Disney World is all chicken tenders, fries, burgers, churros, and ice cream sandwiches, right? WRONG. VERY, VERY WRONG.

Sure, we love ourselves a good funnel cake or giant Mickey waffle, but if you’re looking for a more elevated dining experience (we’re talking Pork Belly, Seafood Pearl Pasta, and more!) then we’ve found just the place for you. It can fall under the radar for most folks though. Have you stopped by to eat at this somewhat hidden BoardWalk spot? Should you make it a must-do on your next trip? We’ve got THOUGHTS.

For this Disney food adventure, we’re talking you (virtually) over to Flying Fish, a restaurant located at Disney’s BoardWalk that serves seafood, steak, and more!

Atmosphere

Flying Fish is located right on the BoardWalk next to the AbracadaBar. (The bar is actually attached to the Flying Fish and they share a restroom — it’s a pretty cool restroom too so that might be worth a visit!)

Once you’ve made your way inside Flying Fish, a Cast Member will check you in and seat you. If you’ve dined at Flying Fish in the past, you might remember that the restaurant was redecorated a few years back. Previously, the restaurant had more of a carnival theme that paid homage to the BoardWalk and American boardwalks in general.

Now, the interior is clean and sophisticated, with touches of more playful decor. You’ll still see some boardwalk-inspired items, like the mirrors on top of the check-in desk, which sort of remind us of a vintage carousel.

The color palette is pretty dark, but the stunning crystal flying fish chandelier really brightens up the space. In some of the other rooms, we saw more beautiful ocean-inspired chandeliers — they were so fun to look at! There’s a touch of whimsy in places, but overall it’s got a very sophisticated feel to it.

Although most of the old circus-theming is gone, we loved the vintage carnival/boardwalk-style photos throughout the restaurant.

In terms of space, there were private dining rooms, a bar area, regular tables, and chairs, as well as booths running through the center of the restaurant that seemed to emulate the shape of waves. If you’re looking for the full “ocean” inspired experience, requesting one of those tables might be fun!

We loved all the little details throughout the restaurant. Themed flatware really adds to the experience, wouldn’t you agree?

As you can probably tell, this is definitely a more upscale restaurant (it is what Disney considers to be a “signature” restaurant), and there is a dress code. That’s right folks, you’ve got to put away the Mickey shorts and loud vintage-style Crocs for a night. To eat at Flying Fish, the dress code is as follows (according to Disney’s website:

• “Men must wear khakis, slacks or dress shorts and collared shirts. Jeans may be worn if in good condition. Sport coats are optional.
• Women must wear Capri pants, skirts, dresses or dress shorts. Jeans may be worn if in good condition.
• Not permitted are tank tops, flip-flops, swimsuits, swimsuit cover-ups, hats for gentlemen, cut-offs, torn clothing and t-shirts with offensive language and/or graphics.”

In general, we thought that the atmosphere was beautiful; it almost felt like we were dining outside of Disney World! If you’ve ever wanted to feel like you’ve “escaped” the theme parks (but still be within walking distance of them) this is the spot for you.

Menu

The menu has a nice selection of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. There aren’t too many unique cocktails on the menu, but don’t forget that the AbracadaBar is right next door.

There was a QR code available to scan and view the menu online, and paper menus available as well.

Here’s a look at the coffee/cocktail menu. The prices range from $7.49 to $14.

On the appetizer menu, you can order a salad, lobster bisque, cheese sampling, or go for something like the mussels or pork belly. The world is your oyster, as they say (though you can’t literally order oysters as an appetizer here — that would have really given us some pun power, but alas, until next time).

Now, let’s get to the more substantial part. The entrée menu is definitely priced along the lines of a signature dining experience in Disney World. In terms of options, guests can choose between a variety of seafood dishes, or go for a land option instead. There is also a tofu dish for those looking for a plant-based option.

The kids’ menu also has a variety of dishes ranging from classic, like the chicken breast, to more adventurous, like the red snapper.

Additionally, Flying Fish offers an enhancements menu with four additional add-on options.

To finish the meal, there are five different desserts.

Eats

Once we were seated, our server started us off with four pieces of potato bread with roasted garlic. The texture of the bread was soft and doughy, but the crust was nice and crunchy. It wasn’t like oh-my-gosh-we-almost-burnt-our-bread crunchy though — it was just the right amount of crunchiness if you know what we mean.

Our bread came with plain, unsalted butter topped with chives and Maldon sea salt. We enjoyed the bread, but it was pretty strong on the garlic flavor, so that’s just something to keep in mind.

Unlike some other restaurants, where you get multiple different types of breads and/or spreads, this really just had the one bread and one butter option. But still, we enjoyed the strong garlic flavor in the bread and how nicely it went with the butter and salt. Sometimes simplicity is a good thing!

