The Wave Breakfast Review
*This gluten free dining experience took place in August 2018. Notes about dairy free options and modifications are included in this post.
Breakfast at The Wave
The Wave is a table service restaurant at Disney's Contemporary Resort that serves classic American fare with an emphasis on local and sustainable foods in a relaxed setting. It has quickly become one of our favorite places for a delicious and low-key meal. And, lately, I've been here for breakfast a few times. I recently had breakfast here with my brother before we went to the Magic Kingdom for a hearty breakfast to fuel us for some park touring.
Atmosphere
I've written about the atmosphere at the Wave in a lot of detail in one of my dinner posts. On this visit, I forgot to take a lot of photos because I was all about breakfast. But, as you can see, the restaurant has a large seating area with tables and booths and a strong theme of "waves" throughout.
The Wave - Seating Area / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
One of the things I like most about the Wave is that the décor is simple, yet reflects its theme well. I love the touches of "waves" even in the chairs.
The Food
The Wave serves both an a la carte breakfast and a breakfast buffet. Guests have the option to choose and are presented with both an a la carte allergy-friendly breakfast menu and a breakfast buffet allergen guide. If you choose the buffet, a chef will walk you through the options if you like and prepare you foods in the kitchen to avoid any potential cross-contamination risks. On this visit, I decided to try the breakfast buffet instead of ordering a la carte.
The Wave - Buffet Plate / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
The chef pointed out several dishes that were options for me on the breakfast buffet. And, I did try a few things directly from the buffet. This included fresh fruit salad, cheese and bacon grits, bacon, sausage, and deviled eggs. Of these, the cheese and bacon grits were by far my favorite. These are gluten free but do contain dairy and cannot be modified. The same is true for the deviled eggs, which had some cream cheese type topping on them.
The Wave - Gluten Free Breakfast / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
The buffet includes eggs to order, although there are eggs on the buffet. And, I ordered a custom omelet with ham, cheese, and onion. I also asked for a side of gluten free (and dairy free) toast, and breakfast potatoes. The breakfast potatoes served on the buffet were more like a hash brown casserole with lots of dairy in them. I prefer the roasted potatoes that are typically served with allergy-friendly meals which are both gluten free and dairy free. I was able to get those from the kitchen upon request.
The gluten free bread currently being served at the Wave is Ener-G brand bread. I have to admit that it's really grown on me lately, as more and more restaurants are serving it. For those who are dairy free or vegan, you can also order Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread for your toast.
The Wave - Custom Omelet / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
The omelet wasn't quite as good as the one I had at the Wave on my last visit for breakfast. But, it was still very tasty. The breakfast potatoes here are always a winner. You can ask for them to be served without the peppers and onions if they bother you, as they are simply topped on the potatoes rather than being cooked with them.
The Wave - Gluten Free Sweet Potato Pancakes / Photo Taken by Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW
Probably the biggest reason I decided to get the breakfast buffet on this visit were the gluten free and dairy free Sweet Potato Pancakes. These are a must-do and a signature Wave breakfast item. You do need to ask the chef if they have the right batter available and ready to go as sometimes they do run out. Essentially, they add sweet potato puree to the allergy-friendly pancake and waffle batter. Thankfully, they did have it on this visit, though it took quite a bit of time to get them. Unfortunately, these pancakes are a little tricky to work with, and I found out later that they had to make them 4 times in order to get them to the texture and consistency they wanted! I really appreciated the chef's efforts to make these for me.
One important note about these pancakes. They are a bit mushy. That's partially due to the moisture from the sweet potato. So, if you prefer a pancake that's a bit more classic in texture, you might want to avoid these. I personally love the for something a bit different. But, I wouldn't want them all the time either. Still, topped with some 100% pure maple syrup, and you have a real breakfast winner!
