Les Chefs de France is the ground floor dining location in the France Pavilion at Epcot. It’s setup like a classic French restaurant. From the lighting to the location it’s really meant to make you feel like you are in France.
If you have never tried this dining location here is why you should give it a shot the next time you are in Disney World.
The Food: The food at Les Chefs de France is excellent. In fact it’s some of the best food I’ve found in Epcot. Of course there are some standout items like the French onion soup and the crème brulee. I normally make an effort to try something different each time I go to a restaurant but in this case I always have to order those two items.
There are some other odd items on the menu you might not really associate with French food such as the flat breads. It would be a mistake to skip over these. They are unlike the other flat breads you can find throughout Disney. They are distinctly French in flavor and worth a try.
As far as the main entrees go I’d recommend the short ribs, the tenderloin, the salmon, or the roasted chicken. I have a hard time recommending the scallops considering how expensive they are. I also have a hard time recommending the duck after my horrible duck experiences in Disney World. However next time I go I might bite the bullet and try it at Les Chefs de France.
Why would I be so daring?
I’ve eaten at Les Chefs de France multiple times. Unlike a number of Disney restaurants the food has been of the same quality every time I have eaten here. No matter why I order here it is consistently good. Only a handful of other Disney dining locations have pulled this feat off. Sadly it seems like more often than not the quality at most dining locations changes from year to year or even month to month.
The Atmosphere: The atmosphere is good by normal restaurant standards and average by Disney standards. The numerous windows looking out onto World Showcase are nice and it is fun to people watch as you enjoy your meal. Other than that nothing really positive stands out but there are a few drawbacks. Everyone is packed in tight. This is another location where Disney tried to pack as many tables as possible in to make the most money. The table clutter has naturally led to another issue. This location can be noisy at times.
The Service: The service here is somewhat stuffy. Don’t get me wrong it’s not bad service. The best way to describe it would be “French” service. In France most waiters have had formal and intensive training. It’s considered a serious career in France. This leads to a very formal style of service. If you are expecting a friendly, bubbly, server you will be disappointed. If you are expecting someone who makes sure everything is taken care of in a prompt manner you will love the service here.
Overall: Overall Les Chefs de France is one of the best dining locations in Epcot. I would also go as far as saying it could be in the top ten dining locations in Disney World. It’s a location that everyone should try at least once.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Photo of the Week - Festival of the Lion King
The Festival of the Lion King is easily one of the best shows in Disney World. Most Disney shows are people just singing and dancing. The Lion King show has acrobats, fire jugglers, and stilt walkers.
If you want to take pictures of this show there are some rules you need to follow. First turn your flash off. Next put your camera in the "S" mode if you have it. When you do that a little number should show up. Set that number between 50 an 125. Stay as still as possible.
You have to do this because a flash doesn't do any good with a show like this. Even if you turn it off your camera can't figure out what to do with lighting like this. It sees a lot of dark with a little like so it tries create a long exposure. This causes blur and the bright parts of photo to be far too bright.
Setting your camera to "S" you are telling the camera how long to expose the shot. This still might not work because your camera might compensate for the shorter exposure. If that's the case you'll need to change your mode to "M" and also set your aperture to five or six.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Photo of the Week: Cat Nap
There is nothing like kicking back on a warm afternoon and taking a little nap. This is every important when you weigh over five hundred pounds and have to strut your stuff in front of thousands of tourists everyday. The only problem is there just isn't anywhere private to curl up thanks to those pesky Imagineers.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Dining Review: Hugo's Cellar
Hugo's Cellar is a dining location located in the basement of the Four Queens Casino on the old strip in Las Vegas.
I will admit. I hate Vegas. I really hate Vegas. As far as I'm concerned there are two kinds of people. People who like Disney World and people who like Vegas. Either the house wins or mouse wins.
Now if I hate Vegas so much why was I there? Simple. A lot of people like Vegas so they tend to hold a lot of conferences and training seminars there. That means ever couple of years I end up stuck in Vegas.
If there is on thing that would tempt me to return to Vegas or stop on my way through it's Hugo's Cellar.
Just how good is Hugo's Cellar? Everything considered it's the best restaurant I've ever been to. What makes it that good?
The Service
The service at Hugo's Cellar is top notch. In fact the only place in Disney that might be able to match it is Victoria and Albert's. They have a classic style of service that you just do not find anymore. For example if you take a sip of water someone is right there to fill it back up. If you order a drink it appears so quickly you do a double take. If you ask a question they answer it correctly or bring over an expert to answer it. The wait staff take an interest in you and are very attentive. It's really sad that this kind of service is so rare now.
