Skipper's Canteen review x2, now on Christmas Day

[MolonLabe]

So last Monday we did Skippers Canteen, I'll quote the original review below.

This review is for our second visit on Christmas Day for lunch.

Lunch and dinner menus are the same.

15 minute wait for a table at 11:45am. Party of 5.

Decor in the Butterfly room is very nice, as is secret meeting room. Main hall is decent but I don't care for the chow hall openness of it. Disney normally does better with putting short walls or something to break out the huge openness, in any case, I'd be disappointed to be seated with the masses.

We switched things up for food this trip, my wife had lentinal lamb. It was "ok" she preferred the head on shrimp.

I had the "a lot at steak salad". With it being 85 degrees outside, it seemed like a good idea. I enjoyed it, spiced nicely. The dish was presented nicely but My complaint with the dish were the two pieces of steak flipped upside down with all the fat in them. The other pieces were faced outwards "like the picture" displaying a nice medium rare temperature. It was obviously done on purpose by the kitchen. I sent them back and they actually brought me out a full portion of steak instead of just swapping out the 2 crappy pieces.

Very nice because, as I noted in my other review, the portions are tiny here.

As it stands, we won't return until the portion sizes increase, perhaps if you are on the dining plan and getting an app, entree and desert you'd be ok here but quite honestly of the 4 entrees we tried, they were all very small portions. I don't think I've ever really complained about portion sizes at other WDW restaurants before.

I am happy for the no ADR's, I hope they stick with it, Disney needs sit downs that you don't have to book 180 days out, especially for people who make "last minute" plans like I occasionally do.

The quick and dirty since It's 1:15 in the AM and I need to get some sleep before tomorrow...

-Walk ups only.

-40 minute wait time quoted was pretty accurate, they can also text you when your table is ready, I like that.

-Very friendly staff, all the way around.

-Jungle Cruise banter abounds. Very fun.

-3 rooms to eat in, main, secret meeting room (we were seated in) and another room, forget the name.

-table bread provided. Ethiopian family bread? Something like that with a honey type of dipping sauce. Different but we all enjoyed it.

-Wife had "head on shrimp", yes, heads are on. She enjoyed it but thought the portion size was a bit small.

-Kids had their version of mac n cheese, same as the adult version, just a smaller kid size. My youngest didn't care for it. Sent it back, I tried a bite. Meh. Got the chicken noodle soup instead. She ate it, I had finished the last half of her soup. Very bland. Odd texture as well because they use shredded chicken in it. Not that that is a bad thing, had it been more flavorful, it would have been a nice toss up.

-I had the Duck Pho noodle bowl. It was VERY good. Beware, it's spicy but excellent. Bad news, it's a TINY portion. I complained because I was still VERY hungry after eating it and half a loaf of bread myself. Great manager, brought us out some free falafels which were very good. I really hope they up the portion, even just putting in another scoop of rice noodles would probably do it. Cheap way to bolus the size.

-Oh the duck gave the dish a GREAT flavor and it was cooked perfectly. So, aside from portion size, 5 stars on it.

Overall, I enjoyed it and the head on shrimp and duck pho noodle bowl were very tasty but the portion size, on both, were too small. We're not pigs but if it wasn't for the extra bread and fallafels, we wouldn't have even been close to being full.

It's the first week and IMO, if the portion size is their only issue on the two "real" entrees we had, they are well on their way.

Pricing, if the portions were filling, are acceptable, I didn't think they were out of line.

 

[kastoney]

Thanks for the review.

 

[quagmire0]

Honestly, for me, I'll be going for the banter/entertainment aspect of it - so I'm interested in hearing more about that. Great food is great and all, but if I'm just in it for the food, I'll go offsite and save money on better food.

 

[WEDWDW]

Honestly, for me, I'll be going for the banter/entertainment aspect of it

Just my experience,but there wasn't much of this-don't go expecting a "Jungle Cruise Experience".

 

[MolonLabe]

Honestly, for me, I'll be going for the banter/entertainment aspect of it - so I'm interested in hearing more about that. Great food is great and all, but if I'm just in it for the food, I'll go offsite and save money on better food.

