I’ve a love-hate relationship with Cellular Order at Walt Disney World. To be sincere, it’s principally love and solely a little bit little bit of hate. It’s nice for breezing previous lengthy order kiosks and I additionally love that it options meals images that offer you an concept (albeit romanticized) of how every dish appears. It’s saved us plenty of time and in addition steered us in direction of dishes we in any other case might not have tried because of these inventory pictures.
Sadly, it has additionally steered us and different friends away from some nice delicacies. Though I can’t show something, I blame Cellular Order for the downfall of Sunshine Seasons (fortunately, it’s making a comeback). Then there are the “specialty dine-in choices” out there at various resort meals courts throughout Walt Disney World. This nearly brought about us to overlook two of my now-favorite entrees at Wilderness Lodge.
It as soon as once more nearly foiled our dinner plans once more at Riverside Mill, the fast service restaurant at Port Orleans Riverside. With the advantage of hindsight, maybe that will’ve been the higher end result. Nevertheless it didn’t, and we’ve got this assessment of the brand new menu at Riverside Mill Meals Court docket, which is lastly again to pre-closure regular. Arguably, it’s higher than that.
Let’s begin with a little bit of fast background. Like most meals courts at Walt Disney World, Riverside Mill has a number of ordering bays, so its menu has some selection. For the previous few years, that didn’t imply a complete lot–many Walt Disney World meals courts weren’t using all of their bays or had scaled again choices at every of them.
Even earlier than that, about the one Worth or Average Resort meals court docket that actually wowed was Panorama of Flavors at Artwork of Animation. The All Stars and Pop Century had gotten higher and all the Moderates had flashes of high quality, however there was plenty of stereotypical theme park fare and normally solely a few distinctive or fascinating dishes.
In the event you’re going by the net menu or Cellular Order, that also seems to be the case at Riverside Mill–together with just about all the Worth and Average Resort meals courts. I believe it truly is all of them, it’s doubtless secure to extrapolate what we’ve seen at All Star Sports activities to the opposite All Stars, and Port Orleans Riverside with French Quarter, however I’m not 100% certain.
The road to search for is “Further Rotating Choice of Specialty Choices Accessible For Dine-In.” That caught my consideration and brought about us to pop on in throughout our latest keep earlier than heading off to Disney Springs. (The place we deliberate to as a substitute dine at EET by Maneet Chauhan.)
Previously, I’ve seen this when a meals court docket has had a few rotating dinner specials that change on totally different days of the week. Having had success with precisely that in a keep on the All Stars, we determined to take a look at every thing on the dine-in menu. At Riverside Mill, we discovered a dozen-plus gadgets that weren’t on Cellular Order (that is way more than I final noticed at All Star Sports activities).
Right here’s a take a look at every thing that’s presently out there for dinner as of 2024:
As you’ll be able to see, it’s a reasonably stacked menu from prime to backside. We’ve accomplished the Gumbo and Jambalaya earlier than, and each are fairly good. Positively on the gentle aspect, however hearty dishes which can be becoming of Port Orleans. My solely disappointment with this menu is that the Po’ Boy and Muffaletta Sandwich aren’t any extra. These have been tasty, and in addition on-theme for Port Orleans.
Just a few different dishes we’ve got not tried–and simply missed the reduce for this meal–are the Bayou Amber Ale Burger, Pimento BLT, Mac & Cheese with Braised Beef, and Barbecued Braised Beef. I’m certain there are different good dishes on that mega-menu, however these are the standouts.
Earlier than we assessment the meals, let’s have a look across the eating room at Riverside Mill. That is far and away my favourite meals court docket at Walt Disney World for its setting. Nothing else actually holds a candle to this.
In evaluating my images of Riverside Mill over the past 20 years, not a complete lot has modified…and that’s for the most effective. The one distinction I can discover is that the carpeting was changed with a hardwood ground, which needed to have occurred over 5 years in the past at this level. Whereas all of us would possibly quibble over whether or not wooden or carpet is best in visitor rooms, I believe it’s truthful to say wooden is best for cleanliness in meals courts. Above is the earlier than, under is after.
Riverside Mill’s attraction is that the ambiance of the seating space is an extension of Port Orleans Resort as a complete. That is achieved through a working mill wheel, which slowly turns and powers a working cotton press.
There’s a motive mill cities are sometimes described as ‘sleepy’ quite than ‘bustling’ and that’s on show right here. The gradual, methodical turning of the mechanisms inside is one other reminder of a bygone time and place, very similar to the remainder of Port Orleans Riverside.
As the youngsters say, the vibes are immaculate.
It doesn’t harm that exterior of the prime breakfast and dinner hours, Riverside Mill is commonly a quiet place to relax and revel in a peaceable meal. Even throughout busy hours, it’s not practically as chaotic as different meals courts.
It helps that the seating space is big, successfully diluting friends, and the lighting plus the serene setting most likely rubs off on friends. Whatever the motive, Riverside Mill appears to churn at a slower, extra nice tempo than different meals courts at Walt Disney World.
As with the opposite counter service eating places at Walt Disney World that may be labeled as meals courts, there are a number of ordering bays at Riverside Mill.
I like this method. It permits for a larger number of choices, and members of your loved ones can cut up up earlier than regrouping to pay. Additionally as with different meals courts, the drink station is self-service and situated in the course of the seating space, which means you can refill these cups to your coronary heart’s content material.
