If you know us, you know that we talk a lot about Disney restaurants. It’s kind of our thing.
We are able to go to different Disney World restaurants and be able to share with you, our readers, our experience. We do this to bring you some knowledge so that when you’re planning your next Disney vacation, you might be able to try new restaurants you have never been to. We were recently invited to have dinner at a steakhouse at Disney World that we bet you didn’t know existed.
Atmosphere
The Bull & Bear restaurant can be found at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, which is located on Disney World property. The Waldorf Astoria can be found in the Bonnet Creek section of Disney World.
When entering the hotel, you can feel the elegance of the space. With gorgeous floors and a beautiful chandelier, you’ll forget you are in Disney World.
This restaurant is modeled after the original Bull & Bear Restaurant in New York City. The restaurant recently underwent some renovations and now has an updated interior, as well as some new menu items.
When you walk into the restaurant, you’ll check in with the host and soon will be escorted to your table. The dark, moody interior of dark greens and brown will set the tone for an elegant meal.
The tables are all well spaced so it allows for more privacy. The chairs are comfortable and large, allowing you to relax for your meal.
The restaurant is surrounded by large windows, giving you a gorgeous view of the pool and night sky. Depending on your reservation time and view, you might be able to catch a glimpse of fireworks from EPCOT. The place setting was beautiful, and our server let us know that the dishes were from France.
Menu
Here’s a look at the menu. For starters, you can choose from Oyster Rockefeller, Tuna Tartare, or Dry Aged Yellowtail Crudo. There is also a seafood tower that serves either 2 or 4 people.
For main dishes, you can order Escargot & Gnocchi, Veal Oscar, or Fried Chicken. Of course, they offer a few different cuts of steaks for you to order as well.
For sides, there are Asparagus, Frites, Lobster Mac & Cheese, and more.
As for desserts, they offer The Lemon, which is in fact a lemon, a Chocolate Bar, or La Fraise.
Drinks
To start off our experience, we were given a tablet to look through different cocktail and wine options. They had an extensive wine list, as well as some cocktails.
First, we were able to try a mocktail. They do not have a name for it, but the servers told us they enjoy creating different mocktails for guests with different flavors. Ours had lime and pomegranate juices and was topped with beautiful edible flowers.
Next, we ordered the margarita. Now, we enjoy a good margarita, and this one was different. This one comes with a chili pepper on the side that you can use to flavor the rim of your glass.
If that wasn’t enough spice, the drink is topped with chili oil giving this margarita a lot of flavor and heat. You can see the oil sitting on top of the drink so that the first sip you take, you get a lot of spice.
Eats
To begin, we were given four bread options to choose from. We started with the sourdough topped with poppy and sesame seeds and a fig & rye piece of bread. These were coarse but moist. However, the next two were our favorite.
The brioche is topped with butter and rosemary. We’re still dreaming of this one. It was fluffy, sweet, and set our expectations high for the dinner. We also tried the parmesan focaccia, which was light and buttery.
The chef then sent out an amuse-bouche, which was the Pasta Explosion. This light bit is Pata Negra de Bellota with Parmigiano Reggiano for $23. Our server told us that the pasta explosion was meant to be consumed in one bite. They suggested it sit on the roof of our mouth to dissolve. It was creamy and cheesy.
For our first starter, we ordered the Florida Fresh Corn Chowder. The corn comes fresh from a farm in Jacksonville and in the middle of the soup, you’ll find a Truffle & Robiola Sandwich — think a miniature grilled cheese. We’re not exaggerating when we say that this is one of the BEST soups we’ve tried. It was thick, sweet, and creamy. For $18, we did enjoy this and would order it again.
Next, we ordered The Tomato for $24. This consisted of Confit Heirloom Cherry Tomato, Burrata Mozzarella, Pumpernickel, Arugula, White Balsamic Caviar, and Basil Foam.
From the outside, it looks like a juicy tomato, however once cut, you see that it is burrata. The outside of the burrata is actually covered in a gelatin-like coating that tastes like tomato. This was such a fun twist on a normal tomato salad. It was sweet, light, and refreshing. The flavors worked so well together in this dish, and having the basil foam was such a fun way to add that classic ingredient.
