REVIEW: California Grill Made a CONTROVERSIAL Menu Change (And We LOVE It!)

Another of our favorite Disney World dishes has fallen victim to a recent menu change!

Sonoma Goat Cheese Cappelletti

It seems no matter where we turn lately Disney World is dishing out a round of shake-ups to its restaurants. While some of these we’ve already really enjoyed as new additions, other changes we’ve spotted had us questioning if these could stand the test against fan favorites. But one thing was for sure –this new menu change to the popular Goat Cheese Ravioli at California Grill made us a bit nervous, until we tried it!

Who doesn’t love a great dinner with a spectacular view?! We’ll even through in a few bonus points when you get Disney World’s fireworks, too.

California Grill

California Grill is a great option to consider when you’re looking for a restaurant that can give you all that…and more. The catch here is there’s a bit of a heftier price this meal comes with. We recently spotted a change to one of our most enjoyed dishes here and we knew we needed to head over and see if this dish still lived up to its former version’s hype!

Background

California Grill is the premiere restaurant at Disney’s Contemporary Resort and offers California-style cuisine and sushi. Thanks to its real-estate taking up the 15th floor of the hotel, the restaurant offers stunning views of nearby Magic Kingdom and surrounding areas like the Seven Seas Lagoon. Those who dine here are welcome to keep their meal’s receipt from earlier in the evening to come back and enjoy a breathtaking viewing of the nightly fireworks at the lounge or outer balcony.

Keep your receipt

Those who dine here are welcome to keep their meal’s receipt from earlier in the evening to come back and enjoy a breathtaking viewing of the nightly fireworks at the lounge or outer balcony.

Atmosphere

As one of Disney World’s signature dining restaurants, you can probably gather this is a little swankier than your normal table-service getup. This restaurant is also found at the top floor of Disney’s Contemporary Resort and you’ll need to take a special elevator to get there.

California Grill

You’ll find the check-in desk for your reservation on the 2nd floor and a Cast Member will be there to assist you. Once you’ve received the notification that your table is ready you’ll want to approach the check-in desk again so they can call the elevator for you.

California Grill

From there, its a short ride up to the top of the hotel and your welcome to California Grill! As you step out of the elevator, your host will greet you to take you through the dining room and over to your assigned table.

Table

Taking a quick look around it’s easy to see why so many visitors rave about the restaurant. From its floor to ceiling windows….

Windows with shades

…to the open dining room filled with tables and booth seats…

Dining room

…and of course an incredible contemporary bar.

Bar

If you can afford a few minutes away from your table, take a quick walk by the open kitchen area and see the chefs preparing the dishes! It’s pretty impressive to watch them work.

Open kitchen concept

As our host led us around to our table we were met with a beautiful table placement situated right by the window giving us an incredible view of the sun setting in the distance and a peek at Magic Kingdom and Cinderella Castle!

Fireworks in Magic Kingdom

Isn’t it stunning?!

Food & Drinks

After we had a few moments to get situated, we noticed our menus were already at the table to review. So, of course, we made quick work of deciding on what we wanted to order. Since this meal is served as a prix-fixed 3 course meal, your base cost for aduIts is $89 and $39 for children ages 3-9. Several additions including an up-charge for a wagyu strip loin dish ($47) and a deluxe wine pairing ($72) are also available on top of drink selections.

Menu at the table

We already knew a few days before that California Grill had changed up their ravioli to a cappelletti, so deciding on our Market Inspiration was the easiest decision of the night.

Market Inspiration

After talking over our options with our server, he recommended we try out the Oak-Grilled Filet of Beef from the Chef’s Journey.

Chef’s Journey

All that was left was to decide how we wanted to end our meal and for our Sweet Creation, we opted for the Caramel Mousse & Apple Spice Cake.

Sweet Creations

Of course, there was an extensive wine list at our table as well…

Wines

…including cabernet, chardonnay, rosé, and more!

Wines continued

…and a few cocktails…

Cocktails and drinks

…sake, and hard ciders or beer.

Drinks continued

There’s also a children’s menu of appetizer and entree options…

©Disney

…and their own selection of sides and desserts to choose from.

©Disney

Now that we’ve done the hard part of deciding on our options for the 3-course meal, it was time to wait for our food to start arriving! First out to the table was the restaurant’s bread service.

Sourdough bread service

These rolls of sourdough bread, olive oil dip, and butter are delivered out to your table before your first course. We loved how easily the bread pulled apart…

With the butter and oil

…and when you added the butter and olive oil spread it gave it an almost buttermilk taste to the sourdough. It wasn’t terribly strong and even had a hint of a savory flavor to it, thanks to the mix-ins in the oil, and we thought it was a great start for what was to come.

Next to arrive at our table was the Sonoma Goat Cheese Cappelletti made of organic mixed mushroom ragout, tomato-fennel brodo, and California extra virgin olive oil. Our server poured the tomato-fennel brodo onto the cappelletti as it was brought out to the table which made for a nice effect.

Sonoma Goat Cheese Cappelletti

This dish was the main reason for our visit out and to be totally honest with you, we didn’t mind the change! The cappelletti was firm but easy to cut through revealing the creamy goat cheese inside.

Creamy goat cheese and mushrooms

The mixed mushroom ragout was concentrated to the center of the dish but you could definitely detect notes of mushroom blended into the cappelletti before you made your way into the center of the plate. We’re glad we picked this one up because it’s still an excellent dish for a fresh pasta creation.

Next to arrive was the Oak-grilled Filet of Beef made of oak-grilled filet, roasted baby carrots, carrot purée, carrot top pistou, dukkah, and mulled cabernet demi.

Oak-grilled Filet of Beef

We couldn’t rave about this dish more! The filet came to the table so juicy and well-cooked. It was also so tender you could almost cut it apart with a butter knife.

Filet cut

All of the carrot purée and baby carrots mixed with the dukkah gave it just the right flavor to compliment the beef…

So tender

…and the demi worked as a custom sauce adding in just the right amount of salty yet savory flavor to blend it all together.

Our last course (if we could stand a few more bites) was the cream of the crop. The Caramel Mousse and Apple Spice Cake was certainly the right choice to wind down this meal.

Caramel Mousse & Apple Spice Cake

This dessert is made of seasonal apples, caramel sauce, chantilly cream, and caramel tuile. If we had any extra room in our tummies this definitely hit the spot! The spice cake had a great almost cinnamon flavor to it and when we cut through it from the top, the caramel sauce sitting in the center came drizzling down. (Talk about some curb appeal!)

photo

The cake was made even better when we grabbed a bit of the sweet apple slices to accompany our bite, but we would be interested to see how it changed with a more sour tasting apple, too!

Magic Or Tragic?

This meal was a home-run hit as a MAGIC! It’s been a favorite of ours for a while, and when you’re that consistent with delivering spectacular dishes and tasty treats, it would really surprise us California Grill went off the rails.

3-course meal

Even though there was a slight change to one of the dishes we crave the most when eating here, it really didn’t put a damper on the dish or how we feel about the restaurant as a whole. If you’re looking to dine here on your next visit, and a little weary when you hear “menu change” there’s really nothing that should hold you off from trying it out.

Our readers have given this restaurant a 7.5 out of 10 rating with 74% saying they would recommend you try it too!

We’re always reporting on the latest news, changes, and more from Disney World! Be sure to stay tuned with us at AllEars so you don’t miss a thing.

REVIEW: Literally Everyone on Our Team Said “OOOOHH” When They Saw Disney’s Stunning New Treats

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Do you prefer to eat dinner while watching the fireworks or enjoy an early dinner and then then show? Drop your preference in the comments below!

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