Happy #tastytuesday everyone!! Today I wanted to do a formal post about the most exclusive dining experience in Walt Disney World, Victoria and Albert’s. V&A’s has had a recognized AAA Five Diamond rating since 2000, which is an excellent accolade in the culinary world. The restaurant is broken into 3 different experiences: the main dining room (7 course tasting menu), the Queen Victoria room (10 course tasting menu; 4 reservations per night), and the Chef’s table (10 course tasting menu in the kitchen; 1 reservation per night). This review will focus on the Queen Victoria room, although I would like to try the other dining experiences in the future.
V&A’s is is located in the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. On the second night of our honeymoon, my husband put on his suite jacket and I my dress (both required as a part of the dress code for the restaurant), and we made our way over to the Grand Floridian from the Animal Kingdom Lodge for our 5:30pm reservation. We got there a little bit early and enjoyed walking around the resort and grabbing some quick pictures. About 15 minutes before our reservation, we walked to the check-in station for V&A’s outside of Citrico’s, another signature restaurant in the resort. As V&A’s does not open until exactly 5:30pm, we checked in, got some drinks at the bar in Citrico’s, and waited to be escorted through the closed doors of V&A’s.
We were escorted in right at 5:30pm and led through the main dining room to our table in the Queen Victoria room. As I mentioned before, the Queen Victoria room only has 4 tables and will only book 1 reservation for each table each night. As we were the first reservation escorted in that night, we had the room to ourselves for a little bit until the next reservations were escorted in, which happens about every 20-30 minutes. Our host was very friendly and offered to take a picture of us in front of the fireplace in the room, which we obliged.
After we were seated, we were presented with a personalized menu that congratulated us on our marriage and had our unique menu for the evening. Mine was customized to fit my food allergies and sensitivities, and so it is pictured below. The host also double checked on my food allergies before any food was brought out, which was very considerate.
The cost per person is on this menu as well ($235 per person), plus the cost for the wine pairing ($150 per person), which Kyle and I chose to do. Once we had had a chance to review the menu and confirm our dietary restrictions, the menus were removed from in front of us so we could enjoy the experience. Our waiters also encouraged us to take pictures of our meal, which I happily obliged (especially as I started to drink more wine :p). Instead of writing about all 10 courses, I will highlight a few of my favorite courses, especially since V&A’s changes their menu constantly and what I post here may not be the same as what will be on the menu next month. And of course, you can reach out to me if you would like to know more or see more pictures of the food!
The first course that I wanted to highlight was our literal first course, the New Zealand Langoustine with Imperial Caviar, Avocado, and Lime Nuage. The flavors were light and fresh, plus the foam added a nice texture to the Imperial Caviar below. This item was a little adventurous for me, but I am always up for trying new foods at least once, and this one did not disappoint!
The next course that I wanted to highlight was the Roasted French Quail with Florida Corn and Spinach. Wow was this tender and juicy! And the bright colors on the plate made it an attractive dish as well. I also liked the spinach in the circular form, which added a nice texture to it that spinach doesn’t normally have. Win-win all around!
The last course I wanted to highlight was the Australian Kobe-Style Beef with Potato Pinwheel. As you can see from the menu, this course had the option of adding the Kagoshima Japanese Beef at $55 a person, which my husband and I chose to do. WOW. Just wow. That’s all I have to say about this course. Everything we had eaten that night so far was excellent, but this was by far my favorite course yet. The beef was tender and actually melted in your mouth, and the potato pinwheel is the best potato I have ever tasted to date. If I could have one meal for the rest of my life, it would be this course!
A couple of other things that are important to note about Victoria & Albert’s is that it is not included in the Disney Dining Plan, and so you will need to pay for this meal out of pocket. Because there is only one reservation per table in the Queen Victoria room, the atmosphere is very relaxed and both the host and the waiters encourage you to stay and enjoy yourself for as long as you would like until the restaurant closes. You also get a parting gift, which for us included our menu, an allergy friendly lemon poppyseed bread (which was the BOMB!), and a rose.
Everything about this restaurant was delicious and definitely worth the price, as you are paying for both quality food and an experience. However, I would say that V&A’s may be a great for a special occasion or a splurge every couple of years, as the price and richness of food may be too much for the average person. But, if tasting menus are your jam, then you might want grab a reservation 180 days before your trip. I also super appreciated how accommodating they were with my food allergies, as everything was customized to my food allergies and sensitivities, and so I would 100% recommend V&A’s for folks with food allergies and sensitivities.
Thanks for reading, and here’s to living our best and most delicious lives! <3
~ Meagan
Meagan has been living with many food allergies and sensitivities since she was 19 years old. She is currently a Personal Vacation Advisor for Magical Vacation Planner, specializing in helping her guests book trips to Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort. Meagan enjoys researching fitness and nutrition and has taken a special interest in finding allergy friendly options at Walt Disney World.
Interested in having Meagan help you plan your next trip? Send her an email at m.slone@magicalvacationplanner.com or get a free quote at https://magicalvacationplanner.com/staff/meagan-slone/!
