Captain's Grille -- Breakfast -- Table Service -- Yacht Club

*This dining experience took place in September 2016.Captain's Grille, located at Disney's Yacht Club Resort, is a table service restaurant that offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's been a while since I've dined here for breakfast, and I recently decided to stop by during the Labor Day holiday weekend.Because it's a bit off the beaten path, I never find Captain's Grille to be overly busy and easily found a last minute breakfast reservation.I haven't been all that wowed by my visits to Captain's Grille in the past but knew that Chef Sergio who used to be at Trattoria al Forno was now there, and I was looking forward to seeing the restaurant offerings.After arriving, I took a look at their allergy friendly breakfast menu and noted that milk allergy was not listed very heavily. Because of this, I asked to speak with a chef. I was excited when I saw Chef Sergio because I knew he'd take great care with my meal.Captain's Grille does offer a buffet option (like the Wave at Disney's Contemporary Resort) along with a la carte options. I tried the buffet in 2013, but on this visit, I opted for a la carte options. If you are ordering and are interested in the buffet, you can always ask a Disney chef for items to be brought from the back of the kitchen to avoid cross contamination on the buffet itself.Captain's Grille does custom omelets (both for the buffet and a la carte). I decided to try a custom omelet with ham and bacon. I also told Chef Sergio they could add whatever veggies they wanted to it too.The allergy friendly menu said omelets came with fresh fruit. I asked if the breakfast potatoes were OK, and Chef Sergio that they were safe for me to have and replaced the fruit with potatoes. I also got Udi's Gluten Free toast served with Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread.The omelet I had was outstanding. One of the best I've ever had at Disney. Filled to the brim with meat and veggies (including onion, green pepper, tomatoes, and spinach), it was perfectly cooked.The breakfast potatoes were really good and made a nice savory side to my omelet.I also asked about the allergy friendly Mickey Waffles. Never one to shy away from a carb, I wanted to add in a bit of sweetness to my breakfast. When I asked what batter they were using (I prefer Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Mix), Chef Sergio noted that Captain's Grille is using Carbon Golden Malted Gluten Free Pancake & Waffle Mix (*Note: despite the word malted, there is no gluten in the GF batter). I had heard that Disney was using a new gluten free and allergy friendly batter, and I have been hearing frequent complaints from readers about it tasting terrible. This was the first time I'd encountered anything other than Bob's Red Mill or Namaste mixes.Chef Sergio said there had been some changes to Bob's Red Mill, in which corn had been removed, that made the mix less allergy friendly and not as tasty. He also noted that the Carbon Golden Malted Gluten Free Pancake & Waffle Mix was top 8 free (unless there commercial brand is different, the version you can buy on their website says it has soy in it). He advised against ordering them and said he wasn't a fan of the new mix either.But, he surprised me with a few to try and said no worries if I didn't like them. And, I have to say, I did not like them.The texture was just weird. The waffles appeared to be nice and crispy on the outside, but the inside was almost hollow. What dough was in the inside of the waffle was doughy and dry (if that makes any sense). The mix is bar none the worst I've tasted on Disney property.I'm really hoping that this mix doesn't become the norm at every restaurant. Between Bob's Red Mill and Namaste, both cover the top 8 common allergens and beyond too. I will definitely be contacting Disney's Special Diets Department and Guest Services to at least provide feedback on the taste because it's a sub-par product and option for guests with special dietary needs.Overall, I really enjoyed Captain's Grille for breakfast. My entree was delicious, and I would definitely order it again. The allergy friendly Mickey waffles with Carbon Golden Malted Gluten Free mix? Not so much. Huge shoutout to my server Cory and Chef Sergio for my great breakfast experience.Have you been to Captain's Grille? What did you think of the offerings there?

Captain's Grille -- Breakfast -- Table Service -- Yacht Club

*This dining experience took place in March 2014.Ahoy matey's! The nautical theme of Captain's Grille may make you want to say "Shiver me timbers" but you won't feel "out to sea" with the atmosphere and food offerings of this table service. Sure, I can't help myself with the sea-inspired references but really this is a nice option for guests looking for breakfast near the Epcot resort area.On this particular occasion, we stopped by for an early breakfast as we were headed to Epcot for the Flower & Garden Festival that day. We wanted to get a good meal in us before we spent the day touring. It's been a while since we've been to Captain's Grille, and I will say that it's not usually my first choice for a breakfast option. However, it sure fits the bill nicely when we go. I really love the quiet atmosphere here. It's always so calm and relaxing. One of my favorite things about it really.The restaurant has a breakfast buffet and also an a la carte option. I had the breakfast buffet back in January 2013 but this time I decided to just get something off the menu. The chef here was really eager and nice. He gave me some suggestions, and I decided to go for a custom omelet with ham, onions, and asparagus (one of my favorite veggies) along with some Udi's toast and Earth Balance. Nothing too crazy but filling and tasty.My toast was great as always. I gotta admit, I really love Udi's white sandwich bread. It's just homey and nostalgic for me. I also like the texture a lot - just reminds me of glutenous filled bread. The Earth Balance vegan margarine is my go-to. I use it at home and in all of my cooking & baking when it calls for butter. This stuff is amazing, and I'm always glad when a Disney restaurant carries it. Never underestimate the power of butter flavor!I have to say, I love it when I get breakfast potatoes that are just a bit different, and these definitely were. They included shredded potatoes, sweet potatoes (my favorite) and onions with salt and pepper. My only complaint was that the onions were a little raw but otherwise, these were really good. You can't screw up a breakfast potato that much in my opinion. The omelet would have been great except for two things: 1) It was overcooked and 2) they only gave me the ends of the asparagus.Overcooked eggs are a personal pet peeve and the omelet was too badly overcooked but enough that I could tell. The thing that was really disappointing was the asparagus. Who gives you asparagus with only the ends?! The tips are the best part! It's really a good thing I like asparagus because I could still eat my omelet missing tips or not. Note to self...ask about that next time.Overall, despite the weirdness with asparagus, I really enjoyed the breakfast. The combination of all of my breakfast options made it a really tasty meal. My family, who don't have special diets, really enjoyed both the buffet and the a la carte options. We all said we'd go back again as an alternative breakfast place. I'd give this a solid 7 out of 10 for good service, great atmosphere and decent offerings. I'd bump it up to an 8 if they gave me asparagus tips!! I also want to pop by here sometime for dinner, especially after hearing about their gluten free angel food cake!Have you dined at Captain's Grille? What did you think of this restaurant? 

