Have you ever walked into a place wondering if you belong there at all? This could be because you feel under-dressed. Maybe you feel underqualified. Perhaps you feel you made a wrong turn and accidentally entered a restricted area. Did you know any person may visit a deluxe-level Walt Disney World Resort hotel? I feel most readers will know that, but I am always surprised by the number of people that do not realize resort hopping is a real thing. I hear Walt Disney World visitors state that they do not belong at those deluxe resorts. However, sometimes I relate to that feeling of not being worthy when doing dining reviews at Walt Disney World Resort deluxe-level hotels. The hotel that gives off that vibe to me the most would be Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. Can you imagine eating eggs benedict at the Grand Floridian Cafe one morning?
See, they will let anyone visit at Grand Floridian Resort
Trust me, they will let anyone dine there. Of course, as Walt Disney World’s website says, “Victorian elegance meets modern sophistication at this lavish Disney Resort hotel.” When you read those words, what do you think? Do you hear fancy and maybe too elite for you? Okay, maybe that is just me. In fairness, this hotel features some of the best and highest prices restaurants on Walt Disney World property. However, the Grand Floridian Café offers elegant dining that will not damage your budget quite as much. During a recent Orlando area trip, I dined for breakfast at this table service option. An advance dining reservation eluded me for a few weeks. Yet, eventually, MouseDining set me an alert for breakfast here.
I showed up for my early morning breakfast reservation time. My server Jenny greeted me at the entrance and guided me to my table. As usual, I scheduled several other food and beverage reviews for this day. Thus, I preferred not to partake in a full breakfast. I decided to order the “Traditional Eggs Benedict” for $17. Grand Floridian Café also offers a Lobster Benedict for $5 more. Based on my plans for the day, I decided to play it safe with the traditional version. Of course, I faced temptation since the Lobster Thermidor Burger here might be the best burger on the property.
Menu November 2022
Speaking of burgers, Grand Floridian Cafe offers a hybrid breakfast and lunch menu each day. In other words, you can buy a traditional lunch menu like a burger at 7:30 am for breakfast. The breakfast and lunch hybrid time happens from 7:30 am to 2:00 pm each day. For the record, they do not call it brunch here but breakfast and lunch have separate times according to their online menu.
Back to my breakfast, my meal started with complimentary USA-style biscuits. I found these to be a great start to my morning. These small biscuits did arrive at my table smelling quite good. They were very soft and warm for my early morning dining experience.
Soon after, my breakfast entrée arrived. The “Traditional Eggs Benedict” consists of two poached eggs, Canadian bacon, and hollandaise sauce served on toasted English muffins. This entrée also comes with a marinated tomato salad. The eggs benedict arrived at my table very warm and fresh looking. Grand Floridian Cafe should earn high marks for that. Though when I ordered it, I was perplexed about how the salad would balance with the eggs benedict. However, the salad brought light refreshing flavors to this entrée. The salad fails to be the star of this breakfast but makes a good sidekick. Still, the dressing and onions in the tomato salad may be a little off-putting to some theme park resort diners. Yet, I enjoyed it.
My reaction to the eggs benedict creates a mixed review. My notes say in bold letters that the portion size rates as small. However, the hollandaise sauce tasted almost perfect. This sauce will make or break an eggs benedict dish. The skill of doing this properly should not be undervalued. Those factors canceled each other out in my opinion.
However, the worst part of this entrée by far involved the English muffins. They tasted just okay. In my opinion, they did not complement the rest of the entrée. After eating half of my entrée, I decided to experiment. I asked my server for some more biscuits. I moved everything off one of the English muffins onto one of the biscuits. Maybe I lived in the southern portion of the United States of America for too long, but this made the entrée eight times better. The English muffins, on this day, failed to provide a strong enough starch to balance the other components. Yet, the biscuit fit that role perfectly.
Yes, I know eggs benedict should not be made with biscuits. However, after this experience, I would vote we try that for a while. The excellent flavor combination this way enhanced the meat, sauce, and egg dramatically.
This made a wonderful breakfast in an elegant setting. Clearly, this breakfast would not pass the test if desiring a full hearty breakfast for a long theme park day. In my case, this well-balanced meal worked perfectly (even if I prefer it with a biscuit) for my “work” day. Under similar circumstances, I would order this again. Yet, I cannot give this a full endorsement since many theme park resort guests will want a larger breakfast than I did on this day.
Even though I often wonder if I belong when visiting Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, this breakfast option provides a pleasantly relaxing dining experience. Advance dining reservations here rate as sometimes hard to get like the morning I visited. You should plan accordingly. Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa offers so much to see. Your group could have a fun morning visit here, especially during the holiday season with the large gingerbread house display. As always, eat like you mean it!