What to Eat (and Avoid) at Disney’s Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

February 27, 2020 Admin 0 Comments

Get your blue milk spiked with rum and your Ronto wrap with Impossible sausage, plus other tips for navigating Disney’s interstellar treats

If you’ve dreamt of sucking down space milk and piloting the Millennium Falcon in a galaxy far, far away, you can make those dreams come true a lot closer to home. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the theme park land at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts, brings rides, a lightsaber-building workshop, a droid studio, a restaurant, and a cantina to Disney’s theme parks, fulfilling every fan’s longtime ambition to eat and drink like Han, Leia, and Kylo Ren.

Since they opened in 2019, the parks in Florida and California have diverged from each other in food offerings, making it even more important to put some time into deciding where to spend your space credits. Oga’s Cantina introduces Disneyland’s first and only public bar in its 64-year history, and unlike the Mos Eisley cantina, which refuses to serve droids, the cantina serves guests of all ages on both coasts. (Note that more often than not your group will be standing around a high top. Seating is a premium and often limited to larger parties or those who require it.) Each person can order a maximum of two drinks total, so choose carefully. And don’t forget to book a reservation either — 60 days in advance for Disneyland and six months early at Walt Disney World — as you’ll struggle to get inside the intergalactic watering hole without one.

True space cuisine is no longer a pipe dream, but you’ll want something tastier than Luke Skywalker’s Resistance MRE (which, of course, they also sell). Even without a single waiter-service restaurant on this far-flung trading post, there’s plenty to try. Here’s what’s worth seeking out and what you should definitely avoid at Disney’s Star Wars-themed lands.

DEFINITELY ORDER

Sour Sarlacc

Ronto Roasters’ raspberry limeade is the best of the nonalcoholic, juice-based drinks sold throughout the land, with a sweet-and-spicy mango component that provides a special kick. (The version at Walt Disney World was recently converted to the Surly Sarlacc, a Ketel One-spiked boozy beverage.) If you’re going to sip something that’s not a Diet Coke in a thermal detonator, make it this.

Docking Bay 7

Though pricier than other park locations, nearly every dish at Galaxy’s Edge’s counter-service eatery is a standout. Highlights include the tender Batuuan beef pot roast — so popular that the onetime-dinner-only entree is now available for lunch too — and the sauce-slathered smoked kaadu pork ribs, which are somewhat outshined by the blueberry cornbread that comes on the side. The Felucian kefta and hummus garden spread, which reads more like an herbaceous baked falafel, is also a solid choice. In search of lighter fare? Don’t skip the roasted Endorian chicken salad, a curry ranch-tossed sleeper hit topped with chicken shawarma that would play well at Sweetgreen, or the Endorian fried tip-yip from the kid’s menu, which comes with macaroni and cheese and is superior to the Tip Yip entree on the adult menu.

Chocolate Popcorn with Crait Red Salt (Disneyland Only)

This sweet-and-crunchy mixture is instantly snackable, and the chocolate glaze holds up for days, making the popcorn an unexpectedly perfect edible souvenir. It could use a bigger helping of the salty topper — meant to resemble the bold red surface from planet Crait, as seen in The Last Jedi — but regardless is a must-try on par with the famed popcorn flavors of Tokyo Disney Resort.

Batuu Bits

This futurist pub mix is a great complement to drinks at Oga’s Cantina when you’re feeling snacky, as the bar doesn’t sell too much food. Intriguingly, it differs from coast to coast. Batuu Bits in California are served as a semi-standard Japanese snack mix with wasabi peas, seaweed chips, and an array of rice crackers, while the version in Florida consists of veggie chips served with a killer chermoula dip. Both locations toss in some crunchy chocolate meringue pieces, a mismatched flavor pairing that somehow just… works.

Black Spire Brew

Hold off on the hotel coffee to save room for this coffee-based beverage. The Oga’s Cantina concoction is a lifesaver for jet-lagged visitors, providing enough fuel to power through an early Disney morning while taking the edge off. It mixes cold brew with passionfruit, citrus, honey, and falernum, masking the much-needed caffeine with some traditional tiki flavors.

