My Disneyland dining reviews, with pictures

[mommaU4]

More food pics:

Carnation Cafe:
Baked potato soup

The kids make your own PB and J sandwich:

The pot pie:

Turkey sandwich on pretzel bread:

Funnel cakes from Stage Door Cafe:

 

[Stacerita]

Beth - it all looks so yummy.

That soup looks to die for. I can't wait to try it. And the funnel cake, mmmmm. How was the turkey sandwich on pretzel bread?

 

[mommaU4]

Beth - it all looks so yummy.

That soup looks to die for. I can't wait to try it. And the funnel cake, mmmmm. How was the turkey sandwich on pretzel bread?

The soup IS to die for. This was my first time trying it and OMG, I loved it! Ruben did too and he's picky.

The kids loved the funnel cake with brownie, while I prefered the original one with just powdered sugar.

And the sandwich was really good. I wasn't sure about the pretzel bread. I didn't really know what that was, but it was good. Thick, but not dry. I'd recommend it.

 

[thmar]

I just love this thread!!

 

[Sherry E]

I agree! I love this thread too! It is a happy thread! I think part of the reason I appreciate it so much, other than being tempted to try things at DLR that I didn't know existed, is that so often, if I am ravenous, I will scarf down my food without taking the time to really look at it or appreciate the presentation of what is on my plate. Or if I am involved in a conversation with someone, I am eating but barely paying attention to what is on the fork. This thread really celebrates the food and the overall festive and magical touches that DLR puts into their treats and lets me really admire their handiwork without stuffing my face!

 

[Belle_Beauty]

Ohh, I'm loving this thread.
So many food choices to fit into my birthday vacation.
I can't wait!
Thank you everyone for posting & sharing your wonderful pictures.

 

[singingpixie]

Question about the baked potato soup- is the bacon just on top, or in the soup itself? I wonder if I could get them to leave it off.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Wow...GREAT food pics! I am drooling over here! How were the burgers at hungry bear? Are they better than the village haus ones? Looks like you all had fun.

Not that great in my opinion. I've never had the Village Haus ones though, so can't compare.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

More food pics:

Carnation Cafe:
Baked potato soup

The kids make your own PB and J sandwich:

The pot pie:

Turkey sandwich on pretzel bread:

Funnel cakes from Stage Door Cafe:

Oh, man! I knew there was a reason I wanted to eat at Carnation Cafe! ALL of this food is right up our alley! I wish we hadn't missed it! It was just sooo hot the day we planned to eat there, that I couldn't stand to be outside any longer. If I had known/remembered about these menu items, I may have changed my mind!

 

[BillyFan]

Question about the baked potato soup- is the bacon just on top, or in the soup itself? I wonder if I could get them to leave it off.

I can't remember if the bacon was mixed in the soup, but I have seen the recipe they use, and it calls for sauteeing the veggies in bacon fat, so it's probably not a veg-friendly dish.

 

[lulubelle]

Okay, here goes. These are from Napa Rose on my birthday, November 1, 2008. It was me, DH & DD. We stayed at the Grand Californian and had a wonderful three days.

Outside the Restaurant and then onto the appetizers...

Breast of Somona Quail
with oven roasted roots, portobello mushrooms and black tuscan kale

"Fritto Misto di Mare"
Crispy fried snow crab claws and diver scallop with apple, lemon & lobster "tarter sauce"

Duck Meat Balls with pumpkin fettuccini and roasted shallots in a sage duck sauce

Pumpkin Raviolis in sage brown butter with roasted free range turkey & chanterelle mushroom ragu

 

[travelmel]

What a great fall food assortment!

 

[trodrigue]

Okay, here goes. These are from Napa Rose on my birthday, November 1, 2008. It was me, DH & DD. We stayed at the Grand Californian and had a wonderful three days.

Outside the Restaurant and then onto the appetizers...

Breast of Somona Quail
with oven roasted roots, portobello mushrooms and black tuscan kale

"Fritto Misto di Mare"
Crispy fried snow crab claws and diver scallop with apple, lemon & lobster "tarter sauce"

Duck Meat Balls with pumpkin fettuccini and roasted shallots in a sage duck sauce

Pumpkin Raviolis in sage brown butter with roasted free range turkey & chanterelle mushroom ragu

Oh My Gosh! That looks heavenly!

 

[lulubelle]

Now the entrees....

