Driving through the non-Disney owned resort area on property at Walt Disney World, my couple friends and I were not sure where this place was until we got there. Located on the first floor of the Hilton (lobby is on the third), Letterpress initially looks like a throwback to the mid-century, although I would even say one step further back than The Contemporary. Their color scheme is white and avocado and filled with details of letters, including books, Scrabble pieces, and typewriters. But I was there for the food. Another Magical Dining meal.
We were greeted at the front by a pleasant host and seated almost immediately. For a Wednesday night, this place was packed. Our waiter, William, arrived with regular and Magical Dining menus, taking our drink orders after explaining the options. Teas and the now familiar Arnold Palmer were ordered, and we were given some time for the non-Magical Diner to look over the menu. We had to repeat things because there were conventiongoers in the room and they brought the volume up several notches. When they eventually left, the place was much quieter.
Once our order was placed, William returned with what he called Hawaiian bread, but they were not sweet and just regular dinner rolls. That seemed to be a good thing because the other two at my table were not fans of sweet rolls.
My friend and I ordered the mac and cheese to start, and his wife sampled his portion while she waited for her entrée. The mac was topped with a thick cheese sauce and a little bit of grated cheese. There were also red items that looked like peppers and had me concerned (see FAQs), but they were only pimentos, as listed on the menu. The pimentos added a little kick and the pasta was pretty filling for a starter. I waited to eat my share for fear of burning my mouth, and even at the slower pace, I felt sated.
Our entrees arrived. My friend got the shrimp and grits, his wife got a vegetarian grilled cheese, and I got the pork chop. As I was going through the vegetables, I saw there was a peeled, cherry tomato under a Brussel sprout. I mentioned it to William, and he grabbed my plate and came back a moment later to inform me it would be 7-10 minutes for the replacement. He apologized, and the manager came out and said my meal would be comped. I was shocked and did not expect any of this, nor did I want it, but I was pleased that they were that concerned as well as accommodating.
While I waited, the shrimp and grits were sampled by the orderer only, and my friend was extremely pleased with them. The cheese sandwich did not get as high approval and just had a small bite taken out of it. When my chop was replaced, the veg was only broccoli. I was a bit dismayed over that, but it was more than made up for by the bacon-onion marmalade and the perfect sear of the chop. My friend commented how the replacement not only looked larger but better. I devoured it, the veg, and the potatoes. When William returned, he said, sarcastically, it seemed I didn’t like it. I left a minuscule amount meat on the bone. My friend abandoned a piece of andouille and a dab of grits on his plate.
Dessert was ready to arrive, and I realized I had eaten just enough already between the mac and cheese and the entrée. I did not want to pass up the finisher, as, unlike another place where I was surprised with the raspberry sauce, I was expecting it this time. To be fair, I was not expecting the flavor explosion that was on my plate though. I had the chocolate cake with raspberries, and my friend had the key lime pie. His wife ordered the same as me, but to go. He was happy with the pie itself, but not the topper. It appeared to have marshmallow fluff on it, and he was not a fan of that part. After eating around it, he left no traces of the pie.
Although it did not look like a place that would have such a sophisticated dessert, I cannot say anything surprised me more for Magical Dining so far, as these small pieces of chocolate slabs. There were two pieces on the place, and they were composed in a Napoleon fashion. The base was a brownie, dense and cooked to completion. It was not a gooey or crusty brownie. The second layer seemed like it was just a white frosting to separate, but was in fact, a line of raspberry frosting. It was extremely subtle, and as I went for my second bite, the flavor seeped out. As much as I do not like fruit to spoil my chocolate, that understated hint elevated the cake. The next layer was a chocolate mousse. The top layer was a chocolate ganache that wrapped up the flavor. There were also two actual raspberries and a raspberry sauce on the side of the plate. Fresh fruit is always my favorite, and those were good. The sauce could have stood on its own. I would eat a bowl of that. Because of how flavorful it was, it changed the entire flavor of the cake. The first piece I consumed on its own and I had an entirely different dessert with the second piece. Unfortunately, it was like eating two desserts in quantity, and I was overfilled. I really need to learn my limit and stop sooner as these meals are killing me. As enjoyable as they are, the overeating is making them less so as time goes by.
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