The Cove Bar - First and Last
Last week Marzz and I finally had lunch at The Cove Bar restaurant, located inside Disney California Adventure park.
This was our first and last visit to The Cove Bar, but not because it was bad, but because it closed forever just a couple of days after our visit. As some of you may know, this location is going away to make way for a brand new restaurant and bar called the Lamplight Lounge to fit in with the other Pixar themed locations being added or revamped this summer.
We waited in line that ran along the outside of the restaurant along the dock for approximately 25 minutes. The cast member overseeing the line took our names and our party size upon our arrival. Being a party of two seemed to pay off at the end, as we were called ahead of the group of three in front of us.
We were seated inside, next to the bar, kind of in the back. Normally this would have also been accompanied by a great view of the waterfront, but due to the ongoing construction, we had no such view. I'm glad we weren't seated on the patio/deck area only because it was rather warm on the day we visited and it was nice to be out of the sun. Our table was small but it was nice and quiet in an otherwise busy restaurant, which was a nice plus to get away from the crowds.
Our server greeted us promptly and in typical fashion, we had no clue what we wanted so we started with waters. Marzz was able to search on her phone some "secret menu" items that came in the form of specialty cocktails.
I ended up ordering the Fun Wheel, named after the giant "fun wheel", ferris wheel across the water. It was a fun layered cocktail, consisting of pineapple juice, X-rated passion fruit vodka and blue curacao together with some Long Island ingredients. It was topped with fomz (whipped cream-like stuff).
Marzz ordered the Cotton Candy Lemonade, which you can have non-alcoholic or with your choice of alcohol. Marzz chose to add vodka to hers. It was Odwalla lemonade, a giant ball of cotton candy and vodka mixed together. It was very sweet but did taste just like lemonade. A great summer drink and lots of fun adding the cotton candy to the top.
For food, I ordered the lobster nachos which are a fan favorite for this location and Marzz got the buffalo wings. Because Marzz is not able to eat shellfish at the moment, I asked them to put the lobster on the side and they were happy to oblige.
The nachos were a large portion and they gave a good amount of lobster. It may look small in the photo below, however I felt the amount of lobster was more than proportional for the nachos. The buffalo wings were fairly standard, however Marzz liked them a lot and said they were some of the best that she'd ever had. They were indeed meaty and were not covered in too much batter and the spice was good. I never expect food in a theme park to actually be spicy, so my expectations are always lower, and this was no exception. I would have preferred something spicier but this was not bad.
It is sad that The Cove Bar is closing forever. My parents used to frequent here for lunch and they too enjoyed the lobster nachos. I would have definitely come back here based on the food alone, but the location is one of the best in either Disneyland or DCA, even with the construction going on at the moment. Because this was our first time eating a full meal here, we're not attached to it in any way, so the promise of the new Lamplight Lounge just on the horizon is exciting to us and therefore makes our first and last visit to The Cove Bar, not a sad one but rather a memorable one being that we were some of the last people ever to have the chance to dine there.
Thank you to our waitress and all of the cast members working this day who helped make our dining experience fun and enjoyable. I can't really recommend you go and try it, but I do hope for those of you that have been to DCA before may have had the opportunity to eat here. I instead encourage you to check out the new Lamplight Lounge opening soon, as I have no doubt that the new menu items will accompany the great restaurant location allowing guests to create many more memories of their own in the future.
Thanks for taking the time to check out our blog and be sure to follow us on social media and don't forget to check out a few pictures below of what we ordered.
