Thursday, October 18th - It's Time for Dinner ... Where Did I Leave My Spare Stomach?
Spoodles was not on the list.
Not even close.
Their menu struck me as limited in scope and included many items that, quite frankly, I consider weird and scary.
We were supposed to have a late dinner at Raglan Road where beery goodness, deep fried appetizers, and whisky-tippling desserts awaited us. But we were logy after ingesting all that food at afternoon tea and the idea of traveling over to Downtown Disney on a hot and steamy Florida evening was less than appealing.
Jay and I decided to take a stroll around the Boardwalk and tempt the vacation gods by trying that most daring of Disney feats: Reservationless Dining.
During our walk we realized that of all the eating establishments on the Boardwalk there was only one that we had yet to try:
What is a Spoodle, anyway?
Neither one of us was hungry enough for a full dinner and none of the entrees listed on the menu were particularly appealing, but the appetizer selection sure sounded tasty! We approached the CM at the hostess station and inquired about the wait for a table and were told it would be about 30 minutes. Not too shabby for a busy Thursday night considering that we showed up without an ADR.
Once seated we were greeted by our server, Dan, who was absolutely terrific - personable, energetic, and a lot of fun. The restaurant was very busy but he took some time to just talk with us for a few minutes before we took care of some very important business - ordering drinks.
We ordered a bottle of Pellegrino and a pitcher of Sangria.
I don't want to quibble but isn't that really a carafe of Sangria?
We told our buddy Dan that we were interested in sharing some appetizers rather than ordering traditional dinner and asked him for some suggestions. Right away he said we should try the Mediterranean Dips. Jay, bless his dear heart, asked Dan what the best appetizer would be for someone of a less adventurous nature. Try the Four Cheese Flatbread, said Dan the Man; you won't regret it.
Alrighty then, we place our tastebuds in your capable hands - dazzle us, Dapper Dan!
So what does he do, but reappear less than five minutes later with a basket of warm bread, some dipping oil, and the stern warning that we leave room for the food we've just ordered.
Bread ... is there anything it can't do?
This bread was wonderful - hot and chewy, it had been lightly brushed with garlic butter. Who needs dipping oil?
Wondering what the inside of the restaurant looks like?
This place is huge...
It's enormous and when filled with people, as it was on the night that we were there, it does get very noisy. But we liked it - it felt like we were in a giant rustic farmhouse with fifty gregarious, hungry strangers none of whom, thank merciful God, had personal hygiene issues.
Cheesy goodness for the less adventurous diners amongst you
This is the four cheese flatbread made with four mystery cheeses although if I had to hazard a guess I'd say mozzarella, asiago, provolone, and parmesan. It's sprinkled with some garlic and sage and is it ever tasty! Warm gooey cheese all melted together on top of a crisp, peppery flatbread with just a hint of garlic salt. Fabulous!
Who put the dip in the dip da dip da dip?
What have we here? A bowl of olives ... yecccch! There's some kind of spicy chipotle mustard-ey type dip that was too potent for me but which Jay really liked. There's a feta / goat cheese dip which was smooth and yummy - we both liked that one. There's a yogurt dip which wasn't bad, but it was chilled and that just didn't seem to go as well with everything else we were eating. And then there's a bowl of hummus on the plate of pita bread. I tried a version of hummus over at Jiko and didn't really care for it, but I found out later they went heavy on the olives in their version and I don't like olives. The hummus at Spoodles was a traditional one made with chickpeas and garlic - me likey that just fine which was a big surprise to the hubby, who didn't expect to have to engage in a battle royale with me to determine who got to lick the hummus bowl clean.
Now, a rational person might think after all the food that Jay and I ate on this day that we would stop here before risking gastric explosion. But you all know by now that Jay and I aren't really rational when it comes to eating while on vacation. Spoodles has a dessert sampler on their menu. I can no more resist a dessert sampler than I can pass up the "buy two get one free" table at Borders. Jay doesn't even try to stop me any more.
A palette-shaped plate to please our palettes!
My memory is faulty and the on-line menus leave something to be desired when it comes to detail (now I remember why Spoodles didn't seem very appealing to begin with), but I do know that we had pistachio ice cream, vanilla bean cream brulee, a chocolate dipped biscotti, dense chocolate cake, and some kind of orange / marscapone cheese type tart thingy. Of all the desserts we liked the orange flavored one the least - the orange was very strong and overpowered what should have been a very light dessert. The rest of the dessert sampler was very good, even the ice cream, as long as I ate around the pistachios.
Our waiter Dan checked up on us several times during the evening and as the restaurant cleared out, stopped by to chat: where ya from? are you Disney virgins? whaddya think of the food?
Answer Key: The armpit of the midwest; Do we look like the uninitiated; It was not undelicious.
The manager stopped by shortly after and we got to have a chat with her and she shared some of her favorite Disney Dining locations with us: Bistro Paris and Raglan Road. We also talked Food and Wine Festival with her and she told us that we were going to love Party for the Senseless on Saturday. She was so right!
All in all, Spoodles was a very pleasant surprise. It was one of the best unplanned meals of the entire trip and it certainly was a great end to a day that started on such a depressing dining note. And, sad but true ... Spoodles was the last joint freefall dining experience of the trip because the next day would usher in ... the virus.
By the way ... a spoodle is another name for a hybrid dog also known as a cockapoo (a breed that crosses an American cocker spaniel with a poodle)
or it's another word for a cooking spoon. I'm going to choose to believe in this instance that the restaurant name refers to cooking spoons, especially when I take a second look at their signage.
Thanks for reading!!
Next up: Breakfast at Kona!
I always feel like I'm transported to a time when things were so laid back and refined! It's such a different experience than the usual park-hopping most people do during the day. Thanks for sharing the pics
My family and I ate at Spoodles in Sept 07 and Dec. 07 and had very good meals. I agree with how loud it gets in the restaurant though! My dad has two hearing aids and had to turn them down due to the background noise.
I just drooled at the memory. 
