The Fountain at Disney's Dolphin Resort Hotel - Orlando, FL

Restaurant info:
The Fountain

When you want simple and tasty fast food but without the long lines and pushing customers, The Fountain is a great place for a nice sit-down fast food restaurant with kids and those who like to dine alone. This restaurant makes all the service counter fast food restaurants at theme parks look like high school cafeteria food. 

We found this restaurant while walking through the Dolphin Resort Hotel after dinner and noticing their extensive milk shake menu. The Fountain was a very family-friendly, 1950's diner-like restaurant with modern furniture and specialized in sandwiches and simple desserts like malt milkshakes and pies. The atmosphere brings you back to your favorite old diner with bright bar stools at the counter, booths in the back, the sound of a heavy ice cream maker and a juke box playing last years hits. It was a great atmosphere to enjoy your comfort food at your own pace without feeling the pressure of other customers wanting a seat. We ate here for lunch after walking the Disney's Boardwalk, hungry.

We first ordered our milkshakes before even looking at the food menu. Siddharth ordered a Coco-Loco shake that comprised of chocolate and caramel cappuccino ice creams blended together with malted milk balls with drizzled caramel sauce, topped with whipped cream and a cherry. Siddharth loves anything with coffee flavors. And to add it with caramel? Siddharth was a happy boy.





I, on the other hand, was craving for something more simple, a banana split milkshake. What was great was that The Fountain allowed their customers to customize their milkshakes and ice cream sundaes, even if they don't list a specific topping you're craving for. I asked for chocolate and strawberry ice cream, mixed in with a banana and topped with chocolate sauce. And since I was on vacation, I asked for whipped cream and malted milk balls to really amp up more calories for more Orlando exploring. Drinking this with my meal made me feel like a little kid as well.




For our entrees, Siddharth ordered a Reuben sandwich. The waitress taking our order told him that this is no ordinary sandwich in that it was open faced. Siddharth, thinking that he's seen everything with his favorite sandwich, was welcoming the surprise. And boy, was it a surprise. It didn't even look like a Reuben sandwich (see below):

Don't they look like 3 large raviolis completely covered in cheese? What made this sandwich was the flat bread that is the base of these piles of corn beef slices on top. The Swiss cheese completely covered the sandwich with a drizzle of Thousand Island dressing. Siddharth will comment on the taste of this Reuben, but I really liked this sandwich especially being deconstucted like that. I don't even think Siddharth touched the salad that accompanied with it because he enjoyed the sandwich so much.

I ordered the Ahi tuna burger that was served very medium rare. I'm guessing they just threw the patty onto the grill and removed it soon after. The burger patty was completely seasoned with black and white sesame seeds, salt and pepper and finished with a thick helping of cole slaw. Chips were served on the side. The menu described it as a spicy Asian slaw, but I didn't find it spicy at all. I love cole slaw because of the crunchiness of the cabbage and carrots with the creaminess of the mayonnaise. This cole slaw was done quite well, tasting as if it was made fresh with a great deal of cabbage. The bun was a nice addition as well, being brioche. Brioche was soft and partially sweet and complemented the burger quite well. I'm not a fan of someone grilling/toasting my buns for my burger, I enjoy soft buns with my meat.

Overall, we both really loved The Fountain. It had a comfortable atmosphere and the wait staff were very attentive and friendly. And the comfort food that they served was simple and surprisingly creative. We loved it so much that we returned to the restaurant 2 nights later to have their customized ice cream sundaes with large scoops of strawberry, caramel cappuccino, and Rocky road ice creams topped with chocolate cake pieces. This was the only restaurant we went to twice during our vacation; typically we never venture back to the same restaurant.