New menus for Blue Bayou and Cafe Orleans

[Stan4dSteph]

The new menus for Blue Bayou and revamped table-service Cafe Orleans have been released. There are threads on MousePad that list them out, so I'll link to them:

Blue Bayou (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=57224)

Cafe Orleans (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=57281)


Based on these menus, I don't think I'll be dining at BB in the future. I think I will try the veggie Monte Cristo at Cafe Orleans though. Fried cheese sandwich! I hope it comes with a side of Lipitor...

[Gemini Cricket]

A ha. So they didn't get rid of the Monte Cristo as was rumored.

[Matterhorn Fan]

When will they learn?

A portobello mushroom is a portobello mushroom. It's boring and meaty and can sometimes taste like dirt, regardless of whether it's served on black-eyed peas or corn & pepper couscous.

Vegetarians DO eat things besides mushrooms.

It seemed to me like the whole portobello thing had died down. I'm still sick of them, but I'm seeing fewer of them served as the sole veggie dish these days.

Stupid Blue Bayou. I love the atmosphere, and I hate their never-changing menu.

Cafe Orleans, on the other hand, looks like it has promise. I think the promise may to be give us all heart attacks, but still.

[Not Afraid]

Well, I'm interested in the Cafe Orleans menu more than I am in the Blue Bayou menu. The house salad is very similar to the one I used to love at th French Market. It's nice to have some good salads back on the menu.

Sooooo, anyone up for a meal on Sunday?

[Moonliner]

Nice price point at the BB.

Perhaps they should just rename it "Club 33 Light"

[Scrooge McSam]

*Three-Cheese Monte Cristo Swiss, mozzarella and double crème Brie in a light batter, fried and served with berry puree*

Animal fat fried in vegetable fat... Mmmmm mmmmm mmmmmm

[Not Afraid]

So, by saying "Sunday" above, I really wasn't refering to THIS Sunday, since the restaurant won't be open. (Right.)

BUT, how about July 9th? Should we make some ressies?

[LSPoorEeyorick]

So much for the occasional lunch at BB. And why are the appetizers MORE expensive at lunch than at dinner?

It looks like I'll be happy with one of those yummy-sounding salads. (And the occasional heart-clogwich.) But the lack of vegan food is a bummer-- I hope they'll make the pommes without the parm for Tom, and the salad without the cheese and nuts.

[Alex]

Cafe Orleans is supposed to be reopening this Friday or Saturday if the final little things go well so it very well could be open this Sunday.

[cirquelover]

The desserts at Cafe Orleans sound divine to me! I have loved beignets since a trip to NO and Biloxi and now I can get them shaped like my favorite mouse! If they don't taste good though I can just go to DTD but I think there is something special about sitting outside down south and enjoying one though! I loved sitting on the Gulf and enjoying my beignet. I haven't had a crepe in years but was always a fan.

With the prices so high at BB, I'm glad to see I can get the monte cristo at CO. I will miss the BB potatoes though. It's a good thing I can just make them at home on special occasions or when we have prime rib.

[Prudence]

Holy Cow! :eek: We will definitely not be eating at the Blue Bayou any more, that's for sure! The only reason I was willing to pay the old prices was because of ambience (which lately hadn't been that great anyhow.) The food was never that great. And the portions have always been too big - and now they're bigger. It's not like you can really take home a doggie bag from there. I'm glad we went in January because we won't be going again.

[tracilicious]

They got rid of the clam chowder? It was the best clam chowder in the resort. Why is it that WDW can do food that twice as good at half the price but friggin Blue Bayou charges $30 a plate?

[Stan4dSteph]

And the portions have always been too big - and now they're bigger. It's not like you can really take home a doggie bag from there.Yes, and now there's a plate splitting charge, so sharing will still cost you more than just the price of one entree.

For those prices I'd rather go have dinner at Napa Rose.

[tracilicious]

Or the other place at GCH that is an all you can eat buffet. That place is gooooood.

[Prudence]

Yes, and now there's a plate splitting charge, so sharing will still cost you more than just the price of one entree.


Do they take the literal view of plate splitting and only charge if you have them split the entree onto two plates? Or does the extra charge apply any time there are more diners than entrees, even if they just pass the plate and/or fork back and forth?

[Mousey Girl]

The one time we ate at Blue Bayou, I was very unimpressed. It was for lunch and I had prime rib. I am not joking when I say that it was more than 1/2 fat and very tasteless. The only thing that made up for it was our server who, knowing it was Nick's special b-day lunch was really on her game. This was for his 5th b-day and we haven't been back since.

