Citricos at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

by: Nick

On our recent trip to Walt Disney World, Barbie and I had a lovely evening at Citricos at Disney's Grand Floridian with a group of new friends.

 Me, Barbie, Betsy, F.D., Blake, and Kim

Citricos is located on the second floor of the Grand, next to Victoria & Albert's.

A very nice bar is immediately to the left as you enter.

The kitchen is open and lovely to behold.

 Hidden Mickey?

The beautiful dining room. While this is a large upscale space, it manages to feel warm and cozy.

We didn't even realize we'd have a terrific view of Wishes, but...

On to dinner.

For an appetizer, I had the Lamb Albondiga. a lamb meatball cooked in curry tomato sauce over herb polenta with crumble Feta.

Unlike some meatballs which can be very dense, this was a light, flavorful start.

F.D. had the Sauteed Shrimp with lemon, white wine, tomatoes and Feta, which she said was delicious.

For our main courses F.D. had the Hardwood Grilled Bronzini, which is citrus marinated whole marinated sea bass, Israeli Couscous, herbed chick peas and cucumber relish, which she said was light and flaky, and she loved it.

Kim and Blake both had the Oak-grilled Filet of Beef with hominy-cheddar-potatoe puree, balsamic caramalized onions, peppadew peppers, arugala greens, and Cabernet demi-glace, which they both described as very good, though Blake thought the steak at Jiko at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge was better.

I had the Berkshire Pork Two Ways, which is Sumac rubbed tenderloin and slow braised belly accompanied by a shishito and and sunchoke hash with natural reduction.  

I'm going to admit, I have no idea what shishito and and sunchoke hash is, but I love pork. But I'm sorry to say, I thought this dish was somewhat uneven. I felt the tenderloin was somewhat lacking in flavor, though Barbie thought it was juicy and tasty. As for the pork belly, one piece was a bit dry and chewy, while the other piece was much more tender and savory.

Barbie liked my meal more than mine, which is good, because I preferred her Madeira Braised Short Ribs, Strozzapreti pasta with hand harvested mushroom ragout and Piccante Gorgonzola. This was much more flavorful than my selection, the short ribs moist, and the pasta perfectly cooked, and I would absolutely order this on a future visit.

I'll let our friend Betsy tell you her dining experience in her own words:

"This was my first time eating at Citricos. I have food allergies and the Chef came out to chat with me. We discussed several options. I chose the Pan Seared Florida Black Grouper with Butternut Squash Risotto, Tuscan Kale, Blue Crab Cream and Black Sturgeon Caviar. The Chef replaced the Blue Crab Cream with a Lemon sauce to fit my needs. The grouper was a nice size and cooked well. The lemon sauce was light and worked well with the risotto, kale and caviar."

Betsy goes on to describe her dessert.

"For dessert I chose the Granny Smith Green Apple Sorbet. This was something new for me. I love Granny Smith Apples and that is exactly what it tasted like. Everything was light enough I wasn’t left feeling overstuffed after the meal."

Barbie had the Lemon Scented Cheesecake. She would have preferred it to be more lemony, but she loved the overall combination of flavors.

The rest of the group had the Warm Chocolate-Banana Torte with vanilla ice cream and hancrafted Belgian couverture chocolate crown.

 

Was it as awesome as it looks? Yes! 

I love bananas. And, well, love isn't a strong enough word to describe how I feel about chocolate. I would return to Citricos JUST for this.

Overall, this meal was made by the combination of good food and better company. It isn't on my future must do list, but I would not hesitate to return if joining others, and would recommend it if you are looking for a lovely, but pricey, dining experience.