Friday, October 28, 2016

Dining Review: Captain's Grille at Disney's Yacht Club Resort

On my family's trip last month, we planned to try some new restaurants. Well, new to us restaurants! We have some of our favorites, and it was really hard to not go back to those.

On a whim, we booked Captain's Grill at Disney's Yacht Club. I didn't know anything about it. I had never eaten there, and in almost four years as a Disney vacation planner, I have never booked a client there.


I booked our dining right at 180 days, but we needed one more dinner reservation. I had originally booked Bongo's at Disney Springs for our down day, but our plans changed, and I needed something different. We did a split stay this time with three nights at Art of Animation and then three nights at Boardwalk. This was for the night we changed resorts, and I wanted something close by. Nothing on the Boardwalk really jumped out at us; ESPN Club didn't really appeal to us, and we didn't really want Italian at Trattoria al Forno. We had eaten at Cape May (Beach Club) before, plus I needed a table for 7 with three kids ages 11, 6 and 2. Captain's Grill had reservations, so we gave it a shot. As a bonus, we were going to the Boardwalk area after dinner and see the entertainers!

From Boardwalk, it was super easy to get to. We just hopped on the boat. Captain's Grill is right off the lobby at Yacht Club, so it was easy to find. My sister and her family were coming from Disney Springs, and we beat them there so we checked in at the restaurant and waited for them in the lobby.

Once we were seated, I was a little nervous. The restaurant was quite empty even though it was prime dinner time. I started worrying that the reason it was easy to get a table for 7 people was that it wasn't very good.

Our server was helpful and attentive. The menu looked good and had some delicious sounding items; there were some dishes you would expect at a resort themed to the water and boats like crab cakes, snow crab legs, and fish.

I opted for their signature dish--Cabernet-roasted short rib over a corn risotto. My husband opted for crab cakes, and my son was thrilled to be able to order a cheeseburger on the kids menu!

The Cabernet-roasted short rib was amazing! It was so tender and so flavorful. The corn risotto had just a hint of sweetness and was the perfect compliment to the short rib. My husband's crab cakes were delicious, too. Lots of crab and little filling, but he was still a little hungry afterwards. I think he could've easily eaten another crab cake!

Cabernet roasted short rib over the corn risotto.

Crab cakes with waffle cut potato chips

Cupcake push pop
example!
I have no pictures but my sister and brother-in-law opted to just do appetizers that night; their jumbo crab cake appetizer and the beer-braised mussels and clams looked great, and they said both were yummy!

We opted for dessert, too. I had the Gianduja chocolate cake with hazelnuts. It was a little more mousse-like than I expected but it was still tasty. We were on the dining plan for this trip; I think I would've been disappointed if I had paid $7 for this dessert, but it was ok. My husband had the seasonal cheesecake which came with a scoop of ice cream, and my sister got a seasonal fruit cobbler. They were both good. My niece got a cupcake push pop! (I forgot to take a picture, so I'm showing you an example of one instead!)



Chocolate cake with hazelnuts 
Fruit Cobbler

Cheesecake with a dollop of ice cream on the side!

Overall, this restaurant was a very pleasant surprise. It wasn't crowded or loud; we didn't feel rushed like someone else needed our table. The entrees were quite good. The atmosphere was nice and relaxed. Location is very convenient if you are staying at Beach Club, Yacht Club or Boardwalk. I wouldn't leave Epcot's World Showcase to eat here, but it is a very good option for a down day.

Susan Burks is a Disney travel planner at WishdrawalsTravel, a military wife, and a homeschooling mom to a robot-programming, chess-playing, history-buff 12 year old!  

She and her family love visiting Disney World and taking Disney cruises. Having completed seven Disney cruises to the Bahamas, Caribbean, Panama Canal and Norway, she is now preparing to embark on a eighth Disney Cruise on the newly re-imagined Disney Wonder and then the Trans-Atlantic in 2017--and planning her next Disney World visit, too!

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