Cinderella's Royal Table: Photo Tour & Review!

John and I had dinner in Cinderella's castle last week! So who's up for a virtual tour?

LOOK HOW CUTE JOHN IS.

We were there to celebrate our friend Christie's birthday, so that's her & her hubby Chris with us. Christie also *just* had hip surgery, so this was her first time out of the house... in the 100 degree heat... and pouring rain... on crutches. (Hey, the worst day at Disney is still better than most days anywhere else, right?)

We checked in a good 20 minutes early, but were still shown right in. Yay no waiting! The check-in is outside in the castle pass-through, with the entrance just behind. Once through that door, you see this:

This tiny passage serves as the queue for your pre-dinner photo op with Cinderella. It curves sharply to the right at the end, so you can't see the room beyond until the queue moves forward.

 I took the opportunity to try and capture the lovely gold light hitting this suit of armor.

A few minutes more, and we could peek around the corner into the room beyond:

I spy Cindy!

But most impressive was the view straight ahead:

WOW WOW WOWIE WOW.

[Click 'read more' below for the rest!]

A closer look at the doorway at the far end:

...which I just realized is the accessible/companion restroom. Aha - so THAT'S where it is!

This area is all one large room, with Cinderella's meet and greet taking place on the right side.

You guys know I'm not a big fan of self-portraits, so I just took one for Chris & Christie - who's apparently an expert at balancing on one leg:

(Did I really bring a child's "Birthday Princess" sash and make Christie wear it? Yes, yes I did. :D)

Also on the right, this fabulous copper verdigris fireplace:

You can't see them in that shot, but if you look closely on the wall above the fireplace...

 Jaq & Gus!

You can also see some of that fabulous fireplace detailing there. 

Up above there's a tiny second floor balcony, which I later discovered is the staircase leading up to the restaurant.

Here's the staircase entrance, right below it:

There's also a small elevator on the right.

If you take the stairs, though, you get to see this pretty stained glass window:

There's also a landing midway that houses most of the restrooms, which is an odd design. (But also explains the disabled facilities on the ground floor.)

Peeking out of that second floor balcony:

And I couldn't resist a shot of the crown on the chandelier:

Would you believe we're not even in the dining room yet? Eesh!

The first thing you notice upon stepping into the actual restaurant is this amazing ceiling:

My poor camera couldn't fit the whole thing in frame! Note to self: next time, bring the wide-angle.

There's lots of beautiful natural light streaming in from all the windows up there, plus from an entire wall of windows over on the right side:

This was taken around 4PM, which is why it's so bright.

Now, LET'S TALK FOOD.

I forgot to take a picture of the menu (I am so not a food blogger), so here's the one Chris took with his phone:

I got the Pork Belly Confit appetizer, which was phenomenal. I didn't know you could pack that much flavor into so few bites:

I worried the raspberry Habanero sauce would be spicy, but there was no heat at all - just sweetness.

Another stand out was the Shrimp With Grits, which Chris ordered and insisted I try:

The grits were pureed like the smoothest, creamiest mashed potatoes you've ever tasted. So good.

For entrees everyone except me had the steak:


Although John got his with mushrooms instead of shrimp, since he's not a seafood fan:


I didn't try the steak, though, because my entree was CLEARLY the best thing on the menu:

This is the vegetarian option: Seasonal Gnocci with Roasted Vegetables. It's topped with breaded & fried leeks, ie, fancy onion rings. And holy WOW was it amazing.

To give you an idea of how tasty this dish is, John the Carnivore preferred this to his own tenderloin, and ended up polishing off everything I couldn't finish. (It's a surprisingly large portion.) He's also declared his intention to find the recipe so we can try making it at home. And we don't cook. So, yeah, amazeballsawesomesauce.

And finally, desert!

Once again, the other 3 all ordered the same thing: the seasonal Strawberry Cheesecake:

The bite I tried had an oddly synthetic aftertaste, and I didn't like it at all - but the other 3 assured me they liked it just fine. So... [shrug]

Fortunately my own "Chocolate Tart" was better than it sounded:

It's basically a dense cake with a layer of crunchy hazelnuts and toffee-like caramel chips in the middle, topped with ice cream. AND I APPROVE.

I should mention this IS a character dining experience, so every 10 minutes or so there was a muted announcement over the sound system, introducing the next princess to arrive. She would then work her way through the tables for photos.

Since we had no kids with us, these visits were mercifully brief. A quick hello, and then I took pictures of each one with Chris & Christie. Easy-peasy.

The princesses included Ariel, Jasmine, Aurora, and Snow White.

In closing, the food at Cinderella's was miles better than I expected, the surroundings are stunning, and the atmosphere is... well, theme-parky, with plenty of screaming kids. Heh.

OH! But they DO give everyone a free plastic pirate sword or fairy wand. Naturally our waitress gave the swords to the boys and the wands to the girls, but John and I immediately swapped, which garnered him some amused looks from the princesses. That's my man.

One more shot of that stellar ceiling:

And the downstairs chandelier:

And some me-having-fun shots of the second suit of armor, which turned out to be my favorites of the day:

Hope you guys enjoyed your virtual visit!