Turning to meals, we began with two entrees from the ‘construct your personal’ entree ordering bay. Protein choices listed below are Mojo-roasted Hen, Panko Crusted Salmon, and Barbecued Braised Beef.
With this, you choose two sides from the next checklist:
- Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
- Garlic Inexperienced Beans
- Basmati Rice
- Roasted Rainbow Carrots
- Edamame Succotash
- Zesty Vegetable Slaw
First up, the Mojo-roasted Hen with Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes and Basmati Rice.
This can be a good albeit acquainted favourite at Walt Disney World. It’s not a standard meals court docket merchandise, however it’s nearly similar to the half-chicken at Sunshine Seasons, proper all the way down to the fantastic mashed potatoes.
Every little thing in regards to the hen is competently-done, with the pores and skin being crisp and the meat being juicy and tender. However truthfully, I really feel like this isn’t all that totally different than a take-home hen you would decide up from the new meals part at your native grocery retailer. This isn’t essentially a knock–it’s a predictable dish that usually seems effectively.
Aspect-wise, the mashed potatoes are pure buttery goodness. As I’ve mentioned numerous occasions, I’m a sucker for Walt Disney World mashed potatoes. There’s most likely nothing particular about them in goal phrases, however I’ve a ton of sentimentality for them–they remind me of being “residence.”
Our different create your personal entree is the Panko Crusted Salmon with Roasted Rainbow Carrots and Edamame Succotash.
This was Sarah’s choice, as she wished to go for one thing more healthy with the perimeters–that are admittedly higher high quality than what I ordered with the hen. These greens tasted good, however they have been presumably ordered for his or her nutritiousness. They couldn’t maintain a candle to my buttery and creamy mashed potatoes…however Sarah will most likely reside a couple of years longer than me thanks to those. It’s all about tradeoffs.
Walt Disney World normally does salmon very well, even at counter service eating places or EPCOT pageant cubicles. So this appeared like a slam-dunk in consequence.
Not so. It turned out to be the worst salmon we’ve ever had at Walt Disney World (or most likely wherever). It was just like the kitchen was making an attempt to organize a cross between a filet and salmon jerky, and cooked this a number of hours longer than mandatory. It was dry, powerful, and simply nasty. It will’ve been higher in the event that they went all-in and simply correctly dehydrated and made jerky out of it.
I want we’d’ve appeared on the tray of salmon sitting there earlier than ordering this, as they have been all visibly unappetizing. We later went again and checked out the following tray stuffed with them to see if it was a one-off, and so they appeared marginally (however not a lot) higher. So in the event you’re contemplating this, undoubtedly give the entrees a look earlier than committing.
For our remaining entree, we ordered the Shrimp and Grits with smoked ham, greens and cream sauce.
This dish is freshly ready after you order it, which was very welcome after the salmon debacle. It was cool to observe the Solid Member prepare dinner the shrimp and add recent elements to the pan. And there was a enjoyable bit of fireside, which appeals to the primitive aspect of my mind.
The Shrimp and Grits was, no doubt, the clear winner of our meal at Riverside Mill.
There was a ton of shrimp and diced ham, the grits have been thick with simply the correct amount of texture (not too gritty, but additionally not too clean), and the cream sauce made this a delightfully decadent dish.
The Shrimp & Grits can also be a really heavy and hearty dish–the sort that could possibly be shared between two adults and supply the inspiration for a filling meal. Had the salmon not been terrible, it will’ve been excellent to separate that and this, offering a filling and well-rounded(ish) meal.
I used to be tasked with consuming all the Shrimp & Grits because of the richness (and I assume it’s in some way unhealthy regardless of being seafood? I dunno–that doesn’t appear proper), and I couldn’t even come near ending all of it. I had the remainder for breakfast the following morning, and ended up leaving our room full.
Finally, even with our hit-or-miss meal, Riverside Mill stays our favourite meals court docket at Walt Disney World. I do know the primary two entree evaluations don’t actually “promote” it effectively, however the entire level of this was showcasing how deep the menu is–regardless of what’s revealed on-line and proven through Cellular Order. On the very least, this could accomplish that.
Actually, that’s most likely the largest takeaway of this publish–that the Worth and Average Resort meals courts at Walt Disney World have a lot deeper menus than Cellular Order or the net menus recommend. It’s value dropping in and testing the bodily menus for the specialty dine-in choices–as there could possibly be an honest variety of extra bold choices–earlier than putting a Cellular Order or dismissing a meals court docket out-of-hand attributable to a supposedly weak menu.
With that mentioned, no meals court docket is vacation spot eating at Walt Disney World. That’s particularly true of 1 that’s a bus trip away from…just about in every single place! However in the event you’re staying at one of many two Port Orleans Resorts, then Riverside Mill is certainly value testing–and never simply disregarding as a result of the net menus appear restricted. Simply select a bit wiser than we did, and it’s best to have a tasty and gratifying meal!
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Your Ideas
Have you ever discovered longer menus of specialty dine-in choices on the Worth and Average Resort meals courts within the final a number of months? Do you agree that Riverside Mill is among the greatest meals courts at Walt Disney World in terms of ambiance and themed design? What are your ideas on the entree choices at Riverside Mill? In the event you get pleasure from eating right here, what are your menu suggestions? In the event you don’t like Riverside Mill, why not? Agree or disagree with our evaluation? Share your ideas within the feedback!