Overall
The Wave continues to be a good go-to restaurant for a solid meal, great special diets offerings, and a low-key atmosphere. When my brother and I went, it was busier than normal. But, it's usually fairly quite, making it a nice place to dine and not feel rushed. Overall, I think I prefer the a la carte breakfast menu options over the buffet as a whole. But, there's lots to enjoy when you dine at the Wave.
Have you been to the Wave? What did you order when you dined there?
The Wave -- Dinner -- Table Service -- Contemporary Resort
*This dining experience took place in August 2017.
Dinner at The Wave
The Wave, located at Disney's Contemporary Resort, is a table service restaurant that has quickly become one of our favorite hidden gem restaurants on Disney property for breakfast and dinner. We've been several times recently, and on this visit, we stopped by randomly for dinner. One of the things that we like best about the Wave is that you can almost always get a last minute reservation, which is great.
Atmosphere
I wouldn't say that the Wave has the most amazing atmosphere. It does have many visual touches that represent real ocean waves and the concept of sustainability for food. It's not anything fancy, but I do appreciate the little details throughout the restaurant.
I recommend checking out my previous review for more photos inside the restaurant.
The Food
One of the things that keeps us coming back to the Wave is the food. Brandon is a huge fan of their steaks, and I appreciate that they have a lot of different gluten free (and even dairy free) options.
On this particular visit, we had to wait a bit for our reservation time, as the restaurant was quite busy. So, we made our way to the bar to order an appetizer and drinks. I absolutely love the little touches...including the cute Contemporary swizzle sticks served with every drink.
The cheese plate served at the Wave can be made gluten free by omitting bread. We usually get bread on the side for Brandon, when offered, so he can still enjoy it while avoiding cross-contamination. Overall, we enjoy the Wave cheese plates a lot. They do rotate cheeses, and we like the accompaniments that come with the cheese too.
Once we were seated in the main dining area, we were greeted by our server Alan. If you go to the Wave for dinner, ask for Allan. He's a rockstar and has been our server on several occasions. He's really awesome and always helps make our meal even better.He did bring me some gluten free & dairy free Ener-G rolls, which I have to say I'm not a huge fan of. I much prefer the Deanna's Gluten Free rolls any day. Unfortunately, the Ener-G rolls get rock hard and inedible pretty quickly. If you're dairy free, make sure to ask for some Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread instead of regular butter.
We opted to split the Bacon and Eggs appetizer which is Gluten Free, Fish/Shellfish, Peanut/Tree Nut, and Soy Free. It does contain dairy. If you can have dairy, this is a must order. We both loved it and splitting it is a good way to break up all the richness of the dish. The Wave definitely has a winner with this appetizer.
For my entree, I ordered the Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Three-Potato and Bacon Hash, Broccolini, and Blackberry-Barbecue Sauce. This is marked Gluten Free, Fish/Shellfish, Peanut/Tree Nut, and Soy Free. It does contain dairy. Overall, I really liked the dish. I think I preferred their previous pork dish, but this was quite nice too. The winner was the three-potato bacon hash. But, the pork was really well cooked and super flavorful. I would definitely get this again.
Overall
The Wave is a consistent and inviting hidden gem of a restaurant on Disney property. It's great for a nice relaxing meal that's a bit off the beaten path. If you're staying at the Contemporary Resort or need a break while at the Magic Kingdom, dinner or even brunch at the Wave is a great choice.Have you been to the Wave? What did you order when you went there?
The Wave -- Breakfast -- Table Service -- Contemporary
*This dining experience took place in March 2016.
It's been a long time since I've dined at the Wave (almost 3 years!), a table service restaurant at Disney's Contemporary Resort. Not having had the greatest of experiences at the Wave, I often go to other restaurants nearby like Kona Cafe.After reading Gluten Free in Orlando's review this past year and talking to Leah from Our Florida Project on my podcast, I decided to give the Wave another chance.
The Wave is known for their local and sustainable menu, and the current allergy friendly menu that I got definitely reflected a bit of that. There didn't seem to be a lot of gluten free & dairy free choices, so I asked to speak to a chef to discuss options. And boy, am I glad I did.
