Did you know that Disney World hides secret menu items in their restaurants all the time?

We’re suckers for scoping out the best new snack hacks, hidden restaurants and lounges, and occasional hidden menu items that you didn’t even suspect existed. One popular Magic Kingdom restaurant holds one of these secret menu items we’ve adored before, and we’ve dreamed of it so much since our last visit we HAD to return!

Jungle Navigation Co., Ltd. Skipper Canteen has quite the backstory to it! When Alberta Falls (the granddaughter of Dr. Albert Falls from the world-famous Jungle Cruise) took over the family business, the Jungle Navigation Co., she saved the company in the nick of time! This converted what was originally a cargo shipping venture into a passenger cruise company that now hosts passengers for meals before or after their Jungle Cruise (or anytime, really)!

Inside the Skipper Canteen restaurant, you’ll encounter three dining rooms, including the Falls Family Parlor, the Crew Mess Hall, and a once-secret meeting room of the Society of Adventurers and Explorers. Brave visitors are treated to exotic cuisines built with Asian, South American, and African-influenced dishes. And best of all, your server is one of the wacky Jungle Cruise Skippers like you’ve probably met or will meet on the Jungle Cruise.

Atmosphere

We love a restaurant that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and if you’re looking for a full belly and even fuller laughs, you’ve found the right place! As you approach the archway to the restaurant, you’ll walk up to a place with some real curb appeal. It’s got a big, fancy shmancy sign out front with its full official name of Jungle Navigation Co., Ltd. Skipper Canteen with “world famous jungle cuisine” written underneath it, but we’ll affectionately shorten that from here on out to just Skipper Canteen. In case you haven’t picked it up by now, this restaurant is a loose continuation from the Jungle Cruise ride, where you’re served by the skippers that take you on those cruises (that go around and around for “Niles”).

Once you’ve been greeted by the Cast Member at the host stand and checked in for your reservation, you’re invited to sit outside in the front patio area, which is a somewhat shady solarium in an octagon shape with wicker seating and huge cedar chests.

Or you can choose to wait inside the front sitting room, where you’ll spot tons of cool nicknacks like maps, newspaper articles, books, and even framed certificates and accomplishments.

These will showcase some of the splendid adventures the skippers have voyaged on! So maybe strike up a conversation with a Cast Member while you’re waiting to see what travel notes they may have.

When your table is ready, you’ll follow a skipper through the main dining room, which is rather large and holds lots of trinkets you might expect to find from travels into the jungle!

For this visit, we were directed to the secret meeting room of the Society of Adventurers and Explorers because, well… there’s just a lot to see inside there. There are paintings, ceremonial masks, statues, figurines,…

…and even butterflies of all shapes and color combinations on display. Yep, as long as we weren’t blocking Roberta’s (the butterfly) view of the rest of the room, we were all cleared for landing in our booth.

Booth-style seating isn’t the only type available in this room, though!

There are also several standard tables and chairs in deep brown and gold hues.

And outside in the main dining room area, there are more booths and standalone tables with chairs.

But honestly, we were just glad not to be dining on top of an elephant’s back at this point in our journey.

Menu

Once our skipper came around to introduce himself, he also dropped off the menu with us to have a quick looksie! We literally laughed out loud because the front of this menu looks like a full expedition folder, and we couldn’t wait to open it up and see what was inside!

The left-hand page contains the beverage and appetizer selections, including a few wine options…

… while the right-hand side will show you the specialty cocktails, beer, and main entrée selections.

We’ve gotta warn you, though! Looks can be deceiving because there’s a secret menu item to ask about before you order (which we’ll show you in just a bit).

We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves, but desserts are a special occasion and warrant their own separate menu! The Skipper Canteen dessert menu has a short selection of hot beverages AND a few sweet treats to peruse.

While there are several to choose from, they’re each unique in their own way, and our skipper was more than happy to make a few recommendations when we were ordering! Eventually, we did our best at navigating such an adventurous menu and set our heading for our multi-course meal!

Drinks

Our drink was the first to arrive at our table! The Jungle Bird was the crooner that won us over with its drink description containing Gosling Black Seam Rum, Campari Liqueur, Cane Syrup, and Pineapple and Lime Juices. It will cost you $15.

However, this Jungle Bird was singing a rather strange tune to our tastebuds. Our skipper warned us that this drink leaned more to the sour side than sweet, and he really wasn’t joshing us with that direction. When we started sipping on it, the taste we were met with resembled more of a grapefruit flavor and its fruity bitterness. We loved the pineapple wedge on the side, and the rum had a more sour taste to it than a sweeter, richer note. The flavor profile really worked for this drink and the taste they were aiming to accomplish with it — but it certainly tasted more bitter in its tune than of a sour drink to us. We have to admit it was served in a shorter glass, and its heavier alcohol content is most likely where the price is derived.

Eats

Since we ordered everything together, our food started to arrive shortly afterward. Remember when we told you there was a secret menu item to ask about? It’s here! All in all, we ordered the Pao de Quiejo, Orinoco Ida’s Cachapas, and “Tastes Like Chicken” Because It Is!