[€uroMeinke]

I hope the upscale prices reflect an improvement in the food - the menu is too familiar though for me to be optomistic about that. I hope I'm wrong.

[Kevy Baby]

Or the other place at GCH that is an all you can eat buffet. That place is gooooood.Storytellers.

Try the Corn Chowder. A little spicy and darned tasty.

[innerSpaceman]

While word is that the food is supposed to be better at the Neu Bayou, they have priced themselves out of my willingness to give them a tenth chance. Of the last nine times I've eaten there, eight of my meals sucked. Telling me that, oh - it's better now ... but pay even more than previously outrageous prices to find out ... well, that's just not a strategy that's going to work with me.


As for the Cafe Orleans ... I'm excited about it being a sit-down again, and can't wait to try the place out. If it's open this Sunday, I say let's hit it!

[€uroMeinke]

Yeah, I'll be waiting for some reviews first before venturing back in at that price point.

[tracilicious]

Storytellers.

Try the Corn Chowder. A little spicy and darned tasty.

Thx KB. Admittedly, I've not had corn chowder at a great deal of places, but the corn chowder at Storytellers is by far the best I've had.

While word is that the food is supposed to be better at the Neu Bayou, they have priced themselves out of my willingness to give them a tenth chance. Of the last nine times I've eaten there, eight of my meals sucked. Telling me that, oh - it's better now ... but pay even more than previously outrageous prices to find out ... well, that's just not a strategy that's going to work with me.



No kidding. The food needed to be twice as good at the old prices. At the new prices it better be four star quality. We've been a few times. It's fun to sit by the water and eat clam chowder and then split an entree, but even those days are gone. Ah well. More meals at Storytellers.

[Not Afraid]

The best bet for BB is to make late-nite dessert reservations. It's affordable and usually pretty decent.

[innerSpaceman]

Heheh, that's our plan for Napa Rose, too.

Never dined there, but love the place for cocktails ... and I'm dying to check out the Kevy/GusGus/GushedOver dessert.


As for the BB, I say we file complaints with City Hall. Let them roll out the new cuisine with lower prices to entice us. But with their crappy reputation, they've got a lot of nerve charging more first and proving themselves later. It should be the other way around, and I don't mind a form at City Hall with my name on it saying so.

[Alex]

I've never cared for Blue Bayou much. It has always been too dark, too crowded, and too loud for pleasurable dining and not up to the old prices. Plus, they make their monte cristos "wrong." (I know, they make them the way most people make them but I grew up with a monte cristo - from a great defunct pancake place in Rockaway Beach, Oregon - just being a double decker breakfast sandwich made with french toast, not a batter fried monstrosity).


That said, the food is comparably priced with Catal which also isn't all that good and only a couple dollars more than Rainforest Cafe which is horrible. I've not yet eaten at Napa Rose (since I don't drink wine or eat beef/pork it isn't worth the hassle) but there simply isn't any dining available at the Disneyland Resort where the quality is nearly worth the price (Hook's Pointe and Granville's come close; I don't care for Storyteller's at all; the food is blah and the service has always been terrible every time I go).

Disneyland Resort simply isn't a foodie destination. So I just eat what everybody else decides on. If they pick Blue Bayou I'll eat at Blue Bayou. If they pizz RRPP, I'll eat there. I draw the line only at Village Haus.

[Ghoulish Delight]

IF (that's a big if) the food really is significantly better (wonder how much truth there is to Al's report that Ouimet said in some meeting that it'll be "the finest restaurant in any Disney theme park, anywhere."), I think I'll be happy to see it priced into the "special experience" range again. But yeah, the food would definitely have to be good enough to merrit it.

[Matterhorn Fan]

So I've been thinking about this some more. I could make the only veggie meal at the BB in my own kitchen for about $5.

Although that cheese Monte Cristo sounds heart-stoppingly delicious, I probably won't ever eat one. The chances that they're deep-frying that in the same vat of oil as the ham sandwiches is 99.99%. That makes it decidedly NOT vegetarian.

I don't know what vegans do at the DLR. It's hard enough as a vegetarian.

Ouimet said in some meeting that it'll be "the finest restaurant in any Disney theme park, anywhere."
Looking at the menu (and prices), it won't be. If Ouimet really did say that, he's long overdue for a trip to EPCOT.

