Le Cellier....Not so good

[crazeedizneefinatic]

This year was the first time we did a table service every day, thanks to the dining plan. One of the most talked about restaurants was Le Cellier. We did get a reservation with no problems and we looked forward to that day all trip. I do have to say the appetizer I had (beefsteak tomato stack) was excellent. I ordered my steak medium well as did everyone else. I have to say the steak was okay but I was expecting a melt in your mouth flavorful meal. All of our steaks had alot of gristle and though tender in spots the flavor was not there. We also ate at the Coral Reef and the steak which was not a filet was absolutely scrumptous. Did we have a bad night or does anyone else feel the food is just okay, nothing special. We were hoping this would have been the best meal of the trip. We were discussing our next upcoming trip and were thinking of not even trying it again.

[SBETigg]

For us, the food was good but I agree that it was nothing all that special. If you're looking for special at WDW, it seems to be worth the cost or credits to go with a Signature Dining choice. But if you just want something good and aren't expecting amazing things, Le Cellier fits the bill. I would say that it is worth a try, and worth a return trip, but all in all, it was a pretty basic dining experience.

[CanadianWDWFan]

We thought that we were just different, or visited the place on an "off" day. But we too found the food to be just good, nothing spectacular. I have eaten better steaks elsewhere for less.

There a better places at WDW to eat that we have yet to try. Maybe one day in the future but not this trip.

[jec13]

My DW and I just ate dinner there 2 weeks ago and it was one of the 2 best meals we had (the other being California Grill). We had the mushroom filet and it was "melt in your mouth" delicious. Maybe you just got a bad batch of steaks. We are definetly making it one of our top choices for our next trip.:mickey:

[SurferStitch]

I always get filet at Le Cellier, and it's always super tender and delicious. And, I only eat it well done....and it's still melt in your mouth incredible. Looking forward to dining there in December!

I think you just hit it on a rare bad night.

[MsMin]

I'm with you and the disappointment. We preferred Coral Reef and Spoodles over LeCellier. It was good but it wasn't a meal to rave over. As for flavor Spoodles beat it hands down and our service was lack luster, my niece got the open range chicken and we thought he must have been out back chasing the chicken. :blush:
I was a good meal but not all it was built up to be. Maybe we expected too much.

[PAYROLL PRINCESS]

I thought Le Cellier was one of the best meals of our trip last month. Part of that was because of the fantastic service that we received. But the food was great too. The tomatoes in the tomato stack were extremely flavorful.

[mouseketeer mom]

Thats the thing. Sometimes there is so much hoopla on the boards about a restaurant or a particular food, that expectations are very high. I recently started another thread that talked about the infamous Tonga toast and whether it lived up to expectations. We enjoyed Le Cellier last year. It was really yummy, but...after reading post after post, I kind of expected well, something a little more. But we liked it, and would return, but wouldn't go crazy trying to secure an ADR.

[TheDuckRocks]

We went to LeCellier for lunch on our first trip and loved it. Went back for dinner on our last trip and had the most awful dining experience ever at any Disney restaurant and I've been eating at Disney restaurants since the first year Disneyland opened. At that time you could get a tuna sandwich on Captain Hook's boat which was located where the Canal Storybook ride is. Believe me even that tuna sandwich was better than the steak I got at LC. We may go back to LC for lunch one day but I'm sure we would only go for dinner if we were traveling with someone that would pitch a fit if we didn't eat there.

[AvonleaCF]

I went a few weeks ago and was a bit disappointed.

The Caesar salad wasn't good. The lettuce was salty! I've had better Caesar salads at the local drive-thru.

The mushroom filet was great, but the rissoto was AWFUL. So salty it was inedible.

The chocolate mousse was wonderful, as were the breadsticks.

And my server was the best I had all week. I tipped her an extra few dollars on top of the 18% from the dining plan.

I'm glad I went, but I'm going to try other places in the World Showcase before going back.

[Mickey'sGirl]

The mushroom filet was great, but the rissoto was AWFUL. So salty it was inedible.
That was my overwhelming feeling about Le Cellier too.... it was salty ... especially the cheese soup. (Salt does not equal flavour in my world :sick:) The food was good -- but nothing special. There are other places I much prefer --- like Marrakesh. :tasty:

[Marker]

I've eaten at LeCellier on 3 separate occasions, and have yet to be disappointed in the food or the service.

