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Sunday 3 November – part seven: will Mama Melrose’s come through after such a poor start?
It got even worse when we eventually got in, as we discovered there were quite a few empty tables, albeit waiting to be cleared. Why on earth the front of house staff didn’t do something to help the servers in terms of clearing them, I do not know. There were four of them out front, and they could easily have moved things along, but it felt as if they didn’t want to.
I must admit we were very close to walking out, and saying that we’d get something to eat at the airport, so at this point, Mama Melrose’s had a heck of a lot to do to redeem itself. It started with our server Jean, who was very attentive. We told her that we wanted a quick meal, as we needed to get to the airport, and had an early flight tomorrow, and she did everything she could to make sure that she moved things along as quickly as she could for us. She took our appetizer order, so that could be processed, then got our entrée order once we had our appetizer order.
I think the first, and perhaps most important, certainly to me anyway to say here is that this is no longer your standard Italian menu. Now we’ve been to Italy a few times before, most recently for a weekend in Sorrento, and we’ve never come across an Italian restaurant that is as keen on spice as this place is. Seriously, the only fish dishes had “spicy” sauces to go with them, which limited my choices quite a bit. If this is likely to be an issue for you, as it was for me, be sure to mention it to your server, who will be able to help out.
For appetiser, I went for the fresh mozzarella and vine-ripened tomatoes, with marinated sweet onions, balsamic drizzle, basil-scented olive oil, and sweet basil leaves. Beautiful as the mozzarella and tomato were, and as this is a classic Italian dish, I often order to assess just how good an Italian restaurant the place is I wouldn’t say that there was a balsamic drizzle on my dish, I’d say it had been pretty much drowned in it, and I would certainly have preferred a lighter touch on that. Had I got that, this would have been a superb dish.
Mark had the oak-fired mussels cooked in a spicy tomato broth, with grilled onions and herb croutons. He said immediately that this had a kick to it (see what I mean about the link between fish and spicy? ), and when he gave me a small bit to try, I could see what he meant. It was a dangerous kick as well, as you didn’t feel the full effect of it until a few seconds after you’d had the bite.
We did ask Jean what it was with this approach in the kitchen, and she was as mystified as we were. She said that she didn’t understand it, and some cooks are worse than others! I wasn’t sure if we got a particularly mild or spicy chef tonight…
I had the pesce all’acqua pazza, fish of the day in a spicy tomato sauce with fennel, peppers and tomatoes served over basil gnocchi pasta, only as I’m sure you can guess by my earlier comments, I asked for it without the spicy tomato sauce and, to be honest tasting it, why on earth you’d need that as well, I do not know as the dish had plenty of flavour without it. I absolutely loved the basil gnocchi pasta – I think they could make that a dish on its own, it was so good.
Mark went for the oven-baked chicken alla parmagiana, breaded chicken breast with marinara sauce, topped with melted mozzarella over spaghetti.
By now, the place was pretty much deserted.
For dessert, I had the tiramisu semifreddo, layers of mascarpone cheese, lady fingers and marsala wine, over coffee sauce, served half frozen. I wasn’t sure about this, because I was already quite cold, as we’d both committed the cardinal sin, and come to the Studios without an additional layer for when it got colder, and it got colder while we were sitting outside waiting for our table to open up. However, it wasn’t as bad as I feared, and I really enjoyed this.
Mark had the chocolate amarettini cheesecake, chocolate flavoured cheesecake with a cookie crust, almond cream and Italian amarettini cookies. I tried a bite of his, and liked it, and we both agreed dessert was the dinner of this meal.
A note here about the atmosphere. Although it’s an Italian restaurant, albeit with some serious spice in the menu the theme is very much Californian, and seems to be based around Melrose Avenue, which I get given its setting in the Studios, but it is a bit of a clash of cultures, and personally I’d like to see a bit more Italian theming here, so you feel as if it’s a real trattoria.
All in all, our meal here was fine, and Mama Melrose’s certainly did redeem itself a fair bit after the appalling start we had with the front of house staff, but I’m not sure it’s as good as it used to be. Certainly the menu isn’t nearly as appealing as it used to be. It’s a real shame, as the Studios is in such desperate need of a restaurant that can deliver consistently.
Mama Melrose’s
Appetiser 7½ 7
Entrée 8 8
Dessert 8½ 8½
Service 9 9
Atmosphere 8 9
Value for money 8½ 8½
Average score: 8.29
When we came out of there, we pretty much power walked our way back to the entrance, if for no other reason but to warm ourselves up but also because we did want to get to the airport as soon as we could. I got a few photos on the way…
We made our way back to the car, and headed off property for the last time for 10 days, but never mind, we would be back soon enough, and heck we had Hawaii to look forward to next!
We had a pretty straightforward run to the airport, where we found the Hyatt and found a much more accommodating member of staff than the last time we stayed there. That time, we’d asked if we could leave the car there for 15 minutes while we checked into our room and left our luggage, and you’d think we’d asked for the world. This guy was absolutely fine about it, so off we went to the fourth floor to check in…
….where we got our wake-up call for 4:15am and headed up to the 10th floor, where our room was. This is keycard access only, and I knew we were in a pretty good location when I saw there was a suite a few doors down from us – well they wouldn’t give them a poor location, would they?