The Food
If someone were to look at the menu at Hugo's Cellar they might think they were looking back in time. The only things you find on the menu are classics. Hugo's doesn't do fusion. They don't do new age. In fact there are no tree hugging hippie dishes on this menu. It's classic meat, salads, seafood, and upscale sides.
It's not uncommon for a restaurant to offer a salad with your meal. It is uncommon today for the salad to be made to order at your table. Yes in a total, and really enjoyable, blast from the past Hugo's rolls up a salad cart and mixes your salad to order.
Now the salad isn't just lettuce and a dressing. There is a whole range of ingredients from anchovies to pine nuts and everything in between. On top of the ingredients you get to pick out of four different dressings.
As far as the rest of the food goes everything is top notch. If you order a medium stake it will be medium. Everything is cooked perfectly. It does not matter what you order. Some of us ordered beef, others chicken, and others fish. In no case was anything undercooked or overcooked. That is really worth noting considering many places overcook chicken and reduce to glorified jerky out of fear of not killing every last trace of bacteria.
Hugo's offers some excellent choices for desert too. Now I will admit. If you really want a good experience you need to order the bananas foster. Even if you do not like bananas order the bananas foster. It's that good. It also helps that they do it at your table. Just like the salad, up rolls a cart and a server fires up skillet and makes your desert. This means that your desert is going to be piping hot and the ice cream is still going to be ice cream and not a pool of room temperature goo.
The Atmosphere
The atmosphere at Hugo's is just what you would expect. It really looks like a wine cellar. In fact it beats out Le Cellier in this regard. Le Cellier is nice but it's nothing like Hugo's. The layout of Hugo's really adds to the feeling. Where Le Cellier is like a big box Hugo's is long and narrow with lots of nooks.
The drawback of Hugo's is it's location. I do not mean this in terms of geography. To get to Hugo's you need to walk through a loud, stinky, casino which is full of people that leave you wishing you had an armed guard.
Okay I am joking about the armed guard but like all places in Vegas you have to walk through a casino to get there.
Overall Hugo's hits every right on the mark. You just cannot beat them when it comes to what they do. This pick one thing and they do it very well. If you every find yourself in the old strip in Vegas and don't mind paying what Disney would charge for a Signature Dining experience then check out Hugo's Cellar.
I will admit. I hate Vegas. I really hate Vegas. As far as I'm concerned there are two kinds of people. People who like Disney World and people who like Vegas. Either the house wins or mouse wins.
Now if I hate Vegas so much why was I there? Simple. A lot of people like Vegas so they tend to hold a lot of conferences and training seminars there. That means ever couple of years I end up stuck in Vegas.
If there is on thing that would tempt me to return to Vegas or stop on my way through it's Hugo's Cellar.
Just how good is Hugo's Cellar? Everything considered it's the best restaurant I've ever been to. What makes it that good?
The Service
The service at Hugo's Cellar is top notch. In fact the only place in Disney that might be able to match it is Victoria and Albert's. They have a classic style of service that you just do not find anymore. For example if you take a sip of water someone is right there to fill it back up. If you order a drink it appears so quickly you do a double take. If you ask a question they answer it correctly or bring over an expert to answer it. The wait staff take an interest in you and are very attentive. It's really sad that this kind of service is so rare now.
The Food
If someone were to look at the menu at Hugo's Cellar they might think they were looking back in time. The only things you find on the menu are classics. Hugo's doesn't do fusion. They don't do new age. In fact there are no tree hugging hippie dishes on this menu. It's classic meat, salads, seafood, and upscale sides. It's not uncommon for a restaurant to offer a salad with your meal. It is uncommon today for the salad to be made to order at your table. Yes in a total, and really enjoyable, blast from the past Hugo's rolls up a salad cart and mixes your salad to order.
Now the salad isn't just lettuce and a dressing. There is a whole range of ingredients from anchovies to pine nuts and everything in between. On top of the ingredients you get to pick out of four different dressings.
As far as the rest of the food goes everything is top notch. If you order a medium stake it will be medium. Everything is cooked perfectly. It does not matter what you order. Some of us ordered beef, others chicken, and others fish. In no case was anything undercooked or overcooked. That is really worth noting considering many places overcook chicken and reduce to glorified jerky out of fear of not killing every last trace of bacteria.
