When people think of dining in Disney World, they likely think of restaurants in the Disney World parks like Skipper Canteen in Magic Kingdom or the Connections Eatery in EPCOT, but the hotels have a lot of dining options, too.

One of the newest hotels to join the ranks is the Walt Disney World Swan Reserve. It is located in the same area as the Swan and Dolphin Hotels, and when it opened, it brought with it some new dining options, including Amare, the signature restaurant of the hotel. Today, we’re giving it a try!

Atmosphere

Amare is a Mediterranean restaurant located in the Swan Reserve. It is a casual, upscale restaurant that is inspired by the “tastes and cultures of the Mediterranean region.”

The dining area is very light and airy, featuring a lot of wood accents and cooler, more blue tones. There are also lots of plants throughout the restaurant, contributing to that airy, fresh feel.

Unlike many restaurants, the kitchen is not closed off here, so depending on where you’re seated, you may be able to see into the kitchen during your meal.

The table setting also leans heavily into the blues with blue plates and a blue holder for the candle in the center of the table. Amare is available for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and we chose to head there for dinner. Keep in mind that reservations are recommended for guests wanting to have dinner at Amare.

From where we were sitting during our dinner, we had a view of the Swan hotel out the window.

We thought the atmosphere was very fitting for the restaurant and really made the whole thing seem bright and fresh.

Eats

Since the restaurant is Mediterranean, the menu features options that are also light and fresh (just like the decor). The menu also includes quite an extensive wine list (like several pages extensive) along with some specialty cocktails and a beer list.

We were started off with some bread. We got four pieces of bread along with hummus, olive oil, and an olive spread. The bread was very good with a very crunchy outside and a soft inside (just the way you want it to be!).

The dips for the bread were presented as a ring of hummus that kind of made a bowl for the olive oil. The olive spread sat on top of the olive oil to make a really unique presentation. What we loved about the hummus and olive oil for the bread was that you could tell that the ingredients were very high quality.

We really loved the olive spread (we literally ate it with a spoon, don’t judge us), but if you’re not a fan of olives, it’s easy enough to eat around the spread to just get the hummus and olive oil.

For drinks, we tried the Viola which is Ford’s Gin, Creme de Violet, and Cucumber-Lime Basil Elixir topped with fresh cucumber and Thai basil.

We liked this drink a lot. We thought it was light and refreshing and very good for summer. It’s a bit on the tart side, but is still very fruity. Most of all though, we just thought this drink was pretty; it even has edible gold on top! This cocktail was $17.

We also tried the Grand Tour of the Mediterranean wine flight which consists of four wines. This is Amare’s signature wine flight with a wine from Italy, one from Spain, one from France, and one from Greece.

Our favorite wine in the flight was the one from Spain. This wine was recommended by our server and it was definitely worth it. It’s Marqués de Cáceres and it’s a dry wine with hints of apples and white flowers and is bubbly, too!

Our least favorite wine was the one from France, but we think that was because it didn’t pair well with one of our appetizers (which we’ll get to in a minute), which isn’t the fault of the wine. We were also very surprised by how much we liked the Rose from Italy which was very light and delicious.

Alright, on to appetizers. For appetizers, we got three of the seven available. We got the Chargrilled Pepper Crostino, the Polpetti, and the Charred Octopus. First up is the Chargrilled Pepper Crostino, available for $14, this appetizer is a Chargrilled Pepper Crostino topped with marinated and grilled Bell Peppers, Parsley, and grated Manchego Cheese.

We really enjoyed this appetizer. We thought it would be a good choice if you’re wanting to order an appetizer that won’t be too filling, because it is on the lighter side. However, because it is bread-based, some may not like it because we were served a bread basket, as well.

Next up we have the Polpetti, which is Tomato braised Lamb and Beef Meatballs with crispy Potatoes, Saffron Aioli, and a roasted Pine Nut Crumble, available for $16.

First up, our reporter admits that they are not the biggest fan of lamb, so they were a little put off by this appetizer at first, but ended up overall enjoying it. It does taste a lot like lamb though, so we would recommend skipping this appetizer if that’s not something you would like.

It comes with three meatballs and the meatballs themselves were very well blended, and everything came together to make a very rich flavor and we thought it tasted very Mediterranean with the lamb and pine nut crumble.

While it was good, it wasn’t our favorite appetizer, that award went to none other than the Charred Octopus.

The Charred Octopus was recommended to us by the chef and it was absolutely delicious! For $18, you get Charred Octopus served on a Fennel Puree and topped with Pickled Onion, Crispy Potato shards and a Pistachio Gremolata. 

What made this octopus so great was the texture. If you’ve eaten octopus before, you know that it sometimes has a very chewy texture to it. This octopus was barely chewy at all, and according to our server, that’s because it’s seared before it’s charred! Not only was the texture amazing, but it went really well with everything else in the dish like pistachio gremolata and the fennel puree.

Octopus is kind of an acquired taste though, so we would only recommend the octopus if you know you like it, otherwise it might be a miss for you.

