Back from the DLR and as promised, will be happy to give you my impressions of Carthay vs. Napa Rose.
As clarification, this was our 5th time dining at NR. Once we dined in the lounge, once in the general dining room, and this was our third time at the Chef's Counter. We were at the 5:30 seating on July 31st at the 5-8 seats. Alex was the chef that night. Our server was John, who is such a delight. All of them remembered us and neither myself or DH had a repeat dish. We brought my in-laws and it was their first time at NR. We were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, so I did not take pictures this time as we were busy talking and laughing.
We all went with the chef's choice menu and our food was amazing and through some crazy magic, we all received exactly what we like, save for a small misstep with my MIL, who did not like the duck amuse. However, it was smooth sailing from that point on. Highlights include an heirloom tomato salad (which was much better than Carthay's), a Masumoto peach salad, octopus ceviche, salmon carpacchio, and a take on duck a l'orange. Service was flawless from start to finish, with expertly paired wines. The courses were perfectly timed and the chef came over to talk with us several times throughout the night. My in-laws were very impressed and kept mentioning the dinner on several occasions in later conversations. So, thanks, Napa Rose for making me daughter-in-law number one!
We ate a late lunch the day before at Carthay Circle. We were seated in the general seating area on the second floor. It is a beautiful restaurant and I wish them well, but I don't think they are at the level of Napa Rose.
The service was very slow from the beginning. We were directed to wait in the lounge after checking in, which is no problem. However, no one ever approached us to take our drink order.
At Napa Rose, we sat down in the lounge to wait to be seated and had drinks in hand in minutes. We waited when we were seated as well at Carthay, probably a good 5-10 minutes before we were greeted and our drink orders taken. Not sure why, because they weren't even full.
Our server was very nice and tried very hard, but you could tell she didn't have fine dining experience. She had little to no knowledge of wine pairings and was unable to explain several items on the menu. The menu is also rather small and doesn't have the option for a tasting, which is what I will order to get a feel for the chef. DH and I split an heirloom tomato salad, which was good, but Napa's beat them hands down. The portions at Carthay seemed out of whack as well, my halibut was served as a dinner portion and was way too big for me. However, my halibut was cooked to perfection and the accompanying sauce was amazing. My DH had the bacon wrapped shrimp and it was an unbalanced dish, far too rich and smoky. He said it would be an amazing appetizer, but six bacon wrapped shrimp is too much for lunch/dinner.
We waited a very long time to get our check paid. We also got WOC FPs and were given a choice of early or late show, which was nice. Overall, we spent almost two hours there, for three courses. That is a little nuts I think.
Napa Rose is still the premier restaurant of the
Disneyland Resort. Best food and best service and I have eaten at Club 33, Steakhouse 55, BB, WCT, Storyteller's, etc. I hope Carthay can find a formula that works, but I am a little concerned. They are a fine dining establishment located in a theme park. I hope that Carthay can find a clientele, but I am worried that most people will not be interested in the kind of food being served. If you compare menus, the prices at Carthay are comparable to Blue Bayou, but the type of food being served is very different. It will be interesting to see how Carthay does over the next few months.
