{"id":667,"date":"2010-09-03T06:25:46","date_gmt":"2010-09-03T10:25:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_travel_adventures\/?p=667"},"modified":"2022-04-12T13:19:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T17:19:14","slug":"bistro-de-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/bistro-de-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"Bistro De Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 30, 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n

This trip was one where I was crossing things off my \u201chaven\u2019t done\u201d yet list.\u00a0 One of the places which I have been walking by for years is the Bistro de Paris.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty much a regular at Les Chefs de France and can count on stopping in there for lunchat least once or twice during a one week trip, but confess to having the menu\u2014and the prices\u2014at the upstairs restaurant frighten me.\u00a0 (I can walk out of Chefs for less than $15 per person for lunch\u2014the Bistro is significantly more than that for dinner.)<\/p>\n

My daughter is a fan of all things France and was begging for a meal at the Bistro.\u00a0 Since I had no plans for dinner and didn\u2019t really want to do quick service we just popped in to the restaurant \u00a0around 8:30pm.\u00a0 We were asked which place we wanted and I said \u201cupstairs\u201d, fully expecting to be turned away as we had no reservations.\u00a0 \u00a0The gentleman at the podium said it would not be any problems to dine at the Bistro.\u00a0 Since there is a dress code I asked if our park attire was acceptable (we weren\u2019t looking like slobs but we hadn\u2019t exactly dressed for a fancy meal either), we were assured that we were fine, and they brought us up to a beautiful and elegant\u2014and very quiet\u2014Disney restaurant.\u00a0 \u201cBeautiful\u201d and \u201celegant\u201d are two adjectives which describe any number of Disney restaurants, but \u201cquiet\u201d at a dinner in a Disney theme park was a new thing for me.\u00a0 The utter peace and calm that enveloped the dining room of the Bistro de Paris set the tone for what was to be a wonderful meal with my daughter, who was just bursting with happiness to finally be taken to a \u201cfancy French restaurant.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The d\u00e9cor of the restaurant is turn of the century 20th<\/sup> century Paris and service staff were French and had to \u201cearn\u201d their way upstairs to the Bistro from the other locations in the France pavilion.\u00a0 Our server, David, was great at describing the menu and made some appropriate substitutions for Suzanne.\u00a0 (For example, her entr\u00e9e came with an item which was not appealing to her, so we were able to get mashed potatoes instead.)<\/p>\n

After much pondering I decided to live it up and do the Prix Fixe dinner ($54) with the extra cost wine pairings ($35).\u00a0 For my appetizer I selected the grilled shrimp, entr\u00e9e was the pork tenderloin, and dessert the chocolate almond cake.\u00a0 Suzanne ordered the beef filet ($39) and an Orangina soda ($5.50).<\/p>\n

After we placed our order the bread girl brought the amuse bouche of the day, which was a cold cream of asparagus soup.\u00a0 While I enjoy soup, this was just \u201ctoo much\u201d for me.\u00a0 It was a beautiful minty green color but incredibly rich.\u00a0 There was about \u00bc cup of it in a small ramekin, but I couldn\u2019t do much more than take a small taste.\u00a0 So while it was beautiful and quite flavorful, it was not for me.\u00a0 She came back shortly thereafter for the cups and asked me how I liked it, and I told her it was flavorful but just too rich.\u00a0 I was having flashbacks of a bowl (not cup) of mushroom soup from Artist Point\u2014which I consumed during another trip and had to walk around for about three hours because it was just too rich.\u00a0 That mushroom soup pretty much has scared me away from cream based soups at Disney\u2014because they really ARE made from cream.<\/p>\n

We had some bread with butter (I don\u2019t do cream but I sure as heck enjoy real butter) and my first wine arrived, which was a Chardonnay (from the Burgundy region of France, Macon Bouchard Aine & Fils, 2008.)\u00a0 While normally I do not care for Chardonnays, it really was a nice pairing and worked well with the food.\u00a0 I found it to be light and crisp and easily drinkable.\u00a0 I would order this wine in a restaurant or even buy a bottle to have at home.\u00a0 Suzanne had some of my food and she thought it was quite tasty.\u00a0 \u00a0The shrimp was grilled and the little crab cake was quite good.\u00a0 While I ate she gazed out the window at the World Showcase as we were about five minutes from the fireworks and the torches were turned on.<\/p>\n

