Disney World Quick Service Dining Archives - Living a Disney LifeLiving a Disney Life

Disney Dining – Epcot’s Tangierine Café

It’s not that we don’t like the Morocco Pavilion…We do! It’s got a lot going for it. The architectural details, tile work, shopping, and live music all work together to create an especially exotic oasis in World Showcase. We’ve passed on the food simply because there are so many other choices in Epcot. Also, a couple of us are picky-ish, so we tend to go places we know everyone will like. Raymond loves the coffee served at the Morocco Pavilion and has stopped on many occasions to enjoy a cup while the rest of us look around in the gift shop.

Tile Closeup / Morocco Pavilion / Epcot's World Showcase

Hopping to Epcot from a busy morning at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Megan and I were hungry! The weather was gorgeous and we headed straight for Morocco and the Tangierine Café for lunch. Everything on the menu sounded good to us, but we both decided on the gigantic Shawarma Chicken and Lamb Platter “served with a side of Hummus, Tabouleh, and Tangierine Couscous Salad with fresh Moroccan Bread“.

Everything on our plates was delicious. (Pictures don’t do it justice!) We loved the consistency of the bread and how fresh all the flavors were. Perfectly seasoned, each generous portion was flavorful and satisfying without being heavy. As I mentioned, lunch was also a good value on the dining plan (out-of-pocket price for just the Shawarma Chicken and Lamb Platter is currently $14.99).

Megan and I were so happy we tried Tangierine Café! If you’re looking for a filling lunch in Epcot and haven’t yet tried this quick service restaurant in Morocco, we highly recommend it.

What are your favorite go-to dining spots in Epcot for lunch?

As I’ve mentioned before, we love the Contemporary Resort! We love the expansive, soaring Grand Canyon Concourse with the monorail station inside, the shops, the Mary Blair mural (Hello, Five Legged Goat!), and the restaurants. Chef Mickey’s has always been our favorite character dining experience. Right next to Chef Mickey is a counter-service restaurant we’d seen and heard of, but had never tried until our most recent visit to Walt Disney World. We ate there twice – Lunch on our arrival day and breakfast on our last day of vacation. We were quite pleased with our meals, so I’m sharing this review with you today…

WDW Resortloop Quick Service – Contempo Café

The first impression of this eatery is that it’s both wide open and, in keeping with the theme of the Contemporary, quite modern. Orders are placed at automated, self-service kiosks that print out a ticket for you to carry to the checkout counter, along with any extras you select from the self-serve sections for bakery items and bottled beverages (I chose beer at lunch). After you pay for your meal, you then wait for your ticket number to be called so you can pick up your tray(s) and find a seat.

The bakery items looked good and the menu offered a broad selection. The beer selection was a bit sparse, but didn’t keep us from enjoying lunch. We ate right after we arrived and checked in, so I took care of ordering and getting our table, while Raymond took some things to our room.

For Raymond I ordered the Caprese Flatbread ($8.49) and I chose the expensive Lobster Roll ($16.29). Normally, I wouldn’t spend that much on lunch, but I was thinking of you. So in the interest of culinary research, I sprung for it. Both orders looked tasty and weren’t heavy, which was important since we had a dinner reservation later at the Kona Café (Polynesian Village Resort). The food was good! We were both pleased with our lunches (if not the price) and decided the Contempo was convenient with good choices and needed to be added to our list of quick-service favorites.

On the last day of vacation, we had some time to spare before our Fort Wilderness Back Trail Adventure tour, so we decided to see what the Contempo Café had to offer for breakfast. We already knew about the bakery counter, but ended up ordering off the menu. I ordered the Breakfast Burrito ($6.49) and Raymond had the Breakfast Sandwich ($6.49), we also decided to share an order of grits ($3.19). It’s a thing we do, like a test. See, living in Louisiana, we eat grits just about every weekend. I make some pretty amazing garlic cheese grits and they’ve become a staple on our weekend breakfast lineup. We often try grits in restaurants to see if we can find anyplace that does them well. I’m happy to report that so far, the Contempo Cafe’s grits are the best we’ve had at Walt Disney World!!! They’re served with white cheddar cheese, which makes them taste great! We will most definitely be visiting the Contempo Café again.