Monsieur Paul or Chefs de France?!

[BarbieGal457]

Hey everyone!

I don't usually post threads like this, but time time I am honestly stumped.

We are going for 1 day on New Year's Day (crazy, I know) and right now I have two ADRs for dinner. I will definitely be cancelling one in the very near future, but I have no idea which to keep! We have never eaten at either place, and I'm sure by dinner we will be dying to eat a full meal and sit and relax.

As of right now, I have:
Chefs de France - 1/1/15 - 6:20pm
Monsieur Paul - 1/1/15 - 7:30pm

We are not huge on Illuminations, so if MP cuts into that time, I don't think we will necessarily mind. My boyfriend can be quite picky and enjoys vegetables and beef, whereas I am willing to try almost anything. I've looked and compared menus and read every review I could find, but I am honestly still stumped.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

You'll have a wonderful meal at either location. They are, however, two entirely different experiences.

Chefs de France will have really good French food in a neat Paris-like atmosphere. Your meal will probably take about an hour. It will be of similar quality to most of the other nice restaurants at Epcot.

Monsieur Paul is more of a fine dining experience. As a signature restaurant, it will be quieter, and you'll receive more personalized service from the staff. The restaurant doesn't have as much "themeing" or "Imagineering," it's just a really nice dining room. The food will be of a higher caliber. You'll want to spend more time enjoying each course, so you'll want to plan several hours for the meal. My suggestion is to opt for the prix fixe menu, although there are certainly some wonderful items on the ala carte menu. Also ask about wine pairings.

The difference might be summed up as follows:

"We're going to be in Epcot on Tuesday, so we'll have dinner at Chefs de France."

As opposed to...

"We have a reservation at Monsieur Paul, Tuesday, so we'll head to Epcot."

 

[BarbieGal457]

The difference might be summed up as follows:

"We're going to be in Epcot on Tuesday, so we'll have dinner at Chefs de France."

As opposed to...

"We have a reservation at Monsieur Paul, Tuesday, so we'll head to Epcot."

Wow that is exactly the comparison I was looking for! I think, solely based on your explanation, I may keep Chefs de France and save Monsieur Paul for our bigger birthday trip this summer. We are going just for the day (doing a short trip to Clearwater Beach 12/30-1/2) so I was thinking shorter might be better, just in terms of getting a lot from our day. Also 6:20 sounds like a better time to me, as we will have to drive back about 1.5hours after we close the park (I refuse to leave before the park closes since it's only a day!).

Thank you so much for your insight. Now I will have just another ADR to look forward to in June as well, and up my Golden Spoon percentage!

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Here's a link to a trip report from when we ate at Monsieur Paul a few years ago. It has some pictures of the prix fixe menu items.

 

[BarbieGal457]

Awesome! I will definitely check it out. I was last in Disney in 2009, and we were with a huge group so I didn't get to do a lot of the nicer restaurants. For June I am making it a point since it's a special trip and just me and my boyfriend - for once! A lot of friends usually tag along with us to Disney because they know I am a great tour guide there!