Dining (dinner) recommendations for someone with very simple palate?

[Klayfish]

We almost never eat in WDW restaurants, we pack our own food. The only food we buy in WDW is treats for the kids...ice cream bars, popcorn. DW and I have eaten in a few of the restaurants in Epcot over the past 10 years, and on very rare occasion we've done QS such as Contempo Café or ABC Commissary. It's just not our thing.

We're considering doing a dinner reservation in one of the table service restaurants coming up soon. However, our tastes are not "sophisticated" at all. When I look at a lot of the menus, all I see is . For example, the dinner menu for Akershus. Ugh...no. I don't see a single thing I'd eat there, or the kids either. DW may eat it, but even she probably wouldn't be thrilled. We're very much health/nutrition people and our lives are insanely busy, so we eat very simple foods. For example, my breakfast is non-fat plain greek yogurt with one scoop of protein powder in it. Dinner is 8oz of boneless/skinless chicken breast, cooked completely plain, and 2-3 servings of plain veggies (peas, green beans, carrots etc..). Even when DW and I have a "cheat meal", it's simple...pizza, burger, fries, etc... basically pub food. We just don't have a taste for fancy food, and just doesn't interest us. We've looked at the menu for BoG and had the same reaction. I'd never spend the money, but felt the same about the menu for CRT. Yuck.

So, with a very simple taste bud, what would you recommend as being worthwhile? Sure, we could go to a TGI Friday's offsite, as we stay offsite, but we're looking for something onsite. Sure, I know to some degree pub food is pub food, but who's got the best when you factor in food quality, cost, experience, etc...?

 

[Minnesota!]

Rose and Crown?
Splitsville, Homecomin', Trail's End, Plaza, Liberty Tree Tavern, Grand Floridian Café, Ohana, Sci Fi, Via Napoli...

 

[MagicalMawMaw]

Artist Point is a great restaurant to eat at for a meat, veggie , salad type meal.

O'hana for supper is really good too. Bread, salad, veggies & meats... plus a great bread pudding for dessert.

Teppo Edo might be an idea too. Their chicken is so good.

 

[Beer Me]

Honestly it's hard to think of a Disney restaurant that doesn't have some (if not mostly) less exotic options.

Narrow it down a bit by general location, price, whether or not you want characters, etc.

 

[jkh36619]

Im with you as far as eating off site and bringing my own lunches. In my simple opinion, pretty much all restaurants are over rated if you compare price vs quality. But you shouldn't have a problem finding a grilled chicken breast or salad at any of the them. Just pick one and look at the menu online.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Sometimes, they write the menus to make the food sound fancier than it actually is.

For example, when we went to the old Flying Fish Cafe (RIP), the description for shrimp cocktail was way out there. Floribbean shrimp on a bed of house grown greens (lettuce) with fancy-schmanchy sauce (ketchup and horseradish) garnished with Meyer lemon wedges. My son and I had a good laugh over it. I remember eating steamed broccoli at the Crystal Palace that was supposedly in ponzu sauce. Tasted like plain broccoli to me.

There are plenty of places that will serve plain food. If you tell us whether you want something in a park or resort and which park or resort, we can suggest places to go.

(Didn't you just come home? You're a lucky stiff if you already planning the next trip.)

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

Almost everywhere at Disney has plain food options - it is just dressed up with sauces or fancy wording. Most Disney restaurants have some staples: chicken and veges, steak and potatoes, a pasta dish, etc. I would suggest looking at the food porn thread here or googling the names of some dishes.

Take Akershus since you mentioned it. You will get a basic appetizer buffet that includes cold cuts and cheeses. Then, you could order Kyllingbryst, for instance, which is basically grilled chicken served over vegetables. You can hold the puree if you want.

 

[hakepb]

Sci Fi is a very unique atmosphere if you want a burger.

I enjoy Teppan Edo (it's a Japanese cook on your table restaurant, not massively different than others around the country). The chef's show is a lot of fun for the kids. We are fairly plain eaters but really enjoy the food.

