Beautiful dinning spot with a gorgeous view of Cinderella Castle. This restaurant used to be a character meal with Winnie the Pooh and friends having a friendship day celebration!
It used to also be buffet, but right now they are doing a prix fixe meal with a set salad and dessert and you choose your entrée!
I still recommend getting an advance dinning reservation, you can sometimes get a walk up reservation, but not guaranteed. We tend to do one table service meal a day and share snacks for the rest of our day, so advance dinning reservations work well for us!
Now, lets get in to the good stuff! Here is the menu for reference: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/magic-kingdom/crystal-palace/menus/dinner/
Dinner starts with a salad and cornbread for the table to share. This is an all you can eat meal, so if you want more of anything, feel free to ask!
Appetizer:
Seasonal Salad: Mixed Greens, Cucumber, Tomato, Carrot, Pickled Onion, Candied Pecans, and Red Pepper-Dijon Vinaigrette (Plant-based)
Home-style Cornbread Muffin and Cheddar-Bacon Cornbread Muffin
Whipped Butter and Hot Pepper Jelly
The salad was very good, perfect amount for the two of us. The cornbread muffins were delicious, but paired with the hot pepper jelly, well that was the star of the show! I could have just eaten that for dinner, I had to stop myself to not fill up before the entrée. I did hold on to the leftover muffins and jelly up until the very end of our meal though, just in case I felt like another bite, haha.
Entrees: Blackened Catfish and Shrimp, Creamy Cheddar Grits, Fire-roasted Corn Salsa, and Sauce Creole
This was my entrée, everything was very well cooked and loved the varying textures. The grits were perfectly creamy, the catfish was perfectly seasoned and not too salty, the shrimp were perfectly done and paired well with the catfish, though I never would have thought to put both in one entrée. The fire roasted corn salsa added a nice smokiness to the dish along with a nice crunch and bite. The creole sauce was definitely my favorite part though, the vinegar-y bite and spice really rounded out the dish.
I was a little unsure about ordering this because I had only really heard reviews to get the fried chicken and prime rib, but when I'm in Florida or near the coast (a lot closer than back home in Chicago, haha) I just have to have fish! This was one of the best meals I've had at Disney and would definitely recommend it to any shrimp & grits lover!
Entrees cont.
Fire-roasted Prime Rib of Beef, Potatoes Au Gratin, Asparagus, Red Wine Au Jus, and Horseradish Cream
This was my husbands entrée. We had heard rave reviews about this dish and he thought it lived up to the hype. He asked for a piece that was medium, and this was perfectly done (ask for a slice close to the end of the roast). It is paired with horseradish cream and au jus, everyone likes theirs differently, but for us, the horseradish is where it's at! he thought the au gratin potatoes were good, standard style scalloped potatoes, and the asparagus was crisp tender! Overall he really enjoyed his entrée and would order it again!
Before we get to dessert, wanted to share a note about our seat in the restaurant. We were seated near the back on the right side when you walk in and I thought it was going to be very dark. However we were seated along the water with a view that reminded us of Jungle Cruise. it was a beautiful spot to relax and unwind while enjoying a delicious meal.
Dessert:
Family Style Dessert Platter: Peach Cobbler with Crème Anglaise, Banana Cream Pie, Hummingbird Cake, and a Honey of a Chocolate Cupcake
Finally, if you weren't stuffed from the rest of the meal (which remember, you can ask for more of anything!) here's dessert! They bring out a platter of desserts for the table to share, they also have a plant based dessert option. Let's start with the hummingbird cake, it is a fruit and nut cake layered with pineapple and cream cheese frosting, the combo of the pineapple and cream cheese was a good combo, though a bit heavy on the frosting on the top, but that's just me, but it looked oh so adorable. Peach cobbler with the creme anglaise was a delicious peach cobbler, and I always love creme anglaise, it was a nice touch (think melted ice cream). Honey of a chocolate cupcake had a nice light raspberry frosting, and chocolate cake with a caramel center, I thought the chocolate cake was just ok, but my husband enjoyed it. The best dessert was definitely the banana cream pie (with orange and white whipped cream stripes to look like Tigger). This was the very nostalgic for me and it reminded me of when my mom would make banana cream pie every Easter. It had all the standard components of banana cream pie but with a chocolate shortbread crust and a drizzle of chocolate on top. If you like banana cream pie, you'll love this!
Overall:
We really enjoyed our meal here and honestly even though the characters aren't around right now, is a great choice. Each of the three courses had varying options for everyone (other than maybe the salad) along with vegetarian and plant based options. I think if you're planning to have a variety of family here, you should have most everyone covered! Everything was executed very well and the service was wonderful! Highly recommend this spot for a nice air conditioned relaxing break!
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