You may think you have your go-to spot for a quick bite in Magic Kingdom, but we’re here to challenge that idea a bit.

Deciding on just where to eat on a day out at the park can be tough, especially if you just want something that’s pretty basic, quick, and won’t sit too heavy on your stomach. While we’ve had some great light bites and sweet treats to try out here recently, sometimes you just want a full meal to keep you satisfied, and we may have found the perfect option for you!

Strolling through Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom can feel like no man’s land for food sometimes. Sure we’ve got places to try out for food like Pinocchio’s Village Haus that’s nearby or even a neighboring stop at Storybook Treats for a quick ice cream treat. However, we were really in the mood for more of a meal and didn’t want to stop for too long or wait around to get a table inside at Pinocchio Village Haus so we settled for a meal at The Friar’s Nook.

“Settled” is an interesting choice of words here, isn’t it? We pass by this particular restaurant in Magic Kingdom all the time, but it’s not a spot we really feel like we need to stop! So, recently on a sunnier day than we had been having, we decided to take a quick break from our regular park walk to stop by and pick up a meal.

Atmosphere

This is a quick service restaurant and mostly is just a “hole in the wall” place. The counter is built right into the side of the wall, and you’ll walk up to the line to place an order or place it using My Disney Experience’s mobile order feature. (If you haven’t used mobile order before, we really recommend it! You can read all about it right here!)

Once you’ve placed your order, you may notice a small self-service utensil and condiments stand just off to the side of the ordering counter.

Once you’ve grabbed your order you’ll want to be quick or scope out a spot in advance because the only seating for this restaurant can be found outdoors and is fairly limited to round tables. This becomes very crowded throughout the day, and if you’re placing an order at a peak dining time, you may find yourself eating a bit further away from where you originally planned.

Menu

The menu here is fairly basic and will mainly consist of various versions of hot dogs, tots, and one dessert option…

… but you’ll also find a small selection of beverages, sodas, water, and a few kids’ meal options.

This is the menu you’ll find when you walk up to the counter, but there is a smaller menu near where you walk by outside of the restaurant that will give you a teaser of what’s available. We happened to visit at lunch, but this restaurant does serve a separate menu for breakfast options, too.

Drinks

We decided to order a ginormous meal, so of course we needed something to wash it down with. We opted for the Strawberry Lemonade Slush which cost us $6.49.

This drink tastes like a Minute Maid strawberry lemonade drink. It’s a bit tangy or tart like you would anticipate out of the Minute Maid lemonade but mixing it against the strawberry helps balance that bite down a bit. We really enjoyed this drink and questioned why we hadn’t ordered this one as a quick snack to walk around with more often. This drink could make a great “cool down” drink for someone on a super hot day. The only fault we could find with it was that it melts pretty quickly, and this particular day wasn’t terribly hot — so you’ll want to watch for that when you order one because ours came filled to the brim.

Eats

Then it was time to turn our attention to the food! We ordered several of the entree items which included the Curry Brat Tots, Bacon Mac & Cheese Hot Dog, and for dessert, we settled on the Caramel Apple-Pecan Hand Pie.

So, let’s break this down one by one starting with the Curry Brat Tots first. These are tots topped with chopped bratwurst, curry ketchup, and apple slaw for $11.49.

The curry ketchup is what really sets this dish apart! The bratwurst pieces are soft and meaty, and the crunch of the slaw against the crunch of the tots topped in the curry ketchup (which you can smell before it hits your mouth) is excellent! I was a bit nervous about trying this one because I’m not a huge curry fan, but it tasted great mixed in with the ketchup.

The curry is mixed in really thoroughly and although you can smell it, it’s a very mild taste. We also wouldn’t be mad if Disney decided to offer the curry ketchup as a standalone condiment like our beloved plastic cheese sauce.

Next up it was time to try out the Bacon Mac & Cheese Hot Dog. This entree is served just as it sounds with a side of tots for $12.79.

This is a pretty popular version of hot dog for Disney. The hot dog is thicker like a Nathan’s dog, and the bread is nice and soft (until it’s sat out for a bit).

The mac and cheese is creamy, and while we were concerned this would be super messy to eat — it held together surprisingly well! The bacon bits are thicker cut without a lot of fat to them.

But we’re not done with this dish just yet. We’ve still got to talk about the tots.

There’s nothing super special about these tots. There’s not a ton of flavor to them besides a very distinct potato taste but we appreciated that they weren’t overly salty or greasy.

Finally, it was time for something sweet, so we were able to try out the Caramel Apple-Pecan Hand Pie for $5.99. This sweet treat is made of the hand pie drizzled with vanilla custard.

We LOVED this thing! The apple chunks are like what you would find in those apple pie pizzas and it has the cinnamon gel surrounding it like baked cinnamon apples typically have.

The caramel and cinnamon sugar outside the crispy crust was just divine. It was just hard enough to hold the pie together, but also fell apart pretty easily when bitten into or cut.

Overall

Overall, this was actually a meal that surprised us. There were items that we absolutely loved like the Caramel Apple-Pecan Hand Pie, Strawberry Lemonade Slush, and others that we liked elements of like the curry ketchup on the Curry Brat Tots.

Where this meal fell flat for us was the lack of variety because tots are practically the only side served with these entrees here, and your most exciting hot dog choice is the Bacon Mac & Cheese Hot Dog that’s already served at multiple quick service restaurants around other Disney World parks.

Nosh or Not?

You should stop here to eat if…

• You really enjoy a weird hot dog! The menu is mostly made of hot dog creations so if you consider yourself a hot dog enthusiast it’s worth trying at least once.
• You’re looking for something quick and easy. There’s not a lot of fluff to this restaurant’s menu and it won’t keep you in one spot for long making it ideal for a grab-and-go option.
• You’re over the regular hamburgers and fries. It can feel like you can get a burger and fries almost anywhere in Magic Kingdom, so venture out here and switch it up.

We’d recommend stopping for food somewhere else if…

• You’ve got a picky eater in your party. While there are hot dogs on the menu they’re pretty weird toppings outside of a traditional hot dog and your pickiest eaters may say “no way.”
• You’re just not that into hot dogs. If a hearty hot dog doesn’t sound like a good choice to you, you’ll do better choosing somewhere else.
• You’re really looking to eat AND take a break. As we mentioned earlier seating here is VERY limited and the entire restaurant is outdoors. If you’re already burning up and really looking for a place to sit for a while and cool off, this spot won’t be ideal for you.

We’ve reviewed EVERYTHING you could eat at Disney World so be sure to check out a few more of our reviews below and stay tuned with us at Disney Food Blog for the latest!

REVIEW: We Ate the MOST EXPENSIVE Meal in Disney World. Here’s What It Was Like.

What’s your favorite thing to order from The Friar’s Nook? Leave your order in the comments below!

The post REVIEW: Weird, But True — The Ketchup Was the Best Part of This Magic Kingdom Lunch first appeared on the disney food blog.