Cape May Cafe for Dinner?

[pixie08]

I have heard good things about the character breakfast at Cape may but we are looking to try it out for dinner. See we will be at MGM in Jan and the night we will be there it is closing early like 8pm so we wanted to do a laid back dinner and thought this would work since we could walk over from MGM or take the boat. The second option is the Brown Derby which have been to before and really enjoyed so we were thinking of trying something new. Any opinions? TIA!

 

[splashmtnman]

not a big fan of Cape May. Take all opinions w/a grain of salt. I have worked in restaurants most of my working days. Worked as an Executive Chef until about four years ago so I have a good background in foodservice. Remember, all restaurants have bad days and so much goes into making things work on a daily basis. On Cape May, we have tried it the last two years and it was not good either time. The first year we went we arrived late so I chalked it up to that. The next year we made ressies at 8:15. There was six of us dining 3A 3Kiddos, when we arrived the nice older gentleman greeter said are table was not set but asked us to have a seat and he would get someone to set our table. I might add he was the only bright spot on the night. The restaurant was about 1/4 full but we had no problem waiting. He comes back about 5 minutes later to let us know that he was looking for someone to set our table. He comes back again and now he is a little irritated that no one wants to set our table. He proceeds to go and start to put tables together then another person comes over and says something to him so he returns to the front. He is only a greeter he explains and is not suppose to set tables etc.. anyway, now about thirty minutes has passed when a young lady comes up to take us to our table. She takes us to a booth that is a table for four that they have added one extra setting on one side and one on the end. The restaurant is barely occupied and they are cramming us into a booth. We start trying to get in the table and it really is just to cramped. Now I am starting to get a little pissed. I'm probably the most laid back guy you will ever meet and when it comes to food I am so easy to please. Nothing better than a hot dog and a cold beer. So I call her back to tell her that this is not exceptable at all and I want a table set for six. We finally get seated and it has been probably 45-50 min. It gets worse. The first time the food was just passable but this time it was awful. It looked like they had put the food out all at once and it never got busy and it was never replenished just left out to cook more and dry out. The only thing that was good was the chowder and I had asked to have some fresh put out. It was very good. The steamed clams were woefully overcooked and the ones on top had been there so long they had dried out. Our waitress was ok but everyone just seemed like they were more interested in closing up and going out than serving the customers. There was never a manager in site. I think this restaurant has in it the ability to do good food but they pretty much struck out both times with us. The gentleman greeter explained that things had changed there over the last few years and it never has been the same. Hope this helps and if you go and have a great experience please let me know. It sounded so good when we read about it so we were really disappointed.

 

[CoolDisneyCat]

I suggest you walk or take the boat to Spoodles, Flying Fish or Yachtsman Steakhouse. They are all better than Cape May, IMHO.

 

[Crazy Hakim]

I like Disney Buffets. Chef Mickey's, 1900 Park Fair, Crystal Palace, Cape May Café, yes all of them! But, it's a buffet, don't expect "fine" dining at a buffet. I like the wide variety, I like the all you care to eat availability, I like the no waiting , get up and eat just about as soon as you arrive. Buffets have their benefits and of course they have their drawbacks.
All in all, I know I never leave any Disney buffet hungry.

 

[goofy4tink]

In '04 we were looking for a restaurant that might be a bit quieter to eat at with my dad and step-mother. We had eaten at Cape May for breakfast and loved it. My dh had been bugging me on every trip to eat dinner there, so I booked it for my dad and step-mom's visit with us. We are all from NewEngland so we are pretty familier with the whole 'NE clambake' premise. I am not a seafood person, and knew going in that my options would be limited. I had no issue with that. But everyone else was a bit disappointed in the seafood offerings. The others in my group are all seafood eaters, lovers. But, when we left the restuarant, it seemed that no one was terribly impressed with the quality. Even my dh, who thinks a good hot dog is more than fine for dinner, thought is was barely passable. Our server was non-existent, the food was not replenished very often...we had to ask on several occasions if there was more of a particular offering. It was about 7:00 when we were there, so being close to closing time wasn't, or at least shouldn't have been, an issue for the CMs.
We won't be going back there. And since we stay primarily at BWV, this would have been a nice restaurant to go to more often. We love the buffets in WDW....we have never had an issue with any of them, until this one meal. But, there are others who feel it is terrific. I guess everyone has to try a restaurant once for themselves, and then make a judgement.

 

[Henlady]

Cape May Cafe is my DH's favorite place to eat. We were there on Sunday, June 4 at about 6:30pm and the food was very tasty, hot and plentiful.
Our server (a very nice lady) continuously stopped to clear plates, and to ask if we need anything. I had some clams (a couple were a little "sandy" but otherwise good), shrimp, a piece or 2 of ribs(not bad), beef tips(delicious), veggies(all very good), and some of the sliced beef(very tasty and tender). I don't eat bread, potatoes, rice, etc...so can't comment on any of that. Only had a couple small bites of several desserts, but they were also tasty. We will be going back to Cape May Cafe on Sept 19. DH can't wait.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I kind of like the Clam Bake, but my seafood-loving friends think it is sub-par. Not something we do every trip, but if someone wants to go there, I'm always game.

 

[pixie08]

Thank you all for your opinions. You all seem very knowledgeble about food which is good (my dh2b is a huge food person) so I don't want to take him somewhere he will be unhappy. It is as one poster said just a Buffet however I love Boma and that is a buffet I think the impression I am getting is it is OK but considering all the great restaraunts Disney has maybe not worth it . I love the opinions keep em coming and thank you.