I guess to all of you who have had bad experienced, I'd suggest never going back..... that way it'll be easier for me to get in. :D

Interesting how much more effort people put into expressing how bad things are than they do expressing the good side.

[magicofdisney]

We had the same exact experience last year, Coral Reef far out shined Le Cellier. So we happily follow Marker's advice.


I guess to all of you who have had bad experienced, I'd suggest never going back.....

We did find another alternative to Le Cellier and we're quite content to eat there from now own. 'Ohana is our restaurant of choice now. :mickey:

[Natazu]

That was my overwhelming feeling about Le Cellier too.... it was salty ... especially the cheese soup. (Salt does not equal flavour in my world :sick:) The food was good -- but nothing special. There are other places I much prefer --- like Marrakesh. :tasty:And just how would you know about Canadian soup, hmm? ;)

Truth is, Le Cellier is kind of overrated. We've had some great meals there and some so-so ones. When it was 2TS on the dining plan, we never went. Once it came down to earth, I think it's a great value for 1DDP credit. Out of pocket, I don't think I'd go nearly as much... eh.

[JPL]

I have eaten at Le Cellier on numerous occaisions and I have to say especially since the inception of the new dining plan the food quality has dropped significantly more so after it went down to 1 TS. This seems to be the trend with the DDP a great restaurant becomes a good to average one in order make more money off the plan.

[MinnieMommie]

yes I wonder if there is a change in the quality of food at Le Cellier that can be attributed to the "DDP effect". Either way I think it is a good but not great place to eat. :mickey:

[Crow]

It has been a fav of mine but i bypassed it to try other places this time. good but not the greatest ever. i think a few of the places have slipped but others are great.

[Mnchknbrat1982]

we did Le Cellier the 25th for dinner and I have to say I was not impressed at all! Alan and I both had the chedder cheese soup everyone raves about and that was nasty! Neither of us liked it. I took about 2 bites of it and sent it away. We also both had the prime rib. Ordered it med-well. I ordered mine with the sauce on the side. And when it came out it was covered in the sauce. So I had to scrap the sauce off even to eat it. Both of our prime rib also tasted very salty.The potatoes and the sauce they was in was nasty! We did enjoy the breadsticks. The pretzel bread is awesome! Alan had the moose for desert and I had the creme brulee. I have to say the desert was the best part of the meal. If I had been paying for this meal I would have talked to a manager. But since I wasn't I kept my mouth shut as I was on the free dining plan. We do not plan to return.

Our server wasn't very good either. I had to ask him several times to please get me a refill.

We can get a lot better steaks and food around home for a lot cheaper. Even at one of our expensive steak houses such as Long Horn the food is always awesome!

[DessertDivaFL]

I made lunch ressies for Nov. 16 and have never ate here before. I will try not to have high expectations. (as per your prior posts)

I am not on the DDP so I wonder: Will I get better food and service since I will be paying for it directly? This seems strange that they would give bad food and/or bad service because of the DDP. I wonder if it also depends on which day of the week you go.

[TheDuckRocks]

I made lunch ressies for Nov. 16 and have never ate here before. I will try not to have high expectations. (as per your prior posts)

I am not on the DDP so I wonder: Will I get better food and service since I will be paying for it directly? This seems strange that they would give bad food and/or bad service because of the DDP. I wonder if it also depends on which day of the week you go.

I think you will enjoy lunch there.
We have not yet used the DDP, so our bad experience was paying out of pocket for a very, very bad meal experience.

[TBY2225]

Wow, did you all have off nights? We went last week and it was our favorite meal! The soup was wonderful and my DH had the mussels and loved them. The steak was so good that both my kids who normally don't eat steak were asking for more! I loved how tender it was! The whiskey cake was very good also. We had excellent service and it will be first on our list for next year!

