New Dishes & Menu Changes at Space 220 Restaurant

Space 220 Restaurant is Epcot’s newest restaurant, and one of the highlights of Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebration. Despite being less than 6 months old, the out-of-this-world eatery is already adding interstellar new dishes to their menu, with new appetizers, entrees, and desserts, plus other changes.

Before we get going, it’s worth noting that we’ve already done the lounge, lunch, and dinner at Space 220 Restaurant. We’re big fans of the cuisine and experience, and highly recommend Space 220 to most Walt Disney World visitors. If you’re curious about theme and atmosphere, check out our Photos & Video: Inside Space 220 Restaurant at Epcot. That tour offers an exhaustive look around.

If you’re more concerned about cuisine, see our Space 220 Restaurant Lunch Review or Space 220 Restaurant Dinner Review. That trio of posts covers a range of different topics, from whether dinner is worth the premium pricing to space dogs to reservation timing and much more. Since Space 220 is already the hottest Advance Dining Reservation at Walt Disney World, you may not have much of a choice between lunch and dinner, but they’re still worth reading…

As for the new and updated menus at Space 220 Restaurant, beginning today, new items include…

Short Cake – Matcha Air Cake, Mascarpone Mousse and Strawberries. Available as a Supernova Sweets (dessert) option for three-course prix fixe dinner, or $14 add-on to two-course prix fixe lunch. (Pictured above.)

Shrimp Cocktail – U 10 Shrimp and Classic Horseradish Cocktail Sauce. Available on the Flight Bites lounge menu.

Steak Salad – Marinated Filet Tips, Iceberg Wedges, Cucumber, Cherry Tomatoes, Chives, Blue Cheese Crumble and Horseradish Dressing. Available as a Star Course (Entrée) option for lunch only. (Pictured above.)

Quinoa Burger – Quinoa-Vegetable Burger, Baby Arugula, Tomato, Yellow Beet Citrus and Mayonnaise. Available as a Star Course (Entrée) option for lunch only. (Pictured below.)

Out of all of these items, only the Short Cake catches my curiosity–it sounds really intriguing, inventive, and potentially delicious. I guess the shrimp cocktail could also be good, but I seldom order those at Walt Disney World. (There wasn’t much that I loved about living in Indianapolis, but St. Elmo Steak House has pretty much ruined all other shrimp cocktails for me.)

As for the Steak Salad and Quinoa Burger, those strike me as low-value entrees, and when a restaurant has a prix fixe menu, I simply will not order those–not even “for the sake of research.” (Even as a consummate carnivore, I still haven’t ordered the Centauri Burger due to the value proposition. I’d certainly get that before some Quinoa Burger.)

In addition to brand new items, some existing dishes at Space 220 Restaurants have been given upgrades, with new flavors and ingredients:

  • Space Glazed Duck Breast – Fried Jasmine Rice, Asparagus, Pineapple and Orange Hoisin Sauce. Available as a Star Course (Entrée) option for dinner only.
  • Florida Red Snapper – Pan Seared Red Snapper, Fennel Barigoule and Potato Stew. Available as a Star Course (Entrée) option for dinner only.
  • Space Greens – Dressing made with Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Cointreau, Thyme Simple Syrup, Strawberry and Fresh Lemon Juice. Available as a Lift-Off (appetizer) option for lunch and dinner.
  • Supreme Chicken Breast – Seared Chicken Breast, Polenta Parmesan Cake, Petite Balsamic Lentils and Basil Oil. Available as a Star Course (Entrée) option for lunch and dinner.

Here’s how those items compare to their counterparts that were previously on the dinner menu:

I won’t pretend to have thorough knowledge of bulk food pricing or how ingredients complement one another to say whether these are truly “upgrades” (as Patina Group claims) or if they’re ways to make the dishes less expensive to prepare.

My guess is that it’s a mix of both. Some cost-cutting or tweaks as inflation drives prices of particular ingredients higher, and some improvements made as the culinary team has experimented with the dishes and received guest feedback. That’s just a guess, though.

My only concern lies with the Space Glazed Duck Breast, which was previously the X2 Duck (Roasted and Confit Crescent Duck, Butternut Squash Flan, Brussels Sprouts, Orange Glaze).

Previously, the duck confit was the highlight of this dish; it was fall off the bone tender, and incredibly flavorful. The roasted duck was also delicious, but it was a tad tough. The orange glaze was good, arguably enhancing it further, but I thought the natural flavor of the meat and its preparation spoke for itself.

Ultimately, there’s not really much else to say about the menu changes at Space 220 Restaurant. I do like that Patina Group is making changes and additions, which is something I hope we start to see more of throughout Walt Disney World after many menus have been reduced or essentially frozen in time for nearly 2 years. Hopefully, these particular changes at Space 220 are a net positive.

With that said, I’ll level with you–a big part of the reason I wrote this post is because I wanted to give Space 220 Restaurant another endorsement. (This wouldn’t exist without that pretense–how often do you see menu update posts on this blog?!) In response to our recent List of Overrated Table Service Restaurants at Walt Disney World, many readers named Space 220 Restaurant their “#1” most overrated pick. That’s fine if you think that. I’m not about to cast aspersions on anyone else’s sincerely-held opinions about Walt Disney World, especially as someone who likes a lot of unpopular things.

However, if you have not yet done Space 220 Restaurant, I would strongly encourage you to give it a try despite the mixed reviews. I suspect part of what’s driving a lot of negativity is sky-high hype and expectations after the restaurant was delayed by like 11 years. There have also been entirely valid frustrations about price, but those can be obviated to some degree by eating in the lounge, which has an a la carte menu and can be less expensive (it also offers the best views).

Space 220 Restaurant has drawn a lot of comparisons–we have called it Coral Reef: Space Edition. In this case, it reminds me a lot of Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater, which recently made our List of Underrated Table Service Restaurants at Walt Disney World. I’m betting that if you asked 100 Walt Disney World fans, half would put it on that list and the other half would put it on the overrated list. Same idea here (except Space 220 is newer, so I doubt anyone would consider it “underrated” at this point). Space 220 Restaurant is bound to be a polarizing, love it or hate it kind of place for years to come. You should find out for yourself where you land in that spectrum.

Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!

YOUR THOUGHTS

Have you dined at Space 220 Restaurant in Epcot? If so, do you think it’s overrated, underrated, or somewhere in between? More to the point: would you go back or recommend it to others? If you’re planning on doing an ADR here, will you book lunch or dinner? Thoughts on the new and “upgraded” menu items debuting for Spring 2022? Does it look or sound like the cuisine is commensurate with the cost? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

45 Responses to “New Dishes & Menu Changes at Space 220 Restaurant”
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