[Drince88]

The other thing I don't 'get' on the Blue Bayou vs WDW (since someone else brought it up first ;) is that they can do nice meals at WDW where a decently hungry person can get an appetizer, entree, and dessert and not feel like they're rolling out of the place. Yea, it's spendy at the nicer places, but for the most part, they are nice places - even in theme parks. Clearly, with a split plate charge, they are expecting people to not be able to eat a 'full meal' on their own. Makes no sense to me...

[Ghoulish Delight]

Clearly, with a split plate charge, they are expecting people to not be able to eat a 'full meal' on their own. Makes no sense to me...California thing. Portions tend to be absurd here.

[Stan4dSteph]

Update: there's a brief article on the new menus and decor at Cafe Orleans and Blue Bayou with photos up at MousePlanet today. Link (http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=mm060623av).

[RStar]

When will they learn?

A portobello mushroom is a portobello mushroom. It's boring and meaty and can sometimes taste like dirt, regardless of whether it's served on black-eyed peas or corn & pepper couscous.

Vegetarians DO eat things besides mushrooms.

It seemed to me like the whole portobello thing had died down. I'm still sick of them, but I'm seeing fewer of them served as the sole veggie dish these days.

Stupid Blue Bayou. I love the atmosphere, and I hate their never-changing menu.

I'll let chef Chris know. He is a close personal freind, and use to be a chef at Club 33. I'm not a vegitarian, but I have noticed that portabello mushrooms are a meat replacement in many dishes. Perhaps that's what they thought when they made up the new Menu.

And the photos look like they have made at least a big improvement on presentation and the gormet quality. Now I just need to taste and experience it. I look forward to checking it out myself!

~Bob

[katiesue]

We tried to go yesterday but they were castmember previews and a few guest walk-ins. They said to try back later but we were starved so oh well, next time.

[Matterhorn Fan]

I'll let chef Chris know. He is a close personal freind, and use to be a chef at Club 33. I'm not a vegitarian, but I have noticed that portabello mushrooms are a meat replacement in many dishes. Perhaps that's what they thought when they made up the new Menu.
Wow, I sounded angry in the post you quoted.

I'm just tired of portobellos, is all. And really, if it's a meat replacement, why aren't they fixed in a more interesting manner than "atop couscous"? Meats get fun sauces, spices, fancy names, interesting side dishes. The poor portobello gets grilled and served. Then again, I'm seeing less of the "portobello burger" dishes on menus recently.


I was thinking about this couscous thing the other day, and I think that quinoa is the new couscous, like couscous was the new rice (seems to be trendy now). I hope that soon feta can be the new gorgonzola. :cool:

[RStar]

Wow, I sounded angry in the post you quoted.

I'm just tired of portobellos, is all. And really, if it's a meat replacement, why aren't they fixed in a more interesting manner than "atop couscous"? Meats get fun sauces, spices, fancy names, interesting side dishes. The poor portobello gets grilled and served. Then again, I'm seeing less of the "portobello burger" dishes on menus recently.


I was thinking about this couscous thing the other day, and I think that quinoa is the new couscous, like couscous was the new rice (seems to be trendy now). I hope that soon feta can be the new gorgonzola. :cool:

Naw, you just sounded tired of Portabellas. Really, I'll talk to Chris, see what he has to say on the matter. The menu is set, but perhaps at a latter date they can experiment with something different. With interesting sauces too!

[Matterhorn Fan]

I'm not really one to talk, living in Florida and all (it'll be a while before I get back to DLR), but maybe with the large numbers of locals frequenting DLR, changing menus (or parts of them) would be a good thing in CA. Give those locals something new to come try every so often.



Steph--thanks for that link. The pictures look goooood. I think I may want to try that heart-attack on a plate cheese Monte Cristo.

[Mary Blairiffic]

I think I'm in the minority, but I'll still be dining at the BB. You can't beat the atmosphere and, unless I'm getting this wrong, if one person orders an entree and the other person wishes to split that plate for 5 bucks, that lowers the overall price for the two of you considerably. Plus, the selections sound yummy. I think it was in a MousePlanet article I read, that what they're trying to do is make BB the fine dining establishment in Disneyland. Now, do they still have the Mint Juleps???:snap:

[Kevy Baby]

I don't know if yesterday was some sort of special preview day, but I saw several people carrying large Blue Bayou menus in the park.