The Wave -- Breakfast -- Table Service -- Contemporary

*This dining experience took place in January 2017.

Breakfast at the Wave

I recently stopped by the Wave, a table service restaurant located at Disney's Contemporary Resort. I've had sort of hit and miss experiences with the Wave in the past. But, my last visit was amazing, so I decided to grab brunch there again because I was craving their gluten free and dairy free sweet potato pancakes, which I've had on previous visits.The Wave does have an allergy-friendly menu and after being seated I took a look of it, but was also a bit tempted by the breakfast buffet that is also offered. You can order a la carte for breakfast or dine off the buffet, which is around $25 per person. Luckily, with any buffet on Disney property, you can ask a chef at any time for food to be brought directly from the kitchen, instead of off the buffet line to avoid cross-contamination.Chef Laura came out, who helped me on my last visit, and I was so glad to see her! She is beyond fantastic and made me a great breakfast. We talked through some options, and she also confirmed that they can still make the sweet potato pancakes gluten free and dairy free again.Hurrah! After some debate, Chef Laura sold me on the buffet, as she said she'd make me most of my dishes, plus a good portion of the buffet had gluten free options. So while she was making my custom omelet, potatoes, and pancakes, I decided to get some items from the buffet.

Atmosphere

A quick note about the atmosphere. I like the Wave's interior. It's very modern and clean (fitting for the Contemporary Resort). I also love the entrance which always feels like you're going into an airport tunnel. There's a quaint bar area which I love and the main dining area while clean and bright is nice but I wouldn't say anything too remarkable.Let's face it. It's all about the food!

The Food

There was so much, that it's hard to know where to start. First off, I grabbed a sampling of some of the fruit options, some breakfast meats, and some Tillamook Cheddar Grits (since I'm re-introducing some dairy back into my diet).I really loved the fruit options they had. The first serving I had was Tropical Fruit Cocktail with Coconut Syrup. I absolutely adore tropical fruit and coconut, so this was right up my alley. It was filled with pineapple which is one of my most favorite fruits. This is definitely something I need to recreate at home! They also had grapes and strawberries and Melon Fruit Cocktail -- all of which were pre-portioned in their own containers, which helps reduce cross-contamination too.I also got the Apple and Honey Spiced Hot Quinoa which was near the hot oatmeal (not certified gluten free). You could ask for this from the back, but since neither of them looked like anyone had scooped any recently, I decided to get the quinoa. It was good, but a little too "spicey" for me. I thought the cinnamon was just a little overpowering.The breakfast meats were nothing special. I did enjoy both the bacon and pork sausage, but the bacon was the same old stringy Disney bacon. Nothing special there.The star of the buffet was the Tillamook Cheddar Grits.Good time of day these were good.I didn't eat much of them because they were clearly loaded with dairy. A few bites though...heaven. They were some of the creamiest dreamiest grits I've ever had. I may have actual dreams about these. So good.If you can have dairy, do yourself a favor and get these.Chef Laura also made me an omelet with ham, cheddar cheese, and onions. It was super delicious and SUPER cheesy! I'm pretty sure I could eat that Tillamook Cheddar for days. The roasted red potatoes I had were quite good too. The hashbrowns off the buffet were gluten free but also loaded with dairy, and well, if you're limiting your dairy best to go with the cheddar grits? Amiright?!While I was waiting for my pancakes, I went back to the buffet and tried the Deviled Eggs along with a serving of Strawberries & Grapes. The eggs were good but nothing special. The smoked salmon on the buffet was also gluten free too, but I skipped that on this visit.The gluten free and dairy free Sweet Potato Pancakes are always well worth any wait. They are so delicious. They taste like fall on a plate, and I love that. Oddly, mine didn't come with toasted pecans, just the plain maple syrup on this visit, but I was so full at that point, I didn't mind.One word about getting gluten free and dairy free sweet potato pancakes. A lot of people ask if you can just get them even though they aren't listed on the allergy friendly menu. The short answer? Usually. On my last several visits, they've been able to make them with no advance notice. But, I've also been told that if you really have your heart set on them that you should contact the restaurants at least 2 weeks in advance to let them know. You can do this by emailing Disney's Special Diets Department at special.diets@disneyworld.com.Want to recreate these at home? I love that I can easily make these at home using Namaste Pancake & Waffle Mix (which is what they use in the restaurant). You can check out my YouTube cooking series for the recipe!

Overall

I really have enjoyed my most recent visits at the Wave. The food has been outstanding and Chef Laura is a gem. She's definitely quickly become one of my favorite new chefs at Disney. Plus, my server Steven was amazing. We chatted Star Wars all while enjoying a delicious breakfast. Talk about the perfect brunch!I will definitely be going back again soon, and I just may get the buffet again. I do prefer ordering a la carte, but this visit reminded me that the buffet there has some fantastic options.Have you been to the Wave? What did you think of the breakfast offerings there?