REVIEW: Contempo Cafe Updates Menu, Does It Compare To Years Past?

Contempo Cafe is a quick service restaurant located on the 4th floor at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, right next to Chef Mickey’s. The location was known as being one of the best quick services on property at one point, but that all changed three years ago when a new chef altered the menu that had a cult following. Contempo has attempted to reclaim their throne numerous times over the past few years, but failed to elevate themselves past being the location to get new cupcakes at. We stopped by to check out recent menu changes and see how they hold up.

First things first, cupcakes! Check out our review for the Cookies & Cream Monorail Cupcake here, it includes a white chocolate monorail! Other than that, the fun Confetti Cake is still available and there’s a Millennial Pink cupcake and a Rose Gold cupcake.

Onto the food!

Seared Chicken Rice Bowl – Chef’s Specialty Rice, Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette, and Market Vegetables – $10.49

I’m not sure what we expected, but we received a bowl of rice and a grilled chicken breast on top. The rice was almost as bland as the beige exterior of the Contemporary tower and the vinaigrette was nothing special, just a little over-citrusy at times. It felt like the peas, corn, green beans, and chopped red peppers were included to keep a basic and boring color palette to the entire dish. This was a major letdown, especially after having amazing rice bowls at Typhoon Lagoon and Fairfax Fare. We feel the Contempo chefs saw other locations adding rice bowls and felt they could do it with the ingredients they have laying around the kitchen, instead of trying to make something unique enough to be served at one of the landmark hotels at Walt Disney World.

 

Artisanal Mac & Cheese – Chef’s Pasta Selection and Seasonal Accoutrements – $8.99

Much better than the rice bowl. This incarnation of the mac & cheese was filled with bacon, cherry tomatoes, and breadcrumbs. We don’t understand the addition of the tomatoes, but we guess that they balance out the rest of the dish for lacking any vegetables. The bowl is loaded with pasta that’s impossibly cheesy and a LOT of bacon. For the $8.99 price tag we couldn’t imagine a better quick service comfort food. Recommended, although the recipe has potential to change all the time depending what the chef wants to do.

 

Concourse Cuban – Slow-Roasted Pork Loin, Shaved Ham, Dill Pickles, Dijon Mayonnaise, and Swiss Cheese – $11.49

This sandwich was enormous and packed with pork loin and ham. You may remember our Spyglass Grill review that also had a Cuban sandwich involved. Both sandwiches are the same price, but this Contempo Cafe one is literally about twice the size. One thing to note is that you can ask for modifications to the sandwich, so if you don’t like mustard but would enjoy everything else you can ask for no mustard. Anyway, all of the meats were perfectly cooked and worked well to bring a true Cuban sandwich to Contemporary.

 

Overall

Contempo Cafe is still struggling to create meaningful entrees that encapsulate the overall feel of the resort while keeping to a modern style. Sure, there’s some positives, but nothing will compare to years past. The flatbreads are still fantastic and dinner adds numerous heartier menu items, so you may find more to enjoy later in the day.