While waiting for the chef, I enjoyed the theming and decor of the Wave. It's a pretty restaurant, though nothing too fancy. I do like the modern lighting and the "wave" represented in the ceiling & light fixtures.After a short wait, Chef Laura came out to chat with me, and she couldn't have been nicer. I told her I wasn't up for the buffet that morning (The Wave offers a breakfast buffet and a la carte menu), and she asked what I was interested in. I mentioned the sweet potato pancakes, and was so excited when Chef Laura said they could make them gluten free & dairy free!
I ended up ordering the America Breakfast Entree, with hashbrowns instead of the roasted potatoes (which contains peppers, something I wasn't keen on eating that morning), and Chef Laura suggested I sub out pancakes for toast.Done and done.As you can see, I ended up with a ton of food!
The American Breakfast entree itself was really nothing special. I ordered scrambled eggs, which were plain and basic. The bacon, thankfully, is Nueske's bacon, which is my favorite Disney served brand. I hate stringy Disney bacon, which is often found at quick service locations, so I'm always happy when I get good bacon. That being said, the bacon was overcooked for my taste.The hashbrowns were my least favorite thing I ate, as they were a bit bland and seriously underseasoned. I added some salt and pepper to jazz them up.
The sweet potato pancakes normally come with pecan butter, but Chef Laura instead gave me Smart Balance vegan margarine (I personally prefer Earth Balance but am at least glad they had one vegan margarine option) and toasted pecans on the side with pure maple syrup.
As you can see, it was a huge portion!These were some of the best pancakes I've ever had at Disney.Wow. I loved the sweet potato flavor with a hint of cinnamon and other fall spices. Using gluten free pancake mixes (in this case, Bob's Red Mill) can often result in a dry pancake, but these weren't dry at all thanks to the sweet potato puree.The restaurant actually roasts their own sweet potatoes in house for the puree, which is a nice touch.Though I had a ton of food, I literally demolished these pancakes. They were not too sweet and just the right amount of balance of spice. These were a big win for me.Overall, I really loved the pancakes at the Wave and thought Chef Laura was really attentive and willing to talk through options with me. Though I wasn't in love with my American Breakfast entree, it wasn't bad by any means, just nothing special either.With that in mind, I wouldn't hesitate to go back for those pancakes and maybe try something else on my next visit!Have you been to the Wave for breakfast? What did you order?
Guest Review -- A WDW Vacation Free of Gluten -- Day One
BackgroundHi, I’m Jaime. I’m 45 and live just outside of Chicago. Thanksgiving, 2013, found my new husband, Ethan, and I driving to Walt Disney World for our first Gluten-Free trip. I was diagnosed with a wheat allergy in June and, in a huge show of support, Ethan went GF with me. While I’m extremely lucky that my allergy is minor (it was only discovered because I was having a contact allergy to something else), the other benefits of being GF were a surprise to us both: my migraines are gone, my PMS symptoms have almost completely vanished, and both our ragweed allergies have diminished significantly! Plus we both felt this odd sense of being ‘clear’, physically and mentally… it’s a strange sensation to describe.I’m a WDW Vet – this was trip #39. Ethan has spent a total of ONE DAY in a Disney park in his life (I took him to EPCOT over a quick Super Bowl Weekend trip earlier this year), and he had never been to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, or Hollywood Studios. I have a lot to show him!After being diagnosed with the wheat allergy, I scoured the internet for advice. I made ADRs and changed ADRs and read more dining reviews and made more changes. We packed GF snacks and food for the car ride (I made tuna salad sandwiches for dinner – you have to love how GF bread doesn’t get soggy!) I also made one of my (not so) Famous Peanut Butter and Swedish Fish Sandwiches! Don’t judge – it’s like a portable peanut butter & jelly!Day 1: Tuesday, November 26, 2013We arrived in Orlando and headed to Animal Kingdom Lodge. I wanted to show Ethan around (this is where we’re staying on our next trip) and grab lunch at The Mara Food Court.
