Victoria & Alberts

Our 19 yr anniversary dinner at Victoria & Alberts Queen Victoria's room at the Grand Floridian Hotel Disney World September 2010

http://www.victoria-alberts.com/

I had originally written this review up several years ago and thought I'd post it on here. This was this single most expensive meal of our lives but a memory not soon forgotten.

We have friends highly recommend this restaurant and have been eagerly awaiting our chance to experience it. Each table has their own waitress and  waiter called Victoria & Albert hence the name.

We are immediately greeted in the lobby of another restaurant I think was Citrico’s and as they see us start to walk towards V&A they practically run to the door to open it for us. I’m thinking wow what service are we in for tonight. Walk into V&A and Israel Perez Maitre'D greets us with a Victoria (hostess). We walk past the harp player to our private room. The Queen Victoria room is a private room within the restaurant. A description per their website. "This new dining experience is the most exclusive at Victoria & Albert’s – an elegant, intimate setting behind closed doors where French gueridon service – tableside finishes for diners’ pleasure and entertainment – is making a comeback. With just four tables and rich décor inspired by Old World dining rooms of London and Paris, the tone is set for a luxurious, leisurely evening. The sublime experience includes up to ten courses. Whether celebrating a special occasion or simply looking for sensational cuisine, Queen Victoria’s Room takes dining to new heights." Yes you read it right 10 courses.

As we sit down one of our servers come over to introduce himself as Dan and he pulls out a small ottoman for me to place my evening bag on.  Wow that was a first for me. Nice not to have to put your bag on the floor.

John then shows up and introduces himself as our second server. Seems we’re getting two Alberts tonight and not a Victoria. I’m not going to remember if it is John or Dan during certain parts of the meal so I’m just going to call them Albert

Albert explains the menu and the wine pairings and tells us what to expect of the evening and that at any time we are welcome to get up and take a break if we wish, since the dinner is expected to take anywhere from 3-4 hours. After Albert left we marveled at the beauty of the room and the upholstered walls, yes upholstered walls. I have to pull out the camera and take a pic of the plates and forget to get pics of the room and fireplace.  We also enjoyed the harp player that was performing right outside of the room.

Albert comes back into the room and takes our order. We had decided on the wine pairings each and we each added on a Lobster Bisque or so we thought. This was a $30 add on.

I told Albert that I collect corks and any cork they had left over from our pairing I would appreciate. So he brings a small silver plate and places it on the table to place the corks on. Another nice little touch.

Albert pops open a bottle of Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Brut, Reims Champagne and pours us each a glass and then offers to take a pic of us. We are not huge champagne lovers but this one helps to convert us and we ended up ordering a bottle a year later for our 20'th anniversary.

Our Amuse-Bouche arrives quickly and it looks so good as did everything that came to our table that night. I had not planned to take pics of the meal so sorry I have none to share for this dish or the next two…..but after that I’ll have some mouth watering photos. The Amuse-Bouche offered so many delectable delights.

Poached Quail Egg with Galilee Caviar….Mark really enjoyed this me ummm not so much it was ok but not a big fan of the texture of poached eggs.

Popcorn Crusted Diver Scallop….I’m not usually a big scallop fan but this was the best one of my life. Oh my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Smoked Salmon Panna Cotta with Salmon Caviar….very good.

Crispy Buffalo Mozzarella…this was each of our least favorite. It was good but compared to the rest of the offerings it just tasted like plain fried cheese but a little lighter.

Our next pairing was Michel Redde Sancerre “Les Tuilieres”, Loire 2007 which was served with a Caviar Tin of Peek Toe Crab with DeSietra Caviar and Petit Herbs.. I believe this was the point in the meal that they came and prepared fresh croutons tableside. We were able to choose between 3 different exotic Olive Oils and 3 different exotic salts. This was a cold crab salad with the croutons on top.