And now it’s time to get into the entrees! First up, we tried the Amare Salad which is Shredded Iceberg and Romaine Lettuces, fresh Dill, Scallion, Marinated Feta Cheese, Red Onion, Kalamata Olives, Cucumber, marinated Artichoke Hearts, Red Wine and Marjoram Dressing. It is $14, but for a surcharge, you can add either grilled chicken or grilled mahi mahi.

This salad was good, and we appreciated the fact that it was shredded, because that meant we were able to get all of the flavors into one bite easily. It also had a bit of a bitter aftertaste, likely due to the dressing, but it was still very good.

Overall though, we probably wouldn’t recommend the salad because there are so many other unique things on the menu to try, and this was easily the least exciting thing we had, not because it was bad, but just because other items had more going on.

Next up, we have the Romesco Chicken which is Fennel Marinated Roasted Chicken Breast, Paprikash Style Braised Thigh, House Made Pappardelle Pasta, Organic Vegetables, Cauliflower Puree, Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Romesco Sauce. It is $27.

We went into this entree assuming that it would be the basic, safe choice (because it’s chicken, right?), but we could not have been more wrong! The chicken was so nice and juice and when they say walnut sauce, they really mean walnut sauce. You could definitely taste the nuttiness in the sauce, which might be off-putting to some because of the unique flavor, but we really enjoyed it.

Another great thing about this entree is that you get two different types of chicken. You get the roast chicken breast sitting on top of some sauce, and the chicken thigh sitting on top of the pasta.

The pasta is amazing as well! The chef told us that all of the pasta is made in-house, and it definitely pays off, because we really enjoyed the pasta in this meal. When it comes to this entree, we would probably skip it if you’re a picky eater because some of the flavor combinations are pretty unique and uncommon, especially when looking at traditional American food.

Speaking of pasta, the next entree we tried was the Tonnarelli Alle Vongole which is House-made Tonnarelli pasta with steamed Baby Clams, roasted Tomato sauce, Calabrian Chile and Guanciale. It is $28.

This was our favorite entree we had all evening. We really, really liked it, but seeing as clams are a big part of the item, we would not recommend it unless you like seafood. The clams were cooked well and didn’t have any of the weird graininess that clams can sometimes get.

We would describe the sauce as “beautiful.” And we’re not kidding. The clams paired well with the sauce, and we were happy to see that you didn’t only get the clams in the shells, there were already de-shelled clams in the sauce, to add to the overall clamminess.

This meal was also surprisingly slightly on the spicy side. It’s not overly spicy, but definitely has a little bit of a kick, so be aware of that before you order.

Amare also has a selection of flatbreads on the menu, so we tried one! We had the La Vegetale flatbread which is Roasted Grape Black Pepper Pecorino Cheese, Aged Balsamic and Baby Arugula.

This flatbread was good and we enjoyed it. We almost thought it was too sweet, probably because of the balsamic, but overall it was very good and LOADED with arugula.

And finally, we come to the dessert. For dessert, we had the Greek Yogurt Cheesecake.

For $14, it is greek yogurt cheesecake with white chocolate mosaic-looking tiles and blueberries, and we were very surprised by the portion size! We were expecting something smaller, but what we got was actually very large. The white chocolate even matches the decor of the restaurant.

It was very light (that seems to be the theme of the evening, doesn’t it?) and overall just delicious. The crust is a super thin graham cracker-type crust that complements the rest of the dessert very well. Our #1 favorite part of this meal and we would highly recommend it.

Nosh or Not

Book a table at Amare if…

• You’re a fan of Mediterranean food and extensive wine lists.
• You’re looking for a relatively budget-friendly table-service or signature dining meal on Disney World property.
• Your group is comprised of adventurous eaters who are willing to try new things.

Skip Amare if…

• You’re not a fan of Mediterranean food or you’re not interesting in being exposed to unique flavor combinations.
• You’re looking for a restaurant that will make you feel at Disney. This restaurant, while on Disney property, feels more like venturing outside of the so-called “Disney bubble” than a Disney restaurant.

Overall

We really liked Amare, but we’re not sure if everyone will. This restaurant probably isn’t for everybody, because some of the food items are more on the unique side and may not be the most approachable. If you have picky eaters in your party, this restaurant may not satisfy the whole group, so definitely take that into consideration before making a reservation.

Amare also serves breakfast and lunch with more options like a burger, and various sandwiches, so if you want to try Amare but are worried you might not find something to eat on the dinner menu, consider giving it a go at lunchtime!

If you’re looking for a Disney World hotel restaurant that is more approachable for the whole group, we recommend trying a place like Beaches and Cream at the Beach Club or, one of our personal favorites, ‘Ohana at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort.

Make sure to stay tuned to DFB for the latest Disney food news and information!

Click here for the 10 Disney World restaurants every first-timer should have on their list!

Join the DFB Newsletter to get all the breaking news right in your inbox! Click here to Subscribe!

Have you ever eaten at Amare? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

The post REVIEW: Head to Amare at the Swan Reserve Hotel in Disney World With Us! first appeared on the disney food blog.