Which WS restaurants are most authentic?

[Leota]

Too bad the part of American culture we seem to share the most is fast food. Really, it's not a very nice thing to do to the rest of the world!

Ain't that the sad truth....

Yeah, you aren't going to find truly authentic food in WS, some good stuff, yes. But not authentic. If you are in WS & hungry, I suggest you go over to the Swan & Dolphin to eat - you will get some great sushi (the resorts have a large Japanese clientele) and I think Il Mulino is fantastic, altho sadly I can't vouch for it being truly authentic as I have not been to Italy. But it is not American-Italian with red sauce & meatballs, kwim?

If you have been to France, or enjoy a good authentic French restaurant near you, I would skip Chefs in France. I trained in classical French cuisine. I made the mistake of eating there & expecting the food to be what I was used to.

As a general rule in WDW - the resorts are going to offer you better food than the theme parks. And within that, the few places that do NOT take DDP are going to be better.

 

[nansmama]

I also recommend Tangierine Cafe in Morocco. I'm not sure how "Morocco authentic" it is, but it's very good and certainly less Americanized than some of the other options in World Showcase. When we went to Akershus, it seemed quite authentic, but we haven't been there in a few years. There is a snack cart in Japan that has miso soup, edamame, and that shaved ice stuff (I'm blanking on the name).

 

[msp2mco]

On 2 different trips, we have taken German foreign-exchange students to Biergarten, and they were both delighted with the food and said it represented German food well.

 

[Angie789]

Chinese people do not eat the Chinese food they sell Americans. Their version is healthy without the addition of grease and sauces. Their portions are very small and plain.

While it is true that authentic Chinese food is quite different than what you'll find in an American restaurant, it is absolutely not true that most Chinese food doesn't add grease or is plain. I suspect your friend's father is from the southern parts of China (or even Taiwan) if that is the way he cooks. Many regions of China serve food that is quite spicy and/or greasy by American standards, and in Western China they eat lots of meat (and hardly any rice - they are noodle eaters). Sorry, but I lived in China for many years and traveled all over the country so I am very familiar with the cooking styles there and there is immense variation. There is not one "Chinese" style of cooking.

That said, what they serve at Epcot doesn't taste like anything I experienced anywhere in China. If authentic food matters to you, I strongly suspect you could do better in an Asian-owned restaurant in Orlando than you could at Disney.

 

[pixie08]

Bistro de Paris, but it is undergoing renovation and new mangaemnet. I hope it doesn't get water down now.

 

[Simba's Mom]

On 2 different trips, we have taken German foreign-exchange students to Biergarten, and they were both delighted with the food and said it represented German food well.

I agree! DH lived it Germany for 9 months and loves eating at Biergarten. It seems rather authentic to him.

 

[minnie mum]

I agree! DH lived it Germany for 9 months and loves eating at Biergarten. It seems rather authentic to him.

I agree as well. As much as I said in an earlier post that most of the ethnic cuisines have been modified for the average American palate, Biergarten has tampered the least. We lived in Germany for 3 years, and I would rank Biergartens spaetzle, saurbraten, and saurkraut right up there with what we ate in some of the little villages near where we lived.

 

[tony67]

I think there was a time when WS was more authentic, but after the first year of the DDP things had to change.

The problem (IMO) is that when the food plan came in the menus had to be changed to appeal to a wider audience.

I recall talking to several of the staff in the restaurants about this and the issues were people ordering the most expensive thing on the menu (because they wanted to get value for money) and then sending it back because it was not appealing to them. In addition they needed to operate within the constraints of the DDP reimbursement and things like the daily chefs specials went away.

Overall considering it is a theme park in the US and have to appeal to a wider range of people because of the DDP I think they do an OK job – but don’t expect it to be as good as the real thing.

 

[princessallegra]

Tokyo Dining is great quality raw sushi and sashimi, and hand rolls. We love that place.

Tangierine Cafe is really great quality food as well, great value too.