As Albert was clearing our table off he recommended that I might want pics of the entrée that was on the way. I pull my camera out to be on the ready as he pours us our next glass of wine Dr. ZenZen Valwiger Herrenberg Reisling Auslese, Mosel 2003. Albert places a bowl on the table in front of each of us and it has Cold “smoked “ Niman Ranch Lamb with Fuji Apple and Curry Dressing. Albert proceeds to pour small pitchers of Apple Cider Vinegar over the lamb and it starts to………..Smoke. It was a really cool effect. This lamb was my favorite course out of 11 courses. It was so tender and flavorful I regretted not cutting it into a ton of tiny pieces and savoring each morsel. I wish there had been more of on the plate.

The next pairing was a Sake called Kanbara “Bride of the Fox” Gohyakumangoku Junmai Ginjo, Nigata….I just love this name. This sake is not served hot which is the only way I’ve had it in the past. It was paired with King Salmon.  Israel the maitre D prepares this for you tableside. They heat a large piece of Pink Himalayan Salt Rock in the oven and then bring it table side and cook the Salmon on it briefly. Both Mark and I were concerned that I may not appreciate this dish because of the texture of the fish being very pink inside. However, it was Sashimi grade Salmon and was wonderful. I especially liked the dried exotic mushrooms on the top.

This first photo is of the Salmon being cooked on the block of salt.

It is at this point that they served us our Lobster. We had thought this was a bisque but it was a lobster tail pulled out of the tail and cut and served on a small amount of Lobster Bisque and served with Crème Fresh and caviar. It was good but wasn’t the bisque we thought it would be. Since Mark and I had our first bowl of Lobster Bisque in the French restaurant at Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami we have been on a search for a lobster bisque as good but have been unsuccessful thus far. Note we have since found a great Lobster Bisque here at Peterson Steakhouse in Indy. It's not as good as F.B.'s but is very enjoyable.

Mark and I decide to take a break and take a quick stroll around the second floor. We found a balcony overlooking the beach. Grand Floridian definitely has a beautiful beach and grounds. As we are sitting back down and a Victoria is pulling out my chair for me she asks if I’m chilly and offers a shawl. Surprisingly I wasn’t cold but it was nice to be offered.

We are served Hartford Court Land’s Edge Vineyards Pinot Noir, Sonama Coast 2007 upon our return. We enjoyed this Pinot Noir so well that we each got a second glass and I was surprised that it was only $10 a glass. Our next course was Poulet Rouge (chicken) with Mushroom-Truffle Ragout and Yellow Chanterelles. This had truffles thinly shaved on top of the egg foam and a drizzle of truffle oil on the food. This was also another good dish….imagine that. LOL. Mark was really interested in the egg white foam and is looking forward to trying this at home. He is a very good cook and with a little training I believe he could be a chef. Of course later in the evening when Chef Hunnel came out to talk to us he had to ask how to make the foam.

We had been anxiously awaiting trying our next entrée which was Minnesota Elk Tenderloin with Braised Red Cabbage Tart. I’ve been wanting to try Elk for several years now. This did not disappoint, it was so tender and flavorful. The Elk was paired with Domaine La Roquete Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone 2005.

Albert tells us that our next entrée will be the Wagyu beef and I admit to him I’m a little nervous about this. I’d had a bad experience with some Kobe beef in Vegas New Years weekend which kept me in my hotel room for a day. The Wagyu Beef Tenderloin with Oxtail Jus was paired with Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, 2005. The Wagyu was out of this world and was fork tender. Very yummy but guess it should be when it’s $200 a lb. I doubt I’ll get to try this many times in my life. Aren’t those baby vegetables so cute? Mark asked Albert how they got the baby vegetables I had to laugh when the answer was they just harvest them while they are still tiny.

I told Mark how I had heard that someone had requested the harpist play Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd which is my favorite classic rock group. Shortly after this conversation he excuses himself for the restroom. He comes back with a grin on his face. He had went out to talk to the harpist and requested Comfortably Numb. Unfortunately she was new and didn’t know that song. Oh well it was nice that he tried.

