Columbia Harbour House Review
In May 2011, Sarah and I visited Columbia Harbour House in the Magic Kingdom for the first time since 2009. Before that, we hadn’t been since 2006. This might be understandable if we didn’t care for seafood, but we do. We also love the ambiance at Columbia Harbour House. It had been so long because Sarah and I are frugal, “value for money” type people and we didn’t feel we were getting adequate value for our money at Columbia Harbour House. Part of the problem is that I can spend $9 on a double cheeseburger and fries, and thanks to the toppings bar, I can make the burger more substantial and thus, more filling. Since seafood costs a premium to begin, I get less at Columbia Harbour House, and then get hit with the double-whammy of there being no toppings bar.
Everything changed in May 2011. On our third visit to Columbia Harbour House, in a time period during which we visited Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe more times than I can count, we finally ordered reasonably sized menu items and found Columbia Harbour House to be a new hit for us.
Success at Columbia Harbor House, for us, clearly boils down to choosing the right menu item. By that, I don’t just mean something that tastes good. I mean choosing something that tastes good and is filling.
The first requirement, choosing something that tastes good, is quite easy, especially for those who enjoy seafood. Many of Columbia Harbour House’s menu items are delicious, and even though fried, they don’t taste excessively unhealthy. The second requirement, choosing something filling, isn’t quite so easy.
On our previous trips, because of our frugality, when confronted with the high prices at Columbia Harbour House, we elected to choose cheaper menu items, like the Fried Fish Basket, which saved us a whopping one dollar over the menu items we purchased on this trip and contained only about three pieces of fish. Other “$7 items,” such as the Chicken Breast Nuggets similarly offered poor value.
In either a moment of clarity or during a reckless spending spree (okay, in actuality, since we’ve graduated from college we make more purchases based on what we actually want–especially when only around a $1 in price difference is at issue), we decided to order what looked best to us this time. It was a tough call for me. The Shrimp Basket looked great, but at so many places, you don’t get all that many shrimp. I decided to order it anyway. Sarah, wanting to eat animals from the land and sea, opted for the Chicken Breast Nuggets and Fish. While our meals, including drinks, each exceeded $10, we were both quite happy with the results.
My Shrimp Basket contained a mountain of shrimp, plus coleslaw, plus fries. The shrimp were all fairly large, and not because they were overly breaded (the breading was about perfect). The fries were excellent and the coleslaw could have used a little more dressing, but I still enjoyed it reasonably well.
Sarah similarly enjoyed here land/sea meal. Her basket included a few large pieces of fish, plus a number of smaller chicken bites, and fries. It was more than she could eat, thus ‘forcing’ me to assist her in earning her “clean plate” award. Having tasted both, I’d say the shrimp was the better option, but the chicken and fish were quite good, especially for a counter service restaurant, too.
With its excellent nautical decor, Columbia Harbour House offers great ambiance. Perhaps not as good as Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe and its singing Yew Norkian, Sonny Eclipse, but it’s nice, and offers an excellent colonial atmosphere perfectly befitting of Liberty Square. On top of the ambiance, the multi-room and multi-story cozy design of Columbia Harbour House makes it fun to explore. These rooms also offer a nice respite from the legions of loud crowds, as you can often find a quiet room upstairs in Columbia Harbour House, even at lunch. The same definitely cannot be said for Cosmic Ray’s!
Overall, Columbia Harbour House now has our stamp of approval and it’s a restaurant to which we’ll be returning often. Ordering the “right” options made all of the difference for us, and allowed us to finally appreciate the wonderful atmosphere of Columbia Harbour House without being agitated by our still-restless stomachs. The quiet upstairs seating was huge for us, and we’d highly recommend this restaurant to anyone, even those who aren’t seafood fans, as the menu offers several healthy and non-seafood items.
Overall Score on the Disney Dining Brick-o-meter: 8.5/10
10 Responses to “Columbia Harbour House Review”
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CHH is my favourite Counter Service at MK by a country mile. We all tend to end up with a wide selection of foods as the kids go for fish, I go for chicken and Di is a total mystery, this just adds to the fun. The service is always really fast but its the decor and style of CHH that makes it a must-do. I love sitting upstairs and its one place we go to where its not just a case of getting food and diving out to the next attraction. Its great to sit and take stock of what we have done and then plan our next move……many, many happy memories and your shrimp pic has me drooling now
Agreed with you on all counts! The only reason we weren’t CHH fans before was the portion sizes. We eat A LOT. Now that we’ve found things that are large enough for us, it’s going to be a must-do. The shrimp sure are good, aren’t they?
CHH is my favorite counter service restaurant in MK (and probably #2 overall, after Sunshine Seasons). This is the rare occasion where ambience nearly overshadows food for me. Even as a child the various corners and trinkets to explore were mesmerizing to me.
Now, I love taking in the details and slowing down a bit. Plus, I love that they have unique and tasty vegetarian options (I’m not a dedicated vegetarian, but sometimes I like to choose veggie-only options).
I absolutely love Columbia Harbor House! Its my favorite CS restaurant at the MK. I like the menu since its different than then regular run-of-the-mill burgers. All your talk of the multi-level, quiet seating and all the details have got me intrigued…I always take my meal outside and sit at the tables with umbrellas which are nearby in Liberty Square…I find it a great place to rest at the MK and to people watch.
CHH was our favorite when there two years ago. We liked to sit upstairs with a view out toward the HM. It was always so quiet and relaxing. We became fond of the vegetarian sandwich. It was really big, well-made, tasty and filling. Once we discovered it we had two more lunches there and really looked forward to the lunches as much as an attraction!
I still love CHH, but really miss the days of the clam chowder in the bread bowl, which was a reason to eat there maybe more than once a trip.
The shrimp look really good and I was planning on ordering them on my next venture to the CHH, but I have to ask..kinda gross but.. did you notice if the shrimp had been deveined? I live in fear of the poorly cleaned shrimp after a very disgusting bite of tempura shrimp at a local sushi place.
I love to go upstairs and sit in the quiet room that overlooks the walkway below into fantasy land…..great people watching location!
CHH is a must do on every trip for us. The Lobster Roll is the best! It is fresh, delicious and filling. It is also refreshing as it is nice a cold, which is a plus on any hot day in FL! I love to sit and relax upstairs. *Sigh… One more week to go before I am there. How am I going to make it? LOL
There is nothing in the world quite like relaxing upstairs in Columbia Harbour House. Love that place!!!