Citricos and Narcoossee's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

By Nick 

On Episode 23 of The Disney Exchange Podcast, we talk about our choices for a progressive dinner, which is a group meal where each course is served at a different venue, around the Walt Disney World Monorail Loop. 2 of my choices were at Narcoossee's and Citricos at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort.

My wife Barbie and I had dinner at both of these venues in January of 2014, and enjoyed both meals, so I thought I'd share what we had as well as a look inside each.
Let's start at Narcoosee's.

Narcoossee's is located on the shores of Seven Seas Lagoon, at the end of the Grand Floridian transportation boat dock.

It has an open "show" kitchen and a wonderful staff. Be sure to say hello!

 

I was impressed with the beer menu, not overwhelming but a nice selection.

 

 

 

We asked the bartender for a food suggestion, and he said his favorite was the scallops.
As we were being brought to our table, Barbie spotted a man wearing a vest covered in Disney pins. She approached him, and they spoke at length. He came over to introduce himself and his wife. They were locals, and they also suggested the scallops, as well as the calamari.

If you time it right, and have a table facing Cinderella Castle, you can see Wishes at the Magic Kingdom. I made our advanced dining reservation at 180 days out for 8:00 pm, thinking the fireworks would be at either 8:00 or 9:00 pm. They were at 10:00 pm that evening, and while I could have changed our ADR, we both agreed that was rather late for dinner.

The menu is somewhat limited.

 

 

As our bread was being set on the table, we asked our server for an entree suggestion, and weren't really surprised when she said the scallops.

 

The bread was very crunchy with a soft center, almost a sourdough. I love butter with course salt!

 

 

We shared the  Crispy Rhoade Island Calamari with pepperoncini-olive relish and tomato coulis appetizer. In fact, I enjoyed these so much, I chose these as my appetizer course for the progressive dinner on the Podcast episode.

 

 

The calamari was very light and crispy yet tender, not chewy. The relish was just the right kick, and the tomato coulis was the perfect acidic addition. Barbie thought they were the best Calamari she'd ever had! With a salad, this could easily be an economical choice for an entree.

 

For dinner, we both ordered the Pan-seared Georges Bank Day Boat Scallops with Trofie pasta with Sultana raisins, Marcona almonds, young string beans and herb creme with wild mushrooms, lemon-thyme-mustard au jus and arugula.

 

 

We both agreed these were the best scallops we'd ever had. They were perfectly prepared, and as good as they were, the pasta and mushrooms in the lemon-thyme-mustard au jus was even better.

We would have loved dessert, but were too full!

There is no doubt we will return to Narcoossee's in the future, and we will try to choose different food selections, but it won't be easy!

 

Let's go inside Grand Floridian now, and head up to the second floor, which is where you'll find Citricos.

 

 

 

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

Like Narcoossees, 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, which was at 8pm on that evening!

 

 

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.

For my entree, 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. So, we switched meals!

 

 

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

 

 

I 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.

 

Have you eaten at either of these restaurants, and what was your experience?

Cinderella’s Dining at Cítricos – Breakfast and Brunch with The Disney Princesses

By Nick

I didn't have any idea I'd be going to Cinderella’s Dining at Cítricos – Breakfast and Brunch with The Disney Princesses until just a few days before our wonderful breakfast at my favorite resort, Disney's Grand Floridian.

The breakfast, usually held in Cinderella Castle, has been relocated to Citricos while Cinderella's Royal Table undergoes refurbishment.

We attended this grand affair with our friends Kandi and John, and their children Jazzlyn and Grayson.

Barbie, me, Jazzlyn, Cinderella, Kandi, Grayson, and John

I'm very glad we went, not only for the experience, which starts with a photo with Cinderella herself, and continues into the lovely dining room of Citricos, where we also got to meet Belle, Snow White, Jasmine, and Ariel...

...but also for the food, because we were all very pleasantly surprised by the selection!

To start, we were brought coffees, teas, sodas, and our specialty beverages of choice, which were Mimosas, along with a basket of freshly baked multi-grain croissants, blueberry muffins and apple pastries.

For an appetizer, I had the charcuterie, while Barbie asked if it was okay to order 2 items, the charcuterie and the chicken noodle soup, and our wonderful server said "Yes!" Both were very good.

During the meal, wishing wands and swords were brought to the table for Jazzlyn and Grayson to use in the Magical Wishing Ceremony, where, with a little Disney magic "your prince’s or princess’ wish can come true!"

For entrées, both John and I ordered the steak, but instead of the slow-poached egg, we asked if we could substitute scrambled eggs, and were told that was not a problem. I ordered the steak medium rare, and it was more to the medium side, while John asked for his well done, and it was VERY well done, but still good. In the future, I will have to remember to ask for rare, as apparently, steak prep errs to the side of caution.

Barbie had the grilled ham and biscuits.

Kandi had the scrambled egg whites with hot ten-grain cereal, Greek yogurt topped with granola, a whole-grain croissant and fresh fruit.

Jazzlyn had Mickey waffles with sausage and bacon.

Desserts were a trio of a piece of cake they called crème brûlée, chocolate-raspberry cake, and a vanilla bean cream puff, the standout being, perhaps not surprisingly the chocolate cake.

The experience is not inexpensive, being $50 plus tip, but as far as character meals go, we felt it was absolutely one of the better experiences, and the food was a notch above a buffet.

Reservations for Cinderella’s Dining at Cítricos—Breakfast and Brunch with the Disney Princesses can be made by visiting DisneyWorld.com, or calling 407-WDW-DINE.

Favorite Food Friday: Breakfast at The Grand Floridian Cafe

By Nick

On our trip to Walt Disney World this January, we tried to eat at several restaurants we hadn't previously visited at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort. We hit Narcoossee's, Citricos, and Gasparilla Island Grill.

On our last day, I decided we needed to try the Grand Floridian Cafe for breakfast. We'd passed this restaurant just about every day of our trip, but had never stopped for one reason or another.

Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the Grand Floridian Cafe is located off the main lobby of the GF, and offers beautiful views of the courtyard pool and rose garden.

 

 

Barbie wasn't in the mood for a large breakfast, so only ordered a bagel with cream cheese with a side of bacon.

I had the Citrus Pancakes which are roasted pecan and sundried cranberry pancakes served with house made orange butter and a choice of bacon or sausage. I had bacon.

I'm not going to lie. These were maybe my favorite pancakes. Ever. The flavors were excellent. The citrus, cranberry and nuts reminded me of a cranberry muffin, but sweeter and less flaky.  My stomach is growling as I write this. The bacon was not the typical "Disney bacon" (thin and not very flavorful) that you find at a buffet, but rather a really nice smokey bacon. -growl-growl-

I look forward to returning for more pancakes, and to try other meals at the Grand Floridian Cafe in the future.

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.