Magellan's: Exploring Fine Dining at DisneySea
Hi! Welcome to our review on Magellan's in Japan's DisneySea. During our Japan trip, I wanted to make sure that we got to try some of DisneySea's most elusive dining experiences. We found out that there were a few fine-dining, table service options in the park, one of which was at Magellan's. I couldn't find a lot of information about Magellan's food online or in the DisneySea maps so I decided to write a quick blog post about it.
To get a reservation, we went to Magellan's at around 9:45AM, which was a bit before opening time at 10AM. When we got there, there were already a few people waiting in line. At around 10AM, they opened the doors and started taking reservations. After a few minutes, we reached the receptionist. For a table for two, there was only one table left for dinner. We got pretty lucky!
Overall, I enjoyed the meal a lot. I would recommend Magellan's to everyone. But, from a culinary perspective, there's still a lot of room for improvement.
SECRET TIP: If you want, you can ask for the "cellar". This is a secret room in Magellan's where you can eat. The only downside is that you don't get the view of the globe.
After a long day of fun, we went back to Magellan's for our reservation time. Upon entering, we were pleasantly surprised how nice it was inside. The entrance of the restaurant brings you to the 2nd level of the dome-shaped restaurant. Most of the seating is at the 1st level of the restaurant, which is accessible via the main curving staircase. Most of the seats surround a giant globe in the center of the restaurant. If possible, try to sit directly underneath the globe (see above). These seem to be the best seats.
The ambiance wasn't cheesy like I thought it would be. It was just the right level of lavishness without seeming pretentious or over-the-top. My favorite part about Magellan's was that it seemed like we weren't in the park anymore. You couldn't hear any of the rides outside. And, it was a lot less crowded and more spacious than the rest of the park.
Magellan's offers a few different types of course meals. We got the Tokyo DisneySea 15th Anniversary Special course. For an extra 1,000 yen, it came with a Collectible Spoon. To start, it came with Marinated Tuna with Avocado Mousse and Assorted Vegetables (see above). It was fun seeing the Mickey-shaped sauce.
Next, she got a Steamed Pacific Cod with White Wine Sauce (see above). I'm so glad we decided to come here because this is the fanciest amusement park food I've ever seen. It was a great treat given that we spent the whole day walking around, waiting in lines, and having a lot of fun. I liked that we were able to sit down, eat some good food, and take it easy.
The next dish was a Roasted Kuroge Wagyu with Madeira Sauce and Pink Cystal Salt (see above). The flavor was quite good. Kuroge Wagyu is not like Kobe or Matsusaka. It's broader than that. Kuroge represents one of the four main wagyu breeds: the Japanese Black Cattle. This breed of wagyu has several types of "strains", one of which is the Tajima strain, which is the only strain that can be used for Kobe beef. Kuroge is the main breed of wagyu in Japan. Its quality is decent even without the Kobe or Matsusaka certification.
Finally, our dessert was a Macaron, Mikan (Orange), Almond Chocolate Cake, and Frozen Cassis-Milk (see above). They presented it nicely so +10 points to Magellan's. I can't remember the price of her meal but it was probably around 9,000 yen, or 80 USD.
My dinner course was called the Magellan. For 7,710 Yen, or about 68 USD, There was an appetizer, a soup/salad, an entree, and a dessert. I got the Hors D'oeuvres Sampler, which came with Salmon Sashimi, Ratatouille, Prosciutto, Carrot Mousse. It was a pretty good appetizer given that we were at Disney.
I chose the soup over the salad. It was a Radish Cream Soup. Nothing special here.
My entree was a Sautéed Beef Fillet with Red Wine Sauce. It looked decently creative with the red wine sauce pools in tiny onion rings. It was a good dish!
Finally, my dessert was a Crème Brûlée. This is actually my favorite part of my course meal. It's hard to tell from the picture but the Crème Brûlée was enormous. It wasn't too sweet and the custard inside was deceivingly addictive.