After we filled our bellies with a bit of bread, we ordered the Slow-roasted Pork Belly with spiced apple and cherry gastrique as an appetizer for $16. What is a gastrique you ask? Good question! According to the Food Network, it’s basically like a sweet-and-sour sauce; it’s typically made with caramelized sugar and vinegar.

The pork was extremely tender and not chewy at all. If you’re a fan of pork belly but hate the idea of a fatty dish that you have to chew, chew, chew on like you’re a chew chew train (get it? ) don’t let that fear stop you from ordering this. One side of the pork belly was really meaty, while the other side had that nice fatty portion on the edge. Though we could see some pepper on the outside, it didn’t really give the dish a strong peppery flavor.

The cherry gastrique added a sweet caramelized flavor that we really enjoyed.

Our appetizer also came with a crispy potato croquette with Tillamook cheese. The potato croquette had been coated in Panko. We noticed that our croquette wasn’t quite as warm as the pork belly, but it was really cripsy, which added a great texture differnce to the dish. We liked the change of texture between the crispy croquette and the more soft/chewy pork belly.

On the side, we also tried the slaw, which has that sliced apple we previously mentioned. TBH there wasn’t much flavor in the slaw, but it wasn’t bad. It was not as vinegary as we would have expected, so all we really got was that heavy fennel flavor. What it did do was add a bit of crunch and coldness in temperature, so that was nice. But just don’t expect it to provide big pops of flavor!

Overall though, if you’re looking for a quality, savory appetizer and you like the meaty flavor of pork belly, we think you’ll probably enjoy this dish.

Next, we opted for an entree for one very specific type of food lover — the seafood obsessed! We ordered the Seafood Pearl Pasta for $55, which comes with Shrimp, Lobster, Scallops, Clams, and Mussels. To further enhance our meal, we added the Seared Scallops for an additional $21.

We thought the seafood pasta was AMAZING! Our best comparison for the pearl pasta is to imagine it like an orzo-type pasta. It was cooked al dente, and it wasn’t mushy or floppy. Some of the pasta was even a little browned, which gave us the feeling that it had been potentially pan roasted.

In addition to the pasta and seafood, there were some roasted cherry tomatoes and a roasted tomato consommé sauce. With so much heavy seafood (which was all very good), we thought that the sauce complemented the dish perfectly. One note is that there was a lot of parsley on our food, so keep that in mind if you aren’t a fan of parsley.

The clams and mussels both tasted like they were braised in a sort-of white wine garlic and parsley sauce, adding a lot of flavors.

Our scallops were seared PERFECTLY, and the ones we ordered as an addition to the meal were essentially the same as the scallops included on top of our pasta. Is the added cost of the additional scallops worth it? Ehhh…we don’t really think so. The dish already offers enough in terms of the items within it. But if you’re really hungry or you simply LOVE scallops, then, by all means, scallop your way to victory.

The real star of the show (in our opinion) was the lobster, though! Let’s be honest here — if you’ve had lobster in a variety of spots, odds are you’ve probably had that chewy and dry lobster in the bunch. It’s…not the best. So we truly went into this dish sort of expecting the same. But LO AND BEHOLD, the lobster was actually incredibly tender and tasty!

The shrimp was cooked really nicely as well. They weren’t overcooked (something that is SO easy to do — not that we speak from experience or anything ). The shrimp were barely pink (in a good way) and were delish!

Although we had a full plate of food, this is definitely a lighter dish. If you’re looking for a heavier meal (ya know, a big ole meat-filled bonanza), then you might be better off with one of the steaks.

That said, seafood lovers will likely adore the Seafood Pearl Pasta; those flavors worked together perfectly. But seriously folks, trust us here when we say you REALLY gotta love seafood to enjoy this one. If you’re a “seafood is alright” kinda person, then you’re probably better off opting for a different dish!

Our one big complaint about this dish? It ain’t cheap. At $55 (plus that scallop add-on) you’re looking at an expensive meal. But we do think that the amount of seafood provided and how it was all prepared (and tasted) makes it well worth it. When the flavors are spot on like this, the cost can be justified (in our opinion at least).

After we finished our dinner, it was time for dessert! (You didn’t think we were going to leave here without getting dessert right?!)

To drink, we ordered the Peanut Butter Freeze, which is a mixture of Kahlúa, Baileys Irish Cream, Crème de Banana, dark Crème de Cacao, Peanut Butter, and is garnished with Candied Bacon for $14.

