Ho, ho, ho! Merry Disney Christmas, everyone! It’s the holiday season at Tokyo Disney Resort, and that means a new slate of food to devour and review for you all! So, let’s take a closer look at the tasty treats to celebrate the season this year!

Cafe Portofino is my favorite place to dine at Tokyo DisneySea, hands down! For one, the Italian food is excellent for theme park standards (granted, I’m not Italian). Also, if you get the chance to dine outside (when it’s warm, at least), you can face Mediterranean Harbor and Mt. Prometheus while you dine! And on colder days, the interior theming is spectacularly done and you can gawk all day at the little details. So with those points in mind, let’s dive in to the special set Cafe Portofino is offering Guests this holiday season!

Special Set – ¥1920 ($17.67)

Balk at the price all you want, but I’ve yet to dine here and not feel like it’s been worth the cost. Compared to other counter-service options at Tokyo DisneySea, at least. But dining here and reviewing these sets has been something I consistently look forward to, and I hope that stays true.

Views

Before we go on with this delicious Cafe Portofino set, let’s take a moment to admire the views from outside. As I mentioned in the opening, if you choose to dine outside, you can enjoy these glorious vistas of Porto Paradiso, Mediterranean Harbor, and Mt. Prometheus. Plus, Mt. Prometheus even erupts throughout the day! I can’t think of a better way to enjoy lunch before the weather gets too ridiculously cold.

The full set comes with your entree, soup, dessert, and drink. I chose Coke for this exercise, because what’s more Italian than Coke? Nothing, that’s what! Certainly not Beverly…

Linguine with Soft-Shell Shrimp & Swimming Crab in Tomato Sauce

Whoo boy, that name is a mouthful. Fortunately, so is this pasta! Now, I’m not usually a seafood pasta type of person (particularly when full shrimp are served in my meal) but I got past it rather quickly for this one. The shrimp were cooked just right without being dry or flavorless. But the star of the pasta is the crab, which was just incredible! The pieces of crab were at just the right point, retaining their flavor and juice while being cooked to perfection! The tomato sauce was stronger than usual, but it served both the crab and pasta well in this case. I think this was one of my favorite entrees at Portofino so far, even if it took some extra time to get it ready for me. These are made-to-order, after all! If you’re not a seafood person, the Cast Member does offer you an alternative choice, so you can bypass it if you so desire.

Cream of Vegetable-Chicken Soup

Vegetable soup with some kind of meat tends to be Tokyo Disney Resort’s cop-out for when they don’t have a better soup idea. The “cream” in the soup name is rather misleading, as it isn’t really all that creamy. Most of the flavor really came from the chicken chunks at the bottom, which you need to expend some extra effort in to scooping up. But that doesn’t make it all bad, as it’s still certainly a passing effort. This wasn’t the worst soup I’ve had at Tokyo Disney Resort by any means, but it wasn’t their best work either. Just don’t go in expecting anything spectacular with this one.

Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Cream & Nuts

Ah, the best part of any meal for a sweet tooth like me: dessert. All that other stuff is irrelevant as long as I get my sugar fix! But in all seriousness, I’m loving the presentation here. The star on top, a la Horizon Bay’s mashed potatoes, is a nice little touch. Plus, it’s chocolate! The cake itself is fluffy and compliments the mousse above nicely. I’m a huge sucker for anything that pairs chocolate and fruit flavors, so I’m pretty easy to please. You can even get some white chocolate shavings and a berry on your dessert fork with the cake and get some extra flavor kicks! The little baubles are just cereal puffs, but the crunch is of course satisfying. As always, the dessert is a delightful finisher to yet another excellent Portofino set.

In summary, there’s a lot of winners here if you can look past the passable soup. The pasta entree is something I’d gladly eat again, and the dessert is sweet and fluffy without being overwhelming! If you’re interested in trying the special set for yourself, sail down to Cafe Portofino in Mediterranean Harbor through December 25th!

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