Review: Fresh (breakfast)
I made this reservation also through the Swan & Dolphin (S&D) dining reservation link on their website. This was more of my ADR experiment of going through the S&D dining link instead of through WDW dining. We were given the exact time I requested, 8:30 a.m. We first tried Fresh a few years back, after there was a mix up with our room at the S&D. The manager issued us two free meal vouchers for our inconvenience, though they were not for any of the signature S&D eateries. We chose Fresh. Thats the short version of how we finally decided to give it a try. Fresh is located in the Dolphin resort on ground level, across from BlueZoo, at the bottom of the lobby escalators. Easy to find, if you know where to look.
We arrived at 8:25 for our ADR and were seated immediately. We were luckily seated to the right, in the area in front of the buffet, where we could see the kitchen at work (somewhat). I find it very advantageous to be seated in this area, rather than the area to the left of the entrance, since from there you can see the cooks at work and are closest to the food. But mainly because from there you can see the line waiting at the griddle and egg stations. Fresh is a buffet meal, and they also offer cooked to order eggs, omelets, pancakes, etc. The omelet ingredients this trip that we saw used were tomato, cheese, bacon, ham, mushrooms, peppers, and onions. I may have missed a few. The griddle area adjoining the egg station cooks waffles, pancakes (even Mickey pancakes), and French toast. Though I did see two waffles that were cooked ahead, the French toast and pancakes we ordered were definitely made fresh. When you order an omelet, figure about 3 maybe 4 minutes from order time until it is ready. The problem is that when the egg station gets swamped, it really backs up that whole area, and can get confusing on who ordered what. My tip here is to order your omelet and then go order your pancakes (or French toast) during the same trip, since the stations are side by side. That way, you cover both stations in one visit, and dodge the lines that seem to ebb and flow during the morning. If you are seated where you can see the buffet, you can time usually time your visit to avoid waiting in a line.
In addition to those stations, the buffet has 2 hot cereal choices, one of which I identified as oatmeal. The usual breakfast cronies are here, like bacon, link sausage, and a type of hash brown potato. There is an extensive collection of pastries, like Danish, croissants, muffins, turnovers, etc
. and also in that area a collection of cold cereal, fresh fruit, and what I believe to be plain yogurt. Maybe the most interesting part of the buffet is a diplay case area, where you can get what I would describe as a parfait, along with granola. Also there is a choice of juices/extracts, each labeled for a specific purpose or ingredient, like antioxidant, detox, and wheatgrass. And supposedly there is a rotisserie option, and there was a sign for some type of sliced ham, though I never saw the rotisserie area serve anything during our trip. Back to the review
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Our server arrived at our table a few minutes after we were seated, took our drink orders, and told us to help ourselves. Fresh serves Starbucks coffee and fresh juice as part of the buffet price, though I skipped the coffee this morning due to the long drive ahead with few stops planned. For the food, it would be easier to list them out:
French toast good, nothing great, but still good. Made fresh to order.
Pancakes nice, light, and can be shaped like Mickey upon request.
Omelets incredibly light and fluffy, made with fresh ingredients, the best thing on the menu IMHO. We sampled ham, cheese, tomato, mushroom, and green pepper fillings.
Bacon surprisingly good for WDW bacon. Not burnt, not wiggly, not too fatty.
Sausage link style large size breakfast sausage. Good.
Breakfast potato more like what I call country style hash browns (chunks). Good
Pastries we tried cinnamon rolls (phyllo dough), danish, apple turnovers, and muffins. All very good, and better than the offerings at the Dolphin Lobby Bar, though slightly smaller in size. The cinnamon roll thing was a clear winner. There were several more we did not try, including what appeared to be a blintz.
Extracts I had the detox, it was delicious. I also had the wheatgrass, but its just not my thing. Maybe if I added vodka????
Juices the orange juice served here is, IMHO, the best on property. Minimal pulp, but great flavor.
Coffee Starbucks. Mrs. P had the decaf. Great. I can say no more.
Our meal, start to finish, was less than an hour. Food was excellent for breakfast fare. Service was good. The restaurant was never more than 50% full. Fresh accepts the DVC discount, so 20% off the meal helps to offset the high price ($17.95 adult, $10.95), and makes this a very attractive breakfast option while staying at the S&D, or nearby in the Boardwalk area.
I'm enjoying your drink reviews and must remember to include reviews on my adult beverage experience at Disney when I get around to writing my dining reviews. 
Hope all is well with you and yours. 