Our final starter, which was recommended to us by the server, was the Wagyu Carpaccio. This $24 dish is Shaved Truffles, 18 Month Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano, and Pushed Egg Yolk. While the dish does not come with the Bull & Bear Frites, servers highly recommend ordering them together to balance out the dish.
The servers recommend wrapping the wagyu around the frites and dipping them in a combination of Truffle Red Wine Sauce and Peppercorn Sauce. The warmness of the frites with the chilled carpaccio made for a light bite. Paired with the sauce, they were tangy and very flavorful.
It was time for entrees, and there were so many on the menu to choose from. However, we decided on the Bull and Bear Carving Board. While this comes with a $300 price, you get a LOT of food for it. It comes with Tomahawk Steak, Fried Chicken, Maine Lobster Tail, and a Choice of Two Sides. We know, $3oo is a lot, but look at this board!
First, the presentation is phenomenal. The board comes with a beef fat candle that they use to pour over your steak. The server will cut the steak off the bone and plate it table side for you.
The Tomahawk Steak is a 38oz Allen Brothers Prime that has been dry-aged for 32 Days. It’s massive and great for sharing. If you want the steak cooked at different temperatures, they will bring a skillet to the table to do that for you. The meat melted when cut. It was savory and peppered well.
The Maine Lobster Tail was a large lobster tail. It was buttery and fresh. It was tender and flavorful — the perfect addition to any steak, and it comes with clarified butter to pour over it.
Bull and Bear is known for their fried chicken. This had to be one of the most tender pieces of chicken we’ve ever cut into. It cut like butter and was thick and juicy. It is served on top of Yukon Gold Mash Potatoes and Gravy.
For our side choice, we chose the asparagus. These were flavorful and sauteed well. They were flavored in oil olive and pepper and were a nice healthy addition to our meal. The other side dish we chose was Applewood Smoked Bacon Mac & Cheese. This mac and cheese is baked and is very flavorful. We loved that the breadcrumbs were on top to add texture.
Believe it or not, it was time for dessert. There were so many things that looked delicious, so the decision was hard. That is a great part of Bull & Bear, the staff will go out of their way to recommend dishes to you, which we really appreciate.
Ultimately, we decided on the La Fraise for $25. This dessert is a Strawberry Shortcake, with Strawberry Sauce and Liquid Nitrogen Strawberry Ice Cream Prepared Tableside. The strawberry ice cream was indeed prepared tableside by our server. This was such a memorable way to enjoy dessert.
This was incredible and our favorite part of the meal. The ice cream was light and tasted very fresh. The shortcake was fluffy and moist. While strawberry shortcake is a very normal dessert, the presentation of this is what blew us away. This was the perfect way to end our meal.
Nosh or Not
You should visit Bull and Bear if…
- You are looking for a dining experience. We can say this is a dinner we will remember, and we spent 4 hours at our meal.
- You are looking for a fine dining restaurant. This was one of the nicest restaurants we’ve been to at Disney World and you’ll feel like you’re in New York.
You should look elsewhere if…
- You are looking for a family experience. If you are traveling with young children, this is a fine dining restaurant and is geared towards adults.
- You are looking for a quick meal. This dinner is meant to take a while, so if you are in a rush to get to the fireworks or a Lightning Lane, this isn’t the restaurant for you.
Overall
If you are looking for a one-of-a-kind, elegant dinner experience, this is a wonderful option. The staff was very knowledgeable, patient, and kind. You could tell that they were truly passionate about the food. We truly enjoyed every dish we tried. We left full and it was a dinner we won’t forget.
However, this is not a quick meal. We did spend a total of 4 hours here, and while we did eat a lot of food, we think it is best to have this be your only evening plan. This is also an expensive meal. You will want to come here on a nice date night or come to celebrate a special occasion. If you enjoy fine dining, we would recommend making a reservation and visiting Bull & Bear. It is likely a dinner you won’t forget.
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Where is your favorite fine dining restaurant at Disney World? Let us know in the comments below.
Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by the Waldorf Astoria to attend a media dinner at Bull & Bear. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
The post REVIEW: Is This Entrée Really Worth 0 😱 at One of the Most Expensive Restaurants in Disney World? first appeared on the disney food blog.