My plans for dinner at Disney Springs took a bit of a detour. As I was heading to the restaurant I was planning on dining at, my eyes spotted an outdoor bar with plenty of open seats and a nice view for people watching.
I checked out the menu and decided to belly-up and make Terralina Crafted Italian the restaurant of choice for the evening.
Terralina recently “reopened” after undergoing a renovation and a name change. The red sauce joint was formerly known as Portobello Country Italian and features a menu created by James Beard Award-winning Chef Tony Mantuano.
To start off, I decided to try the Revered Heritage (Rough Rider double cask bourbon, Cardamaro, Cocchi, old fashioned bitters, bourbon cherry – $15) for a cocktail. A good blend of flavors, but the glass it came in was cumbersome and round two was requested in a rocks glass.
The drink menu features a few specialty cocktails, beer, and an impressive wine list featuring vino by the glass or bottle.
Let’s talk about food. There’s only one menu at Terralina, so whether you’re here for lunch or dinner, it’s the same. Appetizers include an Antipasti Tower that serves four, fried olives, meatballs, clams, seasonal soup, a few salads and more.
For appetizers, I went with the meatballs and the eggplant fries. The meatballs came out two per order over a bed of polenta and topped with shaved parmesan cheese – $14. The balls were steaming hot, moist and were actually pretty good, so this is an appetizer I would recommend.
The disappointment came in the form of the eggplant fries – $11. Boring, uninspired, bland and greasy is probably the best way to describe them. I do enjoy fried eggplant, but the breading used for these didn’t contribute any flavor to the dish at all. Not recommended.
Entrees consist of a selection of wood-fired pizzas, which some folks a few seats away from me were noshing on, and they said it was quite good. Eggplant and chicken parm, a few seafood items, a good selection of pasta dishes including gnocchi and ravioli, as well as a burger, steak and pork chop to round out the main course choices.
I played it safe, as I say if you can make a good “safety dish” other items on the menu should be pretty good.
Hopefully, right?
So I went with the chicken parm – $27. That’s a pretty hefty price for a chicken dish if we’re being honest, so expectations were set high from the start.
The dish consisted of two pieces of breaded and fried chicken that were cooked perfectly. The cutlets were juicy and tender, not dried out at all. My complain with this dish did not lie with the chicken, but with the scant amount of cheese and sauce on top. It really could have used more, but at the same time did not take away from the dish. The pasta that came with it was cooked al dente and had just the right amount of sauce.
I passed on dessert but did enjoy a few more cocktails before calling it a night.
Terralina Crafted Italian at Disney Springs is participating in Magical Dining month where dozens of restaurants in the Orlando area are offering a special three-course menu for $35. Restaurants are “supposed to” present diners with the Magical Dining menu as well as the regular menu.
This didn’t happen.
Not an issue for me because I didn’t plan on ordering off of the Magical Dining menu, but it is part of the participation requirements.
Terralina does accept the Disney Tables in Wonderland Card which offers 20% off food and beverages.