My friends and I chose to have dinner at Spice Road Table for two reasons. First, my friends, Paula & Hunter, had not dined there before and wanted to try it. And then there was the chance of being able to watch Illuminations from the comfort of our dinner table. With that in mind I made a dinner reservation for us at 7:55 (with Illuminations scheduled for 9:00). However, by the time I made my way to the restaurant at around 7:40 after watching the Eat to the Beat concert two countries over in the American Gardens Theatre, my friends had already checked in and were seated at a table outside on the patio with a pretty good view of the World Showcase lagoon. SCORE!!
Here are photos of the menu (as of Oct. 25, 2017), starting with their Cocktail & Beverage menu…
But I actually a drink that was listed at the bottom of the Small Plates section of their menu…
They have three options for their Specialty Sangria…White, Red, and Sparkling. I chose a glass of their White Sangria…
This was very good! Most of the sangria served (both red and white) on Disney property is Beso del Sol brand, which I’ve discovered I don’t like. However, two exceptions to this general rule are Spice Road Table and Via Napoli (another restaurant where I enjoy their sangria).
Now for our food. We ordered mostly from the Small Plates section of their menu…
The four of us (our friend Rachel was with us) had the Hummus and Imported Olives…
This was served with Za’atar Pita Bread…
While the hummus was good (I preferred the roasted tomato over the plain though), our first plate of pita bread tasted stale. However, we asked for more and the second round of pita was good. We also enjoyed the marinated olives mixture, which had pieces of tomato and cornichon along with garlic and olive oil.
The next thing we tried was the Fried Calamari with Spicy Harissa and Capers Aioli Sauces…
This was delicious! Some of the best calamari I’ve ever had. I loved the light, crispy breading. If you like calamari I highly recommend you give Spice Road’s a try.
Next up was the Rice-Stuffed Grape Leaves topped with Fried Capers, Raisins and sprinkled with Fresh Nutmeg…
I didn’t care for these. To me they tasted sour like vinegar. However, the others liked them so perhaps it’s just me.
Another small plate we tried was the Brie Fondue (Baked Brie with Rosemary Croutons)…
Although this was not really fondue but rather just warmed brie cheese, it was tasty. This was topped with apricot (I think) and almond slivers.
Our last small plate choice was the Fresh Fish Croquettes with Caper Aioli and Black Olive Tapenade…
These were pretty good but not as good as the fried calamari.
Rachel also ordered something from their Mediterranean Specialty Entrees section of the menu…
She chose the Lamb Sliders on Brioche with Cucumber Dill, Mixed Olives and Mint Tzatziki Sauce, served with Hummus Fries…
And a look under the lid…
She offered to share, but I was way too full at this point. However, Hunter enjoyed the sliders with her…
They even had a “Slider Toast”.
Our dinner ended with Illuminations…
So overall we all really enjoyed this meal. Therefore I was a little surprised to discover that Yelp reviewers rated Spice Road Table only 3 1/2 stars. It fared a bit better on Trip Advisor, receiving 4 stars and ranked #199 of the nearly 3,000 Orlando restaurants reviewed there (#86 best restaurant in Disney World area). The first time I dined at Spice Road Table (in May 2015) I would have rated our meal only a 3 or 3 1/2. So I’m glad that I gave it a second chance because this time I would rate it at least a 4 and perhaps even 4 1/2. I think the key to success here (at least for me) is to stick with the small plates. Oh, and the white sangria!
Taste of Disney 