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After my appetizer I finished the wine, and the server brought out my next glass, which was a red (Chateau St Columbe Cotes de Castillon 2005).\u00a0 I don\u2019t care for most Burgundy wines, but have had some I enjoyed.\u00a0 \u00a0(Sidenote:\u00a0 A dinner at Club 33 in Disneyland a couple of years ago had one of my tablemates drinking my red wines during that pairing.\u00a0 Group dining is fun with a bunch of travel agents and there are rarely no leftovers.) <\/em>This wine was pretty tasty too, and went well with the beautifully presented pork tenderloin the server put in front of me.\u00a0 Suzanne also had a yummy beef tenderloin too.\u00a0 We both became members of the \u201cclean plate club.\u201d\u00a0 Would also like to add that the glass plates they used at the Bistro were very nice\u2014I would like them in my home.<\/p>\n

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By now the fireworks were exploding and I\u2019ve probably seen illuminations over 100 times\u2014but it was very nice to see them from the Bistro.\u00a0 I gave Suzanne the \u201cgood\u201d seat, and I sort of scooted around so I could see some but mostly just enjoyed my daughter living in the moment and doing something special at Disney.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0As she was enjoying her evening I\u2019m just thinking that she had better do something useful for a living so she can afford to travel in the style with which she has become accustomed.\u00a0 Thankfully she\u2019s thinking about physical therapy or being a physician.<\/p>\n

We were both done with dinner and somewhat full, and I still had dessert to come.\u00a0 Rather than cr\u00e8me brulee (which is all over Disney) I ordered the chocolate almond cake.\u00a0 It really was delicious, and it was accompanied by a glass of Champagne Pommery Brut, which I have had several times.\u00a0 Can\u2019t go wrong with chocolate, berries, and champagne.\u00a0 By now we were the last guests in the restaurant.\u00a0 We split the dessert , I paid my bill and we left around 10pm to an almost empty park.\u00a0 Some other late diners were also wandering around too.\u00a0 We really enjoy those parks when they\u2019re empty and I would do another late dinner just to be one of the last people to leave.<\/p>\n

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A couple of observations about the Bistro:\u00a0 the food was not what I would call very expensive, although it was \u201cup there\u201d in pricing with some of the other Signature restaurants.\u00a0 The French wine list was extensive, with several wines offered by the glass.\u00a0 However most were bottles only.\u00a0 If you like French wines, this would be a good place to dine.\u00a0 There are also some wines sold in the pavilion itself too.<\/p>\n

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Disney\u2019s Dining Plan is NOT accepted in the Bistro, which explains why it was so empty.\u00a0 Another odd thing is that there is no background music\u2014it is very quiet in the Bistro.\u00a0 Like all Disney restaurants, tables are somewhat close together but this irrelevant when the restaurant is mostly empty.<\/p>\n

I thought the food was quite good for what I ordered.\u00a0 The sauces were excellent\u2014nothing too salty.\u00a0 Service was very good too, and I appreciate being able to substitute things without a problem.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I never heard piece of silverware clatter, or plates clunking together as they were clearing off the tables.\u00a0 Nor were we rushed out of there.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0It really was \u201cfine dining\u201d in a theme park.<\/p>\n

What could Disney improve in the Bistro?\u00a0 Well, they really should consider piping in some background music.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0It also would have been great if there was some way to clear the condensation from the windows\u2014obviously they were not insulated but I\u2019m quibbling.\u00a0 \u00a0The hot muggy air outside, and the cool air conditioning inside made viewing the fireworks a bit hazy because of the water droplets.<\/p>\n

We really enjoyed the Bistro de Paris and I made another reservation for my December trip.\u00a0 Most likely I will do a Prix Fixe dinner again, so hopefully they will have some changes to the menu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 30, 2010 This trip was one where I was crossing things off my \u201chaven\u2019t done\u201d yet list.\u00a0 One of the places which I have been walking by for years is the Bistro de Paris.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty much a regular at Les Chefs de France and can count on stopping in there for lunchat least…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":202,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1688,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wdw-dining","category-walt-disney-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/202"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83981,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions\/83981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}