The room was very nice…
…. And here was our view into the airport…
True to our word, we weren’t long, and headed back downstairs to the car, and over to Avis to return it. The whole procedure to drop it off was very straightforward, and we were even greeted by our name, which we were very impressed with. I had the original paperwork with me, as I’m paranoid about the idea of paying when we drop the car back, but we were charged the exact amount they said they would, so that was good. Let’s just hope we don’t now see additional charges, as happened with the rental car we had in Northern Ireland.
We walked back through the airport, and ironically considering it was only just after 9:00pm, a lot of the shops were already closed, so it was a bit surreal to see that.
We made our way back to the room, and headed to bed as quickly as we could, as we had a very early start and a very long day ahead of us tomorrow.
The weather today was hot and sunny with temperatures in the high 70s. The best thing today was enjoying the Food and Wine Festival offerings. The worst thing today was the wait we had at Mama Melrose’s. The funniest thing today was some of the Photopass pics we did! Today we tried spending some quiet time in the Solarium at the Beach Club And the result was it was lovely, just far too cold in there! The most magical moment today was walking around a deserted Epcot first thing in the morning.
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Glad your server didn't have the indifferent attitude of the front desk staff and your meal was pretty good. That is odd about the spiciness of the fish dishes there. I had two pretty bad meals there years ago and haven't been back. Your room at the Hyatt looks very nice. Too bad you won't see much of it with that early call. Looking forward to Hawaii, but you've got a long travel-day to get through first!
Glad the meal was better than the reception. Too bad about the spice. I always wonder what they are trying to cover up by being so heavy headed with the spice - whether the other ingredients don't taste fresh enough? Because as you said, that is just not what you'd find in Italy.
I love staying at the Hyatt pre-travel. But boy do you have an early start! Can't wait for Hawaii! Given that we head off Saturday for the Fantasy, though (and I will not pay for the dreadful internet) I'm going to have a lot to read when we return!
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Glad your server didn't have the indifferent attitude of the front desk staff and your meal was pretty good. That is odd about the spiciness of the fish dishes there. I had two pretty bad meals there years ago and haven't been back.
What a shame that, judging by the comments on people are making on this trip report, it seems that Mama Melrose is very hit or miss these days. We hadn't been in years before this visit, but we had very fond memories of the food, the service, in fact everything from back then.....
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Your room at the Hyatt looks very nice. Too bad you won't see much of it with that early call. Looking forward to Hawaii, but you've got a long travel-day to get through first!
There will be a few instalments before we make it to Hawaii and Aulani.
Glad the meal was better than the reception. Too bad about the spice. I always wonder what they are trying to cover up by being so heavy headed with the spice - whether the other ingredients don't taste fresh enough? Because as you said, that is just not what you'd find in Italy.
Ugh, that's not a nice thought!
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I love staying at the Hyatt pre-travel. But boy do you have an early start!
It certainly was.
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Can't wait for Hawaii! Given that we head off Saturday for the Fantasy, though (and I will not pay for the dreadful internet) I'm going to have a lot to read when we return!
Well, you'll be pleased to know that there's one instalment on that part of the trip report up already...
Have a magical time on the Fantasy - I know you will! I'm jealous of you spending new year on board. I bet that will be amazing.
Well, as I alluded to before, I've already started off the Hawaii section of this trip report over in the Globetrotting trip reports forum. I hope to see you all over there!
Well, as I alluded to already, I've started the Hawaii section of this trip report over in the Globetrotting trip reports forum. I hope to see you all over there!
Jean sounds like the ideal waitress. I had the same appetizer, but it was October 2012 and the balsamic was drizzled. Yours does look swamped. Luke and Mark had the same taste in dessert. After I tried a bite of Luke's, I wished I had ordered it, too. I don't even remember now what I had. I can't believe how deserted the park looks as you all are exiting. I like your room at the Hyatt.
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There were four of them out front, and they could easily have moved things along, but it felt as if they didn’t want to. 
to say here is that this is no longer your standard Italian menu. Now we’ve been to Italy a few times before, most recently for a weekend in Sorrento, and we’ve never come across an Italian restaurant that is as keen on spice as this place is. 
Seriously, the only fish dishes had “spicy” sauces to go with them, which limited my choices quite a bit. If this is likely to be an issue for you, as it was for me, be sure to mention it to your server, who will be able to help out. 
I wouldn’t say that there was a balsamic drizzle on my dish, I’d say it had been pretty much drowned in it, and I would certainly have preferred a lighter touch on that. Had I got that, this would have been a superb dish. 
), and when he gave me a small bit to try, I could see what he meant. It was a dangerous kick as well, as you didn’t feel the full effect of it until a few seconds after you’d had the bite. 
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Glad the food made up for it! Great room at the airport! 
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