The Garden Grill

[wendinator 109]

I had a few little missions to do at Epcot tonight and everyone knows that a woman on a mission needs sustenance. After debating my options with my sister via text message, we settled on the Garden Grill. I pulled in the parking lot at about 5:30 and was able to make an ADR for 7:20.

I checked in almost half an hour early at 6:50 and they seated me a bit before 7. I think I'd been to the Garden Grill once before when I was a kid, but that would have been a VERY long time ago. The place seemed really loud to me. But maybe I'm just old.

Anyway, this is an all you care to eat, family style place. They started me off with salad and rolls.

I didn't want to fill up too much on this stuff, so I didn't eat a roll until much later, and I only picked at the salad (ate the radishes, cucumbers, bacon, and a bit of lettuce). I'm not quite sure what kind of salad dressing that was supposed to be - no particular flavor stood out to me.

Then they bring out the main event - a skillet with turkey & gravy, pot roast, sausage, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, and what I assume was cranberry sauce though I didn't eat any of it.

I stashed the sausage in a Ziploc bag for tomorrow's lunch, but I ate almost all of everything else shown here. The meat was tender and flavorful and not dry. The beans were cooked well. The mashed potatoes weren't as good as the ones I had at Rose & Crown but they were still passable.

They also bring some sweet potato fries with cinnamon sugar and some mac & cheese with goldfish crackers on top.

I couldn't finish all of this but I sure tried.

For dessert they were bringing out some kind of mixed berry cake (cobbler?) thing - I'm not entirely sure what it was. I asked my server if he had something that was a) smaller and b ) preferably chocolate. He came out with this piece of cake which I'm sure is standard issue WDW chocolate cake but it was exactly what I had in mind. (It looks bigger in the picture than it really was.) He even offered to bring me a second one in case this one wasn't enough.

20% AP discount here so it came to $38.34 including tax (but not including tip). Soft drinks are also included.

Almost forgot to mention that this is a character meal. Pluto, Mickey, Chip & Dale all made the rounds. (And maybe Minnie? I forget.) I was pretty focused on eating so mostly just waved at them and they moved along to other tables with families instead of solo diners with a Ziploc bag of sausage.

[Beckers 1,136]

We ate there on our recent trip. The rolls were pretty amazing lol and so was the butter, it seemed like it was a honey butter. The salad dressing was ranch but  my son said it tasted they mixed it with water, it's certainly not Hidden Valley Ranch. We really liked the beef but thought the turkey was terrible. We couldn't have the stuffing because it wasn't safe for my son to eat so we had rice instead. The sweet potato fries were really good too (no one in my family likes Disney Mac and cheese). Dessert was pound cake/short bread with berries it was really good. It wasn't safe for my son so he got enjoy life cookies and they brought them both a bowl of whipped cream (in bowls fresh from the dishwasher so it turned into soup since they were hot). 

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

10 hours ago, wendinator said:

 I was pretty focused on eating so mostly just waved at them and they moved along to other tables with families instead of solo diners with a Ziploc bag of sausage.

LOL!  Great review, and that last line was very funny!

The food looks great, but $40+ for that meal seems kind of steep.  Even for Disney.

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

31 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

LOL!  Great review, and that last line was very funny!

The food looks great, but $40+ for that meal seems kind of steep.  Even for Disney.

TCD

It's even steeper when your kids pretty much don't eat any of it lol. 

[wendinator 109]

11 minutes ago, Beckers said:

It's even steeper when your kids pretty much don't eat any of it lol. 

Seriously! One of the kids at the table beside me turned up his nose at the food and was brought a PB&J instead. That's an expensive sandwich!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

29 minutes ago, Beckers said:

It's even steeper when your kids pretty much don't eat any of it lol. 

Oy.

We've all been there.

The very first character breakfast the TCD gang went to after the twins were born was a total disaster.

We went to 'Ohana, and all was well until Twin #2 saw Goofy.  She lost it, and then Twin #1 lost it.  Two crying babies and a table full of food.

Mrs. TCD and I each ate what we could while holding a hysterical child.  The twins ate nothing.  Our oldest DD was fine.  At least the twins were young enough that there was no charge for them.

But, it was a long. long time before we ever went to another character meal.

TCD

[Beckers 1,136]

Basically I paid $70 for these pictures lol

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[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

3 minutes ago, Beckers said:

Basically I paid $70 for these pictures lol

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Totally worth it!

Very cute.

TCD

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

12 hours ago, wendinator said:

 

Is any of this lettuce what they grow in the fish tank downstairs?  If so, yuk.  Eew.  Yuk.  I wouldn't eat it.

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

3 hours ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

Is any of this lettuce what they grow in the fish tank downstairs?  If so, yuk.  Eew.  Yuk.  I wouldn't eat it.

Any particular reason why?  Is it because it's fish poop and not cow poop?

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

1 hour ago, Katman1356...Jason said:

Any particular reason why?  Is it because it's fish poop and not cow poop?

You got it!  I really, really dislike fish and can't imagine eating anything raw like lettuce that's come in contact with them.

