Laura's Disney Lines

Last year Cafe Orleans at Disneyland was remodeled, and reopened last summer as a table service restaurant instead of the buffeteria it had been before. We ate breakfast there a few months ago and dinner recently, so I thought I'd post a review of the two dining experiences.

For breakfast we were there on a Saturday at about 8:15 just after the park had opened, and there were only about two other tables occupied the whole time we were there! There is seating inside and outside - we sat outside, in a table up against the wrought-iron fence, where we had a view of the people passing by.

You can view the breakfast menu HERE. We both tried the Three Cheese "Monte Cristo" French Toast - "hearty egg bread filled with Brie, Swiss and mozzarella cheeses, then grilled and finished with a berry compote and applewood-smoked bacon." I would not order it again - it was just too much cheese, which cooled off and congealed into a sort of disgusting rubbery layer rather quickly. The "toast" part was fairly thin slices of bread - I was expecting something thicker. The berry compote was good - once we finally got it - it didn't come on our plates and I had to ask our server for it.

Considering how un-busy they were the service was not very good, and they seemed rather slow and disorganized.

I wish we'd tried the Mickey-shaped beignets - I've heard those are pretty good. And what's not to like about fried dough with lots of sugar? :-)

I'm happy to report that our dinner experience was a lot more positive. We walked up to the restaurant at about 5:10 on a Friday evening and were seated in less than 10 minutes even though I hadn't made Priority Seating in advance. Had we arrived 30-40 minutes later I don't think that would've worked nearly as well, though. We were again seated outside, which was fine with us, though as it started to cool off I had to put on a light jacket. It took a little while for our server to get to us, but once she did she was prompt with taking our drink and food orders.

We decided to try a selection of things off the menu. (You can see the menu HERE.) I ordered the French Onion Soup, which was served in a nice personal-sized tureen. It was good - not the best french onion soup I've ever had, but tasty.

Lee got a cup of the New Orleans Gumbo - "a rich, flavorful stew with chicken, andouille sausage and tasso ham, served with Cajun-style 'dirty rice'." He really enjoyed it, but it was a little too spicy for me.

We also tried the Pommes Frites - "Traditional French-fried potatoes tossed with Parmesan cheese, garlic and parsley, served with a Cajun spice remoulade." These were REALLY good - evilly good. Nicely crisp but not greasy, with just the right amount of seasonings. Lee didn't care for the remoulade sauce served with them, but I liked it.

I ordered La Salade de Maison as an entree (even though it's on the "Starter" menu). It's your basic salad with baby greens, topped with cherry tomatoes, crumbled goat cheese (I love goat cheese!) and caramelized pecans. It's served with raspberry vinaigrette which I asked for on the side, and I'm VERY glad that I did, because it was way too sweet. Had they poured it on for me, I'm afraid it would've been so sweet as to make the salad inedible.

Lee decided to try the "Crescent City" Salmon Salad - "Fresh spinach and mixed baby greens, tossed with carmelized pecans, red grapes, navel orange segments, roasted sweet corn, and orange-cilantro vinaigrette - crowned with sauteed and pan-seared Atlantic Salmon." He doesn't care for cilantro so he requested the raspberry vinaigrette instead, which he said went pretty well with the salad and salmon - though he also used it sparingly.

For dessert we split the Chocolate Crepe. Our server told us it would take about 15 minutes for that to be prepared, and she checked back with us a couple of times to assure us that it would be coming soon. (I think it took closer to 20 minutes.) The crepe was apparently cooked and filled and THEN baked - it was certainly very hot when it came out and the filling burned my tongue on my first bite. It was filled with a chocolate and raspberry filling - I don't much care for fruit with my chocolate, but this had only a slight raspberry flavor, so it was quite good. We both enjoyed it.

It was a very nice meal and the service was ok (better than I was expecting, given what I'd heard), though a little uneven. We had a little bit too much of a wait before our appetizers came out, but then our entrees were served to us before we had finished eating our appetizers. And although they came around to refill Lee's iced tea glass several times, no one ever refilled my water glass. I'd heard stories of how a meal can be incredibly slow, but we had appetizers, entrees, and dessert and were paid and out of there just over an hour after we were seated.

I think we'll go back - for one thing we want to try the Mickey-shaped Beignets! :-) And I'm curious about the Creole Ratatouille - it looks intriguing.

Bon appetit!