Restaurants that surprised you.

Shanbo

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jun 18, 2017
What restaurant surprised you the most based on other people's, or The Dis Unplugged Reviews.

For me it was Yak & Yeti (sitting inside), I found it great value for money and a relatively wide range of menu options, especially since my gf is a pescatarian.
This however had bad reviews from others.

So got me thinking, what restaurants surprised you?
 
Haha, I loved both Yak & Yeti and Hollywood & Vine too! But I'm beginning to believe I'm just not picky. Maybe I should put that to the test and try Tony's sometime.

For me I'd say Cinderella's Royal Table. Everyone said "go for the experience, not the food," so I was prepared for mediocre food. I thought it was delicious!
 


Another vote for H&V. I booked it mainly for the characters and the F! seating. Went in with very low expectations based on the reviews. But thought the food was actually pretty good (for a buffet).

On the flip side....Ohana was surprising in the opposite way. I don't get all the hype!
 


Restaurant Marrakesh. This goes back several years now but at the time it was the only ADR we could find in Epcot for our party size and time. I was prepared for the worst. And I ended up really loving it. And the interior is beautiful!
 
Not because of this board or reviews, but on one of my first trips to Epcot, my friends and I found ourselves hungry in the middle of the World Showcase. Someone suggested seeing if we could get in at Biergarten without a reservation. It was about 2pm, so we were seated immediately. I knew nothing about this place, but it is one of my favorite memories at WDW. The food was good and the entertainment even better. We sat with a couple visiting from Germany who taught us how to polka. We spent almost two hours there. A welcome break from the heat, and a really wonderful surprise.
 
Well, I tried 'Ohana for the convenience and the hype, but didn't think I'd like it. Lo mein, pot stickers, meh. Bread pudding...gross (and I still don't like it). But I was wowed.
I have eaten in Marrakesh every single WDW trip and don't understand how that place isn't a poppin' all the time!
 
Probably CRT. I thought the food was far far better than people claim it to be. Yes it's mostly about the experience but I've had 4 perfectly good dinners there.
 
Mama Melrose. I'd not heard bad things, necessarily, but I'm just weary of most Italian restaurants outside my area (I live in an area that's highly populated by Italian Americans and the restaurants here are excellent). But everyone in my family loved it, and our meals were great.

Tusker House surprised me in a bad way. I'd heard so many great things, and we're not picky eaters, but we didn't like much that was offered. The character interaction was great, though.
 
Tutto Italia
We used to eat there when it was Alfredo's years ago but then got hooked on Via Napoli instead.

This trip we decided to give Tutto a try and loved it. The atmosphere brought back nice memories, the servers were great and we loved our Arugula Basil Pesto pasta and spaghetti. I've already booked for September.
 
Yes, CRT. Loved it. My wife, who isn’t the biggest Disney person, thought the food (for lunch) was great. It was almost worth the price of admission :laughing:.

No seriously, it actually was worth the price. And our daughters weren’t even that into the princesses.
 
CRT for me too! I wasnt expecting much but ended up being pleasantly surprised. I loved my food, it was very tasty. Steak was cooked perfectly. It was a lovely experience.
 
Wasn't based on other people's reviews since our first trip was hurriedly booked about 2 weeks before we got there.
Arrived at WDW in a bit of a whirl and anticipated going hungry for the week.
Pleasantly surprised to find that Kona Cafe's food was delicious. Ordered a salmon dish and it tasted nothing like the kind you'd find at national chains. A moist and tender center cut filet perfectly seasoned. Vegetables cooked so they were neither over or under cooked. I was hooked.

Next meal was at HDDR and we laughed through that with satisfied bellies.
 
We were surprised how much we enjoyed Kona for dinner, The Grand Floridian Cafe and Trails End.
 
Tony's

I really wanted the reserved parade viewing so I reluctantly booked the Festival of Fantasy package there. I knew of Tony's bad reputation from years spent on these boards and did read a bunch of reviews.

While I wasn't blown away (To be honest I've rarely if ever been blown away by a Disney restaurant. Although I do have to eat, WDW is not a major dining destination for me.) it was perfectly acceptable. Service was good, my food was definitely edible and served at the appropriate temperature, the AC was cold and they have wine in there. After reading many, many reviews I avoided the marinara and enjoyed my lunch.
 
CS- Satuli Canteen, the protein bowl was really good and we were there for dinner at an off time so I was really expecting some nuked rubbery chicken but it tasted very fresh and the sauce was really tasty.

TS-I was pleasantly surprised by BOG, maybe bc I was expecting the worst given reviews I had read but all of our food was hot when it arrived and very flavorful.
 

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