Seven years after breakfast first debuted at Satu’li Canteen in Pandora – The World of Avatar, it made a glorious return earlier this morning. In all honesty, we’re surprised that Walt Disney World ever stopped offering breakfast at Satu’li Canteen given just how popular Pandora – The World of Avatar is during the early morning hours at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Yes, guests are spending an hour or more in line every morning for Avatar Flight of Passage, but why not offer a breakfast option for when they exit the ride and they’re looking for something to eat after a long morning? Either way, breakfast is back, and we made it out to Disney’s Animal Kingdom this morning to review it!
Animal Kingdom was glowing this morning, mostly thanks to the sunrise, but also (probably) because of the return of Satu’li Canteen breakfast. Here’s a look at the Tree of Life and Pandora – The World of Avatar as we made our way back to Satu’li Canteen.
Satu’li Canteen Theming: Outpost Turned Culinary Oasis
We’ll start this review like we do most of our dining reviews, with a look at the theming of the venue. Of course, nothing changes in terms of theming with the reintroduction of breakfast, but it’s worth a quick lap around the venue to grab some updated photos of one of Walt Disney World’s best quick-service dining options.
The backstory of Satu’li Canteen is that it used to be the mess hall for the Resources Development Administration (RDA), basically the main antagonistic organization in the Avatar franchise. However, the story of Pandora – The World of Avatar is not one of conflict, but one of peace and harmony. To that end, Satu’li Canteen is a Quonset-hut structure that is adorned with Na’vi art and cultural items. The harsh textures of the former mess hall are visually softened by the natural elements that the Na’vi use to create lighting and decor for the dining location.
Owned and operated by Alpha Centauri Expeditions (ACE), Satu’li Canteen supplies travelers with all the comforts of home—courtesy of a unique, fast-casual menu that’s been crafted from Pandora’s natural abundance.
An entrance walkway guides guests back to the ordering area, but Mobile Order is also available at Satu’li Canteen (including for the return of breakfast!). As you make your way back to the ordering area, be sure to check out the cultural items on display.
Once you pass the show grill, you’ll either walk to the left to pick up your mobile order, or make your way through the queue to place your order in person.
The interior dining area is split in different dining sections, but all within the same large room. Sections will be closed or open based on demand, and there are two soda/utensil stations available based on which section is opened or closed. All of the interior dining sections are similar, with similar decor and seating options. There is also an outdoor dining area that is partially covered for guests who prefer to dine outside.
Satu’li Canteen Breakfast Menu & Prices
Interestingly, 75% of the menu items are actually the same as what was offered back in 2017. It’s very surprising that Disney essentially admits that the breakfast items were good enough to keep around, but that they inexplicably disappeared. Anyway, here’s a look at the breakfast menu food items:
- Frittata and Beef | $14.29
Vegetable-Goat Cheese Frittata with Wood-fired Beef tossed in Chimichurri - Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder Potato Hash | $13.29
with Chorizo Sausage and Charred Onion Sauce - Cinnamon French Toast | $12.99
with Blueberry Cream Cheese, Passion Fruit Anglaise, and Sausage - Tropical Pandoran Forest Fruits | $11.99
with Fresh Yogurt, Muesli, and Honey
In addition to the food items, there is a typical lineup of breakfast drinks offered as well. For the full menu, check out the Walt Disney World website: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining/animal-kingdom/satuli-canteen/menus/breakfast
Satu’li Canteen Breakfast Review
Ok, it’s finally time to dig in and see how the breakfast stacks up to what we remembered. Breakfast is offered from park open until 10am, when the normal lineup of lunch/dinner offerings is available.
Frittata and Beef | $14.29
Vegetable-Goat Cheese Frittata with Wood-fired Beef tossed in Chimichurri
We’ll start with the goat cheese frittata with wood-fired beef. For fans of the regular lunch/dinner menu at Satu’li Canteen, you’ll be happy to know that not only is the breakfast portion of wood-fired beef the same as what you’d get for a lunch bowl, but so is the preparation. If you’ve never had Satu’li Canteen before, it’s one of the best quick-service options at Walt Disney World because of the high-quality output from the kitchen.
The wood-fired beef is a deliciously soft shaved beef that brings all the flavor of the grill right to your plate.
Turning to the frittata, I thought it was a bold choice to include a dollop of goat cheese on top, and we love Satu’li Canteen specifically because of the bold choices (and flavors) that they make.
The goat cheese seemed to be much denser than it was back in 2017, with a texture that matched that of cream cheese. It really added some weight to the fork and an otherwise light and airy frittata.
A slice down the middle of the frittata reveals a complex interior, filled with veggies on the top half and egg for the base. Our first bite was a burst of flavor with hints of heat, but nowhere near spicy. I will say that the flavor of the eggs was just ok, rather standard. You’d do well to ensure that you have at least a portion of veggies and egg in each bite, working in the goat cheese as desired.
