Outside of perhaps the numerous Harry Potter-themed eateries, dining inside Universal Orlando’s theme parks tends to get the short shrift compared to Walt Disney World dining in the minds of many travelers. However, our recent dining adventure shows that the resort has some hidden gems!

Specifically, we dined at Islands of Adventure’s Confisco Grille. While this opening day eatery doesn’t receive nearly as much attention as its park-mate Mythos, the restaurant provided us with a delicious and somewhat surprisingly upscale dining experience.

Located at the far-end of Port of Entry, just before the land splits into respective entrance paths towards Marvel Superhero Island and Seuss Landings, Confisco Grille captures the essence of Islands of Adventure’s original concept. The restaurant is themed to be a gathering place for adventurers and explorers who’ve made their way around the park’s titular islands.

The restaurant is even decorated with items “confiscated” from each of the islands — including references to Cartoon Lagoon characters, the Cat in the Hat’s iconic headwear, dino bones from Jurassic Park, and even Marvel Comics references — which combines with some neat whimsical architecture to create a really fun dining experience.

Now, what about the food? Confisco Grille serves a menu of global fare influenced by Asian, Mediterranean, and Greek dishes.

On our recent visit, we sampled three dishes:

The first was the Herb Roasted Corvina Fillet. This dish, which goes for $29.95, features a pan-roasted fillet with chimichurri marinade, Parmesan, spinach orzo salad, baby heirloom tomatoes, and tangy lemon butter sauce.

We asked a server prior to our meal what the most popular meal on the menu was, and they responded with the Carvina Filet, and we can see why: This fish was AWESOME. It was cooked perfectly, as the filet itself fell apart on the fork, but at the same time, the skin was deliciously crispy.

The herbaceousness of the chimichurri marinade was really apparent on the fish by itself, but this was really leveled up with that tangy lemon butter sauce, while the sauce was rich and buttery with the perfect balance of acidity from the lemon. Overall, the dish was excellently balanced!

The spinach orzo salad was also a pleasant surprise. It was beautifully cooked orzo plated in a little cylinder with the bitterness of the spinach mingling with the sharp cheesiness of the parmesan. (Do note this was served warm, where the word “salad” might make you think it was cold).

As a beverage accompaniment, we went with the $12.00 Mango Lassi mocktail, which was a refreshing blend of plain yogurt, mango nectar, and mango syrup, topped with a dried slice of mango.

While a traditional Mango Lassi is made with yogurt, fresh mangoes, sugar, and sometimes spices, this one instead has yogurt, mango nectar (aka juice), and mango syrup (in lieu of fresh mangoes and sugar). The thickness of the yogurt added enough texture for it to be creamy, but the drink was still very easy to sip with a straw.

The mixture of mango flavor along with the dried mango pieces on top made the drink especially refreshing and revitalizing during a long theme park day. Also, if you find yourself short on time, we checked, and you CAN get this same Mango Lassi at the walk-up Backwater Bar next door.

Finally, we wrapped the meal with dessert: The Cookie Butter Cake — layers of brown butter cake, cookie butter mousse, butter cream icing — for $9.95.

Texture-wise, the cake was perfectly moist and had a pleasant density while still feeling light, similar to a traditional angel food cake. The cookie butter mousse gives the cake all the flavor punch of cookie butter without the heaviness that a non-mousse version would entail. In addition, the thick layers of the mousse in the cake are quite aesthetically pleasing. The buttercream icing was also 1. beautiful and 2. another great part of the execution that helped balance the cookie butter.

A couple of notes you should probably be aware of: The serving size was perfect for ONE, and we wouldn’t call this shareable unless you are already feeling a bit full and only want a few bites of dessert. Secondly, we also checked if the cake was available at the Crescent Moon Bakery, and it was NOT. You can only get it at Confisco Grille.

Overall, we really enjoyed our most recent at Confisco Grill, and can’t stress enough that the eatery might be one of the best in-park eateries not just at Islands of Adventure, but also the whole of the Universal Orlando Resort. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on Universal’s hidden gems.

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Where are your favorite places to eat at the Universal Orlando parks? Let us know in the comments below.