A restaurant you weren't expecting much from but were pleasantly surprised

[NYCgrrl]

Tokyo Dining was my first big surprise. The only course that left me less than wowed was dessert. We ordered one of each mousse cake with the idea of sharing: mango, ginger, and green tea and each was spectacularly boring and tasted mostly of sugar. The savory dishes, on the other hand, were close to phenomenal given the cost. Great bang for the buck, lovely setting w/ some seats over looking the lake and gracious service.
Writing this I'm hungering for a bowl of clam miso soup. A few of those tempura shrimp and vegetables wouldn't hurt either. Yummmm.

I took a long look at 9 Dragons menu, honed in on a few specific dishes not always found on the average Chinese-American restaurant menu and we had a very nice meal. I believe we ordered chicken consomme soup, cuke salad, and some dumplings to start. Followed with Grandma's Pork Belly, a veggie and tofu stir-fry, and a fish entree for the 4 of us and wound up with no leftovers which was a relief. I won't bother making a longterm reservation to eat here but it's comforting to know it's readily available.

 

[Mrs Geek]

Diamond Horseshoe! I booked it because I needed an ADR for lunch and couldn't get anything else, but wasn't expecting much. I think they recently changed the menu, but at this point it was family style with a selection of bbq meats and honestly it was quite good. Nice and filling for our one TS for the day, and the smores dessert was great!!

 

[TIME4DIZ]

Spice Road Table.
We went because it was available as a walk up right before illumiantions.
Turned out to be a highlight of the trip.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

Splitsville sushi- who knew???

Right???!!!

 

[kboo]

Breakfast:
Grand Floridian Cafe
The Wave
Ale and Compass - went for a TS breakfast while staying at Beach Club because we were too lazy to walk to Epcot or the Boardwalk. It was REALLY good. Crab eggs benedict .... mmmmm

Dinners:
Biergarten - I don't know why, perhaps because I'm not a huge fan of tons of meat, but we never reserved here even though everyone said how fun it was. And it was! And the food was very good, as were the wines and (duh) beer. The kids loved the oompah band. It's a new favorite.
Tiffins - our new favorite in-park restaurant.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Spice Road...we were hungry with no ADR. The fellow outside won us over. Maybe DH Was not as happy as I was, but I booked a CP dinner with two friends in December there. I cannot wait to go back.

 

[samsteele]

Enzo's Hideaway at Disney Springs.

I went for the Sunday night family dinner but was solo so wasn't sure how that would be handled. They were wonderful and brought me out a smaller serving of everything that would normally be served family style. Great service, fun setting and good food. I knew the food would be at least OK as caught Panda's glowing review on youtube a week or so before my trip. It was indeed very, very good. Always positive to have a good dining experience and find a new place.

 

[gillep]

BOG new prix fixe dinner. Did not enjoy our first dinner here a few years ago, but we wanted to try the new menu, and everything that we had was very good, and I didn't think that the old $55 price was bad for what we had. Still not a fan of the atmosphere of the ballroom, so we likely won't make it a regular occurrence, but we were happy with our meal.

 

[amie416]

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Pizza Ponte... to the point that I’d make a special trip back to DS just to get a slice.

 

[kboo]

I wouldn't say I was blown away by any means, but we were pleasantly surprised by Hollywood & Vine. It doesn't get great reviews, but we wanted to see the characters in Halloween attire and it was also a good value on DDP with the F! package. We went in with low expectations food wise, but actually really enjoyed it. The food was hot, fresh, and flavorful and we all left happy and full.

We've gone to H&V twice for breakfast in the last 2 years and I think it really depends on the people working there. The food is actually not too bad, but the first time we were there we had a new omelette chef and she was the only one on duty. The line for omelettes was so long, and her pan kept catching on fire. I felt badly for her. Our server also sort of forgot about us. The second time, our server was excellent, the lines for food were more manageable, and overall it was a better experience except for the part about our 2yo not wanting any of the big characters near her...

BOG new prix fixe dinner. Did not enjoy our first dinner here a few years ago, but we wanted to try the new menu, and everything that we had was very good, and I didn't think that the old $55 price was bad for what we had. Still not a fan of the atmosphere of the ballroom, so we likely won't make it a regular occurrence, but we were happy with our meal.

