The hot “must do’ item of recent weeks (months?) that everyone is talking about is brunch at the California Grill. Josh over at easyWDW has given it a thumbs up, friends of the site Lisa and Howie have been raving about it on Twitter, and Modern Men of Mouse host Russ spoke about it favorably on the podcast. Despite all this, Elyssa and I had been waffling (breakfast food joke!) about whether or not the meal is “for us”. We’re not very adventurous eaters, we do really like our Kona breakfasts, and we were unsure if we would feel like we got a decent value out of things. Well, after spending about 2.5 hours at the top of the Contemporary this morning, we can definitively say: We are big fans of California Grill brunch.

The meal is actually a hybrid of buffet and table service, as there is a plentiful selection of high quality (artisanal?) meats and cheeses, sushi, salads, and pastries available at your leisure. (See Josh’s post for the pictures of the items in the buffet line). My initial buffet plate looked like this:

The next part of the meal comes in the form of some of the best breakfast entrées that I have had on property (or, probably, anywhere). Since you’re allowed to order more than one, Elyssa and I decided to split the Chicken and Waffles (friend chicken, with chicken sausage gravy, and a sweet potato waffle):

Vanilla Bean French Toast (Parker House bread, crème brûlée custard, and walnuts…Elyssa isn’t a fan of carmalized bananas that would normally come with it):

and Shakshuka (a spiced tomato dish, the includes lamb meatballs. Normally, it would include eggs, but we opted to have the eggs scrambled on the side):

Everything was fantastic, with our favorite possibly being the shakshuka (but it’s tough to pick). The meal also involved high quality sides (bacon and sausage), bottomless mimosas (I believe Elyssa’s count was 5), and unlimited refills on things like coffee (served in a press pot), orange juice, and soft drinks. There is also a dessert course, but Elyssa and I simply had that boxed up to bring home since we had already more than enough to eat.

Overall, California Grill Brunch was what everyone said it would be: fantastic. I am not sure if we would do it every trip (the 2-3 hours and $80 per person (before discounts like Tables in Wonderland) is a good commitment, even for something this good), but it’ll definitely be part of the overall rotation. We agree with everyone who has rated it as “Highly Recommended.”