We’re back at Skipper Canteen, which by now has become a part of our usual rotation of restaurants (besides maybe Sanaa and Ale & Compass.) While the menu hasn’t fully changed, recent alterations led us to head in for… further investigation. Read on for our full experience at one of Magic Kingdom’s most unique eateries:

Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen Menu (May 2019)

While not on the menu, our server informed us of three new, seasonal sangrias now available at the restaurant. Passion Fruit, Blue Cerulean, and Pineapple Sangria are now available as a means for the restaurant to get creative with their alcoholic beverages, seeing as though they can’t serve mixed drinks or hard alcohol at the restaurant due to its location within the Magic Kingdom.

Blue Cerulean Sangria

Fair warning, if you don’t like Blue Curacao, you won’t like this. On the flip side, if you’re a fan of the liqueur, you’ll love this. We simply can’t recommend it across the board, though.

Here’s what it looks like once mixed up.

Pineapple Sangria

Now, this sangria is very good. It’s pineapple juice, white wine, and green apple syrup at the bottom for color and added flavor. While both sangrias are good, this is the one I’d have again. It’s a really refreshing option, and especially good on a hot summer’s day. Despite the green apple syrup, it doesn’t taste terribly artificial, thanks to the natural pineapple juice. I don’t normally skew towards sweet drinks, but these sangrias really aren’t bad.

Orinoco Ida’s Cachapas – $12.00

The cachapas have long been a menu staple, but they’ve changed in both presentation and accompaniments. There’s a number of new flavors happening here, starting off with the beer braised pork, which is now marinated in Blue Moon. You can really taste the beer in the pork, but in the best way possible. The fresno pepper salsa is spicy, with a nice kick.

Overall, the cachapas remain as good as they were before. After all, we’ve always loved these as an appetizer. To be honest, I was worried these changes would ruin them, but they taste just as good as they tasted before. That’s not to say they’ve improved them or made them better, but I’ll still order them moving forward. (At least until the next menu change…)

Sustainable Fish – $31.00

Nope, it isn’t Piranha. This month’s seasonal fish is the Tilefish. The main standout here is the guava-habanero sauce they’ve concocted for this dish. I can’t believe this got approved for a Disney World restaurant. The habanero in the sauce makes it extremely spicy, but also very flavorful. I’d go as far as to say this is the best entree in the Magic Kingdom. (Serve this dish using a better-quality fish, like something from Flying Fish, and you’d have the best dish in all of Walt Disney World.) There’s more than enough sauce, too. Enough for every bite.

Overall, you get a nice nice portion size of fish. The cassava cake only worked because of the sauce, but if it were sweeter, it would’ve offset everything. (And even then I’m just being nit-picky about the dish at this point.)

It’s going be hard to get my other two go-to items (Whole Fried Fish, Perkins Thai Noodles) now that this exists.

Dr. Falls Signature Grilled Steak – $36.00

They’ve changed the presentation and accompaniments for the better in this dish, although I’d consider this a small incremental upgrade, at best. As far as Magic Kingdom steak dishes go, this is one of the more solid ones. I feel like we lucked out this time in particular, because the steak was far more tender than usual. Magic Kingdom steaks lean on the tough and gristly side, but this was not one of those cases. (When you order a steak at the Magic Kingdom, you are most definitely taking a gamble, so I can’t guarantee it will be as tender as the one we had. Yes, this also applies to steaks served at Be Our Guest.) The red wine reduction counters the steak nicely and the green pepper, chorizo, and potato hash mixed well with the steak, rounding this dish out nicely.

Overall, Skipper Canteen is always a solid choice at the Magic Kingdom, with unique, inspired dishes and flavors you might not find anywhere else, much less anywhere in the Magic Kingdom. I’d be hard pressed not to recommend Skipper Canteen, just be aware that your favorites are never immune from a seasonal change, and be open to the potential possibilities.

Tom Corless