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| Photo copyright Jaime J. |
Ethan and I perused the menu for a few minutes while in line (and came up with a couple of possibilities) and when it was our turn to place our order, I just said “We have a food allergy.” The cast member immediately asked us to hold on one second, she was going to call for a chef. It took a few minutes for him to come out, but he was full of apologies (it wasn’t that long!). He asked what the allergy was and said there was a lot we could do. He mentioned the fries were GF. He asked what we were thinking about and mentioned that they keep Udi’s pizza crusts in back for the flatbreads. We had both decided we didn’t want to go too basic by ordering a burger or chicken nuggets this early in the trip (and we had dinner scheduled in 3.5 hours, so we were going to split this meal).I decided to push it a little and asked if he could do the chicken pita sandwich: chicken breast served on a warm pita with sun-dried tomato hummus, cucumber, tomato, and mixed greens with mint yogurt sauce with choice of Couscous or French Fries.
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| Photo copyright Jaime J. |
The chef looked up at the menu, tipped his head back and forth while he thought, and announced “Yes, I can do that!”We were given a pager, got our drinks, and headed outside to a table. It took 7 minutes total for the pager to go off! I really thought it would have been longer. I went back for our tray and it was on a separate surface than someone else’s – I shouldn’t have been shocked by the care they took, but I was!The sandwich was delicious (the sauce was a little spicy) and, with the fries, plenty to share!
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| Photo copyright Jaime J. |
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| Photo copyright Jaime J. |
Dinner tonight is at The Wave in the Contemporary Resort.
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| Photo copyright Jaime J. |
There were many things on the menu that looked good to me: Herb-salt Seasoned Beef Tenderloin - with tomato-green bean salad with Cypress Grover Creamery Lamb Chopper Cheese and citrus-herb butter, Thompson Farms Pork Tenderloin - soy-pineapple honey marinade, pineapple salsa, bonito and cauliflower mash, and the Dry-rubbed Flat Iron Steak - au gratin potato and winter vegetables.The waitress (Diane) took our drink order and said a chef would be right out. About 5 minutes later, she came back and asked if anyone had come out. Um, no.
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| Photo copyright Jaime J. |
I didn’t think the restaurant was all that busy, but when Chef Tom came out, he appeared rushed and stressed. He apologized for the wait, but was looking around the restaurant as we talked, so the sincerity of it fell kind of flat. He checked what the allergy was and asked if we had anything in mind. I said I had heard good things about the pork and the flat Iron Steak. He said the pork was out because of the sauce, but he could do it plain. So I chose the flat iron steak. Ethan chose the beef tenderloin.Chef Tom called Diane over and gave her our orders within earshot. After he left, she went over them one more time to make sure. I appreciated her care with the order. She left to go get GF rolls for our bread service. I have to admit to being surprised, and I can only attribute that to the fact that neither of us has had more than 2 hours of sleep in the last day and a half. Of course, when the bread service comes, they were out of rolls and we got GF bread.
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| Photo copyright Jaime J. |
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| Photo copyright Jaime J. |
Is that Udi’s? It doesn’t look like it to me, but I’m not good at telling the different breads yet. And the butter was yummy!We were exhausted and famished and finished the bread and butter off very quickly. The entrees took about 10-15 minutes.Ethan’s beef tenderloin:
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| Photo copyright Jaime J. |
And my flat iron steak:
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| Photo copyright Jaime J. |
Both were cooked perfectly and this would have been an amazing dinner if we weren’t so tired. The au gratin potatoes were fantastic. It turns out I’m not a fan of winter vegetables. We will go back, just not anytime soon.Stay tuned for Day 2 of Jaime's review!!
The Wave -- Breakfast -- Table Service -- Contemporary Resort
*This dining experience took place in September 2013.