Roasted Rack of Venison Chop with honey-lavender glaze, cauliflower potato puree, almond mint pesto and natural jus

Briased Angus Beef Short Ribs with salsify puree, horseradish cream and zinfandel jus

Roasted Kona "Kampachi" with sweet potato gnocchi, baby brussel sprout leaves and lemon-hazelnut brown butter

Napa Side Dish - Brussel Sprouts sauteed with toasted garlic, parmesan and red chili flakes

DD's Creme Brulee with fresh cream and berries

Sweet Harvest Squash Cheesecake with a butternut squash and brown sugar coulis and milk chocolate-caramel ice cream...my birthday dessert

One of my many flights of perfectly paired wines

Our wonderful waiter Steven, who really made the entire evening special

 

[lulubelle]

I just wanted to say that every course we had was excellent. My favorite was the pumpkin ravioli with free range turkey. The flavors were so distict and strong. A sense of "Thanksgiving meal" came over me when I ate it.

Oh, I had the Vintner's Table menu with wine pairings.
This is our fourth time dining here in five years and everything is so impressive and delicious.

Next up, our lunch at Ariel's and the princesses....

 

[lulubelle]

DD & I as we enter the restaurant - they take your pic with Ariel. She was so sweet and pretty.

Appetizer Tower
There were so many yummy things on this. We really enjoyed the variety of items. And the bread was soft, warm and fresh. Sorry the pic is kind of crummy, there was a lot more food on top.

Cioppino - DD & DH both had this, nice variety of seafood, quite tasty

Redfish with Pineapple chutney. I had this, it was very good, the fish was moist, favorful and cooked perfectly.

Dessert Tray. DD & I do not eat chocolate, so we were disappointed as the only thing we could eat was the lowfat mini cheesecake bites. But they were good. I noticed some kids at a nearby table eating some sorbet and I asked about it and the waiter said it was free if you have food allergies to the mass of chocolate and before I could make up my mind whether I was going to lie and say "yes, I am allergic to chocolate" or not, he dashed off and brought some to DD & I. It was YUMMO! (but I forgot a pic, sorry)

All the princesses that came out (4) stopped at each table, chatted a bit, posed for pix and were very nice. Here is DH with his crush. Hee Hee!

We enjoyed this meal a lot and felt it was worth it.

 

[Jennifer03]

Kid's turkey wrap from Bountiful Valley Farmers Market in California Adventure:

Mickey pretzel from White Water Snacks at the Grand Californian Hotel:

Kid's primo pasta with meatballs from Pizza Oom Mow Mow in California Adventure:

Salinas turkey sandwich from Pacific Wharf Cafe in California Adventure:

Kid's turkey sandwich from River Belle Terrace in Disneyland:

Dole Whip from Tiki Juice Bar in Disneyland:

Kid's penne pasta from Plaza Inn in Disneyland:

 

[travelmel]

Wow, that cippino looked REALLY GOOD!

The kids turkey sandwhich in the other post looks a bit dry but very healthy!

 

[Lights_Out]

Great pictures everyone!
Everything looks so good

 

[sammons70]

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but as someone who has visited both resorts, Didneyland falls very short in the food category, especially when being compared to the world. I would descibe the food in the parks at the Dineyland resort as medocre quality, greatly over priced, fast food. Dinseyland food makes McDonald's look like a five star restaurant.
When my wife and I went to Disneyworld about 2 1/2 years ago, we were not expecting to really enjoy meal times that much. This was because of our disappointing dining experiences after several trips to our home state Disneyland resort. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the Disneyworld resort really specialized in food and each meal was an enjoyable adventure. You can actually plan your trip to DinseyWorld around the food because it is really that good! You can plan on enjoying the food just as much if not more than the attractions.
You won't find Epcot style eateries at Disneyland, nor will you find themed places like the 50's prime time diner, nor will you find character dining after breakfast hours.
The best places I have eaten at the Disneyland resort are chain restaurants in the Downtown Disney area such as House of Blues and ESPN Zone. My favorite thing to eat in the Disneyland park is the pre made, previously frozen, chimchangas off of the cart between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland. The nachos in California Adventure are decent. Sorry, I don't have pictures. While these places are decent, they are really inferior when compared to the cusine of Disneyworld. Disney Land's attitude towards food appears to be, you have paid to come into the parks, so you will be forced to eat here, so it doesn't have to be good, or reasonable. It is amazing to me how two resorts owned by the same company could have such different dining services.
As a discalimer, I will add that I have not eaten in the Disney Land Hotel since 1983, and I have never eaten at the Paradise Pier or Grand Californian hotels, so hopefully you can find some decent eats there. Also, I have not been to Disney land since December 2005, so I'm hoping that maybe it has improved slightly. We are planning a trip to Disneyland in July of 09, so if you go and find some amazing food between now and then, please let me know.