Menu Confusion

[MICKEEP]

I am looking to book a reservation for a special dinner at either Napa Rose, Catal, Carthay or Blue Bayou. (Recommendations for these and others will be greatly appreciated)

I am finding that the dinner menus on allears.net and the Disney site are very different. What am I doing wrong?

 

[dina444444]

I am looking to book a reservation for a special dinner at either Napa Rose, Catal, Carthay or Blue Bayou. (Recommendations for these and others will be greatly appreciated)

I am finding that the dinner menus on allears.net and the Disney site are very different. What am I doing wrong?

Go with Disney’s site. It looks like some of the menus on all ears haven’t been updated in a little while.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Napa Rose and Carthay change a bit each season, too.

 

[JavaDuck]

I recommend the chef's counter at Napa Rose. We ate there two years ago during our honeymoon trip and will be eating there this July. We also enjoyed Blue Bayou. Either of those would be a great choice. We have yet to go to Carthay Circle or Catal, so have no comment on those two places.

 

[gerilyne]

While I like Blue Bayou I would prefer Napa Rose chef's counter over it any day. It was an amazing experience, really great food plus I was able to try so many wonderful dishes that I don't think I would have been able to otherwise.

 

[Hojoanaheim]

Another vote for Napa Rose! This is my favorite place for a special dinner. I've gone there when they have a summer menu and a winter menu. Both times the food was delicious! FYI: their bar area serves the full menu.

-Kriss

 

[DLgal]

Napa Rose by a mile.

Catal would be my second choice.

Carthay third.

Blue Bayou is so far in the distance I can't even see it.

Disney's site has the most up to date menus. Just ate at NR last weekend and the menu is spot on. However, it does change every season at both NR and Carthay.

 

[DizMe]

Napa Rose is really good if you like expensive fancy food. I would much rather sit at a table though than do the chef's counter. I wasn't really a big fan of that. I also find their waitstaff pretty stuffy for some reason; my sister and I go a few times a year and we're almost made to feel like we're not very welcome, even though we're nice & dress well. But oh well, the food is wonderful so we go in spite of it.

I also love Jazz Kitchen!! I usually order the beef medallions and omg, the double chocolate bread pudding is to die for! They bring you this chocolate souffle-type dessert with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and 2 containers of hot chocolate, dark and white, to pour into the dessert (you make a hole in the top). Order it first though because they make it when you order it and it takes about 20 minutes.
I'm editing to add that we prefer to eat outdoors at JK. Balcony is really great but the terrace areas are nice, too. It's way too noisy inside for me, especially when there is live music. It's neat, but you can't talk!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

You can also use this page for menus: http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneyland/dining/menus.cfm.

 

[rentayenta]

Napa Rose for sure! If you can get the Chef's Counter do that.

 

[j9isawesome]

Places like Carthay change up their menu frequently based off of what is fresh/in season & inspires the chefs, that’s why you can’t find consistent menus. Any of your choices are great except Blue Bayou. I would skip BB if you like good food, or heck do it just once anyway if you love pirates and the atmosphere of eating inside there and don’t care a hoot about the quality of food or think foodies are weird snobs

 

[BriannaRuth]

Napa Rose Chef's Counter, especially if this is for 2 people or meant to be any kind of a romantic dinner.

We like the food at Catal but it is not as special as NR. Carthay is nice, has good food, good atmosphere, but you are still at a Disney restaurant where people think it's fine to let their overly tired kids misbehave and bother others because it's Disney (apparently). You get much less of that at NR, especially at the Chef's Counter.

We always do Blue Bayou because we love the atmosphere but the food isn't great and again, your experience can vary alot if you're seated next to a loud table or are being yelled at by people on the boats. Go for dessert and save the special dinner for NR.

 

[MICKEEP]

I see a lot of references to NR Chef's Counter. Could someone explain what that is and do you have to request it specifically when making reservations

 

[OKW Lover]

I am finding that the dinner menus on allears.net and the Disney site are very different. What am I doing wrong?

You aren't doing anything wrong. These venues change their menu regularly. I'd rely more on the Disney site but still that could be out of date.

 

[OKW Lover]

I see a lot of references to NR Chef's Counter. Could someone explain what that is and do you have to request it specifically when making reservations

Its a very special experience! Yes you need to make specific reservations for it. Its hard to get as there are only 12 seats at the counter.

You are seated at a counter looking into the kitchen. You get to chat with the cooks and watch them prepare the meals. Your meal can be off the regular menu or you can just tell the chef what you like/dislike and let them surprise you with each course. Really, really fun (good) dining.

 

[julesann]

I see a lot of references to NR Chef's Counter. Could someone explain what that is and do you have to request it specifically when making reservations

You need to call the Napa Rose restaurant directly if you want to book Chef's Counter--you can book a little ahead of 60 days--like the beginning of the month plus 60 days. When I was thinking of doing it last year, I found some great information here by doing a search and I also asked a lot of questions about it.

As anything, some people love it and others don't. I also think the experience has changed over the years so it is helpful to have more realistic expectations about it. Although I did not have any special food prepared, they did tailor the food from the menu for me and my brother (we both got different courses during the meal and it was all fabulous and although we are both foodies we have very different tastes) and we also loved the wine pairing.

I found it to be a really fun experience, and although we didn't interact with the main chef we did with the sous and dessert chef and others, and am considering it again for my birthday this year.

 

[JavaDuck]

I see a lot of references to NR Chef's Counter. Could someone explain what that is and do you have to request it specifically when making reservations

First, you can book the Chef's Counter two months in advanced. For example, for our visit in middle of July, I made a reservation on May 1st. The number for Napa Rose is 714-300-7170.

On to the actual meal. For our first visit in August of 2016, Chef Gloria was the person in charge the night of our visit. She started by asking us if we had any preferences or dislikes. After that we had a 3 course meal. My meal was completely different than my partners and both of ours were completely different than the meals for the people seated next us. The entire meal was delicious. All of mine were items from the menu, but probably would not have picked myself. I highly recommend it. It is a great experience. We are looking for our 2nd visit next month.