My best mom friend is getting ready to take her family’s first magical trip to Walt Disney World in just a few short months. I’ll admit, for a first timer with a young child, planning your trip can be overwhelming. When should you go? Where should you stay? How long is enough time? Where should you eat?
Luckily for her, she’s not going into the planning process blind. She has friends to ask and of course, me, the Disney fanatic!
After answering the list of questions, giving suggestions on fast passes and touring, I hope she’s found our discussions helpful. However, there is one thing I know she is still on the fence about and I truly can not stress to her enough how strongly I make this recommendation. Eat at Tiffins at Animal Kingdom.
My favorite thing to plan is the food! Disney is always adding new restaurants to the roster and I’m ever so eager to try them all out. During my last trip, Tiffins was what I looked forward to the most! And it did not disappoint!
Situated in Discovery Island, right by the walkway to the soon-to-be opening Pandora: The World of Avatar, Tiffins boasts cuisine that represents the flavors of all lands of the Animal Kingdom. The restaurant is named after an Indian lunchbox and takes diners through a culinary exploration.
The restaurant itself is beautiful. There are 3 “galleries” (aka dining rooms); Safari, Grand and Trek. We dined in the Grand, however we did walk around the rest of the galleries to check out the art. If you dine here, I would suggest you also take the time to see the rest of the restaurant as they put so much detail into it.
Now to the food! You can easily forget you are dining in a theme park when eating here. Not only is the restaurant beautiful, but the food was outstanding! We dined here with 3 adults and a child and just like almost every restaurant on Disney property, they offer the standard, reliable children’s menu options. But there was nothing standard about our adult meals!
The menus came in soft leather books, accompanied by a nice size wine and cocktail list and wine flights options. We started off with the complimentary bread service which included pomegranate focaccia and a blend of molasses and olive oil. Quite tasty!
Our server recommended the lobster popcorn Thai curry soup. Wow! Super silky with a light heat hitting your palette at the end. The sweet lobster and the crunch of the popcorn play off each other nicely.
We also got the apple walnut salad. It was nice and fresh, but nothing special in my opinion. The only “miss” of the meal. (And that’s even a stretch)
We went with the Taste of Tiffins, so we can try as much as possible. By selecting this option, you get to sample smaller portions of their signature dishes. Would reccomend this if you want to explore the menu or simply can not decide on one thing!
While I know it’s not for everyone, I love grilled octopus! Tiffins’ version of it is marinated in a lemon caper sauce and char grilled. A beautiful saffron aioli is drizzled on the plate to finish off the perfectly cooked octopus. Are we really at a theme park???
We also feasted on the crispy yellowtail snapper (crunchy on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside), beef short rib (so tender!) and flash-fried icy blue mussels (uniquely seasoned and prepared. A must try if you like mussels!)
I also ordered a side Brussels sprouts because, well it’s Brussels sprouts and I’m obsessed. Their preparation was nice with a sweet Concord grape vinegar to balance the bitter nature of the sprouts. And of course, it was topped with crispy bacon.
We were stuffed, but easily tempted by dessert and a nice cup of coffee. I loved that they pressed the coffee table side. We got the lime cheesecake and the sorbet tasting. Both solid sweet endings.
After the meal was over, we stepped back out into the park. And just like a ride, it felt like we had been taken on a journey. One that I can’t wait to take again.
So if that’s not enough to convince my MFF to dine here, I don’t know what else would be.
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Wow, Tiffins is definitely on our “must-do” list for the next time we are at Animal Kingdom! Jiko is likely our favorite restaurant at WDW, so I think we will love Tiffins. Great food pics!