Disney4me Posted December 30, 2024 Report Share Posted December 30, 2024 Did another Disney Springs meal disappoint us? Full spread While we’ve had exceptional meals at Disney Springs and some that left us feeling it was a bit lacking, we knew there were more dining experiences to try. However, since we were interested in a BIG meal, we decided to hit up one of Disney World’s signature dining restaurants to see if it left a better impression on us than the last meal we ate here. Our latest review around Disney Springs lead us out to a unique kind of restaurant you won’t find anywhere else in Disney World. Paddlefish is a signature dining experience onboard a “stem-to-stern transformation” of the steamboat. If it looks vaguely familiar to you (but has been about a decade) you might have known it by its former name, Fulton’s Crab House. Paddlefish’s menu outside The menu here offers fresh seafood, chops, and steaks in a modern setting. Lots of visitors flock to this restaurant nightly to dine at its fine cuisine and take in the incredible views of Village Lake especially if they find themselves at the rooftop lounge. Atmosphere As you approach the restaurant, you’re immediately stopped in your tracks just outside of the restaurant’s entrance. Paddlefish is found within an esteemed riverboat docked on the water’s edge. It’s a multi-story restaurant built for dining indoor and outdoor based on your preference. Welcome to Paddlefish As you approach the check in host stand, there is a small outdoor seating area on plush patio furniture… Patio check-in seating …but there’s also a smaller indoor waiting area if you prefer to sit inside and wait until your table is ready. A host will escort you to your table and for this meal we were seated by the window overlooking the water as the sun began to set. It was a stunning view even though it just looked out over the water a bit and toward the neighboring Saratoga Springs Resort. Upstairs seating This wasn’t the only spot to dine, though. Other dining rooms exist inside with smaller booth seating… Booth seats …intimate tables and chairs built for smaller dining experiences… Dining room …as well as larger tables fit for parties looking to dine altogether. Seating for larger parties The walls are adorned with black and white photos reminiscent of a life by the sea. Pictures Once we were comfortably seated, our server handed over the menus and explained the various options that lie ahead. Menu At the table you’ll be presented with a menu outlining the starters, soup and salads, chilled and raw seafood, seafood boils, and from the port options… Top of the menu …as well as a few sides to share and options from the land. Bottom of the menu On the back side of the menu is where you’ll find libations and rocks, hops and barley, American crafted beers, imported and domestics, sunset, and vines and earth… Top of the drinks menu … in addition to mocktails and bourbon flights. Bottom of the drinks menu If you’re looking for other alcoholic beverage options, a full wine list is also provided to the table… Wines menu …which is a few pages long. Wines continued And the last page will also contain your options for desserts! Desserts are in the back There’s also a separate kid’s meal offerings, too! Starting with appetizers… ©Disney …entrees… ©Disney …and kid’s desserts. ©Disney We asked our server about dishes we were undecided about and then placed our order! Eats Almost as soon as we were seated, our server brought out the restaurant’s signature bread service. Bread service This is complimentary with your meal and served with several bread rolls clumped together and a side of butter spread. The rolls are white bread, but just your standard rolls. We kind of wish they had some sort of a butter or sweet drizzle over top of them but they were good for just standard bread. Soft rolls The butter was heavily salted, and we really enjoyed it with the bread. Buttered! Not too long after, our food started to arrive to the table. We started with a cup of New England Clam Chowder. You can order a cup for $8 or a bowl for $10 and since we knew we were ordering quite a bit to eat tonight, we decided the cup was the best route for this visit. New England Clam Chowder It’s made of bits of chewy bacon, cut potatoes and warm cream. This one came out to the table still steaming. There was also a pack of oyster crackers served with the cup. It was obviously warm, deliciously creamy and smooth, and the bits of potato and bacon were just right to complete the soup. So delicious Since we’d put our entire order in all at once (including dessert, but more on that later) this cup was closely followed by the Crab Topped Fries. This dish is made of skin-on french fries, blue crab, and Louie dressing for $19. Crab-topped Fries Now, $19 is a hefty price tag for some fancy fries but honestly these were really good! The fries weren’t soggy and gross even after sitting for a while through pictures, with the Louie dressing on top and the blue crab tasted great and had just the right chewy consistency. If this is an indication of how the rest of the meal was to turn out, we were in for a favorable visit. These were a winner We were most excited to try what came out to our table next! We started things off with the smaller plate of the two — the Salmon. This dish consists of miso vinaigrette, vegetable stir fry, wasabi mash, and crimini bacon which will cost you $35. Salmon This is where our meal started to take a downturn for us. The salmon was beautifully