River Roost is the resort lounge at Disney’s Port Orleans Riverside Resort. The lounge is famous for the piano/musician/comedy act Yeeha Bob who performs numerous nights each week. Be warned that Bob has a cult following and seating becomes a hot commodity while he’s performing. If you’re looking for a relaxing night at River Roost without a large crowd or loud music, try a Sunday/Monday/Tuesday which are nights when Bob isn’t performing. We visited River Roost recently to check out the new menu offerings including numerous food items and themed drinks.

 

 

 

All of the specialty cocktails are new. The new items on the food menu include the Riverside Burger, Loaded Potato Puffs, “Drunken” Flatbread, Bayou Wings, and the Southern Fish and Chips. We opted for dessert instead of the fish and chips, but first let’s check out those drinks!

 

Rum-A-Rita – Bayou Select Rum with Bayou Satsuma Orange Rum Liquor, fresh squeezed Lime Juice, Orange Juice, and Sour Mix – $11.25

Bayou Select Rum is sugarcane rum that’s aged in bourbon barrels. It’s unique, themed, and adds a great oak flavor to the entire drink. This one doesn’t taste as artificial as most other Disney bar margaritas go, and we feel that’s largely due to the quality of the spirits used. It’s worth your time, especially if you’re a rum fan.

 

Citrus Smash – Bayou Satsuma Orange Rum Liquor mixed with Orange Juice and topped with Tonic Water – $10.25

A larger portion of the same liquor used in the Rum-A-Rita, minus the bayou rum and adding in tonic. The tonic does a good job of subduing the overwhelming sweetness of the liquor leaving a beverage that’s easy sipping while relaxing at the bar.

 

Sassagoula Sweet Tea – Revel Stoke Roasted Pecan Whiskey with Home-made Sweet Tea – $9.50

This drink tastes almost warm due to the overwhelming flavor from the pecan whiskey. The whiskey really is THAT potent, and the sweet tea gives the liquor the opportunity to shine. While nothing is overly exciting about a single mixer cocktail, we feel that the pecan whiskey is unique and well-themed to the southern resort. Very good.

 

Riverside Sunshine Peach Lemonade – Skyy Citrus Vodka, Peach Schnapps, Peach Puree, and Odwalla Lemonade – $11.25

This one doesn’t taste like alcohol, which is a dangerous thing because there’s plenty of booze in here. The peach flavor masks everything else in the drink, making for a sweeter beverage that would be ideal during the upcoming hot summer months.

Riverside Burger – with Bourbon-Bacon Jam, Smoked Cheddar, and Garlic Aioli, served with Cajun Steak Fries – $15.00

 

This is one heck of a burger. For a dollar or two more than your standard Disney quick service entree, you get a larger patty, great seasoned steak fries, and a unique burger execution. There’s a LOT of cheese and the bourbon-bacon jam had a great salty/spicy/sweet mixture to it. There’s a little too much arugula on the burger, but you can request it without or just pick off the excess. It’s a winner, especially if you already are planning on dedicating $13 for a basic quick service burger elsewhere.

 

Loaded Potato Puffs – with Carolina Pulled Pork, Abita Beer Cheese, and Pico de Gallo – $11.00

A really large portion for the price topped with quite a bit of the beer cheese. There’s not much pico de gallo on top, and it appears that they almost forgot to add the pork on. With what pork did exist on top was excellent, we just wish there was more on top. Absolutely recommended.

 

“Drunken” Flatbread – Steak with Drunken Goat Cheese and Pepper Jelly – $14.00

Really unfortunate, really. We thought that the promise of pepper jelly and drunken goat cheese would be a really unique offering, but ultimately just ended up adding a greasy tone to the entire flatbread. It’s your standard Disney flatbread, which means it can be either really well done or just horrible, and this one landed somewhere in the latter. There’s potential here, but we got the bad end of the stick. Your mileage may vary.

Bayou Wings – served with Crispy-fried Pickles and Buttermilk Ranch – $13.00

There’s 13 wings here, making the cost come out to about $1/wing. Take into consideration when Nomad Lounge opened and charged $10 for 3 wings. This is a huge win and a huge portion of big, meaty wings that have a great Cajun flavor. Don’t expect your basic buffalo wings, as this is more of a dry-rub with a tangy barbecue sauce and a bit of a creole kick. A huge portion and well worth your time.

Hummingbird Cake – Pineapple-Banana Cake soaked with Bayou Spiced Rum, Roasted Pecans, and Cream Cheese Frosting – $14.00

It’s difficult to capture just how massive this cake is. For $14, this slice easily towers over the rest of the bar. Between the few of us, and after all the rest of the food, we had huge difficulty finishing the incredibly sweet and dense cake. There’s a great crunch to the pecans mixed into the batter and the cream cheese layers are delectable. It rivals Homecomin’s Hummingbird cake for sure.

Topher Wallace