Our salad was extremely salty – almost inedible. In providing some feedback to the chefs, it seemed like a heavy salt presence wasn’t intended for the salad, so perhaps your experience will be better/different.
Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder Potato Hash | $13.29
with Chorizo Sausage and Charred Onion Sauce
The Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder Potato Hash was the star of the show. Starting with the chorizo sausage, you can expect a bit of heat here, but more the type of heat that makes you want to take another bite, not shy away from another bite. Expect a slightly tough texture thanks to the nature of chorizo and a slightly crispy exterior, as seen in our photo below.
A generous helping of chimichurri is appreciated and it pairs well with everything else in this dish.
If anything left me wanting with this dish, it was the amount of Slow-roasted Pork Shoulder. Compared to our dish from 2017, there was a significant reduction in the amount of pork shoulder. That said, the flavors are wonderful, and there’s still a lot going on with the hash – this is a winner of a dish.
Cinnamon French Toast | $12.99
with Blueberry Cream Cheese, Passion Fruit Anglaise, and Sausage
Don’t let this deceive you, there’s a lot going on with the Cinnamon French Toast – and it might be too much for some travelers.
The French toast itself is nice and dense, with an as-expected flavor profile. The cinnamon comes through nicely, with a dusting of powdered sugar on top of both pieces.
Where we start to veer a bit off of the well-traveled path is the introduction of a Blueberry Cream Cheese and Passion Fruit Anglaise. Both are really well executed, and the Passion Fruit Anglaise is bursting with flavor, but less adventurous travelers should know that the flavors are unavoidable.
You really have to love Passion Fruit and Blueberry to enjoy this dish. Going back to some of our earlier commentary – we love that Satu’li Canteen offers something more than the standard fare, and this French toast is anything but standard.
Tropical Pandoran Forest Fruits | $11.99
with Fresh Yogurt, Muesli, and Honey
For guests looking to start the day with something a bit more healthy, the Tropical Pandoran Forest Fruits is an excellent choice. Every element of the bowl was exceptionally fresh and the honey added a nice tartness to a dish that could appear to be somewhat bland, but was nowhere near bland in the end.
Closing Thoughts
If you’ve made it this far into the review, I’ll actually give you some useful info here instead of ending with some fluff. First, and this might come as a bit of a disappointment to some, but breakfast is not guaranteed to last for a long time. From what I understand, it will be available through January 2025 and then be extended beyond that if it proves to be popular.
The biggest issue with breakfast at Satu’li Canteen the first time around is that it simply wasn’t popular enough. That’s not to say that the breakfast wasn’t good or even great, it obviously is, but when Pandora first opened, guests were spending their entire breakfast period in line for Avatar Flight of Passage.
Now that lines have moderated and guest demand for a breakfast option has returned, Walt Disney World is trying it out for a few months to see if it is popular enough to keep around. Quick-service breakfast is a tough game at Walt Disney World given that most guests are busy riding rides or in line to ride rides. That said, an investment into breakfast like what Satu’li Canteen is trying out again is to be applauded. If guests are waiting up to an hour or more before the park opens to then wait an hour or more in line for Flight of Passage, it would make sense that they might be a bit peckish around 9-10am.
Now, instead of grabbing a cinnamon roll at Pongu Pongu or a standard egg sandwich that can be found at a number of grab-and-go locations, guests have a legitimate breakfast option in the most popular land in Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Something else that struck me as odd initially when the return of breakfast was announced was that it was the same menu items as 2017. There are some small adjustments to some ingredients, but the menu items are basically the same as they were seven years ago. As I understand it, this is for two reasons. First, the limited-time nature of breakfast made it easy to spin up the same tried and true items from years ago. However, there is a second element to this too that is unique to Walt Disney World’s most highly-themed lands.
Just like with new menu items in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, a new menu item needs to be signed off by more than just the head chef or local Imagineer that is trying to tell a culinary story. In the case of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Lucasfilm needs to sign off on new menu items, and in the case of Pandora – The World of Avatar, Lightstorm needs to sign off. This ensures that the menu items are themed to the franchise and that all stakeholders are happy with the end result.
If breakfast at Satu’li Canteen sticks this time, I think we could eventually see some new menu items, but there is still a hurdle to clear over the next few months.
Turning our attention back to our breakfast from this morning, I’m really happy to see that Satu’li Canteen has brought back breakfast, and I think that it will be very popular with guests moving forward. It’s still a relative unknown at the moment for guests at Walt Disney World right now, but through the holiday season, we hope to see it gain some traction.
Even if breakfast isn’t for you, Satu’li Canteen is one of the best quick-service restaurants at Walt Disney World, and we’d recommend giving it a try on your next visit!
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
