Boatwright's
Port Orleans-Riverside
Dinner
Date of Visit:	1/13/2007
Time of Visit:	19:30
Adults in Party:	2
Children in Party:	1
Total Cost:	$53.00
Average Price Per Adult:	$24.50
Ten Point Scale
Food:	8.8
Value:	9.2
Service:	8.5
Environment:	9.2
Overall Rating:	8.9

The nearby food court at Port Orleans/Riverside is closed for refurbishment, which made the standby lines at Boatwright’s supposedly two hours long at dinner time, though I suspect this was merely a way to suggest they were only taking reservations until 9:30 p.m. (they closed at ten). Still, we had made a phone reservation at 5:30 for 7:30, so it definitely pays to call on the same day when it comes to hotel restaurants (this is less true of theme park restaurants, which do fill up). A 20-minute wait greeted us after we checked in.

Service was moderate to moderately slow. Several tables lay open for a long time; either the staff doesn’t know how to maximize their operations and re-seat a table right away, or they were severely understaffed. It seems likely, based on the speed of drink refills, that the servers are working too many tables.

We ordered a Caesar salad ($5), French onion soup ($5), crab cakes ($9), pot roast ($17), and vegetarian garlic pasta ($14). The meal was accompanied by small fresh cornbread muffins and whipped butter. The salad was standard stuff, using Romaine lettuce, but the onion soup was excellent, with rich flavors that excited the taste buds without becoming overpowering. The crab cakes were good, but not a tremendous value nor a succulent taste. Part of the problem was the skimpy portion of garlic aioli that came with it.

The pasta could have come with chicken ($17) or shrimp ($18), but was fine without either. The dominant flavors are Kalamata olives, garlic, and onion, lending a distinctly Greek feel to the dish. Also present were artichokes (though not in the quantity you might have expected) and a few stewed tomatoes and spinach leaves. And, of course, the standard rigatoni noodles. It came together with strong flavors, possibly a touch on the too-strong side. The runny sauce was tasty, but didn’t permeate the entire dish without constant spooning.

By contrast, the pot roast was superb. It came with southern greens, spiced with generous servings of bacon. The “Riverside Potatoes” were scalloped, but particularly creamy and buttery. The real star, of course, was the meat. Tender to a fault and spiced perfectly, the roast was a joy. Though many dishes feature sides that complement the meat, the combination here was especially effective—each bite just bursts with flavor. Imagine a scale that calculates “amount of flavor per bite” and this dish would score well. Factor in the amount of food (quite generous) and also factor in the price (eminently reasonable), and you’ve got a dish that wins on all counts.

The atmosphere is noisy, boisterous, and very family-friendly. Fine dining this is not. But smallish dining rooms do contribute a more down-home feel, and for families, the overall effect is one of comfortableness (what the Germans call Gemütlichkeit).