I'm so happy to hear this! We are going in November and I am hoping it will be good. We had been fans of the "old" BOG dinner, but the second to last time we went, everything was overly salted. Last time was good but I felt like it barely met expectations. I'm wondering if the new menu and pricing are deterring some people, as I found reservations to be easier (for our April trip) than they have been in the past.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

We've gone to H&V twice for breakfast in the last 2 years and I think it really depends on the people working there. The food is actually not too bad, but the first time we were there we had a new omelette chef and she was the only one on duty. The line for omelettes was so long, and her pan kept catching on fire. I felt badly for her. Our server also sort of forgot about us. The second time, our server was excellent, the lines for food were more manageable, and overall it was a better experience except for the part about our 2yo not wanting any of the big characters near her...

I should have specified I was actually there for dinner, so no omelet issues. That sounds terrible for the cook though!

 

[kboo]

I should have specified I was actually there for dinner, so no omelet issues. That sounds terrible for the cook though!

We felt so badly for her! She had the "earning my ears" button on, no other omelet helper, and she was clearly overwhelmed despite doing her best. Sadly, there was nothing we could do to help.

 

[cruiserkaren]

Mine would be Hollywood and Vine. We went last year on Christmas Day. I had read all the bad reviews, but wanted something different because it was our first Christmas away from home. I thought at least the characters are there for my kids. The food was hot, plenty of it, and tasty. The character interaction was fun and festive. We had a late lunch adr for 2:15. We’re discussing doing it again this year on Christmas Day (if/when an ADR opens up).

 

[olwyngdh]

I think we need to keep our pleasant surprise about Hollywood and Vine on the downlow before people start trying to get ADRs when we want to go!!! I need to find that Butternut Squash soup recipe.

 

[Melissa Perez]

La Hacienda de San Angel - went there with a party of 8 for my bachelorette party and was so pleasantly surprised. I am half Mexican and am a super big stickler for authentic food and not only liked the food but our server was from the same small town my great grandfather was = free round of drinks. We didnt have a fireworks view but since you're allowed to get up and move around the restaurant to watch it, we didn't mind.

Yak & Yeti - thought this was going to be cheesy asian food; pleasantly surprised. If you're a landry's card member, it is REALLY worth it - you skip the line like you won the golden ticket!

Sunshine seasons - ok ok bear with me here... yes it's a food court but in a place where sometimes the QS can be greasy and fried, it was so nice to get fresh(er), food, and a wide variety of it. Again on my bachelorette where of the 8 of us 2 were picky eaters and 1 kept kosher and this really saved our day.

 

[FSU Girl]

The Mara. I never expect much from Quick Service, but the food here is amazing and unique. We've gone back a few times, even making a trek out there when not staying at the hotel we liked it so much.

 

[lovin'fl]

The Wave.

 

[dismoose23]

T-Rex Cafe for me. Went in with low/medium expectations and came out thinking "where was this place when I was 5 years old and coming to Disney World?". The food was very good and I loved the atmosphere. Though that was back in 2013, not sure if T-Rex is still good. I do have an honorable mention (if that is allowed), Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop. During that same 2013 trip DW (DGF at the time) insisted that I have something from Ghirardelli. It is one of her must dos every trip. I begrudgingly agreed to get a hot coco and one of the big chocolate chip cookies. All I can say is...."life changing". I love Ghirardelli now and make a pit stop at the Disney Springs location during every trip.

 

[Mome Rath]

Tangierine Cafe, I had read good things about it, never tried it in all my years going to WDW, tried it and really really enjoyed it. Healthy and fresh.

Satu'li Canteen, brand new so no real expectations, now my favorite place to eat. Good healthy food and yummy desserts.

 

[chris benton]

Mama Melrose was way better than I thought. I had super low expectations. That strip steak was damn good. The squidamari was totally edible, tho a day past it's prime, and the DW's fish from the allergy friendly menu was great. We were all Thanksgiving full, and couldn't even finish one dessert (this was the F! pkg when apps were included.) I'd assume that a lot of ppl knock their pasta dishes, but we didn't get any.

Chef Mickey's dinner also surprised me. I was expecting garbage, but it really was not close to that bad, and actually, the carving station and a few other foods you'd expect to be decent options on a buffet steam tray were, imo, GOOD. The food is nowhere even close to being worth the price, but you're going there for character interactions, not the food. The char interactions we had were fantastic.

This year, it's Tusker House's turn to (hopefully) surprise me. My expectations are lowering after recent reports.