All of these restaurants should be treated like Fastpass attractions. Stop by at 10 a.m. on the day of your park visit to get a Priority Seating ticket for later. Or you can use auto-translate in Google Chrome to navigate the online booking system. The park’s Japanese website accepts reservations up to one month in advance.
#1 - Magellan’s
Location: Mediterranean Harbor
The main dining room is beautiful, with its giant globe and dome mural of constellations. But request the hidden room in the wine cellar. You will have to access it by secret passage. As you relax in this oasis of calm, the exquisite bites of food put before you might just make a believer out of you, even if you are a hard-nosed skeptic about the merits of fine dining. Lunchtime is less expensive.
#2 - Sailing Day Buffet
Location: American Waterfront
[Update: eat there while you still can. Sailing Day Buffet closes permanently on March 31, 2018.]
If you are not convinced that the dainty portions at Magellan’s will satisfy your hunger or be worth the price, consider this Western-style buffet, which ranks as The Gaijin Ghost’s favorite buffet at Tokyo Disney Resort. The premise here is that of a cargo terminal stocked with food from around the world: imported delicacies that the U.S. Steamship Company has brought back from its voyages.
#3 - Ristorante Canaletto
Location: Mediterranean Harbor
Ask for a table outside along the Venetian canals, where you can take in the sight of gondolas passing by as you eat your wood-fired pizza. Space is far more limited there, compared to the main dining hall. But that refreshing view is what truly elevates this restaurant … so outdoor seating is the only way to go. Boasts a good handful of vegetarian choices.
#4 - The Teddy Roosevelt Lounge
Location: American Waterfront
Technically not a restaurant, but it does serve snacks like Camembert cheese with baguette slices. More importantly, it serves alcohol. In the drink menu, there are pages and pages of potential cocktails. Does not do Priority Seating, but if you can get in, this lounge is a great place to escape Tokyo’s sweltering summertime heat and sip on frozen daiquiris till you get a nice buzz going.
#5 - Horizon Bay Restaurant
Location: Port Discovery
Fun character greetings while you eat. Probably the best thing to do in Port Discovery while that port is in limbo, with the StormRider attraction having closed and its successor, SeaRider, having yet to open. If you go in the off hours on a slow weekday at the park, you might be able to waltz right in.
Besides the food offered at these places, DisneySea also has a number of decent counter service options, like seafood pizza at Sebastian’s Calypso Kitchen, or smoked meat with Mexican rice and vegetables at the Yucatan Base Camp Grill. There are also refreshment stands that serve some cool novelty snacks, like the Chandu tiger tail at Sultan’s Oasis, or the shrimp lifesaver bun at Seaside Snacks. In addition to Magellan’s, you can get your fix of fine dining in the S.S. Columbia Dining Room.
When all else fails, you can always go for one of those flavored popcorns that are sold at stations around the park. TDR is a real popcorn paradise.
Bon appétit!