We can’t wait to tell you about that secret menu item first! The Pao de Quiejo is a Brazilian cheese bread (similar to what’s served at the Brazil Food and Wine Festival booth in EPCOT), just a lot more of them! This plate will cost you $15, but you’ll have to ask about it because it’s not printed on the menu at all. It’s served with a side of poblano cream with red pepper flakes and chimichurri sauce.

Now, while these little slices of heaven are hidden, they’re not new to the menu — they’ve been around a little while, but boy, are they a favorite of ours! We LOVE the sharable (or not so sharable, if you prefer) portion size of this appetizer, but the sauces are what really give it that extra flavor. It’s definitely worth calling it a “hack” at Magic Kingdom to make a reservation JUST to try these babies out.

The cheese bread is almost like a bread crusted dumpling stuffed with creamy melted mozzarella cheese that breaks apart so easily, giving that satisfying cheese pull we love to see. When you dip these puppies into the chimichurri AND poblano sauce together, you’ll be licking your fingers clean!

Now that we’ve tackled one appetizer and faired pretty well, it was time for round two! The Orinoco Ida’s Cachapas were next on our list to try. This dish will cost you $15 and is made of house-made corn pancakes, beer-braised pork, roasted corn, Fresno pepper salsa, and avocado cream — and we thought it was just the jokes that were corny here!

If we weren’t already in love with this place from the first dish, this second one totally solidified a W for them! This was probably our second favorite of everything we ate, and it was just an appetizer! These little house-made corn pancakes tasted like mini sweet-corn gorditas.

The corn pancake base is sweet and falls apart easily when you cut it, almost like it crumbles, and it’s delicious. The pork was tender and juicy, and the toppings of the crumbled queso, cilantro, salsa, and onions add to the sweetness. We don’t want to overlook a word of caution about these little beauties, though. There is a low, underlying heat to them, which we thought really kept the flavors super interesting while we were munching on them.

For our entrée, we chose “Tastes Like Chicken” Because It Is — and it left nothing to the imagination! This dish made of crispy-fried chicken with chili-soy glaze, jasmine rice, and picked vegetable slaw will cost you $28.

This entree features a lightly breaded chicken breast, and we received a rather large portion. This is sitting on top of a bed of rice with the veggie slaw and the glaze surrounding the base. The veggies in the slaw were crisp and pickled in flavor as advertised, and the jasmine rice was cooked just enough to where it was a little bit sticky, giving it a more exotic feel.

The chili-soy glaze mimicked teriyaki in taste and consistency, and when you mixed it all together, it added the sweet sauce to every bite. The chicken was tender and juicy, but the breading was very thin and really only added a casing for the chicken meat and a bit of texture.

Finally, it was time to take on the 9th wonder of the world, no, not the backside of water — dessert! For this review, we opted for the Coconut Bar with Pineapple-Basil Compote and Vanilla Cream. This sweet treat is made of vanilla chiffon cake with coconut and lime white chocolate ganache for $9.

The coconut is the immediate flavor you’ll get, but it’s not overwhelming. You’ll get a little bit of the crunch from the ganache within the bar, but everything on this plate is edible. The little meringue dollops were fun and light but a bit chewy and added another sweet element compounded on the bar.

The vanilla cake layers are soft and fluffy, but you’ll get a hint of that zesty lemon flavor in between bites that faintly reminds you of a lemony coconut cake. After just a few bites, we could easily see why our server said it was his favorite of all the desserts offered.

Overall

All in all, this is one of the best meals we’ve enjoyed in Magic Kingdom, and you don’t have to look very far around you to hear the buzzing comments about the food’s presentation and taste from your table neighbors.

Truly, we can say this is a hidden gem of a restaurant tucked away in Adventureland!

Nosh or Not?

Set your next dining adventure on course for Skipper Canteen if…

• You love the Jungle Cruise and crave more than just the ride! We like to think of this restaurant as an extension of the ride, so if you can’t get enough of the jokes, the theme, and, of course, the lovely skippers from your cruise, this place is literally screaming for you to join them!
• You’re tired of the everyday theme park food around Magic Kingdom. We can’t blame you for wanting something a little different from time to time, so if you’re looking for a little more adventurous menu (even if it’s just the names of the dishes), then stop by and try it out!
• You’re a light eater and looking for a sharable plate. Honestly, everything we tried on this review was large portions, so if you’re a light eater and are looking for something to share with someone to help stretch that budget a bit, this is definitely a restaurant to consider.

Steer that vessel away from this restaurant if…

• You’re NOT a fan of the Jungle Cruise. If you’ve maxed out your pun limit for your trip on the cruise alone or just generally don’t enjoy the theme or vibe of the ride, you probably will have a hard time getting past that just for the food here.
• Food familiarity is a MUST, and you don’t want to veer course. If just a super adventurous name alone is enough to turn you off to trying out a new dish, you’ll probably do better somewhere else.
• It’s a bit busy for your comfort. Looks can be deceiving here — while the outside looks very quiet and small, it’s actually a bigger restaurant that’s quite bustling inside.

We’re eating our way around Disney World and inviting you along to learn from our experiences! Be sure to stay tuned with us at Disney Food Blog for the latest news, updates, food and restaurant reviews, and more.

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Did you know this Disney World restaurant had a secret menu item? Tell us if you know about any others in the comments below!