Cape May Cafe at Disney’s Beach Club Resort has reopened with a great family-style breakfast, but guests can also visit the cafe for dinner, which is available between 5:00 PM and 9:00 PM daily. Dinner is $42 per adult and $25 per child, plus tax and gratuity, but can be more if you add on some additional seafood options, which we did…
Cape May Cafe Arrival
Though six foot physical distancing is being reduced in some areas of Walt Disney World, dining is not one of those areas. Distancing markers lead to the check-in podium, which has a sheet of Plexiglass on it.
Masks are still required indoors until seated in a restaurant.
Many tables are left empty or pushed further apart for distancing. The buffet is not currently in use due to safety protocols. The meals are now family-style, “all-you-care-to-enjoy” affairs, so if you run out of something and want more, just ask for it. Unless it’s lobster or crab, then it will be an additional charge.
Plexiglass dividers are installed between booths.
We were among the first guests to be seated at Cape May Cafe for its first night of dinner service since March 2020. Cast Members lined the entrance and applauded as we entered.
Starters
Breads and Spreads
Parker House Rolls and Cornbread with Roasted Garlic-Herb Butter, Salted Butter, and Cheese Spread (Plant-based breads and spreads are available upon request)
We loved both the Parker House rolls and cornbread.
The salted butter and cheese spreads are better than the roasted garlic-herb butter, the latter needs more garlic. That being said, they were all pleasant. The cheese spread is similar to what is served at Ale & Compass as “beer cheese” with their Parker House rolls. It may even be the same spread.
Seasonal Harvest Salad
Arugula, Kale, and Romaine with Orange Segments, Cherry Tomatoes, Red Onions, and Sun-dried Cherries, with a Citrus-Vanilla Vinaigrette (Plant-based)
We found the citrus flavor to bit a bit too strong. Cheese would have cut the citrus strength. The salad was also a little underdressed. The dried cherries are a nice touch. This is not a terrible salad, but you can find better options.
Entrees
Seafood Boil
PEI Mussels, Peel-n-Eat Shrimp , Cape May Clams, Sustainable Catch of the Day, Red Bliss Potatoes, and Corn on the Cob
We found everything in the seafood boil to be delicious, excluding the catch of the day, which was mahi-mahi. The mahi-mahi is dry and flavorless. Luckily, everything else wasn’t.
The rest of the dish has rich, developed flavors. We enjoyed the shrimp, mussels, and clams. In fact, these might have been the best mussels we’ve ever had at Disney World as they lacked a fishy flavor, were tender, and were packed with butter and spices from the boil broth.
Peel and eat shrimp are a hassle, but they were at least good.
A hefty portion of large potatoes sit at the bottom of the boil, soaking in the flavor. If the mahi-mahi was actually in the broth, it might have been as good as everything else in here.
The Turf Platter
Slow-roasted Strip Loin with Chimichurri and House-made Steak Sauce, Oven-roasted Lemon-Pepper Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, and Farmer’s Market Vegetables
The strip loin is perfectly cooked. It is sliced thin for easy sharing. The chimichurri adds a nice depth to the flavor. The house-made steak sauce tastes like A.1. mixed with Worcestershire sauce, which is disappointing. Luckily, the beef needs no sauce, so just enjoy it without it.
The lemon-pepper chicken is moist and perfectly cooked. The skin has a slight crispiness and a fantastic light seasoning with a pop of flavor.
The mashed potatoes are very good, buttery with just the right consistency (not too thick, not too watery). The vegetables are steamed, but not too soggy.
Lobster Macaroni & Cheese
The toppings adds a nice, subtle crunch to the dish.
The serving dish is shallow, which is disappointing, but they can always bring more. The Mac and cheese itself tastes a bit basic, but the lobster chunks in it were divine.
Portobello Steak or Tofu Platter
The plant-based platter is available upon request.
The large Portobello mushroom is extremely flavorful. The pasta base is delicious; it is well-cooked and the perfect amount. This is one of the better plant-based dishes in all of the parks and resorts.
Tofu fans will enjoy this dish. The sauce is sweet, with just a subtle hint of spice.
The rice is great and the vegetables are served crisp. It’s good enough, but probably not enough so that it warrants the price tag if you can’t have many of the other offerings.
Additional Seafood Boil Enhancements
Steamed Crab Legs – $29 per pound
So, with the buffet gone, crab legs move to an additional charge of $29 per pound. What you see here is one pound. The crab was fresh, tasted great, but was nothing out of the ordinary.
The crab legs are good, but not the biggest. $29 feels like a lot for these, and they pale in comparison to the other additions you can add..
Whole Maine Lobster – $35
Many may chuckle at the $35 whole lobster add-on, but it was honestly the highlight of the meal. I can’t even believe I am writing this, but it was one of the best lobsters I have ever had, and it was at a family-style, all-you-can-eat restaurant in a Disney hotel.
Every bite was buttery, tender, and perfectly prepared to minimize the work needed from those dining on it.
The tail was the most tender I have ever eaten. My knife cut through it so easily. The claws were sizable and packed with meat.
The phrase “melts in your moth” is overused in reviews, but it may never have been more applicable than here.
So you are aware, you sadly can not just order the lobster or the crab and skip the rest of the meal and its associated charges. They are add-on options to the existing offerings, and can only be ordered as such.
Assorted House-made Desserts
Six different desserts are served. A plant-based tiramisù is also available upon request.
Oreo Bon Bon
The Oreo bon bon is brilliant in its simplicity.
Raspberry Cream Puff
Sugar Free Cheesecake
The sugar-free cheesecake is a little rough. It is very chalky in texture with a hint of citrus flavor on the backend.
Pineapple Lime Mousse on Macaroon
A refreshing tiny dessert, the pineapple and lime flavors pair well with the tiny, flat cookie which holds it all together.
Eight Layer Chocolate Cake
This sounds more exciting than it is. It offers a light, forgettable chocolate flavor that is very one-note.
Lemon Curd
This might be close second to the bon bon. While it looks simple, it offers complex flavors in the mix of lemon and sweet flavors to balance it.
Plant-based Tiramisù
Available upon request
As far as plant-based tiramisu goes, it wasn’t bad. Obviously, we didn’t like this as much as the other desserts, but it wasn’t the worst one at the table. We suspect those who choose this will enjoy the dense cake and light cream which do their best to replicate the real thing.
Overall
Cape May Cafe was never one of my favorite dinners at Walt Disney World. It always had a strong odor emitting from it thanks to the seafood offerings, and I always felt like I would wait ages behind people at the rather small buffet station. With the food now brought to your table, all served fresh rather than sitting under a lamp, Cape May is yet another buffet-turned-family-style restaurant that is vastly superior to what it was before. This is true of Biergarten, Chef Mickey’s, and many others thanks to the pandemic, but it is especially true here. What it lacks in the variety of offerings due to the reductions is nothing compared to the tremendous leap in overall food quality and quality of service we received. I highly recommend a dinner at Cape May if the above offerings look good to you, and especially if you love the idea of having a whole lobster.
