do the "best bite" thing too.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I feel like I am in the middle of a good book and finally reached the climax! V&A AT LAST!!!

I do the "best bite" thing too.

I am really enjoying reliving this. Just poured myself a glass of white lol.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Marcho farms veal "en crepe"

Unless "en crepe" means "3 ways," this is a prime example of the menu not doing justice to the dishes.

That center piece - the one with the white truffle foam on top (oh, no, honey - that is not cheez whiz!) was glorious. It was a beautiful piece of veal, almost shredded - perfect. Loved it. That was my last bite on this plate.

The one below that was a different cut of veal wrapped in (I think) mushrooms. Very nice.

The one on top, if you couldn't tell...our first experience with..."sweet breads."

I had had just enough wine to go for it, and as long as I didn't think about what it was, it tasted good. My least fave of the three, but I came here for a culinary adventure, and by golly, I got it!

By this time the third and final couple had been seated, and we all welcomed them. They were a mother and daughter (daughter around our age) from the Tampa area. Once again, informal and inelegant cross talk across this elegant room we thought would be so quiet and stuffy.

There was a real camaraderie in that room. We were all going through the same thing. Irma was at or near our homes and we were enjoying this ridiculously amazing meal in a true fantasy land. It felt like the last supper lol. I asked the waiter if it was common for that type of conversation to happen here and he said once in awhile.

Well, it was a pleasure to share the room with those folks, and I sincerely hope they came through things as well as we did.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Next up: Smoked duck with Fuji apples and celery root

Did the chef read my mind? Or my trip reports?

I love duck. This was the best duck I've ever had, bar none. I'm also a sucker for a good parsnip purée. (This was sliced, not purée but still fab.)

Bread break! Had to take a picture of the butter.

Sorry, that's a chef's hat.

Nope - that's butter! It's made to look like a chef's hat!

They carved little swirls off of it and placed them on your plate.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I just realized Brian had a much better pic of the duck on his phone. This reminded me there was duck bacon on top!

OK the last entree course (don't cry!)

Australian Kobe style beef with roasted garlic potatoes.

And yes, this time we did go for the upgrade "extra" Mizyazaki Japanese beef. Might as well go out with a bang!

I'm showing you 3 pics of this, although I don't know if the point will get across. The first two pics are mine; the last is Brian's.

The beef on the left is the Australian; on the right was the Japanese.

The potatoes alone were a treasure. With the gravy

That gravy was worth a $55 upgrade. This is where I wish I remembered more or it was on the menu, because there was some complex process to make that gravy. We also got a lesson comparing the beef, how it's raised, what you can call what name, etc.

Oh you know I used my bread on that gravy!!!

Here's why three pics: I went with the server's recommendation for the temperature of the Japanese beef, which I believe was med-rare.

Brian didn't. He asked for medium.

Brian wins!

There was such a difference between our two plates! I actually did not enjoy mine. It was kind of marbley, barely cooked, not a great chew.

Brian's was perfect - it tasted like meat, not like sushi or tartare.

Everything is better with the gravy!

We basically split each other's Japanese beef. He agreed with me about my plate, but, "Hey, Mikey! He likes it!" He'll eat anything. (70's reference.)

So my advice would be to upgrade only one of the plates, and get the Japanese done medium temperature.

You can also see the butter curls in Brian's pic.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Next there was a cheese course. We each got a plate like this.

I'm not a cheese guy, never have been. The honeycomb under that thin crisp of bread on the right was a real treat. And I dipped the pastry into whatever was inside that mini-fishbowl. The rest - well, Brian pretty much had a double cheese course lol.

While this was going on, we ordered our coffee/tea. Shocked when we saw this:

That is Brian's coffee brewing upside down.

Don't ask me to explain it, I just had a ton of wine (that night - and some tonight )

The coffee took a good 15 minutes to brew.

I ordered a decaf vanilla herbal tea. They brought out a similar contraption later to brew mine, which was much faster because it was tea. This way they were both done and ready to serve at the same time.

I made such a fuss over that tea, they brought out the package so I could take a picture of the UPC code and try to find it somewhere. (it's not twinings.)

ETA: so far can't find it.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Going to blow through dessert, technically two dessert courses, but Brian got different special ones that were sugar-free or no sugar added.

OK, the thing with the "eyelash" - meh. The rest were good. On this trip, I've learned I'm not a big fan of the ganache or whatever they're calling ganache.

None of these earned huge raves from either of us.

Then, this:

Then, the guy rolls out this huge box, fabric interior, that was full of single special chocolates (sorry, Brian!)

He read off what they all were and I got to pick a few.

One was a chocolate covered cherry. The other two were banana cream pie!

 

[BuddyThomas]

This report has been epic. Loved every word of it, and I know words. Thanks for taking so much time to post, and even during a freaking hurricane! That is dedication. This is going to go down as one of the all time classic trip reports of WDW Magic.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

This report has been epic. Loved every word of it, and I know words. Thanks for taking so much time to post, and even during a freaking hurricane! That is dedication. This is going to go down as one of the all time classic trip reports of WDW Magic.
View attachment 231601

Thank you, sir!
(It's not quite over!)

 

[BuddyThomas]

Thank you, sir!
(It's not quite over!)

I'm sure. And don't call me Sir! It's Shirley!

 

[Tuvalu]

I'm sure. And don't call me Sir! It's Shirley!

Sorry, but I'm the only Shirley 'round here.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I'm sure. And don't call me Sir! It's Shirley!

Ha!

Sorry, but I'm the only Shirley 'round here.

HAha!