I had read many reviews about V& A and someone had said that they just loved the Stilton Cheesecake. When I received a phone call from V&A the week prior to our reservation to confirm, I requested the Stilton Cheesecake. The hostess on the phone had not heard of it and kind of acted surprised by such a request. She said that she would note the request but could not guarantee it, which is to be expected IMO. She actually left me with the impression that we would be very lucky to get it.

 

When they brought out the Cheese Tray guess what was on it……..that’s right the Stilton Cheesecake. Yay loved it. I can’t remember all of the cheeses that we selected other then the Stilton Cheese cake and blue cheese. They paired the cheeses with biscotti, a date nut bread, candied fruit, candied ginger (I think), a fresh piece of honey comb, macadamia nuts with a lavender glaze, and some tiny grapes. We had never had fresh honeycomb before and it was out of this world. We also loved the lavender glaze on the macadamias. The cheese course was paired with  a port. Quinta do Crasto Late Bottled Vintage Porto 2005, this was by far the sweetest pairing and I had a hard time finishing it. Go figure I use to love port.

While waiting for our next course chef Scott Hunnell came out to speak with us. He was a very pleasant man and was very willing to answer Marks many questions….thanks chef for the tips. He was curious as to how I knew about the Stilton Cheesecake, I guess that they haven’t made it in the last year since he has been the chef. We were his first. Lucky us.

It is at this point that Albert said one of the greatest things I’ve ever heard come out of a mans mouth “shortly your 2 deserts courses will be coming out” I said with a huge grin on my face “excuse me did you say 2 deserts”? When he answered yes I told him it was the sweetest thing I’d heard all day.

Our first desert course was called a Tropical Summer Fruit Pave. It consisted of a light cake with a tropical fruit mouse type topping in a white chocolate cage and a Mango sorbet with pureed mango and candy sculpture. It was good but you can’t beat chocolate which was to be the second desert course.

The coffee service is also very different. It is prepared tableside in an old fashioned glass coffee pot. It consist of two glass pots on top of each other. The bottom pot has water in it and the top pot has coffee grounds. A Sterno flame is lit under the bottom pot and as the water heats up it evaporates and goes up the glass tube into the top pot with the coffee grounds. It sits up there and percolates together. The heat is removed and when the liquid cools slightly it filters back down the tube into the bottom pot to be served. Pretty cool show.

 The Tanzanie Chocolate Mousse and White Chocolate Gelato are served and I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll be able to eat it. But hey it’s chocolate and I have to give it a try, isn’t that expected of us women. The mousse is served with real gold on the top and the chocolate ribbon it’s served in has Mickey heads stenciled on it. Too cute. The white chocolate gelato is served in chocolate lashes with raspberries. The little glass in the back had some sort of a hot chocolate desert that thickened up quickly.

 

Well I have given it my all and even finished all of my chocolate desert. When what appears before our wondering eyes …but a huge platter full of candies that the chef had made up. While they looked incredible I really don’t know how I’m going to get anything else down. Mark and I each choose 1 chocolate and Albert end up putting 2 others on our plates that he felt we had to try. I can’t believe it but I forced my Chocolate Hazelnut candy down and actually had to send the rest of my plate back with candy on it. Oh my isn’t that a sin somewhere.

As we pay the bill Mark has Victoria call down to valet to have the car brought around.

Valet parking is free at V&A’s. Albert presented me with a rose and a bag. The bag contained Orange Date Nut bread which was great for breakfast and our personalized menus from the evening. Thank goodness they gave us menus or there is no way you would have gotten such a detailed review.

So I just loved our meal and hope to do it again someday. Maybe after another couple of years of eating grill cheese, frozen pizzas, and P.B.&J’s we will return. Even though I almost cancelled this reservation 100 times I’m so glad that we kept it. It wasn’t just a meal it was an Epicurean Experience. I don’t regret the $ spent since there were many things that I got to try that I may never get again, plus the service was exceptional.