Hugo's offers some excellent choices for desert too. Now I will admit. If you really want a good experience you need to order the bananas foster. Even if you do not like bananas order the bananas foster. It's that good. It also helps that they do it at your table. Just like the salad, up rolls a cart and a server fires up skillet and makes your desert. This means that your desert is going to be piping hot and the ice cream is still going to be ice cream and not a pool of room temperature goo.The Atmosphere
The atmosphere at Hugo's is just what you would expect. It really looks like a wine cellar. In fact it beats out Le Cellier in this regard. Le Cellier is nice but it's nothing like Hugo's. The layout of Hugo's really adds to the feeling. Where Le Cellier is like a big box Hugo's is long and narrow with lots of nooks.
The drawback of Hugo's is it's location. I do not mean this in terms of geography. To get to Hugo's you need to walk through a loud, stinky, casino which is full of people that leave you wishing you had an armed guard.
Okay I am joking about the armed guard but like all places in Vegas you have to walk through a casino to get there.
Overall Hugo's hits every right on the mark. You just cannot beat them when it comes to what they do. This pick one thing and they do it very well. If you every find yourself in the old strip in Vegas and don't mind paying what Disney would charge for a Signature Dining experience then check out Hugo's Cellar.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Dining Review: Teppan Edo
Disney World has almost countless dining options. Somehow you have to pick between them all. Just as important Disney has to find a way to get you to them or else they will lose money.
Teppan Edo is a sit down dining location in the Japan Pavilion at Epcot. Japan has two different sit down dining locations. One, Tokyo Dining, is a typical dining location. The other, Teppan Edo, is not. Teppan Edo is where they cook the food in front of you. Beyond that they try to do a little entertaining while they are doing it.
To get a feel for what really happens or what they are trying to do check out this video.
CLICK HERE
The service at Teppan Edo is...different. You will have someone take your order and deliver your drink but that's about all they do. After they do that the next thing they do is bring the bill. In the meantime the chef is in charge of everything and he is always there.
The food at Teppan Edo is decent. There are some fun options but you might feel disappointed. Why? Because nothing stands out. The food you get does not does equate to the price you pay. Now in many Disney restaurants Disney makes up for the price you pay with atmosphere or entertainment. In the case of Teppan Edo they try to make up the price with entertainment but is it worth it?
The entertainment at Teppan Edo isn't bad if you have not been to a Teppan Edo restaurant before. If you have you might realize that what Disney offers is really amateurish.
I live in NH. There is a Teppan Edo restaurant about an hour from my house. This restaurant is much, much cheaper than the one in Disney World. The food is better and the show is ten times better. To put it simply. If you have ever been to any Teppan Edo...or Mongolian grill for that matter. You will not be impressed by this Disney dining location.
After everything you are better off going to the following dining locations in Epcot before Teppan Edo. Keep this in mind if the other locations are sold out. This list is in order of how I'd recommend them and it only includes the locations I've eaten at.
Chefs De France
Garden Grill
San Angel Inn
Beirgarten
Le Cellier
The restaurant in Morocco
If all these are booked then I'd say go to Teppan Edo.
Teppan Edo is a sit down dining location in the Japan Pavilion at Epcot. Japan has two different sit down dining locations. One, Tokyo Dining, is a typical dining location. The other, Teppan Edo, is not. Teppan Edo is where they cook the food in front of you. Beyond that they try to do a little entertaining while they are doing it.
To get a feel for what really happens or what they are trying to do check out this video.
CLICK HERE
The service at Teppan Edo is...different. You will have someone take your order and deliver your drink but that's about all they do. After they do that the next thing they do is bring the bill. In the meantime the chef is in charge of everything and he is always there.
The food at Teppan Edo is decent. There are some fun options but you might feel disappointed. Why? Because nothing stands out. The food you get does not does equate to the price you pay. Now in many Disney restaurants Disney makes up for the price you pay with atmosphere or entertainment. In the case of Teppan Edo they try to make up the price with entertainment but is it worth it?
The entertainment at Teppan Edo isn't bad if you have not been to a Teppan Edo restaurant before. If you have you might realize that what Disney offers is really amateurish.
I live in NH. There is a Teppan Edo restaurant about an hour from my house. This restaurant is much, much cheaper than the one in Disney World. The food is better and the show is ten times better. To put it simply. If you have ever been to any Teppan Edo...or Mongolian grill for that matter. You will not be impressed by this Disney dining location.
After everything you are better off going to the following dining locations in Epcot before Teppan Edo. Keep this in mind if the other locations are sold out. This list is in order of how I'd recommend them and it only includes the locations I've eaten at.
Chefs De France
Garden Grill
San Angel Inn
Beirgarten
Le Cellier
The restaurant in Morocco
If all these are booked then I'd say go to Teppan Edo.
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