Y’all. It’s really happening. One of the Universal Orlando hotels near Epic Universe has officially opened!!! WE ARE SO THERE!

We’re talking about Universal Stella Nova Resort, which has a space-y galaxy theme (as in the “infinite vastness of the universe”). We’ve had a chance to visit the hotel, and OF COURSE, we’re checking out all the food available there. We popped by the Cosmos Cafe and Market to see if we could get some out-of-this-world dining! Keep reading for our full review!

Atmosphere

So, as expected, the look and feel of this quick service location is very spacey, particularly in the wall and ceiling design, although it’s also got a bright vibe to it. We love a well-lit dining space!

This isn’t a massive dining location, but there is a decent amount of seating, so you shouldn’t have too much trouble grabbing a seat except during super busy meal times. You also get your choice of sitting at a booth or a regular table, which we really appreciate.

The Market is right next door, so if you need to, you can always check for seating over there as well.

Time for the eats!

Menu

You’ll be able to get breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Cosmos Cafe and Market, with a menu that includes American standards like burgers, paninis, fried chicken, and pasta. Here’s a peek at the dinner menu.

We got a chance to try some of the offerings they’re most looking forward to serving, both for breakfast and lunch, so let’s dive in!

Eats

Our first bite was of the Banana-Walnut Buttermilk Pancakes made with Caramelized Bananas and Chopped Walnuts on top. While we felt the pancake batter was a tad chewy (however, we were made mini versions to try, so that could be the reason behind that!) and our reporter usually isn’t a big sweet breakfast person, they really loved this offering, and would totally get it again! We absolutely LOVED the toppings here! The bananas and their caramelized sauce were incredible, and we thought the walnuts paired super well with it as well. Overall, this was a real winner for us.

We also got to try a mini version of a Berry Pancake that we also enjoyed! We do feel that the Banana-Walnut Pancake offering is the stronger choice, but neither was a bad way to go. On the plate below, you’ll also see a piece of Monkey Bread we got to try, which was perfectly cinnamony and moist, but we would have loved a few more ripples of the cinnamon sugar mix.

However, we weren’t a big fan of the Stuffed Croissant due to the amount of cream cheese and jam in the middle. You have to REALLY love those two things to enjoy this dessert, and as our reporter isn’t a huge sweet breakfast person, this wasn’t a hit for them.

Moving onto lunch, we got to try a slice of their Hot Honey Chicken Pizza, which we enjoyed! The chicken on top is grilled and while it did have a buffalo flavor to it, we wouldn’t call it spicy. The garlic cream sauce was a white sauce and not a regular tomato base. 

In our opinion, this is a pizza that mostly everyone will like, but only a small portion will totally love. The audience at the media event was pretty split between people loving it and others saying they would have preferred red sauce, so keep that in mind if you choose to give it a try!

Up next, we ordered a specialty menu item that is ONLY available at dinnertime. We went with the Salmon Fried Rice, which is a pan-seared salmon fillet with Asian vegetable fried rice and sesame-ginger vinaigrette. You can try this for $19, which, despite the sizable portion, we felt was a little expensive for a quick-service dish.

We were pleasantly surprised by this salmon. In fact, it was one of the best-cooked salmon dishes we’ve EVER had in a theme park, and we’ve had a LOT of salmon. The fish was buttery and rich and fell apart on our fork. There was a nice, crispy skin on the salmon, and our meal tasted fresh and well-cooked.

Even the rice was a surprising win! Don’t expect the authentic top-quality fried rice you might find at a fancy Asian restaurant, but if you’re into that salty, savory fried rice you might find at a mall, you’re in for a treat. There was a generous helping of vegetables in there, too! Our only teeeny tiny complaint was the vinaigrette — we wanted MORE of it!

Nosh or Not

Swing your spaceship into Cosmos Cafe and Market if…

• You’re looking for something simple with a lot of offerings to find something everyone enjoys
• You’re looking for a quick meal 
• You enjoy the ease of eating in your hotel

Turn your spaceship around and head somewhere else if…

• You want a more upscale or impressive dining experience
• You’re looking for more unique options (we’d recommend heading into a Universal Orlando park for that)
• You’re not a fan of slight twists being added to classic offerings

We’re always trying new food at Universal AND Disney, so if you want to keep up with all our reviews, stay tuned to DFB for more!

What Is the New Orlando Theme Park, and Why Is It Such a Big Deal?

Will you be staying at Universal Stella Nova Resort soon? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Universal Orlando to attend their media preview of their new Stella Nova Hotel. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