Disney gave us a big packet of the different options for a buffet. They also had a few menu templates we could choose from, but the one in our price range featured hors d'oeuvres such as "Chicken Pot Pie with Spring Onion and English Peas" --which sounds downright awful for a sweltering July Florida day, amirite? So we knew we were going to either be customizing a preset menu, or creating a menu of our own from scratch.
We get a maximum of 8 items to taste, with a maximum of 3 proteins. (It's unclear if a salad with duck is considered a protein, or the pasta with shrimp is either. So far, we haven't been told we can't do this, so I'm going to cross my fingers and say it's okay.)
This definitely won't be our final menu - we just aren't bothering using any of our 8 tasting options on things like roasted vegetables, standard salads, or an Antipasti appetizer. We assume Disney can pull those off! So these are the things that we specifically wanted to taste because they sounded unique or interesting.
1. Three Peppercorn and Whole Grain Mustard Rubbed Beef Strip Loin - Caramelized Red Onion Compote and Horseradish Cream. This dish has been very well reviewed by many a Disney bride. It also is a carved-to-order item, which is nice.
2. Free-Range Chicken with Herb Chèvre Stuffing and Sun-dried Cherry Balsamic Syrup. We are hoping to not serve a chicken dish, but depending on pricing, we may end up going this route. This one was the most interesting.
3. Pork Shanks braised in a Grand Marnier Demi with Dates and Orange Zest. Another entree option, but we're unsure on the cost of this.
4. Tortellini with Shrimp, Rabe, Roasted Tomatoes, and Pesto. This is also one of our top pics. Don't know anyone who's had it, so we're crossing our fingers that we like it!
5. Seasonal Asparagus and Greens, Soy-lacquered Duck, Brie, Candied Walnuts, Hazelnut Oil Powder, White Balsamic Vinaigrette (salad). This got great reviews, and we both love duck. We also like that it would provide another protein option, without having a whole additional entree.
6. Yukon Gold Potato, Applewood Bacon, and Gruyère Tart (side dish). Sounded interesting!
7. Boma's Curried Pasta Sala (side). You can always ask Disney to recreate one of their dishes from any of their restaurants. We love Boma's pasta salad - we'll see if it goes with the rest of our meal. It's also a different kitchen that makes it - hence us wanting to taste it before committing.
8. Stuffed Piquillo Peppers with Goat Cheese (appetizer). We wanted to stick with cold appetizers, and we thought this might be a good lower cost one - as opposed to the tuna tartare, for example, which we assume will be delicious, but also pricey.)
Ideally, we'd like to go with #1 and #4 as our entrees, with #5 as one of our salads. Other than that - we're pretty open to adjusting based on cost. We think that really covers the gamut without having to resort to a standard "chicken" or "fish." We are adventurous eaters, and don't want to be bored with our menu! Still, we want to make sure our guests have enough options. Most people eat beef, shrimp, or duck. At the very least, picky eaters can eat the tortellini and pick around the shrimp. If that doesn't work...we'll have sides and salads they can fill up on! Frankly, we can't even come up with anybody who we think will be that picky, so I don't want to go crazy trying to come up with a 'plain' menu no one really needs. We do have at least three gluten-free guests, but they will have a separate dish of their own anyway.
We will likely have 3 appetizers, 2-3 salads, 2 entrees, and 2-3 sides. We will know more once we get some price estimates a few weeks later...
We will also be tasting our cake - but I think that deserves its own post, don't you? :)