? for someone who has been at Cape May recently

pstepka

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 22, 2000
I was talking to a random person at the airport and he told me that Cape May does not have the items that it used to. That there are no clams and the crab legs were really small and everything else just seem to be not as good. It's my favorite restaurant, and I love clams! Can anyone confirm if what this person told me is true? Thank you!
 
My last trip to Cape May Cafe was in December of last year and they had plenty of clams both steamed and fried clam strips and I found the crab legs tasty and of average size. I am heading back in September and will be happy to report my findings to you
 
We were there Wednesday, January 3. The legs are smaller and drier. They don't have the ribs or some of the other non-seafood stuff anymore. They have the carved meats and salads plus whatever fried rotation it is for the day. I think some cold steamed shrimp. The desserts are tiny bite sized (but very good). It is not as good as it once was. But still decent for a visit every now and then.
 
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Cape May Cafe Dinner- July 2017 (allears)

Hot Offerings -
Broccoli Pasta (Sun & Wed)

Vodka Cream Pasta (Mon, Thurs & Sat)

Orecchiette Cream Pasta (Tues & Fri)

Chicken Breast with Mushroom Sauce (Sun, Tues, Wed & Fri)

Barbecue Pork Ribs (Mon, Thurs & Sat)

Mashed Potatoes, Gravy

Steam Corn on the Cob

Stamed Red Potatoes

Broccolini with Caramelized Shallots

Carving Station - Hand-carved Strip Loin with Horseradish Cream and Onion Jam

Seafood Selections - Steamed Mussels with Tomato Fennel Broth, Fried Clam Strips, Paella (Sun, Mon, Wed, Thurs & Sat), Bacalao (Tues & Fri), Snow Crab Legs, Steamed Clams, Herb-Marinated Salmon, Batter-Fried Shrimp (Sun & Wed), Batter-Fried Calamari (Tue & Fri), Fried Cod Nuggets (Mon, Thurs & Sat)
 


Walked through Cape May just to see it with the man while we were staying @ YC the first week of July 2018.
Noted crab legs, clams, and mussels among other offerings. The plate of crab legs a woman walked by us with were not the biggest legs I ever saw but certainly a respectable size with a fair amt of lump crab meat at the ends.
 
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Thank you all! I eat there just about every time I'm in Orlando but this conversation I had with the guy in the airport had me freaked out because it's been probably 4 months since I've been there.
 
Thank you all! I eat there just about every time I'm in Orlando but this conversation I had with the guy in the airport had me freaked out because it's been probably 4 months since I've been there.

I never let anyone determine my mood in this fashion. Food is so subjective that you'll get a different range of opinions in every conversation.
 
We were there 3 weeks ago - the server made a point of telling us that they now serve a different kind of crab leg on one side - they claim it's sweeter, but the legs were so hard we could not crack them, so we didn't get to try them. They still serve the snow crab on one side and that side was always a long line because others must have been having the same trouble we did with the new crab and therefore no one wanted it! Cape May has been a favorite of ours for years but we noticed a marked decline in quality of food this time around, and our "service" was virtually non-existent. We will probably not go back. I hope you have a better experience.
 
We went in 2016, and I was disppointed to see that they no longer focus on freshly steamed seafood.

The first time we dined there all the way back in 1999, the highlight of the buffet was the steamed clams, mussels and oysters. One section of the buffet had a gigantic steamer manned by a chef. They had big metal scoops so you could fill a pail with shellfish and told you to take an empty pail for the shells. There were a couple of dipping sauces, plain butter and a tomato-based one IIRC. They put brown paper on the tables to soak up any mess from the shells.

As time went on, they seemed to focus much less on the steamer although they added shrimp then snow crab legs to the clams and mussels that were being steamed.

Last time we were there, it turned into a regular buffet with mussels in a tomato broth and plain steamed clams and crab legs in regular trays on the buffet. The steaming station where the chefs poured out freshly steamed shellfish was gone.

The crab legs served that night were not meaty and were difficult to clean. Although I had a roasted brussel sprout dish I really liked, I was disappointed by mostly everything else. The fabulous selection of salads that they used to serve was gone too.

Later that week, we had the Seafood Sensation buffet at the Garden Grove, and the crab legs there were about 100 times better than the ones served at Cape May Cafe.

So unless I hear that they’ve gone back to serving from the big steamer station, I won’t be back to CMC. The food at Garden Grove is way better.
 
We went in 2016, and I was disppointed to see that they no longer focus on freshly steamed seafood.

The first time we dined there all the way back in 1999, the highlight of the buffet was the steamed clams, mussels and oysters. One section of the buffet had a gigantic steamer manned by a chef. They had big metal scoops so you could fill a pail with shellfish and told you to take an empty pail for the shells. There were a couple of dipping sauces, plain butter and a tomato-based one IIRC. They put brown paper on the tables to soak up any mess from the shells.

As time went on, they seemed to focus much less on the steamer although they added shrimp then snow crab legs to the clams and mussels that were being steamed.

Last time we were there, it turned into a regular buffet with mussels in a tomato broth and plain steamed clams and crab legs in regular trays on the buffet. The steaming station where the chefs poured out freshly steamed shellfish was gone.

The crab legs served that night were not meaty and were difficult to clean. Although I had a roasted brussel sprout dish I really liked, I was disappointed by mostly everything else. The fabulous selection of salads that they used to serve was gone too.

Later that week, we had the Seafood Sensation buffet at the Garden Grove, and the crab legs there were about 100 times better than the ones served at Cape May Cafe.

So unless I hear that they’ve gone back to serving from the big steamer station, I won’t be back to CMC. The food at Garden Grove is way better.

Your review just convinced me to go through with booking a meal at Garden Grove. Looking forward to it!
 
Your review just convinced me to go through with booking a meal at Garden Grove. Looking forward to it!

If you have a AAA card or are DVC members, you get 20% off the food. If you like craft beer, try the Phins and Feathers, which is the resort’s exclusive brew. :)
 
Even at my local Red Lobster (a middling seafood chain that should be known for consistency), sometimes the snow crab is sweet, meaty, and dense. Other times it is small, hollow, and dry. I wonder if it's a seasonal issue, but I thought snow crab is generally caught in season and then frozen for consumption throughout the year. Not sure if the inconsistent reports here are a reflection of the restaurant's quality or the supply chain of snow crab? Either way, I'd hope to have a good experience!

Is there a better place for consistently good crab at Disney, around this price point? Not hoping to spend $100 at Boathouse if possible, but I'm looking forward to having a nice crab dinner in October.
 

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