And they bring the raw veggies and chicken and cook them in front of you.
I know they are great about our seafood allergies, so I'm sure they would be able to work with other seasonings, too.

Also, many Disney restaurants also have allergy menus, as it seems gluten free is closer to the OP's preferences.

http://www.glutenfreedairyfreewdw.com/menus/

 

[Klayfish]

Sometimes, they write the menus to make the food sound fancier than it actually is.

For example, when we went to the old Flying Fish Cafe (RIP), the description for shrimp cocktail was way out there. Floribbean shrimp on a bed of house grown greens (lettuce) with fancy-schmanchy sauce (ketchup and horseradish) garnished with Meyer lemon wedges. My son and I had a good laugh over it. I remember eating steamed broccoli at the Crystal Palace that was supposedly in ponzu sauce. Tasted like plain broccoli to me.

There are plenty of places that will serve plain food. If you tell us whether you want something in a park or resort and which park or resort, we can suggest places to go.

(Didn't you just come home? You're a lucky stiff if you already planning the next trip.)

Yes, we're very lucky, we just got home about 1.5 weeks ago. We purchased APs. Since I spent a fortune on those tickets, we're going to spend as much time as we possibly can there and get our moneys' worth. Essentially, two very long summer trips with a number of shorter trips in the middle (T-giving, Xmas, maybe Feb, maybe Sept). We did the same thing from summer '15 to summer '16. It's a great advantage having DW work in a school district. My job gives me flexibility, which is awesome...for example during Thanksgiving week, I have to work Mon-Wed, but I can do it from our rental house and we'll do nights in the parks those days.

As for the food, I'm sorry, I should probably clarify. I don't need a plain chicken breast and plain veggies if I'm going to go out to a restaurant. When I'm on vacation, I'll stray from my nutrition for a meal. So I'm all in for a good burger, fries, some kind of chicken with something really good on it. I suppose the best way to describe it is I'm interested in the best restaurant on property that has a menu somewhat comparable to a TGI Fridays or really good buffet with more basic "comfort food" type things. To heck with the diet...I'm on vacation!!

 

[JerseyJanice]

I think any of the following would work for you: Whispering Canyon--the food in the AYCE skillet is pretty basic and they have an ala carte menu as well, Trail's End, or Chef Mickey's dinner.

These places will fit into any Magic Kingdom plans. If you're looking for another area, I'm sure we can find something. Most places offer a basic steak or burgers.

Happy planning!

 

[hakepb]

I'd still think SciFi is the best burger/fries/onion ring/shake experience in WDW

Via Napoli is the best pizza (and fun to see the giant large pizza) and is still a decent price vs other table service meals

The TGI Fridays makes me think Rainforest Cafe
Then ESPN or Big River (both by Boardwalk)
I think Ohana or Whispering Canyon might work.

 

[Parker Clan]

My husband and I are also very simple eaters. Our go-to's at Disney are :
Ohana, Trails End, Whispering Canyon, Trattoria al Forno, Via Napoli, Homecomin', Liberty Tree, to name a few We also got really good burgers and sandwiches at The Fountain at Swolphin. We are trying Beaches and Cream this year too because the food looks enjoyable & simple. Plus the ice cream after lol

 

[MandLBee]

Trail's End. Down home stuff.

 

[Klayfish]

Great suggestions, thanks!! The kids very much want to do Rainforest Café, and of course my boys want to do ESPN Zone. Those are possible for sure, but Rainforest is a chain, and we want to try to find a WDW specific place if we can.

Has anyone eaten at Tony's in MK? We were sitting in Town Square and I looked at the menu. The menu looks good, but man it looks expensive....like $20 for spaghetti and meatballs. Yeah, I know it's Disney, but still...

 

[MandLBee]

Great suggestions, thanks!! The kids very much want to do Rainforest Café, and of course my boys want to do ESPN Zone. Those are possible for sure, but Rainforest is a chain, and we want to try to find a WDW specific place if we can.

