We adore Animal Kingdom Lodge for many reasons.

Animal Kingdom Lodge

For one, you’ve got gorgeous views of the savanna and the animals that graze around the entire resort, and there’s very little that beats that in our eyes, but you’ve also got some fantastic restaurants to explore here. This hotel alone is home to Sanaa, Boma, and Victoria Falls, but on the quick service side, you’ve also got The Mara. We’re gonna be honest. Even after all this time (and countless reviews praising this resort), The Mara is still an underrated gem. It’s got great options even though it is essentially just a small quick-service location, and their new snack reminded us just how great this restaurant can be!

You’ll find multiple options at The Mara, ranging from light snacks to desserts (Two words: ZEBRA. DOMES.), to full-on hearty meals to keep you going on your busy Disney World day. We got word that there was a new meal here, the Harissa-spiced Beef Bowl for $13.79, and knew we had to give it a try. This dish is braised beef stew, pilau rice, kale slaw, cucumber-tomato aalad, and avocado tahini sauce.

Harissa-spiced Beef Bowl

Now, we first want to clarify that we don’t consider this dish to be spicy, but it is SPICED heavily, and there is a difference! We could mainly taste the harissa (which is made up of roasted red peppers, Baklouti peppers, garlic paste, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, cumin, and more), and note the dish is very aromatic. The beef was very tender, which we appreciated, but we did feel like there was a little too much pilau rice in comparison to the rest of the ingredients — it was delicious, don’t get us wrong, but we would have liked to see a little more balance.

The beef

The kale slaw in here was also great, but we could tell that the kale hadn’t really been worked because the texture of the slaw was a bit off — the kale had a little too much bite to it, almost a woody texture that isn’t there if it’s worked properly. However, we really enjoyed the flavor and the way it mixed with the cucumber and tomato salad. Now, this salad definitely isn’t for everyone with its mix of ingredients (cucumber, tomato, onions, chickpeas, and olives), but we enjoyed it! It brought a lightness to an otherwise heavy dish.

Kale Slaw

The best part, in our opinion, was the avocado tahini sauce, which added a level of creaminess and acidity to the dish that we really enjoyed. Overall, we think the bowl is very balanced in flavor, but not necessarily in portions. We were impressed by the high quality of ingredients for a quick- service location, but since this is Animal Kingdom Lodge with some of the best table service restaurants on property, we weren’t totally surprised.

WE KNOW – there are SO many great snacks at Disney World! How do you choose (we don’t want to choose but will blow our budget on Day 1 otherwise)? We’ve got you covered! We have reviewed nearly EVERY snack available at Disney World, and we’ve written a series of DFB Guides about them! Check out our DFB Guide to Walt Disney World Dining + Snacks Bundle for all the details you need to plan your snackin’ and spending. You can even download them to your smartphone – it’ll be like we’re right there with you in the parks!

Stay tuned to DFB for all the latest Disney World news and reviews!

REVIEW: These NEW Beignets Are Tasty, But NOT Worth the Price

Would you give this bowl a try? Tell us in the comments!