[MickeyandTink]

we did Le Cellier the 25th for dinner and I have to say I was not impressed at all! Alan and I both had the chedder cheese soup everyone raves about and that was nasty! Neither of us liked it. I took about 2 bites of it and sent it away. We also both had the prime rib. Ordered it med-well. I ordered mine with the sauce on the side. And when it came out it was covered in the sauce. So I had to scrap the sauce off even to eat it. Both of our prime rib also tasted very salty.The potatoes and the sauce they was in was nasty! We did enjoy the breadsticks. The pretzel bread is awesome! Alan had the moose for desert and I had the creme brulee. I have to say the desert was the best part of the meal. If I had been paying for this meal I would have talked to a manager. But since I wasn't I kept my mouth shut as I was on the free dining plan. We do not plan to return.

Our server wasn't very good either. I had to ask him several times to please get me a refill.

We can get a lot better steaks and food around home for a lot cheaper. Even at one of our expensive steak houses such as Long Horn the food is always awesome!

We ate at LeCellier on the 25th as well and likewise thought the cheddar soup was way too salty. Not impressed by it at all. Maybe it was just a bad night for it. DW's steak was very good, but my mushroom fillet was fair. The desserts were really good and the chocolate moose is cute.

I wonder if you had the same server we did because he was pretty slow and kept forgetting things.

Given the generally good reviews I'm willing to give it another shot, but if we can't get decent ressies I would be ok skipping it next time.

[pixiesmimi]

This was not one of our favorite places either. We were not happy with much of the food that our group of 8 had. The deserts were the best. The server was very nice and talked to us a lot about her experience working there and being in the states. We enjoyed meeting her but the food left a lot to be desired. We probably won't go there again.

[Polynesian Dweller]

Will be there next Sunday night and it will be interesting what we get. I believe the chef moved (I think to Boma but maybe somebody knows for sure). That change can affect the food quality. Hopefully not because this has been one of our absolute favorites but will have to see.

[sacandjac]

I guess it really depends on the day that you are there and your taste. We visited both Le Cellier and Coral Reef in May. We loved Le Cellier-food was was great and we didn't like Coral Reef at all. We had steak at both places. Le Cellier is a must do for us and I think just to be fair we will give Coral Reef another try just to make sure they were not just having an off day.

[The Bookseller]

On my last trip (first week of September), I was unable to dine at Le Cellier. I believe that, due to the free DDP, that TS was overbooked. This means that I can't comment over the possible drop of the food quality.

This being said, I would like to bring two things to the thread:

First, Le Cellier is over-rated. By itself, it's only a successful steakhouse. Of course, the service is top-notch and some items on the menu have a solid rep (The Cheese Soup), but it's still only a steakhouse.

By itself, it give a boost to the restaurant. Many families with picky eaters are glad to be in a familiar territory when they eat there. In a place like World Showcase, it's a blessing.

Second thing; even if the recipes are owned by WDW, the chefs are the ones who are making them. As far as I know, there's a lot of rotation during the month of September. There's a possibility that the new staff is not familiar with the taste of "Le Cellier".

As far as I am concerned, Le Cellier is is a restaurant with a solid rep based on constant service and good meals. Let's hope that the fact reported here are exceptions.

[MouseHouser]

We too were underwhelmed by our lunch there. Our waiter was nice and attentive, but obviously new to the business. He played it by the book, without much flair. That's fine, and we're pulling for him and tipped him well. But after all the hype, we were expecting a pro.

My NY strip was good, not great. Nor was gf's meal. Also, the dark setting of the dining room is not an asset, imo. Yes, I know; What did I expect at a place called "The Cellar."

Don't mean to whine. We had lots of fun. But Disney is so good, we're spoiled. They've practically engendered a pathetic little sense of entitlement in us, where we've come to expect to be wowed around each corner. Good part is, we usually are. Just not this time.

[pwdebbie]

We had dinner at Le Cellier on Saturday, Oct. 6. It was the most pleasing meal we had during our entire stay. We tried to go back for lunch several times before we came home but walk-ins weren't available.

Our food was excellent (I had filet, dh had salmon), our service was top notch.

We ate at Coral Reef the night before where the service was terrible (two hours for dinner is unreasonable), the food was disappointing, the atmosphere was lacking, the birthday card I was given had my name misspelled, and we were told that since we were on the DDP we had to make our selections from a limited menu, not the same menu available to others.