Captain's Grille -- Breakfast -- Table Service -- Yacht Club

*This dining experience took place in January 2013.

Entrance to Captain's Grille at Disney's Yacht Club Resort

I always love trying new restaurants at Walt Disney World. Even though I go to WDW a lot, I still haven't eaten at every restaurant on property, so it's always nice when I get to check out a new location. On this particular trip, I was heading to Hollywood Studios and I wanted to go to someplace close to the park. For someplace different, we decided to head to Captain's Grille, since it was centrally located.When we arrived, we noticed the restaurant was a bit quiet (8:30am), but we liked that. In fact, the quiet, calm location that day made for a nice meal. I like finding quieter locations for those days I'm not wanting a calmer experience (I admit, I have to psych myself up for morning character meals!). In looking at the menu, it seemed we had a variety of choices from a breakfast buffet ($18.99) to a la carte items.

Interior of Captain's Grille

When the chef arrived at the table, he asked more about what I wanted. The only thing he offered to make was the allergy friendly Mickey waffles. He said they use Bob's Red Mill mix, so I asked for those. I also inquired about Udi's toast (which they had) and Earth Balance (they also had). The eggs he would make in the back because the buffet eggs all had dairy in them. I asked about muffins and he said that they could add a breakfast muffin (they make them in house). So, ultimately, I decided on a "buffet" style option in which I had everything made in the back, except the breakfast meats which the chef said were safe on the buffet (and thankfully, located all next to each other) and the fruit.

Fresh fruit

First up was the fruit. I really enjoyed this, as it tasted really fresh. It's strawberry season here in Florida, so it was nice to see these. The pineapple was also really good.

Chocolate, banana & spice muffins

Next up were the muffins. I only asked for 1 muffin, so I was surprised to see 3 come to the table. That's a lot of muffins! Interestingly enough, they were made with Namaste mix (which was the base for the desserts at the 1st Annual Special Diets Dessert Party). The chocolate muffin tasted like chocolate cake (who says you can't have dessert for breakfast?!), the spice muffins was the Namaste spice cake mix (I make it at home, so I recognized it immediately), but the real winner for me was the banana muffin. This was a great breakfast item. Of course, they probably try to keep these very allergy friendly but I would love to have this version with nuts in it.

Next up was the most disappointing part of the meal--the Mickey waffles. Now, I've only had one other experience where the Mickey waffles were really bad, so I was really surprised to have this experience. It wasn't the taste that was bad, but the texture/density. If you're a baker you will relate to this--it was like they were dead-baked. They were extremely dense and dry. I think they used too little liquid and too much pancake mix. Yuck. I shared them with my family and they also agreed--taste was fine, texture was weird. I did eat one, but I couldn't eat the second one--I just found the texture to be very unappealing. Not sure I'd get these again here, not with the muffin option. They did mention that they can also make pancakes, so I wonder if they would be more appealing texture wise than the waffles.

Udi's toast, scrambled eggs, Earth Balance vegan margarine

I also had the plate of eggs with toast & Earth Balance. The eggs weren't anything to write home about. Boring basic scrambled eggs, underseasoned. The toast was really toasted, which was OK by me, but if you have preferences on toast level, you might want to tell the chef.

Breakfast meats

Lastly were the breakfast meats. Ham, turkey sausage and bacon. The turkey sausage was like a smoked sausage/kielbasa. It was nice to see some variety at breakfast--they also had turkey bacon. The bacon was the normal Disney stringy bacon. The ham was not my favorite. It was a sweet slice ham (I prefer a more savory/salty ham) and dry.Overall, I would come back to Captain's Grille, but perhaps only order a la carte and not the buffet. I've had much better buffet experiences that included more variety and better quality food in my opinion. That's not to say this wasn't a decent breakfast, it was. But, it was more mediocre compared to some of my favorite restaurants on property. I would come back again but it wouldn't probably be my first choice of breakfast locations. I'd be curious to give it a try for dinner or lunch sometime.A 7 out of 10 for the experience. Nothing special, but a pleasant atmosphere. Pass on the Mickey waffles.