Here's my capsule review. For a much more detailed review (and tons more photos), visit my website: http://DisneyTouristBlog.com
We started our voyage into Club 33 by heading to the doorway where I pressed a speak-easy style speaker-box. After a couple of seconds, a voice came over the other side of the intercom, and asked for our information. A few seconds later, we were buzzed inside.
No matter how much I had read about the restaurant and despite all of the photos I had seen online, I was blown away as I was enveloped in the sea of rich burgundy and ornate details. Everything about the lobby was lavish. Although I wasn’t around back in the 20s, it felt like what I envision the inside of a ritzy 20s speak-easy looking like. Much like the Lilly Belle, it appeared as if it had remained in pristine condition since 1967.
Right then, I knew the ambiance alone would justify the cost of the experience. I cannot fully stress how important it is to view this restaurant as an experience and not a meal. If you’re considering dining at Club 33 and you don’t really care about Disney history, don’t.
Immediately visible in the lobby is the most impressive piece of Club 33 lore, the French Lift. These lifts were frequently used in the late 1880's, but are now quite rare. They were similarly rare when Club 33 was being constructed.
As you step out of the elevator, you begin to notice all of the exquisite details that give Club 33 such a rich history. Our table was ready, so we would have to soak in these details later.
The lights were low and uneven, and the dining room was a veritable sea of burgundy. These conditions made photographs especially difficult. On top of that, my go-to lens for such occasions, the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, had broken earlier in the trip. My next fastest lens, the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 had too much ‘zoom’ for such confined spaces, so I’d be forced to use the ultra-wide angle and fisheye lenses almost entirely. This was really disappointing, as the results with these two lenses aren’t nearly as good as what I could have accomplished with the Sigma 30. I toyed with the idea of converting all of the photos here to black and white, as I think they’d look better that way due to the harsh lighting and the overwhelming burgundy, but ultimately decided to retain color in most to convey the appearance of the restaurant as accurately as I could. C’est la vie.
We started our evening with drinks. A meal at Club 33 is the only way you’ll ever (within the park rules, at least) consume alcohol in Disneyland, so we were not going to pass up this opportunity. Not really knowing what to order (the beer list didn’t sound appealing), I opted for a gin and tonic. Given the surroundings, I wanted a drink that seemed like it was straight off of the set from Mad Men. I realized I don’t really have a taste for gin and tonic, but it seemed fairly good. Had a kick to it but the alcohol wasn’t overpowering. More importantly, it made me feel dapper as I held it up to the light and furrowed my brow, so it had accomplished its task.
For dinner, we had two options, a seasonal five-course prix fixe menu and an a la carte appetizer and entrée menu. Everyone at our table chose the a la carte menu, which required spending the cost of a one-day park ticket. This requirement is almost laughable, as each of our meals easily exceeded twice the cost of a one-day park ticket. Sarah and I ordered the same appetizer, the crab cake.
Unlike many crab cakes that are composed primarily of filler, these crab cakes are almost completely crab. The “other stuff” is there, presumably, just to hold them together and give them some additional flavor. I believe our waiter stated that the crab cakes were something like at least 98% lump crab meat. That’s pretty impressive. The sauce was rich and creamy, which was the perfect compliment to the lump crab meat. The sauce definitely provided a good balance to the flavor and made the already moist crab cakes (few things are worse than a dry crab cake) even more succulent.
We started our voyage into Club 33 by heading to the doorway where I pressed a speak-easy style speaker-box. After a couple of seconds, a voice came over the other side of the intercom, and asked for our information. A few seconds later, we were buzzed inside.
No matter how much I had read about the restaurant and despite all of the photos I had seen online, I was blown away as I was enveloped in the sea of rich burgundy and ornate details. Everything about the lobby was lavish. Although I wasn’t around back in the 20s, it felt like what I envision the inside of a ritzy 20s speak-easy looking like. Much like the Lilly Belle, it appeared as if it had remained in pristine condition since 1967.
Right then, I knew the ambiance alone would justify the cost of the experience. I cannot fully stress how important it is to view this restaurant as an experience and not a meal. If you’re considering dining at Club 33 and you don’t really care about Disney history, don’t.
Immediately visible in the lobby is the most impressive piece of Club 33 lore, the French Lift. These lifts were frequently used in the late 1880's, but are now quite rare. They were similarly rare when Club 33 was being constructed.
As you step out of the elevator, you begin to notice all of the exquisite details that give Club 33 such a rich history. Our table was ready, so we would have to soak in these details later.
The lights were low and uneven, and the dining room was a veritable sea of burgundy. These conditions made photographs especially difficult. On top of that, my go-to lens for such occasions, the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, had broken earlier in the trip. My next fastest lens, the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 had too much ‘zoom’ for such confined spaces, so I’d be forced to use the ultra-wide angle and fisheye lenses almost entirely. This was really disappointing, as the results with these two lenses aren’t nearly as good as what I could have accomplished with the Sigma 30. I toyed with the idea of converting all of the photos here to black and white, as I think they’d look better that way due to the harsh lighting and the overwhelming burgundy, but ultimately decided to retain color in most to convey the appearance of the restaurant as accurately as I could. C’est la vie.
We started our evening with drinks. A meal at Club 33 is the only way you’ll ever (within the park rules, at least) consume alcohol in Disneyland, so we were not going to pass up this opportunity. Not really knowing what to order (the beer list didn’t sound appealing), I opted for a gin and tonic. Given the surroundings, I wanted a drink that seemed like it was straight off of the set from Mad Men. I realized I don’t really have a taste for gin and tonic, but it seemed fairly good. Had a kick to it but the alcohol wasn’t overpowering. More importantly, it made me feel dapper as I held it up to the light and furrowed my brow, so it had accomplished its task.
For dinner, we had two options, a seasonal five-course prix fixe menu and an a la carte appetizer and entrée menu. Everyone at our table chose the a la carte menu, which required spending the cost of a one-day park ticket. This requirement is almost laughable, as each of our meals easily exceeded twice the cost of a one-day park ticket. Sarah and I ordered the same appetizer, the crab cake.
Unlike many crab cakes that are composed primarily of filler, these crab cakes are almost completely crab. The “other stuff” is there, presumably, just to hold them together and give them some additional flavor. I believe our waiter stated that the crab cakes were something like at least 98% lump crab meat. That’s pretty impressive. The sauce was rich and creamy, which was the perfect compliment to the lump crab meat. The sauce definitely provided a good balance to the flavor and made the already moist crab cakes (few things are worse than a dry crab cake) even more succulent.
