Spice Road Table - An Epcot Dining Delight

Spice Road serves the same menu for both lunch and dinner and we opted for lunch. I will confess I was hoping for a table by the waterfront, but it didn’t work out. Despite that, we were still able to enjoy some lovely views across World Showcase Lagoon from our table, as the restaurant wasn’t that busy on the day we were there. To be honest, why is a complete mystery to me, as it was one of the best meals we’ve had at Disney in a long time.

The setting was beautiful, and immediately transported us to the midst of African, with deep blues at the entrance, offset by beige, and dark wood chairs in the area we were in. There are stunning patterns everywhere you look, including on our table top, adding a lovely level of detail that only Imagineers could have come up with.

There’s a good selection of aperitifs, cocktails, wine, and beers here, and I really enjoyed my Marbella summer cocktail, made up of frozen Torres brandy, Grand Gala liquor, and strawberry puree, although dangerously, I couldn’t taste the alcohol in it!

When it came to the menu, we were convinced that nearly everyone else dining here got the Tingis feast, as that’s all we saw people eating. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the selection of rice stuffed grape leaves, followed by a mix grill (marinated beef, lamb, sausage, and chicken with French green beans, toasted almonds and rosemary potatoes) and assorted baklavas was very enjoyable, it’s just there was so much more to enjoy here.

One word of warning, we misinterpreted the menu, as it said Mediterranean small plates, and we were assuming they were tapas sized. Thankfully not, our server put us right, telling us that was their creative way of describing appetizers here. Otherwise, I dread to think how much food we’d have ended up with! There was certainly plenty to choose from, even for those of us who don’t eat meat. Options I could have gone for included spicy garlic shrimp, fried calamari, fresh fish croquettes, or hummus fries, while meat eaters could also have chosen from Moroccan lamb sausage, or Harissa chicken roll.

In the end, I opted for the brie fondue with rosemary croutons, which was divine, while my husband went for the hummus and imported olives with cornichons, and Zaatar pita bread. It was about this point where we realized just how big the appetizers were! We were both absolutely blown away by our choices, and were already raving about the food here, hoping the rest of the meal would live up to such a good start.

Thankfully, it did. I opted for the yellow fin tuna, with eggplant, zucchini capers salad, and basil oil, although they specifically made it less spicy for me, and it was perfect. It’s not often I say this, but every mouthful of this dish was a complete and utter delight.

Epcot - Spice Road Table

The brie fondue with rosemary croutons - look at the size of it!

My husband had the previously mentioned mix grill, and obviously he enjoyed it just as much as I loved mine, as I heard nothing but positive things from him.

Now here, things were a bit more limited for me. The only other thing I could have gone for was the Mediterranean vegetable platter, and there was a definite concentration on lamb when we dined there, with the mix grill containing it, while there were also choices of coriander crusted rack of lamb, and three lamb sliders.

Beautiful as the food had been, it hadn’t filled us up, so the dessert menu beckoned. There were only three options, assorted baklavas, and pistachios, saffron and orange blossom water custard, the latter of which sounded just a little too unusual for our tastes. We enjoy new flavors, but not when it comes to our desserts, so the thought of a chocolate pyramid with ice cream was perfect, and so it proved to be.

This really was an absolutely superb three course meal, and we were very impressed with how Spice Road Table managed to continually deliver during our meal. We both came away saying how this was now our new favorite restaurant in World Showcase, and one of the best offerings in all of Disney, and that’s really saying something, given how many choices there are.

About the Author: Cheryl is the author of the e-book, PassPorter's Walt Disney World for British Holidaymakers, and is the co-author of PassPorter's Disney Vacation Club Guide: For Members and Members-To-Be. Cheryl and husband Mark live in England and love to travel, particularly to Disney, and they have travelled around the world, taking in a number of Disney cruises, Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Aulani in Hawai'i, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney and Hong Kong Disneyland on the way. Click here to view more of Cheryl's articles!