A Seafood Lover's Dream - My Review of Paddlefish
My friends and I had the opportunity to be hosted for dinner at Paddlefish Restaurant. Paddlefish is a not so hidden gem in the Disney Springs Landing area, and though you don’t hear much about it, you absolutely cannot miss it! The restaurant is housed in the large Paddle boat on Lake Buena Vista, and as you could have guessed, the specialty here is of course seafood.
Keep in mind this is a table service restaurant and reservations are recommended.
The atmosphere in Paddlefish is elegant, very clean and spacious, with views of the lake and Saratoga Springs resort. Rooftop seating is also available!
Unlike many seafood restaurants, there is no cheesy nautical vibe, akin to red lobster. (no shade to red lobster) The restaurants felt very classy and unique.
To recap our meal, I’ll go backwards because the entrée was actually my least favorite course and I believe in ending with a bang!
We chose the shrimp boil as our entrée, which contained shrimp, sweet corn, red potatoes and cornbread. This dish was not awful by any means, but I typically prefer my boils to be spicier and heavily seasoned. For that reason, I may not get this dish again, however, there were some positives. The quality of ingredients was high and the portion was fantastic for $26. If you are a person who prefers milder foods and likes seafood, you may be pleased with this dish. After enjoying our appetizers and bread, this dish was able to feed four adults.
Now on to the star of the show, the appetizers!
Lobster corn dogs are a must for anyone who visits Paddlefish. These are battered and fried jumbo pieces of lobster accompanied by a sweet chili aioli. This choice was the unanimous favorite of the table and also recommended by our server.
Next, the table side guacamole won’t disappoint guac fans. I am a sucker for anything with guac and lobster, so I knew this would be a winning combination. As stated in the name, the wait staff prepares this order at your table and it can be customized to your liking. You can skip the tomatoes and go extra on the Jalapeños if you desire. My crew and I loaded our guacamole with everything!
Crab Ceviche was the third appetizer that we chose. I’ve never been a huge ceviche fan, but I thought this was an enjoyable appetizers. Like the guac, the ceviche came with a side of chips.
Lisa, our server, recommended the cocktail of the evening. Our drink actually originated on the mocktail menu. It was the cucumber sipper, a delightful combination of cucumber, simple syrup, fresh lime, and lemonade. We tainted this mocktail with the addition of Hendricks Gin, highly recommended and a wonderful choice.
However, no restaurant meal is complete without the free bread, right? Before receiving our meal with got plates of warm fresh baked bread accompanied by a delicious soft cinnamon butter. Amazing is an understatement for this delicious starter.
Paddlefish is a solid choice in Disney Springs. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the entrée, the appetizers and cocktail alone will keep me going back. There were so many offerings on the entrée menu, that there is something for everyone. I can’t wait to visit Paddlefish again to try out the rooftop deck live music and the buzz pop cocktails!
Thank you for reading!
Kirsten