WDW 2011 Day 1 - Dinner - DisjointedImages

After the welcomed nap – we wandered out to see Coronado at night:

Then trudged (heh) off to our Stupid Expensive dinner. I mean – I’ve splurged on meals back home, but the prices online for this place just floored me. How good can it be?

The selection of beefy goodness:

Then I have to get a shot of the “oh aren’t we fancy” two forks and two knives AND a butter plate setup.

The cute couple (d’awww):

Mom and Dad:

Oh, for the record, I mostly drank either Coke (thank goodness it’s not Pepsi, ptooi, I’d have been a sad girl and Chris would have been BOUNCING more than Tigger from Mtn. Dew) or water. I restrained myself from 37 images of glasses of coke for your sake. You’re welcome.

First – the onion pull-apart bread. OMG… I could eat these every day. Then, THEN, our waiter (David) brought me my own roasted garlic. I was in HEAVEN. I will roast and eat HEADS of garlic at a time. No joke.
(No, no pics of the other rolls, I’m not a sourdough fan. My TR. nyah)

I got scallops and Chris SHOCKED me by getting escargot for his appetizer. Mind you, when we first met, he would barely eat anything more daring than a chili dog, but has gotten much more adventurous since then (sushi I think helped a great deal there). Still, SNAILS?? I don’t know that I would have picked them. So bravo to hubby for that one.

Dad got the charcuterie board which had smoked duck sausage, venison terrinem, black and blue beef tartare, and artisanal cheeses. Mom got the scallops as well.

The scallops were just ok, I didn’t like the fritter topping thing. It was chewy and reminded me of oatmeal. The escargot was devoured by Chris, and after getting a bite, I knew why. They were just amazing. I never would have expected it.

Main course: Porterhouse for Chris, and the “Prime” New York Strip Steak for Mom, Dad and myself.

I even ordered mine medium rare!! :eek: Now, previously (before meeting hubby and having him slowly bring me around) any meats consumed had to be charred. Cooked completely and thoroughly dead – and often then drenched in ketchup. Dad would threaten to withhold my steak when he made it for dinner because I was destroying it. :rotfl: I can only imagine how much of a waste this place would be on me if I were still that way.

WOW. Wow wow wow. Soooo meltingly good. I have never (and probably won’t again till I come back) had such a tender, delicious, perfectly cooked steak.

Mind you – I rarely get anything but a filet anywhere. So already a strip steak was out of my comfort zone. I’m also a “must extract anything that resembles fat” kind of person. Chomping on the gristle makes my skin crawl. But what WAS on here (and it wasn’t much) was more flavor than throwaway.

The sauce was tasty – but munching on the peppercorns was just kind of odd and I didn’t eat a whole lot of them after the first bite.

Chris thought his porterhouse… well, look:

GONE is enough of a review I think.

Our waiter then produced a special dessert –

which was sea salt caramels (like the best ever tootsie roll!) and little gelatin things that reminded me of red bean jelly that I’ve eaten with Japanese green tea.

Then proper desserts!
Chris: The Yachtsman Sundae – Trio of Gelato with Amarena Cherries
Me: Creme Brulee – Fresh Berries and Rolled Chocolate
Dad: Creme Brulee as well
Mom: Trio of Valrhona Chocolate (swapping the espresso one for an extra caramel)

The creme brulee (once removed of the offending blueberries) was sooo good. There were specks of vanilla bean all over it. Very creamy.

Chris loved the gelato – but the porterhouse bested him and he didn’t eat more than a few bites.

The cherries I want in a jar. They are exquisite!

In sum – Yachtsman Steakhouse was our first dinner – and my oh my, did it set a HIGH bar for the rest of the meals. The steak was exquisite, service impeccable (and yet still went along with our goofy attitudes and jokes) and we just all around enjoyed ourselves here.

Mom and Dad after:

Stuffed!