[ftwildernessguy 778]

If you buy your lettuce in the grocery store and it doesn't specifically say it is from the USA, there is a really good chance it was fertilized with human waste.  Makes that fish fertilizer lettuce sound pretty appetizing now, doesn't it?

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Thanks for the review!  I don't often hear good things about the food here but that all looked/sounded pretty yummy.

Beckers, I hear you on the $70 photos.  In October, my brother and SIL were on DxDDP but pretty much every character meal was just a very expensive photo opp as my nephew essentially ate rolls, fries (IF they're the right kind) and fruit.

 

[Beckers 1,136]

Mo the crappy thing is Adam couldn't even eat the rolls!! They weren't safe for him and the only option was gluten free bread and if you are used to gluten, gluten free is terrible, so we didn't even bother.

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

We ate there on our Christmas trip. There was a last minute ADR, and I haven't been there in years. We really enjoyed it. Good was good, and luckily we like all that stuff. Z got some great character interaction including hidden Mickey hunting with Mickey. I'll post some pics too! Life has just been crazy.

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[Helmsey......Todd 134]

We had breakfast there in October and food was average. One thing we did like about the character breakfast here is that you seemed to get MUCH more time with the characters. At one point we had Pluto sitting down at the table with us for a minute. Silly pup was begging for bacon 

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

On 1/17/2017 at 10:39 PM, wendinator said:

 I was pretty focused on eating so mostly just waved at them and they moved along to other tables with families instead of solo diners with a Ziploc bag of sausage.

Oh my gosh...hilarious ?  Love it!!

[Travisma 1,317]

On ‎1‎/‎18‎/‎2017 at 9:25 AM, wendinator said:

Seriously! One of the kids at the table beside me turned up his nose at the food and was brought a PB&J instead. That's an expensive sandwich!

Years ago we went to the buffet at Norway (before it was a character meal), 2 adults and 2 teen/tween.  They went up to the buffet line saw all the odd foods and came back with a couple pieces of cheese and crackers.  The waitress saw what was happening, took their 2 buffet charges off and brought them a couple of kids meals of chicken nuggets and fries either no charge or very cheap. That was the Disney of Walt's dream.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

4 hours ago, Travisma said:

Years ago we went to the buffet at Norway (before it was a character meal), 2 adults and 2 teen/tween.  They went up to the buffet line saw all the odd foods and came back with a couple pieces of cheese and crackers.  The waitress saw what was happening, took their 2 buffet charges off and brought them a couple of kids meals of chicken nuggets and fries either no charge or very cheap. That was the Disney of Walt's dream.

The last time I ate at the Norway restaurant was right before it converted to a princess meal. It was very unique food in a wonderful setting. I made a point of noting to the manager that I would not return as long as it was a character meal. The manager thanked me for my note. They honestly were not happy to bring in the princesses.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

8 hours ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

The last time I ate at the Norway restaurant was right before it converted to a princess meal. It was very unique food in a wonderful setting. I made a point of noting to the manager that I would not return as long as it was a character meal. The manager thanked me for my note. They honestly were not happy to bring in the princesses.

Why would you not return if it was a character meal?

 

have you been back since?

 

Akerhaus is one of our families favorite restaurants.   imho, it's an awesome character meet n greet.  Especially for my DD. She got to visit with so many of her favorite princesses in a relaxed, beautiful, and calm atmosphere.    And we love the "different" foods there.  But then again my whole family is not afraid of trying new and different foods. 

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

I'm not a fan of changing World Showcase into a generic character area. Each country had unique exhibits, architecture and dining that reflected the country represented. No, there is not much for kids, but it wasn't designed to be that way. 

And, no I haven't been back to the restaurant since.

We have boys, so princess meals are something we avoid anyway, and we prefer our unique meals to be character free. I remember the time, I actually booked a dinner reservation in the Castle. The last I had read, Cinderella only greeted folks downstairs for dinner, no princesses during the meal. In between the time I booked and when we actually dined, they brought the princess into the dinner AND changed the menu and removed their big steak they used to have. We were really disappointed. Fortunately, a waiter came through for my DH and had the chef create a good steak for hubby, and due to a computer glitch with Tables in Wonderland, the meal ended up being free. 

We do occasionally go to character meals, but most of the restaurants that have them, the food is actually secondary.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

1 hour ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

 

We do occasionally go to character meals, but most of the restaurants that have them, the food is actually secondary.

That is why I like akerhaus.  The food is traditionally Norwegian and delicious. 

[ftwildernessguy 778]

Nothing says fine dining like cold pickled fish.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

2 hours ago, ftwildernessguy said:

Nothing says fine dining like cold pickled fish.

Exactly!!!  

[keith_h 420]

3 hours ago, ftwildernessguy said:

Nothing says fine dining like cold pickled fish.

A high school sweetheart of mine was 2nd generation Swedish. Not identical to Norway but very similar in cuisines. I would go camping with the family and the thing that sticks out in my memory is several different types of pickled fish at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Thankfully they had food suitable for a teenage American kid otherwise I would have starved.