I think they still need to figure the jokes out.

The banter was minimal, from a "staged" side of things anyway. The servers on both trips were jovial but they need to work on some lines.

The only one I really remember was "it should arrive in 4-6 weeks" or something like that. I heard it numerous times walking in/out and from our servers. The bill was presented with a "one last shipment for you to sign for"...

Hopefully they work the script out, seems like that was a bit of an afterthought.

Oh yeah, on Christmas Day the server said "merry skipmas". It wasn't funny in the true sense of the word nor was it funny in the Jingle Cruise way of being funny. Very lame and not in the good way.

 

[aretha30]

My husband really wants to try SC but after all I've been reading I think we're going to skip it. Our 7 yr old is picky (but loves his mac n cheese) if we can't even order that for him no reason for us to try it on our August trip. Plus my husband and 12 yr old are both big eaters, I'd hate to spend the prices listed and for them and then have to go get them a snack! Thanks for the reviews, they were very helpful!

 

[MolonLabe]

My husband really wants to try SC but after all I've been reading I think we're going to skip it. Our 7 yr old is picky (but loves his mac n cheese) if we can't even order that for him no reason for us to try it on our August trip. Plus my husband and 12 yr old are both big eaters, I'd hate to spend the prices listed and for them and then have to go get them a snack! Thanks for the reviews, they were very helpful!

That's definitely a consideration.

Personally I like the menu. MK is seriously lacking in a "real" restaurant... not that this is superb or anything but at least it's not another non adventurous boring menu. It's a welcomed change in my opinion and I'm glad they decided to do something different.

As to your 7 y/o... well my girls are 9, 11 and 18. Time to tell your 7 y/o to suck it up. At 7 there is no excuse for that "picky" of an eater. If you want to eat there, eat there. Tell junior it's time to man up. If you can't bring yourself to step up your parent game, stop off at caseys on the way over and pick up a hotdog to go and eat it at the restaurant with you.

Some tough love, or guided love in the case of youngest with Aspergers, will open up a world of awesomeness for your child. My 11 year old tried that nonsense around 5. By 7 she was eating escargot, squid, virtually anything. Even nuggets shaped as mickey heads taste like nasty nuggets. Not everyone will like everything but they have to get out of that rut and expand their taste buds, their health and eating habits as they grow are at stake. Last week all of my girls were enjoying Sushi and Sashimi with my wife and I at their request. They turn their nose up at that fried garbage or nasty kiddie mac n' cheese. 5 cheese "adult" type mac n' cheese is another story though, lol.

There is no way around the tiny portions though, there is no excuse for that.

 

[disneygal55]

That's definitely a consideration.

Personally I like the menu. MK is seriously lacking in a "real" restaurant... not that this is superb or anything but at least it's not another non adventurous boring menu. It's a welcomed change in my opinion and I'm glad they decided to do something different.

As to your 7 y/o... well my girls are 9, 11 and 18. Time to tell your 7 y/o to suck it up. At 7 there is no excuse for that "picky" of an eater. If you want to eat there, eat there. Tell junior it's time to man up. If you can't bring yourself to step up your parent game, stop off at caseys on the way over and pick up a hotdog to go and eat it at the restaurant with you.

Some tough love, or guided love in the case of youngest with Aspergers, will open up a world of awesomeness for your child. My 11 year old tried that nonsense around 5. By 7 she was eating escargot, squid, virtually anything. Even nuggets shaped as mickey heads taste like nasty nuggets. Not everyone will like everything but they have to get out of that rut and expand their taste buds, their health and eating habits as they grow are at stake. Last week all of my girls were enjoying Sushi and Sashimi with my wife and I at their request. They turn their nose up at that fried garbage or nasty kiddie mac n' cheese. 5 cheese "adult" type mac n' cheese is another story though, lol.

There is no way around the tiny portions though, there is no excuse for that.