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| Entrance to the Wave |
The Wave is located in Disney's Contemporary Resort and it's culinary viewpoint is sustainable and seasonal items. This is one of the locations that I often visit for breakfast when I'm staying at Bay Lake Tower, my home DVC resort. Their breakfast offerings include a variety of gluten free & dairy free products from companies like Udi's and Kinnikinnick.On this particular occasion, we stopped by for breakfast after attending Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party the evening before. We were all tired and looking forward to a relaxing breakfast close to our hotel room. I've been to the Wave several times previously, and I've usually been moderately satisfied with my choices and service. Unfortunately, this particular experience wasn't as magical as it could have been.One thing to note is that this location serves both a buffet option & an a la carte menu. We chose to go for the menu option rather than the buffet. To me, it hasn't been one of the best breakfast buffets, so I'd rather go for the menu. After our server greeted us, she seemed mildly disappointed we weren't ordering buffet. The chef came in the meantime and also seemed pretty put out that he had to come over. In fact, he barely spoke to me. I'm sure that it's very busy in the kitchen and that it can be stressful. Maybe he was having a bad day. Regardless, he was very curt with me and didn't seem willing to offer much. He really wanted me to get Mickey waffles and I didn't want them because I have had really good pancakes here before. I asked if he could make the banana walnut pancakes I got before and he said he could. I also asked if there was ANY chance he could do the sweet potato pancakes. His response was, "Well if we have sweet potato that hasn't been mixed yet..." and then proceeded to walk away. I got banana walnut pancakes so I assume that meant they didn't have any available or he just didn't want to make them. Yikes!
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| As you can see it was REALLY busy in here... |
Our server was also basically non-existent for our meal. And this rarely happens unless a restaurant is slammed. Now this restaurant is never slammed and quite frankly most of the people were getting the buffet, so I'm not sure what the issue was.
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| Banana walnut pancakes and bacon |
After getting my breakfast, I investigated the pancakes. They were basically Bob's Red Mill pancakes with sliced bananas and walnuts. I liked the version I got the time before because the chef had basically pureed the banana into the batter, so it was like banana bread flavor all throughout the pancake. This was banana flavor here and there. But overall, they were good. The bacon, on the other hand, was another story. I have no clue what they did to this bacon but it was terrible! Even the worst quick service bacon was better than this. It was very stringy, greasy, and just had a weird flavor, like it was slightly off. Honestly, for a place that touts local, sustainable and seasonal, they can't have good bacon!?My family also didn't really love their meal. They thought it was adequate but not really worth the price or effort. We all agreed that we would rather take the monorail next time to another resort to get breakfast. I'd happily head over to Kona for breakfast over this any day! It's just a bummer because honestly, I see a lot of potential in this restaurant, but it's just not at the level it should be. Really disappointing.Overall, I'd give this a 5 out of 10. This experience just wasn't good from start to finish. While the pancakes weren't terrible, just about everything else wasn't very good. I wish I could say better things about the Wave, but it's definitely off my skip list for now.Have you been to the Wave? What was your experience there?
The Wave -- Breakfast -- Contemporary Resort -- Table Service
*This dining experience took place in September 2012.