I think the cheese plate in the bakery in France for $6.50 is one of the best values on property. Pair that with a baguette and a tarte de pomme (apple tart, literally amazing) and it's lunch for dh and me under $10

We love the brats in Germany

I don't know how authentic Norwegian they are, but the vegetable tarts at Kringla are yummy.

La Cava del Tequila has some seriously authentic Mexican tequilas, WOW! Hole up there for a couple of flights...fun!

 

[DEA]

I'd also agree with Akershus being authentic. I mean, why else would you choose to serve herring for breakfast?

 

[TDC Nala]

I think there was a time when WS was more authentic, but after the first year of the DDP things had to change.

The problem (IMO) is that when the food plan came in the menus had to be changed to appeal to a wider audience.

I recall talking to several of the staff in the restaurants about this and the issues were people ordering the most expensive thing on the menu (because they wanted to get value for money) and then sending it back because it was not appealing to them. In addition they needed to operate within the constraints of the DDP reimbursement and things like the daily chefs specials went away.

Overall considering it is a theme park in the US and have to appeal to a wider range of people because of the DDP I think they do an OK job – but don’t expect it to be as good as the real thing.

I remember someone at Le Cellier saying they had a problem when the dining plan started with people doing things like ordering mussels because they were expensive, then sending them back because they didn't know what mussels were and didn't want to eat them once they found out.

 

[BlovesC]

I actually think the newly redone counter service in Japan, Katsura Grill, is more authentic than its predecessor, Yakitori House. The menu's very reminiscent of a typical quick lunch spot, even if it's sort of a smorgasbord of different things. Still features the lame "teriyaki chicken" of Yakitori, but the katsu curry, udon, and okonomiyaki are quite good!

 

[princessallegra]

I actually think the newly redone counter service in Japan, Katsura Grill, is more authentic than its predecessor, Yakitori House. The menu's very reminiscent of a typical quick lunch spot, even if it's sort of a smorgasbord of different things. Still features the lame "teriyaki chicken" of Yakitori, but the katsu curry, udon, and okonomiyaki are quite good!

I'll have to try this next time!

 

[pixie08]

I actually think the newly redone counter service in Japan, Katsura Grill, is more authentic than its predecessor, Yakitori House. The menu's very reminiscent of a typical quick lunch spot, even if it's sort of a smorgasbord of different things. Still features the lame "teriyaki chicken" of Yakitori, but the katsu curry, udon, and okonomiyaki are quite good!

Interesting...thanks for the heads up! I am definitely going to give this a shot.

 

[Tropical Wilds]

I lived in Bremerhaven in Germany for several months, my mother (first generation American from German parents who fled during WWII) spent her entire childhood in Germany. My mother always, always eats at Biergarten because it reminds her of Germany.

I hadn't eaten there until the last trip and I was not expecting that much, but after trying it, it's now a must-stop because it reminds me SO MUCH of the food that we got in Germany. Some of it is slightly Americanized (Germans love adding liver and anchovies to their mushroom sauces... Thankfully Biergarten lets that one fall to the wayside), but on a whole, most of it is insanely authentic. It reminded me so much of those hausfrau dinners that the women would make, the meals at the farmer's markets, and festival food, and it made me a little misty. It's been awhile since I'd had that style of food.

The only place that authenticity flies right out the window is their dessert offerings... That is highly Americanized, but that's because the German and American ideas of after-dinner food is different. Americans prefer sweet, Germans prefer palate cleansers and lighter fare. Traditional "desserts" in Germany were bread with butter or cheese, cold meats, cheese plates, and wine or lighter beers. In fact, most Germans (at least in Bremerhaven) thought the idea of cake or ice cream, puddings, or cookies as an after dinner finisher was revolting.

I also agree that Katsura is pretty authentic, though that's not based off of me going there but the local Japanese place that we have nearby. It's run by a Japanese family who can't even speak English and the menu is picture-only... They couldn't explain it if they had to. And a lot of what Katsura serves resembles it very strongly.

