Does BoardWalk Deli Make Walt Disney World’s Ickiest Sandwich?

Here’s a hot take: overall, I think Walt Disney World’s food scene is solid. Some of it is AMAZING, some of it pretty good, some of it middling, and much is unremarkable. But on the whole, you can order anything from any restaurant and be reasonably confident it will be, at worst, acceptable. Overpriced, maybe, but fine to eat.

And yet, on rare occasions, Disney’s culinary team does suffer a big ol’ miss. Let’s take a journey to Disney’s Boardwalk.

SETTING THE DISNEY SCENE

Once upon a time, two gals rode the Skyliner to the International Gateway at lunchtime. One took the path to Epcot and the Festival of the Holidays food booths. One, park ticketless for the time being, took the path around Crescent Lake to visit Disney’s Boardwalk area. That one, as you might have guessed, was me. Here I am!

My mission? To hit up the Cake Bake Shop gift shop for my mom’s Christmas presents (have you seen their fairy and swan plush?!), but ALSO to grab a bite to eat at the Boardwalk Deli. The counter service restaurant – once known as the Boardwalk Bakery – had recently gone through a full refresh, and I figured it would be a good place to grab a quick bite while waiting for our resort room to be ready. I pulled up the My Disney Experience app, tabbed to mobile order, and made my selection: the Veggie Crunch Muffuletta.

MY SANDWICH IN THEORY

Listen, on paper, the Veggie Crunch Muffuletta sandwich sounds way up my alley: cured and pickled root vegetables, “cheese,” arugula, and olive-vegetable tapenade on ciabatta served with choice of side. My Eastern European heritage manifests itself in being crazy a strong love of pickled vegetables,* so I was already on board. I have no need for my cheese to be “cheese,” but then I have no objection to “vegan” products and will often order Disney’s plant-based entrees as a means of selecting lighter and/or more nutritious fare.

* And sour cream, duh.

This seemed like a great way to start my vacation on a healthy, vegetable-heavy foot before I went all in on cocktails and dessert, you know? I mean, yes, I ordered chips as my side, but only for their portability.

MY SANDWICH IN PRACTICE

At first glance, my muffuletta looked promising. It was sizable, suggesting value, and the ciabatta was obviously fresh. Step one to a great sandwich is delicious bread, no?

Unfortunately, step two is delicious filling, and hoo boy, the veggie crunch muffuletta DOES NOT HAVE THAT. Unless you enjoy drinking vinegar. Do you enjoy drinking vinegar and eating salt-cured foods? Because I love pickled stuff AND I love salt, and this sandwich was just waaaaay too salty and sour.

As much as pickled veggies make a delightfully tangy garnish, and as much as olive tapenade is a wonderful briny condiment, they are entirely too aggressive by their powers combined. Especially when there are no other flavors to stop them – the only remaining filling is arugula (useless) and the “cheese,” which is texturally fine but otherwise doesn’t taste like much.

Unfortunately I could barely get through half of it before chucking the whole works – and I HATE throwing out food. I had every intention of bagging up the remainder for later, but this wasn’t a sandwich so much as an acidic aberration. Even the gorgeous ciabatta was rendered inedible thanks to the sour juices it soaked up.

A BAD SANDWICH AT DISNEY BEATS A GOOD ANYTHING ANYWHERE ELSE

Thankfully, this was but a tiny blip in an otherwise marvelous day. Of course it was – I’d rather eat a bad sandwich at Walt Disney World than a good sandwich at the office, right? My menu misstep was hardly a vacation ruiner. I performed my Cake Bake Shop Christmas gift recon, Skylinered back to the Riviera, and continued my Jollywood Nights trip to much success.

I have every confidence the Boardwalk Deli is capable of producing tasty sandwiches. Like I said, the bread was top notch, and that’s a brilliant start. Still, if you find yourself there for a meal, DON’T order the veggie crunch muffuletta. Get something with meat or real cheese, or maybe a salad if you’re vegan. Anything else, really. Unless you really do love throwing back white vinegar? You might want to ask your doctor about that…

In conclusion: Hue G. Krozant has much to answer for!

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