We sometimes consider ourselves explorers. We rarely turn down a chance to travel or try something new. Travel without an itinerary? Of course. No cell phone coverage? O.K. Surfing classes? Yes please. Our “explorer” reach doesn’t however extend to eating whole Lion Fish. But if you’re heading to the Skipper Canteen Jungle Cruise Disney Restaurant, you should be ready for anything.
We are huge Jungle Cruise fans! So the fact that Magic Kingdom now has a Jungle Cruise restaurant is such fun! Here you can find exotic foods, funny puns, jungle finds, and everything that we’d come to love from the Jungle Cruise riverboat. Surely if exotic cruises were departing daily, the food must be exotic!
Skipper Canteen Restaurant Atmosphere
Dinner with a Side of Puns
Just like Jungle Cruise, the puns show up as soon as you enter! We learned after about 15 minutes of jokes from our server that this would not be the place to come if you had a pressing fast pass or parade to watch afterwards. Because the jokes-they take some time! The jokes, much like the Jungle Cruise boat ride are obvious, ironic and fun. As much as we love the ride, since this is a restaurant we also kinda just wanted to order our food. Awkward laughter anyone? Yep right here… ! The servers do help break up the jokes by allowing guests to wander around and take pictures. Which was pretty awesome.
Skipper Canteen Restaurant Menu
The Appetizer
Ok, so we couldn’t get enough of the Falls Family Falafel. If you’ve never had falafel they’re like hush puppies made with garbanzo beans instead of cornmeal. You only get 5 of these little falafel balls but they are a great way to supplement your meal if you’re thinking of trying a daring explorer dish you may or may not like.
The Entrees and Sides
Ok, let’s get down to why you’re really here. The menu options. While they do have pork, shrimp, lamb and steak the seasoning and add-ons give these dishes significant flair that you or your family may not like. Thankfully there is a kids menu. Our not-too-exotic choices for dinner were also great. To find your next exotic flavor, check out the whole menu for Skipper Canteen here.
A nice vegetarian option here is the curried vegetable stew with naan and rice. Perfect for the rainy day we were escaping. Warm and very spicy, the bread and rice helped break up the “hot.” And once we got used to the heat, we decided to learn how to make curry at home.
You can grab yucca fries as a side with the steak, which was spicier. However, the avocado salsa cooled this dish down a bit. So that was nice. We also got the mac and cheese since we were traveling with G, but even as a kid’s size, this portion was huge. The menu is perfectly themed to the Explorer experience. Given the exotic food options, we usually don’t see a huge wait for this restaurant or and it’s by no means as hard a Dining Reservation to get.
The Desserts
The desserts at Skipper Canteen were fantastic. They are rivaled by only one other Disney Restaurant, Sanaa. These were equally decadent, with a beautiful presentation, an excellent portion size and tasty enough that we would come back just for dessert and tea. Yes, they were that yummy.
Skipper Canteen Jungle Cruise Restaurant Review
It’s hard to tell if Skipper Canteen will master the exotic, but still edible, food niche at Magic Kingdom. While a restaurant like this would be perfect for Epcot and the adult crowd, most families will still be frequenting the safer and more familiar Thanksgiving Dinner option at Liberty Tree Tavern. Because who doesn’t love that restaurant?!??
Mind you, we thought Skipper Canteen was pretty cool as an experience, but it did not impress us enough to put it on the long list of ” must visit” restaurants. Or to be one we book every time we visit. We’ll be sure to give it another try soon though, and report back!
Rochelle Mariah is a writer, designer and photographer with an MLIS in Information Science and a B.S. in Arch and Design. Determined to make Planning a DIY Disney Vacation easier she makes lots of lists and drinks lots of coffee. When not designing apparel at Polka Dot Pixie Shop, she's watching old movies and planning the holidays. She has been traveling to Disney destinations since 2010.
