Review: Here is the absolute best Disney World buffet that you need to try now

Disney buffets can be incredibly expensive, but there’s one that is delicious and won’t break the bank.

Disney Buffets

When the parks and resorts reopened in July 2020, buffet dining felt like a thing of the past. All buffet restaurants ceased to serve buffets for many, many months.

They were replaced with “family-style” meals which are just larger portions of food brought to the table for everyone to enjoy. Many people either hated buffets and loved these family-style meals, or they wished buffets would return.

Slowly, Disney brought buffets back to most restaurants that previously offered them.

Swan Reserve

This 5-star hotel is nestled in the heart of Disney World and is a sister hotel to the Swan and Dolphin Resorts. All of these are owned by the Marriott and offer various discounts, such as a 30% discount on most stays for Annual Passholders.

The Swan Reserve is the newest and nicest of the 3 Swan and Dolphin Resorts. Take a look at the complete guide to The Swan Reserve HERE. Also, take a peek inside the rooms HERE.

Amare

Located on the second floor of The Swan Reserve, you don’t want to miss Amare.

With a name meaning “to love”, enjoy this casual upscale table service location inspired by the tastes and cultures of the Mediterranean region. The menu focuses on highlighting fresh premium ingredients popular in the area, including a wide variety of seafood, citrus, olive oils, pasta and pitas.

Amare features an extensive Mediterranean-based wine list featuring several specialized wine flights with selections from across the region.  Guests can dine here for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The breakfast buffet is available from 7:00am until 11:00am. Lunch is served from 11:00am until 2:00pm, and dinner begins at 5:30pm.

No reservations are needed for breakfast or lunch, just dinner.

We ate here for the breakfast buffet and dinner. Take a look at the huge variety of offerings found on the buffet.

Only breakfast offers a buffet or ordering from the menu. Lunch and dinner don’t have a buffet so you’ll order from the menu.

Beverages

When we were first seated, our server explained the buffet and asked about beverages. I (Susan) ordered coffee and love it when they give you a carafe so you don’t have to wait for refills. This coffee is superior to the Joffrey’s that Disney serves, and it’s served with half-and-half.

In addition to ordering coffee or soda, guests can enjoy unique juice blends such as Mango Mint Orange and Pineapple Apricot. All of the juices are freshly pressed. You will also find an assortment of milk offerings beside the juices.

Fruit

Check out the large assortment of freshly cut and whole fruit shown above. The fruit offers a lighter offering and the smoked salmon is a nice addition.

Buffet Menu

First, check out the eggs and proteins:

• Scrambled eggs – hot and fluffy scrambled farm eggs
• Eggs Benedict – poached farm egg, thinly sliced Canadian bacon, toasted english muffin and Hollandaise Sauce
• Made to order omelet – choice of ham, bacon, bell peppers, onion, tomato, cheddar cheese, and pepper jack cheese.

Omelets were hot and fresh, but I wouldn’t have ordered it if I saw the Eggs Benedict beforehand. My favorite in this group was the Eggs Benedict. Everything was cooked perfectly, including the Hollandaise Sauce.

Classics

The buffet includes several guest favorite options. First, the house baked buttermilk biscuits served with peppered sausage milk gravy are delicious. You can also choose the following options: fully buttermilk pancakes and Belgium waffles with pure maple syrup.

Sides

Last but not least, there are so many yummy sides it may be hard to choose! Take a look at them here:

• smoked bacon and Virginia blended sausage
• overnight oats
• Greek yogurt and granola parfait
• assorted pastries (such as butter croissants, pain au chocolate, freshly baked muffins and cheese danish)

I tried the bacon, overnight oats, and pain au chocolate. Each of these were wonderful – a step above most standard Disney buffets.

This buffet is a step above most Disney breakfast buffets.

Service

We arrived at the restaurant at 7:00am very hungry! And this buffet did not disappoint! Not only is this buffet my absolute favorite in terms of food, but the service was amazing, too!

Not only is this buffet my absolute favorite in terms of food, but the service was amazing, too!

Our server was very attentive throughout our dining experience. We were asked several times if there’s anything we needed. In addition, the chef came around to tables to check on guests and made sure the buffet was fully stocked. Everything ran like clockwork.

Other Meals

If you prefer lunch or dinner over a breakfast buffet, Amare has you covered there too!

However, the fennel marinated roasted chicken breast served with house made Pappardelle pasta, organic vegetables, cauliflower puree, roasted red pepper and walnut Romesco sauce was a bit dry. There were so many things included on the plate that they competed instead of complementing each other.

This flatbread is to die for! Seriously, the crust was amazing and light with just the right balance of ingredients. Adding fresh basil makes the flavors pop. If you’re looking for a late night dinner, this fits the bill.

This Nicoise Salad appetizer includes Seared Ahi Tuna accompanied by potatoes, green beans, a hard boiled egg, marinated tomatoes, and Nicoise olives. Not only does this dish have a beatiful presentation, but also the Ahi Tuna was seared just right and was very fresh.

Final Thoughts

Each one of these large containers shown above was filled with delicious, hot dishes! The price when we went was $30 plus tax. There’s also a full menu to choose individual entrees rather than the buffet.

I would definitely eat here again if staying at an EPCOT resort. The downside to this restaurant if it’s not within walking distance is you either have to take a Swan bus from the Disney World theme parks or pay for daily parking.

You must pay to park at all of the Swan and Dolphin Resorts, even for short visits.

Unlike Disney owned Resorts, you must pay to park here, regardless of how long you stay. Currently, their daily parking rate is $32 for self-parking.

Have you tried Amare? Or would you try it in the future? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments and share this post with a friend.