I called an audible on my first day of my last Walt Disney World trip. I was planning on grabbing some counter service somewhere in Epcot on my first afternoon. However, I heard that The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World had released their results for their most recent dining survey. The restaurant that ended up with the highest guest rating of any park table service restaurant was Tokyo Dining. I thought to myself, “I haven’t been to Tokyo Dining.” As soon as I got to my room at Coronado Springs Resort I logged on to the Disney website using the new, free wifi. I booked myself a lunch reservation at Tokyo Dining.

Tokyo Dining Tables

When I arrived at Tokyo Dining for my 1:30 reservation I was, in a word, exhausted. I had worked a long shift the night before, only gotten about an hour and a half of sleep, and nearly missed my 6:00am flight to Orlando. I was greeted at the desk by three smiling faces. One hostess checked me in, another compiled a bunch of menus for me and the third introduced herself and took me to my table. I didn’t end up with a table at a window, all of those were occupied, but there was a comfortable amount of room between me and the tables on either side. I immediately noticed the calming Japanese music that was playing over the speakers scattered around the dining room ceiling. I was already feeling more relaxed. The combination of the warm welcome and the relaxing music was just what I needed. I began to pour over the menus that had been provided to me. The first was a drink menu, that included wine, sake and cocktails. I know that it is very unlike me, but I decided that a cocktail would probably push me over the edge, in terms of need for sleep.

My server arrived in no time at all and introduced herself as Mami. She actually pronounced it as Mommy, I was feeling better and better about making this decision, considering that I probably should have opted for a nap. I ordered a glass of water and a pot of hot green tea, which arrived in just a few minutes. I continued to pour over the menus. Tokyo Dining offers a prix fixe meal at lunch for $22.50 that includes an appetizer, a choice of four entreés and dessert. After looking that over, I decided that none of the options really appealed to me. I thought about just ordering a couple of appetizers, but decided that one of the meal options was probably a better deal for me.

There are lots of different meal combinations available at Tokyo Dining. They offer tempura combinations, grilled meat combinations, and some specialty combinations. I decided to order one of the tempura combinations. It included miso soup, seaweed and cucumber salad, rice, three pieces of sushi, two pieces of a California roll, and seafood and vegetable tempura. The miso soup was decidedly lacking a spoon, but I was immediately informed that in Japanese culture they pick up the bowl and drink the soup. I did find the soup a little bit over salty. I love salt, so if I think something might be too salty, it probably is very salty for everyone else. The cucumber salad was refreshing and and excellent little bite. The noodle salad had a little bit of bite from some chilies that were tossed with the noodles. It was absolutely wonderful. The spice wasn’t overwhelming, but provided a nice bit of heat. The sushi was nice and fresh, and yes, I picked up the plate and took a big sniff before I ate the raw fish. I smelled–nothing! Exactly what you should smell when you are about to eat raw fish. The big surprise for me was the tempura. My tempura bowl had two large shrimp and five scallops as well as several different veggies. Everything stayed nice and crispy except for one of the scallops that was buried under the rest of the food. Wow! That’s a lot of food!

After I finished that huge plate–okay–I didn’t finish it, but I was stuffed. I cleared my bill, using my Tables in Wonderland discount, with Mami and sat for a little while longer enjoying the relaxing environment and my tea. I exited the building feeling completely refreshed. I entered World Showcase and was assaulted by a ton of people wandering around. The difference in environment was shocking.

I really enjoyed my meal at Tokyo Dining and I will be planning meals here again. It’s a great respite from a busy Disney Park. I can compare it to how I feel at Hollywood Brown Derby at the Studios. You feel like you’ve left the park and entered Japan. Keep in mind that this is a really small restaurant. There are only thirty five tables in the entire place. If everyone finds out how wonderful it is to spend an hour at Tokyo Dining it is going to be very difficult to get a reservation.

There are a couple of negatives to this spot that I noticed. The first is that you cannot sit at the sushi bar. They are no seats at the open kitchen. I wish there were. Especially for solo diners I think it would be nice to be able to sit at the sushi bar. The other thing that is a problem is that the waiting area for Teppan Edo is in the same area as the check in for Tokyo Dining and the entire area is open. I heard a lot of noise from people waiting for their Teppan table. It would be nice if they would put in at least a screen in between the Teppan waiting area and the Tokyo dining area.

At any rate, Tokyo Dining gets the Heather Seal of Approval. I really enjoyed my lunch and will probably be back at Tokyo pretty soon.

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