Has anyone eaten at Tony's in MK? We were sitting in Town Square and I looked at the menu. The menu looks good, but man it looks expensive....like $20 for spaghetti and meatballs. Yeah, I know it's Disney, but still...

While some folks like Tony's, it's pretty universally panned for its service and food. Like, it's Fazolis but expensive.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I think I know what you mean. DS and DDIL sound like you are. They liked Olivia's Cafe at OKW, and surprisingly, Tusker House, probably because they could pick and choose. They didn't like California Grill for the reason you describe, food too fancy.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Great suggestions, thanks!! The kids very much want to do Rainforest Café, and of course my boys want to do ESPN Zone. Those are possible for sure, but Rainforest is a chain, and we want to try to find a WDW specific place if we can.

Has anyone eaten at Tony's in MK? We were sitting in Town Square and I looked at the menu. The menu looks good, but man it looks expensive....like $20 for spaghetti and meatballs. Yeah, I know it's Disney, but still...

Tony's is like Hollywood & Vine--they both get consistently bad reviews. I've read so many terrible reports about them over the years, I won't try them.

Until 9/30/17, there is a special offer for AP holders where you get 20% off the food portion at 45 WDW restaurants to celebrate its 45th anniversary. Here is a link to a thread about this deal here:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/nice-ap-discounts-for-the-45th-anniversary.3551334/page-2

This offer will be in effect for your August trip. Somewhere here on the Restaurant board's first or second page is a list of some of these places that are now offering AP holders 30% off. On that list, I'd suggest the Grand Floridian Cafe. The food is straight forward and not crazy expensive plus a visit to the GF resort is always a treat.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Also, if your kids want to go to the Rainforest Cafe, you might want to check out the Landry's Select Club.

You pay $25 to join, but you get that back on your first visit. Plus you get $25 every year for your birthday. You can use the $50 on one meal.

The birthday reward is good for the entire month of your birthday and for the first 15 days of the next month. No one asks for proof of the date, so give them a birthday when you are most likely to visit WDW.

The Select card also grants priority seating so no need to bother with ADRs. Rainforest Cafe, T-Rex, and Yak & Yeti table service are all included in this deal.

 

[Klayfish]

Tony's is like Hollywood & Vine--they both get consistently bad reviews. I've read so many terrible reports about them over the years, I won't try them.

Until 9/30/17, there is a special offer for AP holders where you get 20% off the food portion at 45 WDW restaurants to celebrate its 45th anniversary. Here is a link to a thread about this deal here:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/nice-ap-discounts-for-the-45th-anniversary.3551334/page-2

This offer will be in effect for your August trip. Somewhere here on the Restaurant board's first or second page is a list of some of these places that are now offering AP holders 30% off. On that list, I'd suggest the Grand Floridian Cafe. The food is straight forward and not crazy expensive plus a visit to the GF resort is always a treat.

Thanks. If Tony's isn't any good, I don't want to waste the money. I am kind of cheap, so if I'm going to spend the money I want to make sure it's something good. We usually go to one or two meals with the kids offsite, and we can feed our entire family of 5 for less than $60-$70. The kids love a Chinese buffet, and there are dozens of them within 10 miles of WDW. We did one this trip.

Yep, we got that notice of the discounts at restaurants for AP holders, some of them are even doing 30% off. Not sure if we're going back in Sept or not. Right now, the only trips scheduled are Thanksgiving, Xmas and summer 2018. But Labor Day and Presidents Day time frames are last minute decision.

 

[wonderlandaddict]

The buffet at Trails Inn is great and so worth the money, its a short boat ride from MK. Boma breakfast is one we go to every trip, as well at Kona breakfast. Beaches and Cream is another that my grown kids request every trip. We tried Via Napoli the last trip and the pizza was wonderful. I am a very plain eater and just knew that I would leave Via Napoli hungry, but I was very wrong!