Though Topolino’s Terrace is, fittingly, on the top floor of Disney’s Riviera Resort, I recommend starting your dining experience on the ground floor: at Le Petit Cafe just off the lobby. The cafe is an experience unto itself (a future post!), but if you’d like a pre-dinner apertif, they’ll happily put your cocktails in to-go cups so you can enjoy them outside.
With your drinks in hand, go down one more level, and walk out. Go past the bocce ball court, and follow the path straight ahead to a few small tables they’ve placed by the water. Perhaps it will fill up when more people try the new hotel, but we had the area almost entirely to ourselves. My Aperol Spritz was perfectly balanced and refreshing, my sister enjoyed her Mediterranean Margarita (though she thought it tasted pretty much like a regular margarita), and Mom’s Pomegranate Paradiso was strong but sweet. The best part, though, was the view at dusk, and even though we were sitting by a lake in Florida instead of by the sea in France or Italy, it did truly feel…just a little bit…like we were relaxing with our cocktails by the Riviera.
If it’s raining and you still want a pre-dinner respite, take your drinks to the Voyageurs’ Lounge, just to the left of Le Petit Cafe when you turn to the exit from the register. It’s a quiet space with board games, lots of outlets if you need to charge up or want a daytime workspace, and lovely displays of Disney memorabilia in French and Italian.
Then it’s time to head upstairs for the main event. Stepping off the elevator, you’re greeted not just by the host stand, but by glass cases that feature wine and mouthwatering fresh pasta and cheese.
The dining space is large, so you don’t really get the rooftop effect unless you’re seated by the windows. The name “Topolino’s Terrace” is a bit of a misnomer; while there is a terrace (where you can allegedly have drinks, though that wasn’t presented as an option to us—we were invited to step outside after breakfast, though), the dining room is entirely indoors. A party of three, we were seated at a four-top in the middle of two rows of booths. The booth seating is my favorite; for parties of two, it provides cozy, European style side-by-side dining.
Options for drinks are plentiful, with a number of cocktails (including a few sans alcohol), beers, and wines by the glass as well as the bottle—along with a few high-end glasses via Coravin. My sister started with a Mediterranean Paloma, a light, bright option that was high on my list, since I’m a sucker for anything with a sprig of rosemary. Later, she had their take on a Champagne Cocktail, which was slightly overwhelmed by the Aperol and lacking in fizz. I was delighted to see my favorite white varietal available by the glass, Fiano de Avellino. The Feudi di San Gregorio isn’t the best expression of the intense minerality, even smokiness, the wine can possess, but it provides smooth citrus with a bit of minerality, and I recommend it for a slightly different white.
With the drinks, they brought their signature bread that’s braided to look like a wheat stalk. The bread itself wasn’t very flavorful, but they also presented two types of olive oil—a standard Italian and a supercharged French that had a stronger OLIVE flavor.
There are two appetizer categories at Topolino’s: Antipasto and Starters, which I support as appetizers are usually my favorite part of the meal. We started by sharing the burrata from the antipasto category, and I was happy to see a generous shaving of black truffles on top. It’s a simple dish, but a luxurious one, and the ingredients were excellent.
We then moved on to separate starters: the root bisque, kale and Forelle pear salad, and winter pumpkin ravioli.
The root bisque was just as it should be, smooth and deep, though the vegetable accents were more chewy than crunchy. The pumpkin ravioli itself was delicious: one giant raviolo, really, with a rich pumpkin filling and an herbal top note (sage?—the server wasn’t sure), but the brodo they poured in at the table overpowered the pumpkin. The star of this course was the salad; grilling the figs gave the whole dish an earthy foundation that elevated it beyond a simple salad.
Our appetites dwindled to just two dishes with the main course: I had the braised lamb shank, and my sister tried the bucatini. Seafood is never my first choice, and I was a little disappointed to see that the pasta selection isn’t as large as I’d hoped, given how it’s featured in the entryway, and includes shellfish in half the options. But the bucatini was well cooked and extremely fresh tasting, although we would have enjoyed more spiciness from the Calabrian chiles.
The lamb shank was perfect for a “Florida cold” night, fall-off-the-bone tender in a rich jus, melting into the creamy polenta. A few more of the dehydrated pears would have been nice, as that’s the most unique feature of the dish, but it’s something I’d happily order again—though I think on my next visit, I’ll be getting the absolutely massive tomahawk veal chop that I saw a server carrying by our table.
For dessert, we ordered the pistachio mousse and profiteroles. The mousse was unfortunately too sweet and lacked the nutty pistachio flavor I craved, although the Morello cherries that garnished the plate were tasty. But that pistachio flavor was fully present in the gelato in the profiteroles; each pastry puff had a different flavor—the others were caramel and chocolate (preferred by my mom and sister, who don’t share my odd, savory-forward taste in desserts).
The highlight of the dessert course for me was the after-dinner drink list. I love amari for a digestif (digestivo, I should probably say), and it’s relatively rare even amidst fine dining restaurants. If you’ve never tried it and like bitter flavors, I’d suggest ordering the Amero Averna Herbal.
The restaurant had been opened for just under a month when we visited on January 14, 2020, and it still had a few issues to work out. The server seemed a bit confused by several of our requests and questions, the champagne cocktail went missing (which may have accounted for the lack of effervescence), and they were out of the Moscato Mom wanted with dessert. But the Mediterranean flavors came through beautifully in most of the dishes, and they gave the menu a slight twist to others on property. Topolino’s Terrace will definitely be in my regular restaurant rotation.
The Discerning Disney Diner 