cooked and we could cut it apart with a fork but that was where its charms stopped for us. It was very straight-forward and didn’t have enough seasoning. So tender The wasabi mash is wasabi mixed into mashed potatoes and while admittedly not huge wasabi fans, as such it tasted very strange to us. In fairness, our server did ask if we minded the wasabi mash or if we would rather have it switched out for regular mashed potatoes, so they are able to make that adjustment if you prefer. The crimini bacon and vegetable stir fry were the best part of this meal but what bothered us about it was that they were meant to be sides to the meal and highlight the main course instead of outshine it. The sides were the best part of the meal Then we moved on to our other seafood dish of the night — the Peel and Eat Key West Pink Shrimp. Peel & Eat Key West Pink Shrimp This is served steaming to your table in a seafood boil bag filled with sweet corn on the cob, red potatoes, and cornbread. There was even a cup of melted butter all for $39. This already looked like a much better value than the Salmon we had just tried, but we needed to see how it measured up in taste! Inside the bag While the accompaniments to the shrimp were ok, they all felt middle of the road. The cornbread was drier than we had hoped… Cornbread …the corn on the cob was sweet but not memorable… Corn on the Cob …and the red potatoes were soft with minimal flavor. Red potatoes When we got our shrimp peeled, they also echoed the rest of the boil’s flavor as just existing and bland. Even when we dipped them in the melted butter, the salt within it wasn’t enough to make a difference. This dish really fell flat for us. Shrimp But, we still had one last course to get through — dessert! For our treat we ordered the Flan. Flan This little slice of heaven is made with rum infused caramel custard for $12 a slice. Once we cut through it, our mouths began to water a bit just looking at it! So much creamy caramel Honestly, this was probably the best thing we ate all night. Typically, flan at Disney World can be gritty and too sweet, but not this one. No, you could tell it was made differently and mimicked all of the same sweet caramel goodness of one that was homemade. It paired really nicely with the tart raspberry and blackberry served with it. When we were finished we were left satisfied. Overall Overall we’re sure there are other tastier options to choose when dining here, we just weren’t as impressed with the choices we made for this meal. Our whole meal While we did enjoy several parts of our meal including the New England Clam Chowder and Flan, we felt the Salmon and Peel and Eat Key West Pink Shrimp lacked flavor and didn’t leave a lasting impression on us. Nosh or Not? Spend an evening at Paddlefish if… You’re a seafood lover! If you’ve really got a craving for seafood, this may be just the place to hit the spot! A meal with a view is your calling. Disney World’s signature dining restaurants offer some of the most stunning views and restaurant decor. If you’re looking for a place that will really “wow”, this restaurant makes our short list. It’s more about the experience for your evening. Who doesn’t like the sound of dining on a rooftop lounge aboard a turn-key steamboat? Something about envisioning that just gives fancy vibes. We’d recommend another Disney World restaurant if… You’re getting acquainted with seafood. The seafood here didn’t provide us with the best experience — we found it lacking in flavor. If you’re branching out to eat more seafood, this might not be the place. You’re not looking to dress up for your meal. Disney World signature dining restaurants do carry a dress code. While it’s not a black tie affair at this restaurant, there will be a few restrictions to apply to dine here and sometimes that may require changing out of your theme park casual ‘fit. You’re big on seasoning. The seafood dishes we tried here weren’t seasoned to our liking for this visit. While that’s truly a personal choice, if your first instinct is to assume it’s smothered in cajun spices and creamy butter, you’ll want to be certain to talk over your choices and expectations of your meal’s flavor with your server before you order. We’re constantly eating our way around Disney World! Be sure to read through a few of our most recent reviews below and stay tuned with us for even more to come. REVIEW: We Ate A 4-Course Italian Meal At Disney World And We Were Shocked at What We Liked Best Need Disney Restaurant Advice? We’ve Got EVERYTHING You Need to Know The ONLY Disney Dining Planning Tool You’ll Need Is Here – Get the DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining! See Our Complete Disney World Restaurants Guide The Best Magic Kingdom Restaurants The Best EPCOT Restaurant Restaurants The Best Hollywood Studios Restaurants The Best Animal Kingdom Restaurants The Best Disney Springs Restaurants Check Out Dozens of Disney Dining Tips and Tools Learn All About Tipping at Disney Restaurants How to Use Mobile Order in Disney World Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the latest Disney food news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe! What is your favorite dish to order at Paddlefish in Disney Springs? Leave it in the comments below!The post REVIEW: We Spent 0 At A Disney World Signature Restaurant, and We’d Only Go Back on 1 Condition first appeared on the disney food blog.View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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