Side Note: Observations on Dining Options in Sequoia / DLP / France in General.
Warning : a rant is coming...
Preface: I live a very clean life. I’ve taken steps to increase my health and over the last year I’ve lost 90 pounds using the ketogenic lifestyle. The short for those not aware that is... no sugar and very, very limited carbs. For the most part I eat a Whole Foods and natural lifestyle. This doesn’t work very well when traveling and I must get very creative to eat. I also employ a schedule of intermittent fasting that varies from time to time, essentially I don’t eat breakfast 5 or 6 days a week and restrict my calorie intake to an 8 hour window.
You want duck confit? Perfect, France nails this. Coq Au Vin? Again, nails it.
Pizza? Tacos, Burgers, Steak... holy smokes, what happened to the land of culinary expertise?! France as a nation, perhaps Europe as a whole, doesn’t get beef. They neither season nor age their beef and cook it straight in a pan sans anything or they smother with a pepper or bernaise sauce. America, appreciate our diversity.
I dropped into the buffet for some breakfast as my wife slept. I got there at 7:15 to avoid crowds. Well... another dud here. The scrambled eggs were watery and without flavor, bacon was ok, veal sausage was dry and without flavor. I ate about a pound of bacon as it fits my macros and the fat keeps me fueled for hours. If you’re into the sweets thing this will be up your alley... an entire row of just bread and sugary stuff that I just don’t eat. 22 bucks wasn’t bad for the amount of bacon I ate. The other options are an English fry essentially sans the grilled tomatoes or Irish pudding (black or white).
We had a first lunch at Caseys... nope, pass on this. France doesn’t do hot dogs either, just a mass of flavorless mystery meat. At least we use beef dogs that have some favor and spice back in the states. America, you win again. I don’t eat the bun, slide the whole thing and eat with a fork and knife... I got the cheddar sauce and onion strings, which are bad for me but I knew they give you like 5 total and I was right. WDW: winner.
Second Lunch: I got creative here...
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Ordered two entrees: 1/2 chicken and pork shank. Tons of fat and protein here, check. Best meal of the trip but cost me about 27 euros with a Coke Zero. Skip the fries, wife said they dry and pretty sub par.
She popped over to the Toad Hall for Fish and Chips, reports back were decent. Tough as we are New Englanders and fish is our thing.
Dinner: Captain Jacks
We wanted to make an ADR in the park and being fans of the Blue Bayou in DLC we landed on this. I also previewed the menu and found something I could eat. Started off with the fish soup which was actually quite nice. Followed by the suckling pig, I enjoyed it but unfortunately it came doused in some sugar sauce which wasn’t needed. The meat had enough seasoning and natural flavor to carry the dish.
Again, another tough CM experience. We checked in, they clearly knew we spoke English and sat us. The waiter didn’t speak a lick of English, we had to resort to pointing to the menu. I asked a question about an item, “what is the spicy black pudding, like a blood sausage or morcella?”... he looked at me and said “it’s pudding”. Ok, guess I’m not getting that. He never came over to check on anything, no bread plates, I had to steal utensils from another table... the list goes on.
Culturally they don’t tip, the 20% just isn’t a thing. Therefore, service in general is weak across the board both inside and out of Disney. There’s really no incentive for them to work harder, they don’t benefit from it. You’re a tourist and you’re already in the seat.
The food, ok... not bad. I enjoyed the food and went in understanding that this food would be GROSSLY OVERPRICED. No alcohol , wife went with a prefix, and I ate off a la carte since again I don’t eat sugar. 105 euros. But again, you’re at Disney and you know it’s going to be overpriced. I’m ok with overpriced food that is edible, it’s that expensive food that’s bad that’s hard to accept.
At the end of the day I’d rather just eat my quick service chicken / pork shank for 1/2 the cost.
A note: eat early and avoid peak times. Refer back to the CM experience. They move like turtles. Not enough infrastructure to handle the load of people, not enough cashiers etc. Its a weird experience.