One of my sons was a very picky eater and finding things for a meal was pretty challenging at times. I don't agree with your telling the previous poster that it was time to tell her child to "suck it up" and "man up". Just because your children were eating adventurous food does not mean that the way other people raise their children is wrong. It is their business....not yours or mine! Personally, my husband and I were looking forward to Skippers but don't like the menu choices and may "skip" it also.
Both of my sons are now grown men....26 and 27 years of age...they eat very adventurous foods and are healthy so being a "picky" child doesn't mean much IMO.

 

[JessLUVSminnie]

We ate here for lunch on Dec 21. Our food was fantastic. The service was slow but I think that our waitress was a overwhelmed. She looked pretty frazzled even though it wasn't that busy. For appetizers we ordered Amazon Annie’s House-made Arepas and S.E.A. Shu Mai. The Arepas were good but not something I would order again. Probably because I will be ordering the Shu Mai. Delicious! So delicious I regretted talking my DH into trying them. I could have ate 2 orders by myself. I thought the portions for entrees were more than adequate. DH ordered the Char Shiu Pork. It came with 3 large pieces of pork seasoned to perfection. DD ordered the kids steak. She ordered it medium rare but it came out rare (cold in center). When we said something it was immediately replaced with a properly cooked steak. DS ordered the Skip’s Mac and Cheese and he was supposed to share it with me. Alas it was too good to share. I was able to sneak a few bites and it was fantastic. He loved it and he is normally very picky. I ended up with a few bites of the mac and cheese and some of DH's pork. I was planning on saving up for desert but the service was too slow. After an hour and a half we ended up leaving w/out desert. I would definitely go back. It was exciting to try it out and the food was very good. The only real disappointment was the bread. (We had to ask for it. Must have been a rough day for our waitress.) And it wasn't very good. The honey dip was very good but didn't pair well with the bread.

 

[missbrooke06]

That's definitely a consideration.

Personally I like the menu. MK is seriously lacking in a "real" restaurant... not that this is superb or anything but at least it's not another non adventurous boring menu. It's a welcomed change in my opinion and I'm glad they decided to do something different.

As to your 7 y/o... well my girls are 9, 11 and 18. Time to tell your 7 y/o to suck it up. At 7 there is no excuse for that "picky" of an eater. If you want to eat there, eat there. Tell junior it's time to man up. If you can't bring yourself to step up your parent game, stop off at caseys on the way over and pick up a hotdog to go and eat it at the restaurant with you.

Some tough love, or guided love in the case of youngest with Aspergers, will open up a world of awesomeness for your child. My 11 year old tried that nonsense around 5. By 7 she was eating escargot, squid, virtually anything. Even nuggets shaped as mickey heads taste like nasty nuggets. Not everyone will like everything but they have to get out of that rut and expand their taste buds, their health and eating habits as they grow are at stake. Last week all of my girls were enjoying Sushi and Sashimi with my wife and I at their request. They turn their nose up at that fried garbage or nasty kiddie mac n' cheese. 5 cheese "adult" type mac n' cheese is another story though, lol.

There is no way around the tiny portions though, there is no excuse for that.

Some of us fight to expand picky eater palates 358 days a year (there was a 20 minute crying tangent over shrimp to ring in the New Year) and choose to enjoy our one week of vacation and let the kid eat mac and cheese and pizza all week. I'll make my kid sit at the dinner table at home for two hours but it's not going to happen at Disney. Proceed with calling CPS on me.

 

[kastoney]

We ate here for lunch on Dec 21. Our food was fantastic. The service was slow but I think that our waitress was a overwhelmed. She looked pretty frazzled even though it wasn't that busy. For appetizers we ordered Amazon Annie’s House-made Arepas and S.E.A. Shu Mai. The Arepas were good but not something I would order again. Probably because I will be ordering the Shu Mai. Delicious! So delicious I regretted talking my DH into trying them. I could have ate 2 orders by myself. I thought the portions for entrees were more than adequate. DH ordered the Char Shiu Pork. It came with 3 large pieces of pork seasoned to perfection. DD ordered the kids steak. She ordered it medium rare but it came out rare (cold in center). When we said something it was immediately replaced with a properly cooked steak. DS ordered the Skip’s Mac and Cheese and he was supposed to share it with me. Alas it was too good to share. I was able to sneak a few bites and it was fantastic. He loved it and he is normally very picky. I ended up with a few bites of the mac and cheese and some of DH's pork. I was planning on saving up for desert but the service was too slow. After an hour and a half we ended up leaving w/out desert. I would definitely go back. It was exciting to try it out and the food was very good. The only real disappointment was the bread. (We had to ask for it. Must have been a rough day for our waitress.) And it wasn't very good. The honey dip was very good but didn't pair well with the bread.