When I asked our server (Barry) at Le Cellier about a separate menu, he said that all guests at Le Cellier receive the same respect, regardless of whether or not they are on the DDP. He was right -- we were treated with respect there (unlike the way we were treated at Coral Reef and Concourse).

I would not hesitate to go back to Le Cellier.

Deb

[Speedy1998]

I think the biggest problem with Le Cellier is that it is over hyped. Is it a good steak house? Yes. Is it something truley special? No, I find the quality of food there to be about the same as the food at a national chain like Outback.

[pixiesmimi]

We had dinner at Le Cellier on Saturday, Oct. 6. It was the most pleasing meal we had during our entire stay. We tried to go back for lunch several times before we came home but walk-ins weren't available.

Our food was excellent (I had filet, dh had salmon), our service was top notch.

We ate at Coral Reef the night before where the service was terrible (two hours for dinner is unreasonable), the food was disappointing, the atmosphere was lacking, the birthday card I was given had my name misspelled, and we were told that since we were on the DDP we had to make our selections from a limited menu, not the same menu available to others.

When I asked our server (Barry) at Le Cellier about a separate menu, he said that all guests at Le Cellier receive the same respect, regardless of whether or not they are on the DDP. He was right -- we were treated with respect there (unlike the way we were treated at Coral Reef and Concourse).

I would not hesitate to go back to Le Cellier.

Deb

We have heard good and bad about Le Cellier. Our experience wasn't that good but we have some picky eaters in our group, too. I guess everyone just needs to try it themselves and make their own judgement.

Separate menus for DDP? We ate at Coral Reef this last time and we had the same menu as everyone else. The food just wasn't that good. I was disappointed because I had thought that it would be better. But no restaurant should have separate menus for the DDP than anyone else. We never ran across this in any of the restaurants we have gone to in the last two years of being on the DDP. Granted there are certain things that are for the CS credits but I've never seen separate menus in places like Coral Reef. And we did the free dining. I will have to say that I have seen the quality of food and service going down lately with the onset of the DDP and ADRs. I've been a little disappointed even though I do think the DDP is a good deal (especially when it is free) :blush:

[crazeedizneefinatic]

We ate at Coral Reef the night before where the service was terrible (two hours for dinner is unreasonable), the food was disappointing, the atmosphere was lacking, the birthday card I was given had my name misspelled, and we were told that since we were on the DDP we had to make our selections from a limited menu, not the same menu available to others.


I agree our dinner was a bit dragged out too but we did have a good meal, thankfully. I guess it depends on who cooks that night, lol. It's possible to have a bad meal anywhere I guess. I am very surprised you were given a different menu than "regular" customers. What were the limitations? We were never told we had a limited menu but never asked either. It seemed we had quite a few selections of steak and seafood dishes, appetizers and desserts. I definately would have complained to someone about being treated differently.

[pwdebbie]

Our server, Tim, told us that we were being given a limited menu "with our more popular selections on it" since we were on the DDP. Had he not said this, I would not have known. I did not check to see how our menu differed from the standard menu.

Deb

[January-2007]

We went to Le Cellier on our arrival night last month. I really liked the chocolate rasberry smoothie. I think that was my favorite drink of the week. The meal, however, left a lot to be desired. DH and I both ordered the mushroom filet mignon, but we get ours cooked different ways. When delivered to us, we each took a bite before realizing that they had given us the wrong plates. When we switched ( how tacky is that, right?) I noticed my steak had a lot of gristle and I refuse to eat that. So I only ate half my steak and the waiter seemed so incredibly put off that I didn't finish it as if it was personally affecting his life or something it made me really uncomfortable. We're not rushing back. At least now we know.

[Polynesian Dweller]

Our server, Tim, told us that we were being given a limited menu "with our more popular selections on it" since we were on the DDP. Had he not said this, I would not have known. I did not check to see how our menu differed from the standard menu.

Deb

I think you're server might have been putting you on with a weak joke. We were there On Oct. 14, on the DDP (and they knew it) and we got the full menu. The food was very good as usual and our server was wonderful. I can understand why there have been some comments about the risotto being salty but it was exactly the way it should have been for mushroom risotto in our case.