This past weekend I had the opportunity to eat at one of my favorite restaurants on Walt Disney World Property at Citricos. Located in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Citricos is a signature restaurant with a focus on Mediterranean influence. I have eaten here at least 5 – 10 times over the past five years or so and it is consistently in my top five Disney restaurants. I previously wrote about it here when talking about my favorite restaurants.
The restaurant is located on the second floor of the Grand Floridian and is decorated in soft yellow and orange tones that invite guests to enter. Citricos shares a lobby with Victoria & Albert’s, the resort’s Five Diamond fine dining establishment. Inside Citricos there is a small lounge open to the restaurant, as is the kitchen, which always makes for fun dining to be able to see the chefs hard at work right before your eyes.
My friends and I arrived about half an hour before our scheduled reservation time, but since it was relatively slow, we were seated almost immediately in Citricos. The table we were lead to by the greeter was all the way in the back of the restaurant by the bank of windows facing the Magic Kingdom. We had a fantastic view of Cinderella Castle from our table for Wishes!
Appetizers
We started off each with an appetizer to begin our meal. I opted for the Ashley Farms Chicken B’steeya at the recommendation of a friend. It was almost like a version of baklava with chicken and almonds, a little sweet with the orange blossom honey, but very tasty. Shelley had the Crispy Fried Yellow and Buffalo Mozzarella, which was somewhat like a deconstructed Caesar salad. She said the sweet flavors of the heirloom tomatoes were well complemented by the bitter romaine and strong garlic of the dressing. Dave ordered the Panada, which one or two of us couldn’t help calling Panda and saying we didn’t want to eat our dear friend John. It was fantastic! The slow-cooked beef and pork are spiced with a tamarind sauce and then baked in phyllo.
Entrees
For entrees we each chose something that wouldn’t necessarily be our go to item on the menu to live dangerously. Shelley was craving beef, so she order the Oak-grilled Filet of Beef, which had fantastic accompaniments of Yukon Gold Potato and Peppadew Peppers. She said it was a good cut of meat, but a little bland for her taste and felt it could have been seasoned a bit more, but the cabernet demi-glace did help. Dave opted for the Madeira-braised Short Ribs with Hominy-Cheddar Potato Puree and Wild Mushroom Ragout, which is my go to entree at Citricos. I went out on a limb and got the Berkshire Pork Two Ways with Rotisserie Pork Tenderloin, Roasted Pork Belly, Brentwood Farms Corn Bred, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Green Apple and Cipplolini Onion Chutney. I am not usually a fan of pork, but thought I’d give it a shot. Dave was having buyer’s remorse, so we ended up actually switching our entrees after trying the ones we originally ordered. This ended up working out perfectly as we were both much happier with what the other got.
Dessert
Dessert was served just moments before Wishes started! Dave chose the Tiramisu, which he said was incredible. Shelley got the Tasting of Gelato, which is typically served with vanilla, cappuccino and raspberry, but she substituted the cappuccino for a second vanilla. I ordered the Granny Smith Green Apple Sorbet since I didn’t want anything creamy. This was amazing! It was like biting into a freshly frozen green apple and was served with strawberries and blueberries. Our view for the fireworks was awesome, only to be rivaled by the incredible service from our server Kierra.
All in all, this was yet another fantastic dining experience at Citricos. I cannot recommend this restaurant enough if you are looking for a nice meal outside the parks at Walt Disney World. I have learned I need to order the short ribs pretty much every time unless I opt for one of the phenomenal seafood dishes, which makes me lament the demise of the Gateau of Crab that used to be my favorite appetizer here. Have you been to Citricos recently? What did you order? Please let me know what your thoughts were.
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