Day 14 – September 29th – Dinner - Skipper Canteen
Skipper Canteen is somewhere we were excited about! There were a few things on the menu that looked good and I had snagged a 4pm reservation for our day of
MNSSHP. Our server was fun and cracked some very jungle cruise like jokes, but he wasn’t too attentive as the restaurant was packed. Presumably everyone else had the same plan as us – enjoy an early dinner before the party.
The signature drinks looked quite nice so we each got one:
Punch Line Punch - Tropical Fruit Juices and Mango Puree (also available with a spiced-rim for an extra zinger) $4.5; Both Peta and Trent got this and enjoyed it – Trent had the cayenne pepper spiced rim – it did add a nice kick, which gave it something.
Schweitzer Slush - Frozen apple juice and passion fruit with bursting green apple boba balls $5.5; I got this and it was quite tasty. The balls were really good, but it became a bit of a chore to eat them after the novelty wore off. It was very sweet and I didn’t finish it all.
The bread service was sweet and had a honey sauce:
Neither Trent nor I like it. The bread was hard and the sauce was sweet but tasted strongly of a mish mash of different spices.
Peta got her usual rolls, but with the sauce, and she didn’t think much of the sauce either.
Peta was EXTRA difficult to feed here – the server gave her the choice of soup or salad for her appetiser, and said he would go consult with the chef about her main. We ordered our starters as the chef was busy and was taking a while to come out.
For me:
Falls Family Falafel - A secret recipe of chickpeas, garlic, onions, lemon juice and herbs with white bean dip and tomato-cucumber salad $8.5
These were just OK, the flavour was OK but a little bland and the texture was far too dry. All I could really taste was the lemon juice. Trent tried them and agreed they were bland as well.
Trent had:
House Made Arepas - slow cooked beef, black beans, tostones and queso fresco $9.5
Similar to me, this looked great, but was lacking in flavour. He said the beef was quite bland but the beans added something.
Peta didn’t want salad, so ordered the only other choice given to her:
Ginger's "Croc" of Hot and Sour Soup - Flavored with ginger (not the crocodile), garlic, soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, fished with fresh egg, tofu, and wood ear mushrooms $7.5
And here is where they made a
HUGE mistake. Thankfully for us, Peta had only eaten a mouthful or two because of the temperature, when the manager, chef and our server all arrived at our table. The chef asked how the soup was and Peta just commented it was OK, but quite hot still. The chef then sheepishly admitted that our server had mentioned Peta’s gluten free as her requirement and forgotten to mention the vegetarian. We didn’t realise because Peta had only been offered the soup and salad as her choice anyway.
This soup does in fact have a duck stock base and is not suitable for vegetarians.
The manager had come to help rectify the situation, but we weren’t that upset. We were thankful that Peta hadn’t eaten anymore, it likely would have made her sick, both at the thought of eating meat, but also physically it is unlikely her stomach could tolerate meat – she hasn’t eaten any since before the age of 2. We put it down to human error and know these things happen. Clearly Skipper Canteen was the first place we had found on property that could not accommodate Peta.
We were given some fast passes, and the chef explained what he could make for her (NOTHING on the menu is both able to be GF and vegetarian as we found out) some noodles, veggies, rice and curry:
Trent had:
"Tastes Like Chicken" Because it is! - crispy fried chicken with citrus and ginger-scented rice, chili glaze and seasonal vegetables $23
He said the chicken was crunchy but bland (noticing a theme yet?)
I felt like something fresh, so I went with:
"A Lot at Steak" Salad - Grilled Steak, Romaine lettuce, red peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, coriander-mint vinaigrette and garlic chips $19
This may have had a lot of steak, but a lot of it was very chewy!!!!! I didn’t eat that much. And the salad was…..wait for it…….bland!
By the time dessert rolled around, we were keen to move on, but of course we grabbed some anyway.
Peta could only have fruit, the chef said that was all that could be done:
At least it was shaped like Mickey! This was a relief for her as her stomach was feeling a little off by this stage anyway.
I got something that sounded quite good:
Quick Sand! - Jasmine Rice Pudding, Mango Sauce, Lemon Curd, Hibiscus Meringue, and Pineapple $8
And it was! (Bet you weren’t expecting that!!!!). It was creamy and the addition of all the difference textures was nice. Trent tried some and didn’t like it at all, but he’s not a fan of tropical flavours anyway! Not my favourite, but a very solid dish.
Nothing really stood out for Trent (too many tropical flavours!), but he likes cake, so he settled on:
Coconut Bar with Pineapple-basil Compote and Vanilla Cream - Vanilla chiffon cake with coconut and lime-white chocolate ganache $8
He ate it all, but commented that was more because he hadn’t eaten his whole meal than his enjoyment. Back to my usual description……it was bland. The texture was good, but it was just like a plain cake flavour wise.
And so, the scores……although I suspect you know where these are heading:
Food – 2/5 – it gets a 2 due to dessert, but as you know, everything else was a miss.
Service – 1/5 – I can’t help but think the experience would have been better if the chef had of come out at the start like he was supposed to instead of discussing backwards and forwards with our server. Our server cracked jokes to start but was too busy and inattentive, and obviously did not communicate well with the kitchen. He was nowhere to be found after the incident with the food (embarrassed perhaps?)
Experience – 1/5 – could be great due to theming and if you had a fun server, but, obviously our experience here was dampened quickly but Peta’s experience.
We were seriously excited by the menu, but not at all excited by the dishes we tasted. We were not charged for Peta’s meal (which just means we had an extra credit) and walked away with fast passes in hand which was somewhat useful.
We had planned to eat here for a second time on the last night of our trip, but suffice to say, I got straight on to my Disney experience and change the reservation! It had become clear that, not only could they not accommodate Peta but we didn’t enjoy our food either!