Ronto-less Wrap (Disneyland Only)

This new meatless option is only available at Disneyland’s Ronto Roasters, but may eclipse its pork-packed predecessor. The plant-based Impossible sausage, which tastes similar to merguez, comes topped with slaw, sliced jalapenos, and a Gochujang-based sauce, creating the ideal pita filling whether or not you partake in the good stuff. It’s sturdier than the Ronto wrap, too, relying on a stronger flavor profile rather than pork sausage. All in all, it’s worth your coin.

Jet Juice, Fuzzy Tauntaun, and Outer Rim

These are the three best alcoholic drinks on the Oga’s Cantina menu. Everything is pre-mixed and errs on the sweet side, but the Outer Rim — a fruit-forward Patrón margarita served with a black salt rim — is always reliably well-balanced. The shot glass-sized, bourbon-based Jet Juice is an equally smooth sipper, with hints from fruity and spicy liqueurs. The Fuzzy Tauntaun, a take on a Fuzzy Navel, is topped with foam made from buzz buttons, an herb that will tingle your lips like Sichuan peppercorns, making for a brilliant out-of-this-world gag.

IF YOU’RE STILL HUNGRY

Ronto Wrap

Ronto Roasters’ Portuguese sausage sandwich has amassed a cult following, but the consistency has waned since the park’s opening. The Sichuan peppercorn sauce in particular has lost its much-needed zing. It’s still palatable, no doubt, but with wet slaw slipping out of the cushiony pita, a $13 soggy sandwich just isn’t worth it.

Blue and Green Milk

While the duo of almond milk-based tropical slushies aren’t bad, they’re not resoundingly great either. Since they first appeared, fans and guests have debated which one is better, though no clear answer has emerged. One route is to mix them together before slurping ‘em down half-and-half, or (only if you’re in Florida) have your blue milk spiked with rum.

Bloody Rancor

It’s hard to splurge on a Bloody Mary with so many other space-age cocktails on offer at Oga’s Cantina, but the meringue garnish shaped like a Rancor bone tips the Bloody Rancor ever so slightly into the “worth trying” category.

T-16 Skyhopper

The T-16 is delicious, but be warned, it’s basically a cup of cream and vodka. Only opt for this heavy indulgence if you don’t fear a full-on sugar crash in the middle of your theme-park binge.

Bantha Cookie

Served atop the $13 chilled blue milk at both Oga’s Cantina locations or a la carte at Disney World, this vanilla sugar cookie is undoubtedly designed for kids but joyous for all ages. It’s topped with a layer of marshmallow krispies and Bantha horn-shaped fondant.

Bottled Water

Batuu’s detonator-themed soda bottles are all interchangeably fine, but that money is better spent on a bottle of Dasani that spells out the brand name in Aurebesh. For under $5, you get a bottle that looks cool as hell once you leave the parks.

ABSOLUTELY SKIP

Outpost Popcorn Mix

This sweet-and-spicy Kat Saka’s kettle mix, which tastes something like Froot Loops, is not worth the hefty $7, especially since Disney Parks offer some of the best popcorn around.

Nuna Turkey Jerky (Disney World Only)

This side dish, sold sweet or spicy at Ronto Roasters, is simply too tough to chew, making it impossible to consume.

Kyryll Pork Rinds

Disney gets an A for effort for this spin on its famed churros at Ronto Roasters, but the hog snacks should be saltier to cut the fat, not sweet like this cinnamon-sugar variety. Same for the new Galma garlic puffed cheese chips, which go way too heavy on the garlic.

Mustafarian Cinnamon Roll

Sadly, this chocolate-filled breakfast pastry topped with Oreo crumbles better resembles a mediocre hotel buffet offering than a snack consumed on the outer rim of the galaxy.

Oga’s Obsession

Not quite as fun or delicious as boba, this petri dish packed with “popping pearls” is really just a handful of fruit-flavored liquid sugar balls. It could be fun for kids but is pretty worthless as an indulgence for adults.

Carlye Wisel is a theme park journalist who lives on a steady diet of popcorn and cotton candy.