When I first tried to make my reservations more than 60 days ago, this restaurant had no availability. Fortunately through my shameless Touring Blog subscription, it notified me there was a spot open just 2 days before my trip! I was excited about this reservation for 2 reasons: the price seemed very affordable, and I always enjoy a decent prime rib. This has to be good, especially for a new Disney resort restaurant, right?
Ambiance
This restaurant is located at the first floor at the far end of the lobby of the Contemporary Resort. When I first walked into the restaurant, the first thought that came to my head was that it was quite noisy and full of people. I was expecting a little more upscale feelings, but I guess at this price point that’s not really reasonable. We were seated in a booth for 5 people, and looking outward, it reminded me of a Vegas casino floor with a bunch of card tables. The Contemporary hotel itself is showing its age somewhat, and it continued that impression into this restaurant. Something just seemed out of place.
Food
The sea salt-dusted potato brioche ($12) came with butter and roasted garlic-tomato spread. The brioche was definitely fluffy and warm, but the saltiness of it was pretty prominent. I’m not sure if it was aggressively seasoned or accidental, but it was a sign of what’s to come. I don’t think it’s worth the $12 unless you really are craving bread, and even then, it probably should have been priced lower.
The French onion soup ($10) came with a rich beef broth, crouton, and gratinée cheese. The beef broth was definitely very rich, almost to a borderline gravy texture. The broth was sweet and zealously overly salted. Every scoop of the broth just had straight up “salt” flavors to it. The cheese and soaked crouton did not help it much as the salt was incredibly overwhelming. I shared this with my partner, and we finished it, but it was borderline unpleasant. Even without the salt, I think the broth’s texture is rich in all the wrong ways because it’s very dark and heavily cooked down. Given this experience, I would highly recommend passing on this if you were interested.
The Steakhouse 71 onion rings ($9) came hand-breaded with spicy ranch dipping sauce. The onion rings were pretty good. The “spicy” ranch dipping sauce was anything but spicy and was actually pretty mild. The crispiness of the onion rings were pretty good, but you might ask yourself, how could they screw this up? Well thankfully, the cooks didn’t.
The 12 oz roasted prime rib & classic Yorkshire pudding ($38) came with a side of garlic mashed potatoes and whipped horseradish cream. The prime rib was ordered medium rare, and based on the picture, you can tell it was way over medium. Unfortunately, the prime rib was pretty atrocious, and you can get better prime rib at chains like Outback or Black Angus. The meat quality of the prime rib was chewy and tough and had very poor flavors as a whole. The seasoning was just plain salt as if they soaked the entire prime rib in a bath of salt for way too long. The garlic mashed potatoes were just plain salty. The yorkshire pudding was burnt. The saving grace unfortunately for this was the whipped horseradish cream. It tasted like what it is with very little seasoning thankfully. I was able to finish this steak with the help of the horseradish cream, but I would rather go for a Carrows or Coco’s Bakery (i.e. low tier old school diner) prime rib over this any day. I suppose for the price point, it should have been a warning flag, but I thought my expectations were pretty reasonable.
The chicken chasseur ($24) came with pan-seared airline chicken breast, parsnip purée, roasted mushrooms, and sauce chasseur. The chicken was overcooked and dry with excess char taste. The seasoning also wreaked of salt all over. My partner, who normally enjoys more salty flavors than me, thought this was abysmal.
The 10 oz New York strip came with creamed spinach and a wild mushroom sauce. The New York strip was ordered medium rare, and it came borderline medium well. Even then, the quality of the steak was terrible. It had the chewyness and flavor of low grade meat compared to other steakhouses (or even restaurants) at Disney World. The seasoning of the steak was also overly salty and seasoned amateurly such that my cousin didn’t even eat 3/4 of the steak. The creamed spinach was poorly executed because it was also soaked with salt. The saving grace was the wild mushroom sauce which they thought was pretty decent.
Final Verdict
The overall consensus was that you get what you pay for, and the quality of this restaurant fell terribly below our already reasonable expectations. The seasoning was just very off putting tonight, and we’re not sure if that was normal. Based on this experience, we cannot recommend Steakhouse 71 at all. If you want to enjoy a steak dinner at Disney World, there are likely better steak restaurants.
Yelp Jabs
I would say it was cooked a little bit more than medium rare, but that’s how I wanted it anyway
There is such a thing as medium rare plus. One of the guests at my table ordered their steak medium rare, and it came out medium to medium well.
It is a little pricey, they do accept DVC and annual passholder for a discount.
This Elitist comes from Rhode Island. If this is a “little pricey”, I wonder what they would think of other legit steak restaurants at Disney World? The prime rib here was $38. At Lawry’s infamous Prime Rib house in Los Angeles, it goes for much more than $38 for a 12 oz cut. Then again, I would even hesitate to eat this steak even if it were free.