Thanks for your review. We hope to visit in April and I'll definitely be ordering those shu mai. I'm sure with holiday crowds and still being a soft open slow service can be expected. Hopefully they'll get into the swing of things in the New Year.

 

[DisneyOma]

I for one would love a small portion size - the majority of portions here in the US are grotesque. I can make 2-3 meals from one serving at most restaurants. At WDW I feel like so much of the food I get is wasted, because I don't eat huge amounts of food. Just enough, and then the rest has to go in the trash. I do split meals with my daughter, so that helps.

I have had a picky eater in the family - we used to cater to her, and when we stopped, all of a sudden she started trying new foods. She may not have eaten a lot of something new, but she tried. Or she survived on bread, rice, etc, until the next meal or snack.

She was so proud that she tried "5 new foods" at WDW on our last trip!

 

[disneyktee]

As far as the mac and cheese for pickey eaters it's not actually "mac and cheese." My husband ordered it expecting a typical mac and cheese but it was more like a casserole with a thin not super cheesy sauce (in part because of the meat in it). Not sure if they can do a more normal mac and cheese for the kids menu but (from experience here) for the prices of this place the last thing you want to do is walk out hungry $150 dollars less....

 

[Aurora0427]

Some of us fight to expand picky eater palates 358 days a year (there was a 20 minute crying tangent over shrimp to ring in the New Year) and choose to enjoy our one week of vacation and let the kid eat mac and cheese and pizza all week. I'll make my kid sit at the dinner table at home for two hours but it's not going to happen at Disney. Proceed with calling CPS on me.

Amen sister. Pick your battles.

 

[Mambo Junkie]

My DGD5 won't even do mac and cheese. She does love salads, though, so we luck out there. She does not love meat except chicken. We get her to eat popcorn shrimp by telling her it's chicken. Can't disguise the beef though. We've had plenty of meals where the kids ate salads and most restaurants have fruit for them while we dined. They're not going to starve.

 

[DisneyOma]

Some of us fight to expand picky eater palates 358 days a year (there was a 20 minute crying tangent over shrimp to ring in the New Year) and choose to enjoy our one week of vacation and let the kid eat mac and cheese and pizza all week. I'll make my kid sit at the dinner table at home for two hours but it's not going to happen at Disney. Proceed with calling CPS on me.

Why would you have a kid sit at a table for two hours?

 

[mom4fun]

I think we will skip this restaurant even though I was so excited about a new one. It doesn't seem to have any redeeming qualities. The atmosphere and service, mediocre. The food quality,just ok with small portions and a price tag that doesn't match. These seem to be 90% of what is being said in the reviews.

 

[missbrooke06]

Why would you have a kid sit at a table for two hours?

To eat dinner?

By the way, this is detracting from a very balanced review from the OP. Nicely reviewed.

 

[MolonLabe]

By the way, this is detracting from a very balanced review from the OP. Nicely reviewed.

Thank you, I agree we are digressing. Best left for another thread if it wants to be discussed further.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

My DS8 and I had lunch here on Dec. 29. If you are looking for jokes and atmosphere, I think you will be disappointed. It's quite understated and our server attempted one joke. Yes, serving sizes are on the smaller end, which didn't bother me. What bothered me was, other than my DS's volcano dessert, everything was either over-spiced (the salad dressing) or very bland (the sustainable fish). Though the restaurant offered a nice respite during a busy day (we ate at 11 am), it was not worth the $80 price tag for lunch for 2 (including a child who ordered exclusively from the kids menu). In MK, we'll stick with CS or head to the MK resorts for far superior TS meals. Really wish they'd put a signature in MK!