Walt Disney was fond of saying “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” He first coined the phrase back in 1955, and it has been true of all his theme parks ever since.
It is especially valid of his great Florida resort, which continues to demonstrate that there is plenty of imagination and creativity to keep fuelling the ever-changing nature of Walt Disney World, with even more expansions and other new projects in the pipeline.
The same has also been the case at Disney Springs, the extensive complex of shops, dining and entertainment, where a major transformation a few years back led to a complete revitalisation and name change (from Downtown Disney). One of the elements of that conversion was the old Bongos Cuban Café, which was demolished in 2019 to make way for…well, it wasn’t clear at first.
Several years went by, and then, in 2022, we heard; it would be called Beatrix, a new restaurant concept from a Chicago company. Only that wasn’t quite it. Before we could even get from A to Beatrix, the name – and theming – had changed. Instead, we got Summer House on the Lake, which opened last December.
In effect, this completes the long-running transformation of the West Side section of Disney Springs and, like all good things, it was worth the wait. It is coming up on its first anniversary, and we thought that would be a good opportunity to pay our first visit to this good-looking dining temptation, which boasts a California-inspired menu, a genuine summer-house vibe, and cookies. Lots of cookies.
In fact, while the main menu is definitely captivating, it is the in-house Bakery which is likely to catch your eye first, initially for the marvellous aromas escaping through the front entrance and then for the sight of the 20 (count them – TWENTY!) types of cookie and cookie bars on offer in a spectacular array of sweet treats.
We managed to steel our resolve to by-pass (at least before lunch) the Bakery and head inside the main restaurant itself, which has both indoor dining and a gorgeous back patio facing Lake Buena Vista, which takes up one whole side of Disney Springs. That accounts for the ‘On the Lake’ section of the name, and the Summer House part is also easy to see, as this paragon of Californian style is both light and airy and fitted out with a breezy beach vibe that could definitely be the home of the Beach Boys (if they lived in Florida instead of Los Angeles!).
The lunch and dinner menus are pretty much identical, hence you don’t need to worry about the right time of day to visit, but there is also a weekend brunch (Sat and Sun from 9am-2pm) that adds some tempting dishes to the overall mix, including breakfast burritos, tacos, tostadas, Mexican hash browns and huevos rancheros (another Mexican speciality, consisting of fried eggs served on top of fresh-made tortillas and covered with salsa, refried beans, avocado and crema).
As we were visiting on a Tuesday lunchtime, that wasn’t on offer, but we will most surely be back for some huevos in the not-too-distant future!
The first impression is definitely one of lakeside chic, though, a relaxed chillout zone that just happens to serve good food. The check-in podium is immediately inside the main entrance, flanked by the Bakery on one side and an inviting bar with high-top tables and an open frontage on the other.
A short corridor leads to the main (indoor) dining room, the Sun Room, which truly earns its name on a beautiful November day as we had. There is also another pleasant bar area lit by warm, cosy basket chandeliers and down-lighters that definitely invoke a relaxed, summery feeling.
With temperatures pushing 26C, we weren’t wasting such a gorgeous autumn day, though, and sought out a table on the extensive rear patio, with views across the lake to the neighbouring Saratoga Springs Resort and the eye-catching Aerophile tethered balloon ride next door (which is an absolute must-try on a cloud-free day like this).
We were joined for lunch by a very good PR friend of ours and, at his suggestion, we ordered the restaurant’s Signature Guacamole starter, complete with a trio of salsas, which was a fairly large plateful for just the three of us. This would be a recurring theme!
The main course choice was a lot harder to narrow down. First, there is a selection of generous sized salads if you’re feeling healthy, all of which can have chicken, salmon, tuna or even steak added to them. Or there is an option for wood-fired, thin-crust pizza, five varieties, including shaved mushroom and sausage & peppers. Or how about a sandwich – crispy chicken, turkey stack or cheeseburger? Again, they looked delicious.
As you can guess, the three of us went in a different direction, and our table was soon groaning under the weight of their Grilled Tequila-Lime Tacos, Grouper Fish ’n Chips, and Picnic Fried Chicken Basket, an awesome threesome of contrasting dishes unified in their impressive size, none of which we could finish (hence we all went home with doggie bags).
Our choices consisted of the well-packed tacos, which came up suitably fresh and flavourful, boosted by a crunchy slaw, pico de gallo and guacamole, while the fried chicken proved an absolute taste sensation – big, thick chunks of white meat in a superbly crispy batter, with side dishes of slaw, hickory barbecue sauce and shoestring fries. Very possibly the best fried chicken we’ve had anywhere.
Although we were pretty much full by this stage, we had one outstanding dessert recommendation to try, and this proved the undoubted highlight of the meal. While a standard lemon drizzle cake wouldn’t normally get our attention (it might be a Great British Bake Off staple, but it’s not exactly a headline-grabber), we were SO glad we let our server insist this was the one we needed to try. Not only was it truly gooey and lemony, it had an astonishing depth of flavour that kept all three of us going until the very last morsel had been devoured, which is pretty rare these days!
And with that, our lunchtime repast was complete. Now, we know full well that dining at Disney Springs these days is a mind-bending choice of extravagant proportions, with an astounding range of tastes and styles on offer. But, if you’re looking for those bright, bubbling flavours that are singularly American, we can heartily recommend Summer House on the Lake – at any time of the year.
PS: Remember those cookies? We hadn’t forgotten, either, and made sure we went home with a few samples for breakfast the next day.
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