This fairly new character breakfast (debuted April 2, 2017), held at the Boardwalk’s Trattoria al Forno, was one of the few character meals that I hadn’t yet reviewed for my blog. Since I was staying at the Boardwalk Resort during the first 5 nights of this trip, I decided to make this breakfast a priority. I was able to make a 9:00 a.m. reservation for two on my second morning, October 27, 2017. I made the reservation for two people in the hope that I could talk Paula into joining me here for breakfast. Though it took some convincing (aka “breakfast was my treat”), not only did Paula have breakfast with me but we were able to add Hunter to my reservation upon check-in at the restaurant. And so the three of us made our entrée choices from this menu…
But first this frying pan of pastries was brought to our table to share. Since this breakfast is normally hosted by Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Ariel and Prince Eric, the pastries were Little Mermaid and Tangled themed…
There were two each of the Little Mermaid clam shells (jelly-filled popovers) and Rapunzel braids (chocolate twists). Also there was one Rapunzel sun (a crunchy cookie-like pastry sprinkled with sugar) and a couple of mini-muffins (one blueberry, one funfetti). My choices were…
These were both very good, but my favorite was the chocolate twist (braid). However, the clam shell one was so cute…
We were also given a choice of the standard non-alcoholic beverages such as milk, juice and coffee. I asked for both coffee and orange juice…
Although there were fancy coffee drinks like espresso, cappuccino, etc. and bottled water like Evian available for an extra charge, as well as alcoholic beverages like Bloody Marys, mimosas, and bellinis that could be purchased, we all stuck with those included in the price of the breakfast. Paula and Hunter also had orange juice, plus Hunter got iced tea.
A bowl of fruit was also brought to our table to share…
This was mostly honeydew melon with a couple pieces of cantaloupe, a few grapes, and two berries (one blueberry, one blackberry). Nothing special about this, at all. This was especially disappointing since on their online menu they listed a second option of a Berry, Yogurt, and Granola Parfait that I had heard was really good. But sadly the parfait is no longer available.
Now for our entrees. After Paula and Hunter made their choices, that left 5 other entrée options that all sounded pretty good to me. I ended up choosing the entrée that I thought would photograph best.
But before our entrees arrived we were visited by Rapunzel…
Then right after our entrees arrived and before I could take a photo of mine, Merida (who was taking the place of Flynn Ryder that morning) came to pay us a visit.
And while taking one of the above photos my sleeve brushed over the top of my entrée, making it a little less than picture perfect…
Tower of Pancakes – Fluffy Buttermilk Pancakes and Seasonal Fruit Compote (which was apple), served with bacon or sausage (I chose bacon)
And closer…
And even closer…
So as I said before, I based my choice primarily on how pretty it would look in my photos (I had previously seen pictures of this). But after smudging the sun imprint it wasn’t quite as photogenic as I’d hoped. However, I was still hopeful that my pancakes would impress me with their taste. Sadly I was again disappointed. Though the apple compote was tasty, the pancakes themselves were nothing special…I’ve made better pancakes myself at home. Oh, and the bacon was weird. Rather than full slices of bacon I was served bacon pieces and they were all overcooked.
Unfortunately Paula did not fare much better with her choice…
Royale Breakfast – Oak-grilled Steak, Cheesy-Egg Torte topped with asparagus and fonduta and Roasted Potatoes topped with crispy onions
From another angle…
And another angle…
The biggest problem with this was the steak (aka a pile of fatty meat and gristle)…
This was inedible. She sent it back and here was Round 2…
Though the meat was a better quality this time, it was overcooked…she had requested medium rare when asked for her preference.
Also because of Hunter’s asparagus allergy, she requested that the egg torte in Round 2 be served minus the asparagus so that he could have a taste…
The egg torte was just okay, as were the roasted potatoes…
So Hunter made the best entrée choice…
King Triton’s Shipwreck al Forno – Calzone with Scrambled Eggs, Bell Peppers, Soppressata, Bacon, Sausage, Blend of Cheeses, and Sunday Gravy (which turned out to be tomato sauce)
And some photos after our server came to retrieve the trident…
This was actually pretty good, so at least one of our three entrees was a success.
Also our server noticed that most of our pastries had been eaten, so brought us a second pan…
This one had one each of the clam shell, chocolate braid, and Rapunzel sun plus two mini-muffins (banana nut instead of blueberry this time). I took most of these back to my room and had them for breakfast the next few mornings. They were still very good.
And that just leaves the other two characters who were present at our breakfast. First Ariel (aka the Little Mermaid)…
And then her prince, Eric…
Now for the ratings. Although this breakfast was much less expensive than Cinderella’s Royal Table, a similar type of pre-fixe menu (face) character breakfast, at a cost of $36 I felt it was still overpriced. The character interaction was fine but the food (other than the pastries and Hunter’s calzone) was nothing special. Therefore I would rate this breakfast only 3 stars. However the reviewers on Yelp gave Trattoria al Forno a better rating of 3 1/2 stars and Trip Advisor reviewers rated it an even higher 4. Also it is ranked a respectable #125 of the nearly 3,000 Orlando area restaurants reviewed there. Though I don’t feel the need to do this character breakfast again, I did learn that it was possible to have a non-character breakfast (from the same menu of entrees) in the back room with the entrees individually priced at around $13 – $14 (except for the steak and eggs which is about $21) so that is something I might consider doing sometime during a stay at the Boardwalk.
Taste of Disney 