REVIEW: EPCOT Has Some Great Restaurants, But Don’t Miss This Lunch Spot Nearby!
REVIEW: We Love This Yacht Club Restaurant, But Only If You’re Staying Nearby
REVIEW: We Totally Recommend This Yacht Club Restaurant, But Only If You’re Staying Nearby
REVIEW: Proof That You Should NOT Underestimate Lunch at Ale & Compass Restaurant!
REVIEW: Don’t Underestimate Ale & Compass Restaurant in The EPCOT Resort Area!
We’re going to let you in on a little secret: sometimes the best Disney World restaurants aren’t at the theme parks. Some Disney Resorts are a short walk away from the theme parks and can take your Disney day to the next level.
We headed to Ale & Compass, located at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort, just a few steps away from EPCOT. Is this restaurant worth leaving the parks? Join us as we bring you a FULL lunch review to see if it should be added to your “must-do” list.
Background
If you exit EPCOT through International Gateway and walk forward, you’ll come across Yacht Club Resort, a nautical-themed resort right on the water. Ale & Compass serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, featuring New England-style comfort foods alongside classic American favorites. It’s recommended to book advanced dining reservations, but same-day dining may also be available, along with seats at the Ale & Compass Lounge.
We went for lunch, which is available from 11:45 AM to 2 PM, offering a perfect combination of breakfast and lunch options, along with starters, cocktails, and a kids’ menu.
Now that we know the details, let’s talk about the space.
Atmosphere
Whenever we walk into Ale & Compass, it’s hard not to feel relaxed by the cozy aesthetic. The lighting is darker, but not so much that you’ll want to pull out your phone for light, so it feels like a sanctuary from the Florida sunshine without being like being in a cave. The space is designed to evoke the interior of a lighthouse, featuring nautical elements around the tables, which offer both chair and booth options. If you’re looking for a break from the chaos of EPCOT, this is a wonderful spot that is only a short walk from the park, so you can hop right back in when you’re finished.
Let’s eat!
Food & Drinks
We’ve been to Ale & Compass many times, and we never go without having the Parker House Rolls and Spreads for $14. They are served with Bacon Jam, Pub Cheese, and Citrus Butter, and our favorite is the Pub Cheese, but they’re all worth a try. The bread was fluffy in the inside and “crispy” on the outside in the best way, and we love that you can easily tear them apart and add the delicious spreads on them. It’s not a visit to Ale & Compass without them, in our book!
We also had the Seasonal Market Vegetable Flatbread for $17, which is inspired by the market and the season. During July, we were served the French Onion Soup Flatbread. There are shreds of beef on top that were perfectly salty but thin so you could easily bite through it. The cheese was melted on top but didn’t fall off with every bite, and the flatbread was chewy with little crispy bubbles on the side, which we loved. The whole thing tasted like the soup without having to eat soup in the summer in Florida, and we think we could eat soup this way forever now!
For our first main course, we had the Cheddar Burger for $25. This burger features Applewood-smoked Bacon, Tomato, Pickled Avocados, a Sunny-Side-up Egg, and Herbed Mayonnaise, all served on a House-made Bun.
This is a VERY messy burger which made it difficult to hold, and while we hate eating burgers with a fork, it was necessary here. We loved the egg on it for the creaminess and the other toppings like tomato and pickled avocado added lots of additional flavors, but not any flavors that wowed us. It’s overall a solid burger, just not exciting or thrilling. There is a bit of spice at the end of each bite, and we couldn’t quite tell where it came from, but beware! The fries were thick and fluffy, but nothing out of this world.
Then we ordered the Fish & Chips for $20. They are served with House-made Vinegar Chips and Lemon-Caper Tartar Sauce.
The fish was crispy and flaky without being greasy, and while the portion size was good, it wasn’t anything that totally blew our minds or would have us coming out of our way for this. However, we really did love the tartar sauce, which was a pleasant surprise, and if you’re craving fish and chips for lunch, we don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
For dessert, we grabbed the Seasonal Cobbler for $9, which when we went was berries with vanilla ice cream on top. It wasn’t really a crumble but a compote with a crumb layer topping, which honestly tasted a bit raw. We loved the ice cream because, well, it’s hard to mess up vanilla ice cream, and the berries were something our reporter surprising enjoyed as they weren’t too sweet, tart, or sour and just had a really nice balance overall. It’s not the best dessert out there, but it’s a solid choice.
For our drinks, we tried the New England Cherry Swirl, priced at $17.50, which is made with Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Lemon Juice, Pure Maple Syrup, and a float of Oberon Cabernet Sauvignon. We loved this drink and thought it was complex in the best way, especially with the wine float. It’s a drink you want to stir up so you don’t drink all the wine first, but we warn you to not be fooled by the name! This isn’t a super sweet drink at all, the majority of the sweet flavor comes from the maple syrup, and the cherries that are on top.
We also had the Seaworthy Breeze for $15.50. It’s made with Yacht Club Vodka, Grapefruit, and Cranberry Juice. We can usually get down with a vodka cranberry, but this was not one to obsess over.
It was very strong, which was unusual, and it overall wasn’t very flavorful besides the taste of vodka. We could have used some more grapefruit and/or cranberry, for sure!
Magic or Tragic?
Make sure you stop by Ale & Compass if…
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- You’re staying at Yacht Club
- You’re in EPCOT and are looking for a great sit-down meal (or a good lounge)
- You’re looking for a relaxing meal
This might be a spot you want to skip if…
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- You’re a pickier eater
- You need a quick meal and don’t want to sit down for long
- You’re not anywhere close to EPCOT, the BoardWalk, or Yacht Club
Overall, we think this restaurant is certainly very solid and it doesn’t let us down, but we don’t think it’s worth traveling across half the resort if you’re not anywhere nearby.
While we’re checking our schedule to see when we can return and have another lunch, be sure to keep following AllEars for more Disney food reviews to plan your next Disney World trip.
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Have you been to Ale & Compass? Tell us about your experience in the comments.
You had me at egg burger and fish and chips. I didn’t need another word after those two and the pictures.
We always eat at Ale & Compass for breakfast when we go to WDW each year. We stay at Yacht or Beach Club. It’s a reasonably priced table service meal that is relaxing and a great start to a busy day. You can choose an entree or a limited buffet option with that buffet.