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| View of Bay Lake in the morning... |
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| Bay Lake Towers in the morning... |
Ah, the Contemporary Resort. It's one of my favs. And Bay Lake Towers is my DVC home-away-from-home. We often stay here, especially for holiday parties. It's so convenient, and no long waits in line for buses! Plus, it's a stunning hotel with great views and wonderful food options. Case in point...the Wave at the Contemporary side of the resort. Just a hop skip and a jump away from my "home" is the Wave, which offers a lot of great, seasonal choices. The first time I came here, I wasn't overly wowed, but now it's slowly becoming a nice treat for breakfast, especially when I get to get custom pancakes. Yum!On this trip, we were met by Chef Dave, who was very nice and really wanted to help provide something tasty. He seemed pretty swamped that morning, so I will give him credit for keeping up with the craziness. He asked what I wanted, and I said essentially I wanted pancakes (they don't do GF/DF Mickey waffles here, but they do make pancakes), some eggs, potatoes, GF/DF Udi's toast if they had it, and whatever else he wanted to surprise me with (yes, sometimes I live on the edge with breakfast lol). It wasn't too clear if I was getting the buffet price with everything made in the back (he said he didn't feel comfortable with me getting things out there due to cross contamination--very good of him) or a plated price. I did end up with a plated price, which was nice! (a savings on a GF/DF meal, a rarity more often than not, especially outside of Disney).As far as the pancakes, I had recently had a bummer of an experience at Kouzzina in that they didn't have the Bob's Red Mill mix and it didn't taste very good. This time, I asked before I ordered. Luckily, they had Bob's Red Mill on hand! Thank goodness!!! Now we were in business! I asked if he could do the sweet potato pancakes modified, and he went to check if they had sweet potatoes set aside, but alas it was not meant to be yet again. He did offer to make some other kind of pancakes, with fruit in it. I asked if he could make a banana walnut pancake (stood to reason it couldn't taste too terrible), and he said he'd be willing to try. He also said they had Udi's cinnamon raisin toast (a fav of mine) but no plain toast (weird--I think they were just out), Udi's blueberry muffin and Earth Balance vegan margarine.
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| Banana walnut pancakes, potatoes, Udi's cinnamon raisin toast, and Udi's blueberry muffin |
First out came the pancakes, toast, muffin, and potatoes (um, where did they eggs go?). I then asked the chef for some eggs and bacon too (a girl's gotta have her protein with her sweet stuff). Sorry no pics of the additional foods here, but I was too busy scarfing down on the pancakes.First up, the cinnamon raisin toast, as usual, was awesome. I love this stuff. I actually make this at home for a treat with Earth Balance and a little bit of sugar on top (maybe not so healthy, but quite delicious!). The muffin I had never had before. Now, I will say I'm not a huge blueberry fan, but this tasted really good. Not overly blueberry. And the top was amazing--turbinado sugar that had sort of caramelized. Yummy! Then onto the pancakes. OMG these were amazing. Heaven in pancake form. It was like a banana nut muffin morphed into a pancake. Talk about delicious. I will definitely ask for these again, and I'm going to try to duplicate them at home! Soooo good.The eggs were nothing to write home about, just scrambled eggs. And the bacon was the typical bacon you get in the restaurants. Good, but nothing special.Overall, I was really pleased with this meal, especially with the pancakes. Sure, it wasn't the sweet potato pancakes (sometime I will get to try them!) but these were definitely a good substitute. This place is really starting to be a good standby for me. Plus, it's so easy to get to from Bay Lake Towers and much less crazy than Chef Mickey's!On a side note, Chef Dave talked to me about the Udi's and vendor changes. Fear not, the Udi's is here to stay. According to the chef, they are on a permanent contract there. They also still carry the OMG I can't believe it's GF! brand as well, and it looks like the GNI brand is contracted out for rolls (more on that in a Liberty Tree Tavern review). Thank goodness Udi's isn't going anywhere. I love, love, love them, though I do hope they start to carry a brand that can be used for those who can't have egg (like Ener-G), so there is a good balance and variety for folks.A solid 8 out of 10!
The Wave -- Breakfast -- Table Service -- Contemporary
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| Entrance Podium Sign at the Wave |
I've been to the Wave once with food allergies, around the time they first opened. As you'll see in my previous review, the meal was ok, nothing special. One of my friends recently recommended the Wave to me, as they told me they had received gluten free, dairy free, and soy free sweet potato pancakes. For that, I was willing to make another trip to the Wave.