Okay yeah, we can hear you screaming — “This is on the specialty cocktails & coffee menu! Not the dessert menu! It’s a drink, not a food!” But seriously folks, our server said this is one that should be saved for dessert time and we wholeheartedly agree so we’re including it in the dessert portion! This drink is THICKKKKK and basically a dessert in and of itself.

The drink is extremely rich and heavy on the peanut butter flavor. We didn’t taste a strong boozy flavor, making this a great option (and dangerous!) for those who like sweet drinks without a strong alcohol taste. Once again, this drink is THICKKKKK and very much shareable.

If you’ve reached dessert time and want a lighter after-dinner drink, this ain’t it. This should basically be a dessert offering on its own.

Finally, we ordered a dessert that isn’t in liquid form. We grabbed the Creamy Goat Cheesecake with Honey Glaze, Cassis Gel, and Pistachio Cake for $13. There was a white chocolate topper spray-painted in green, some pistachio whipped cream, and raspberry coulis as well. For starters, this dessert is definitely going up on your Instagram. It’s very photogenic and colorful, making it really fun. But sometimes the cutest desserts taste the WORST (we’ve all been there).

Well, we were happy to report that this cheesecake tasted just as amazing as it looked! The goat cheese is not that sweet. It almost had more of a savory flavor with a touch of sourness, making this a not overly sugary dessert. The honey drizzled on top complimented the cheesecake quite well, adding the touch of sweetness needed to balance things out.

You couldn’t really taste the raspberry coulis on the bottom though. We were looking for it to add a refreshing tartness to the dish, but it really just added color to the plate instead.

Overall though, we think Flying Fish hit the nail on the head with this dessert! It was well-balanced and very tasty.

If you aren’t a fan of goat cheese, you might want to try something else — the goat cheese flavor is very strong. Also, if your sweet tooth is essentially the size of the entire globe, then you might want to opt for something that’s got a stronger level of sweetness to it.

Nosh or Not?

Fly over for dinner at Flying Fish if…

• You want some really quality dishes and don’t mind splurging — This is a signature dining experience, so high-quality dishes are pretty much expected, but with that high quality comes a big price tag. If you and your family go in prepared to celebrate with an amazing meal and understand the cost that’ll be associated with it then it can work out.
• You love seafood and exciting flavors — The menu is full of incredible seafood options (it is called the Flying Fish, after all! ). But even those who don’t love seafood have some other options, so don’t feel like you’ve got to leave Bobby and Susan at home.
• You’re looking for a quiet, romantic setting — Let’s be honest, there are some places in Disney World that are less than peaceful and intimate (though we don’t entirely disagree with those who feel like corn dog nuggets with cheese sauce on the castle hub grass is the epitome of romance). Flying Fish offers a great little escape from the chaos and crowds in the parks, and makes a great date-night spot for adults!

Fly away from Flying Fish if…

• You’re dining on a budget — No matter how delicious the food may be, $30-$50 entrees are nothing to sneeze at! There are plenty of other dining locations in Disney World that offer quality meals for a much lower price.
• You’re in a rush — This is a table-service option, so expect to sit down and stay for a while. Depending on the time of day, your server might have a dining room full of guests, too, so the service may be a little slow. During our trip, we did feel like service was a bit slow, though we did have a large table next to us which could have impacted things. We were also there on the restaurant’s reopening night, but still, we think you should expect some slightly slower service at this spot.
• You want a more simplistic and casual menu — As mentioned, this is a bit of a fancier, expensive restaurant with some interesting foods and drinks. If you’re in the mood for burgers and fries, head somewhere else!

Overall

Overall, we had a mostly positive experience at Flying Fish. We visited on the restaurant’s reopening night, which could impact things. But we did feel like the service was a bit on the slower side, though if you were just there to enjoy a relaxing dinner at a nice pace with friends and family we don’t think it would be a serious issue. Our server did take the time to walk us through the menu, which we really appreciated. But they were quite busy for much of the night with the large table we were seated next to.

In terms of decor and energy, we really enjoyed that. The atmosphere and energy were welcoming and friendly despite the connotation many people associate with signature dining experiences.

We loved everything we ate! The pork belly was wonderful, the seafood pasta was a dream for seafood lovers, and the dessert drink and dessert itself were really tasty! The prices are a bit high (especially when it came to that seafood pasta and the add-on for the scallops), but the quality of the food and the environment can make it justifiable (at least in our opinion). What do you think? Would you add Flying Fish to your must-do Disney spots? Tell us in the comments!

As always, keep an eye on DFB for the latest Disney World food reviews and more.

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Have you ever dined at the Flying Fish? Let us know in the comments!

The post REVIEW: You Can Have Some Phenomenal Seafood at This Disney World Restaurant — But It Won’t Come Cheap first appeared on the disney food blog.