 

[GeorgeG]

I've never been an adventurous eater and even my wife says cooking for me is boring. In countries I've traveled to I prefer eating food that is as American as I can find (burgers, pizza, steak, etc.), so I'm probably not the best one to comment on WS restaurants since I look for the same there. However, since we're talking about what's authentic I have to climb aboard my hot dog soapbox. You'd think that in the "great American theme parks" we all know at Walt Disney World you'd be able to find an abundance of authentic American hot dogs, you know, all-beef on a traditional white bun. Disney can't even get that right. Hot dogs that are 60% chicken and 40% beef and served on tasteless wheat crumble buns are an embarassment. Folks, it's only a matter of time before even the popcorn is fake.

 

[Melodious]

The thing about this question is what is authentic? Where I live it seems that everyone has a German grandmother who makes potato salad and none of them taste the same to me.

I've traveled around Ireland and England and eaten a lot of fish and chips. They varied a lot in quality. Which is authentic? The best that I've eaten, even though most of them weren't like that? Is it an average of the quality that's most authentic? What if the ones I had in London were different than the ones that I ate in the Peake District?

I've also traveled through Rome, Florence, and Venice in Italy and every day that I was there I would have a Bellini before dinner. None of them were the same even in the same city and some varied so wildly they had almost nothing in common with each other. Some of them were almost clear and some were a dark brown with peach juice.

Maybe the pizza you had at that one great place in Italy was nothing like the pizza I had at another place in Italy and now we're going to debate on whether Via Napoli has authentic Italian pizza

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

I've never been an adventurous eater and even my wife says cooking for me is boring. In countries I've traveled to I prefer eating food that is as American as I can find (burgers, pizza, steak, etc.), so I'm probably not the best one to comment on WS restaurants since I look for the same there. However, since we're talking about what's authentic I have to climb aboard my hot dog soapbox. You'd think that in the "great American theme parks" we all know at Walt Disney World you'd be able to find an abundance of authentic American hot dogs, you know, all-beef on a traditional white bun. Disney can't even get that right. Hot dogs that are 60% chicken and 40% beef and served on tasteless wheat crumble buns are an embarassment. Folks, it's only a matter of time before even the popcorn is fake.

I love the burgers and my daughter loves the hot dogs! Agreed they aren't the best I've ever had but they do need to serve 1000's of them every day.I cut them some slack and if I want a great meal choose one of the other restaurants.

 

[fitzperry]

The thing about this question is what is authentic?

I've traveled around Ireland and England and eaten a lot of fish and chips. They varied a lot in quality. Which is authentic? The best that I've eaten, even though most of them weren't like that? Is it an average of the quality that's most authentic? What if the ones I had in London were different than the ones that I ate in the Peake District?

I've also traveled through Rome, Florence, and Venice in Italy and every day that I was there I would have a Bellini before dinner. None of them were the same even in the same city and some varied so wildly they had almost nothing in common with each other. Some of them were almost clear and some were a dark brown with peach juice.

Maybe the pizza you had at that one great place in Italy was nothing like the pizza I had at another place in Italy and now we're going to debate on whether Via Napoli has authentic Italian pizza

To some degree, I was simply trying to come up with a slightly more objective and useful standard than "what's the best place to eat in WS?" As I mentioned in my original post, we've been mostly underwhelmed with the food we've had there, so I'm looking for other places to try. And as I mentioned in another post, I'm fairly well-traveled and eat out a great deal, so I'm well aware that the ingredients/presentation/etc. of a particular dish often vary according to region and other factors, and I understand that "authenticity" is also not a perfect standard. But I'd rather not have ethnic food that's had most of the ethnicity removed to appeal to the American palate, so to speak. I was looking for WS restaurants that fit that bill as closely as possible, not trying to start a debate about whose grandmother makes the best German potato salad.

At this point, I have Tangierine, Biergarten, and Katsura on my short list.

 

[WILDERNESS FAN 55]

Biergarten is fun and food is good. On vacation that's all you can ask for. My goal is to try them all eventually. Unfortunately I live 1000 miles away. Workin on it though.