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| Menu from the Wave |
I recently had the opportunity to visit. One of the new additions was the option of the breakfast buffet. This meant you could order off the menu or choose the buffet. The chef kindly took me through the buffet to tell me what was safe and also checked to see if they could make the sweet potato pancakes. The trick with them is that the sweet potato puree may have already been used for the day on the regular non special diets pancake batter. If they have extra (or if you give them enough notice), they will make the sweet potato pancakes for special diets guests. Unfortunately, they were out that day (it was close to 10:30 am, so nearly the end of breakfast), but I was able to get gluten free/dairy free pancakes.The chef then made my eggs in the back and also offered me cinnamon raisin toast and/or blueberry muffins. I chose the cinnamon raisin bread. I haven't had any since going GF/DF over 3 years ago!
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| Buffet pods |
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| Fresh Fruit from the Buffet |
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| Bacon and breakfast potatoes |
Of the few items I could have directly from the buffet were the fresh fruit (which was far away from other gluten/dairy items) and breakfast potatoes and bacon. I found the breakfast potatoes to be quite tasty. They had red peppers in them but were not too spicy. The bacon was the standard WDW bacon. The fruit was actually very fresh and very tasty. I was impressed with that.
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| Scrambled eggs with GF/DF Cinnamon Raisin Toast |
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| GF/DF Pancakes with Earth Balance Vegan Margarine |
The chef brought out scrambled eggs, GF/DF cinnamon raisin toast, and GF/DF pancakes with Earth Balance Vegan Margarine. The eggs were good, but it was the cinnamon raisin toast that wowed me. It was the Udi's brand bread, and it was very, very good. Good enough that I went home and bought some (sorry, I'm shameless when it comes to consuming good bread. If it's good, I'll buy a ton of it!). The GF/DF pancakes were also very good. It was interesting because I found them to taste almost exactly like the Mickey waffles. I think they must use the same mix. I was also excited because they brought me Earth Balance vegan margarine. Great on the pancakes and on the toast!
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| Full View of the Spread |
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| View of the Restaurant |
Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised with the Wave. I liked the option to order off the menu or choose the buffet. I found the additional options for GF/DF to be quite nice. I truly enjoyed the cinnamon raisin bread and the pancakes. I'm really hoping to head back here to try to get the sweet potato pancakes soon!I would give it a solid 8 out of 10. Can't wait to check out some of the other offerings from this restaurant.
The Wave -- Contemporary -- Table Service
I've been wanting to try the Wave for a while now since it opened. I loved the whole local seasonal approach and it sends such a great message to sustainability and being aware of how food production works. However, I have heard lots of mixed reviews on the food, service, and ability to handle food allergies. So, I went in with no expectations, figuring breakfast food is fairly easy, especially with food allergies/intolerances. I have to say, the decor of this restaurant is neat. I love the entrance. It really feels like you are "under the sea." Definitely a nice design (reminds me a bit of Coral Reef).
The chef greeted us at the table. He was very nice (he was also from Michigan originally, so we had some fun discussion of Michigan weather!) and discussed the options for me. He was able to make waffles which was great. He also noted that the chicken sausage was GF and had no other filles in it, which was good. So, I decided on the American which is basically eggs, breakfast potatoes, and I got chicken sausage with it (good but spicy!). I also asked if they could make waffles for me on the side (I have a weakness for waffles on vacation--I never make them at home!). Now, it is important to note that they carried Vans Waffles but the chef said they could also make waffles too. I personally like to get the mix waffles because I'm on vacation, and I like the homemade waffles--I can get Van's any day! So, it was nice to know that there were choices.
When the food arrived, I noticed that the waffles looked decidedly like Van's waffles! Uh-oh! The waitress had no idea, and she didn't seem to want to ask the chef, so I just dove in to see if they just use a regular waffle maker (I'm used to the Mickey Waffles!), and lo and behold, they were homemade waffles! Very tasty!
Yummy waffles--don't be fooled by the frozen waffle shape! That's an Ener-G roll in the background!
A good hearty breakfast!