Tangaroa Terrace is a quick-service restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel.  Facing the pool and sharing a kitchen with Trader Sam’s (one of Disneyland’s true gems), Tangaroa Terrace has a Hawaiian flair both in the atmosphere and in the menu.  At this restaurant they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner but this review will cover lunch.

My wife and I went to Tangaroa Terrace on our last trip to Disneyland, during one of our off-days from the park.  We were over at the Disneyland Hotel, going to the runDisney expo before our 10K the next day.  While there we stopped for lunch at one of the Hotel’s quick service options.  The night before, we had gone to Trader Sam’s and discovered how much we liked the area so we were happy to be right back there a few hours later.

The ambiance and theming of Tangaroa Terrace is relaxing but nothing very exciting.  Once inside the actual restaurant, it just feels like a place to eat.  There wasn’t anything that really stood out and, as a whole, the theme was lacking.  The outside seating was the real winner here.  Most of the seating overlooked the pool area and other passersby.  If you can find a nice shaded area to eat, then I highly recommend sitting out here.  Even with the pool right below, the area quiet and soothing.  As Trader Sam’s aficionados would note, the seating is great at night as well.  The torches are lit up and the lighting in the area really looks great.  While the theming is never breathtaking here, sitting on Tangaroa Terrace’s deck as the sun is setting may be one of the most relaxing things to do at Disneyland.

The food fits the environment here, as well.  The menu choices are safe and not too exciting but will definitely get the job done.  Here is a link to the current menu.  There are sandwiches, salads, flatbreads and a few specials.  For what it’s worth, the dinner and lunch menu are the same.  Knowing that we were going to have Mexican food later that night, we stuck with sandwiches for lunch.  If not, I would have gladly tried the shrimp tacos here.  I’m also curious as to what people think of the sushi here.  It seemed like a fairly random option.  Have any of you tried it? (Let us know in the comments if you have.)

I went with the Teriyaki Chicken Breast Sandwich for lunch and enjoyed it.  The chicken was juicy and pineapple made the sandwich more memorable.  The teriyaki sauce was good but nothing to write home about (just enough to write about a blog post about).  All in all, it was a good sandwich but not something that was extremely impressive.  Red Robin has a similar sandwich with teriyaki sauce and pineapple and the sandwich tasted pretty similar to that.  They cost about the same, so I guess that makes sense and may even be considered a decent value while in a Disney resort.  Still, I probably wouldn’t go back for that sandwich.  The fries were generic Disney fries and tasted fine.

Melissa had the bacon cheeseburger and liked it quite a bit.  She’s a notoriously tough cheeseburger judge (at least around our house) so if she liked this then that’s noteworthy.  She thought the burger was cooked well and there was a generous amount of bacon on it.  The bacon also tasted as if it was just cooked, which is how it should be but sometimes isn’t at fast food places.  She also had sweet potato fries with her meal.  I despise sweet potato fries so I won’t put down my opinion.  She liked them, although she said they weren’t anything spectacular.

Overall – 7/10

All in all, we thought Tangaroa Terrace was a decent option for a quick meal.  I had high hopes since the restaurant shares a kitchen with Trader Sam’s and we loved the appetizers we had there.  Instead, the food was fine but nothing exciting.  I would return to try out some of the specialty items but the environment and food is nothing compared to other restaurants around the park.

Have you tried Tangaroa Terrace?  What is your opinion on the restaurant?  Let us know in the comments!