Royal Banquet Hall!
Okay, so, I want to start this off by emphasizing that I have lived in China for about 5 years, mostly in a "small" city with few foreigners. Chinese ideas of service and beauty and food are very different, but I have a better understanding of those differences than many foreign SH Disney fans will have. I was SUPER CLOSE to writing off the Royal Banquet Hall and regretted bringing my friends--but the day was saved.
We checked in right on time at 6:30. I had read that there was a 90 minute "limit" to how long you could sit. This is actually really common in China! Dinner is a super social thing, and people will linger at restaurants for HOURS. We figured we'd have no problem being finished by 8, then book it over to Mickey Ave and watch the fireworks from there, knowing we'd miss out on all the nice seating because we didn't camp out, but Mickey Ave is less crowded and uncomfortable, anyway.
We had tried to check in early but didn't have any luck. When we checked in, the waiting area was nearly empty. We waited about 15 minutes, but the frustrating part was that people arriving after us, including similarly sized parties, were seated before we were. So, a rough start.
The waiting area is really pretty though.
Our pre-meal photo was with Princess Minnie. I thought I had read that it was one of the Face princess characters, but either I was mistaken or this is not always true. It didn't really matter to us, (in fact, we'd prefer a costumed character, because they're less awkward for adults) but if it's seen as a way to skip the lines for a princess photo, don't rely on it!
We were seated in the Sleeping Beauty themed area. There were a lot of open tables and many people finishing up their meals.
Sleeping Beauty is my favorite of the "classic" princesses. The vase was really the only thing with characters on it, bur there were landscapes from the movie and the general color scheme.
We asked the waiter to come back one time, and that might have been our downfall. In China, the waiter will often stand and wait for you to look at the menu, and perhaps that is also done here, but we asked her to come back in a minute. It was much, much longer.
We ordered, then waited about 15 minutes before getting the bread basket.
Then, we waited a LONG time. We got our appetizers at about 7:20.
We ordered the Crab Cake, Chicken Salad, and Roasted Eggplant and Curry.
We were all very happy with our appetizers. The crab cake was the smallest amount of food, but, being a crab cake, that was understandable. The Chicken Salad seemed massive, and the eggplant was a nice middle between the two. I had the eggplant. Eggplant is something I never ate until I came to China, but love now. It was perfectly cooked, not too soggy, and went well with the curry. My friend said the crab cake was one of the best she's ever had, but she also doesn't eat them often. The Chicken Salad was the least "special" though, and the size of "the good parts" meant lettuce was leftover at the end, but was still really good and substantial.
After the appetizers, we had another LONG wait. We realized that we would be luck to leave the restaurant before the fireworks even started. I started apologizing profusely, because I had talked up the fireworks and had been SO SURE it wouldn't have been much of an issue to make it. We gave up on the fireworks! And were still waiting. I started apologizing for even going to the restaurant. Other tables were being served. Our waiter stopped stopping by to refill water and otherwise check on us.
Just before 8:00, a server came out and apologized for the wait. She said a huge group had come in, (in another dining room) and was ordering a la carte. I kind of don't understand how that would affect us as much as it did, unless they were understaffed. Our dining room still had empty tables. BUT, because of the wait, we would be escorted to the VIP viewing area for the Fireworks show, and our dessert would come out before we finished our dinner so that we could make it. She was genuinely apologetic, and a perk is the sort of gesture that is uncommon in China when the service isn't as expected. At best, they'll offer a small discount or a free drink, but even that is rare and it's never more than a few RMB worth. The VIP viewing is offered for at least 100 RMB more than the regular meal, so it was even more surprising. We didn't expect anything other than missing the fireworks show and being disappointed at the wait.
Our dinner came less than 5 minutes after that.
For dinner, I ordered the Chicken Parmigiana, my friend ordered the short Rib, and her husband ordered the sausage. Our choices largely came down to favorites rather than excitement. I haven't had a Chicken parmigiana in years, at this point, but it used to be my go-to at an Italian restaurant. My friend's husband is Polish and misses kielbasa, while my friend loves a slow-cooked meat.
Where the appetizers were more substantial than we expected, the main course was slightly less than.
It was all good, but mine wasn't exactly cold, but not as warm as I would have wished. We kinda rushed to eat it all, and that might have affected our perceptions, but I thought the chicken was SO THIN as to be not very much, while the short rib seemed to just not be quite enough. THe sausages seemed the most substantial, especially with the potatoes and sauerkraut.
Our desserts arrived after we had finished eating, about 8:15. Again, we kinda rushed. I ordered the Cinderella Slipper, while my friend and her husband both ordered cheesecake, in tribute to the cheescake factory trip we never made.
I loved the slipper itself, but found the macaroon to be inedible. The filling was really tasteless and too whip-creammy. I found it messy. The rest of the dish might have been good enough. THey enjoyed the cheesecake and ice cream, but said it wasn't anything special. (I'll start the next post with a photo of the slipper--I'm at my 10 max with this one!)
Overall, the Royal Banquet Hall did seem worth the price, even by comparing it to other high-end Chinese restaurants, but only just barely. Drinks were kinda outrageous, to the point that I suggest sticking with water or buying a bottle from a stand before you go in. It's kind of an okay thing to do in China, though I didn't do it here, so I don't know for sure that it would be acceptable.
By the time we got the bill paid and were ready to go, it was 8:26. We were escorted to the VIP area. I pointed out to my friends the other areas as we passed them, and explained that those people had probably been there for at least an hour. It was body-to-body, sitting on the ground. The VIP area was not at all crowded and we were able to stand or sit. It was also perfectly in front of the castle and completely unobstructed. Seeing that, and enjoying the show from such a great area made the wait for the food worthwhile. I've mentioned my friend's husband is Polish, so he also hasn't seen many spectacles like that, and it was a really good way to end the day, and show how special Disney can be.
Plans checked:
PIRATES! (1 time)
Eat 2 "unique" snacks (1, Shanghaiese Pork Bun. 2, Eggplant curry thing)
"replace" my Dale hat (DONE)
Try Tron again (HUGE SUCCESS!)
Royal Banquet Hall
Really special Ignite the Dream viewing!
Still to come:
Disneyland Hotel (failed attempt.)
Eat a meal at the hotel (buffet breakfast? But can I do that and early entry?)
Check out the pool at the hotel
