PlutoTheDog89
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2011
Be Our Guest
I wasn’t sure what to think about Be Our Guest when we first booked it. Sure, I had heard the hype - it was difficult to secure a reservation, guests would wait hours just to get in for lunch and how you “had to try the gray stuff.” But I wasn’t sure about the menu. By the end of our trip, I already had my fill of steak and I wasn’t sure about the pork or lamb.
Fast forward to our reservation. It’s a dark and dreary night and I’m just starting to get over my cold. We walked up to the restaurant and checked in with the hostess. We received our beeper. I liked that we weren’t seated right away - it gave me a chance to really take in the architecture and design of the restaurant. From the outside, this place really is incredible. I looked down from the bridge to the water. A CS cup littered the water. “This is why we can’t have nice things,” I thought. Our beeper rang and we walked toward the entrance. We were greeted and the doors magically opened.
We entered a dark room where our server explained the restaurant. We would be seated in the main dining room. The Beast would be greeting guests and taking photos only after your meal was complete. He would not be signing autographs.
My jaw dropped as we entered the main dining room. This place was impressive. The ceiling reminded me of Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The dining room was massive. We were seated toward the back, near the window. Outside the window it was "snowing" - which further reminded me that our trip was ending and we’d soon be returning to a bitterly cold New York. For the time being, we weren’t in New York, we weren’t even in Disney - we were in the Beast’s castle. The decorations and theming had us fully engulfed.
I loved the seating at Be Our Guest. At first glance, there’s a ton of tables closely quartered; though after being seated, it really felt pretty private. Maybe it was the loud background noise of others speaking, but you couldn’t hear the table next to you and at no point did you feel on top of one another. It allowed for a private dinner in a very public, crowded setting.
We were then greeted by our waitress. We had the normal meal plan introduction and she told us a little bit about the items on the menu and made some recommendations. Plus one. I love a server that knows the menu and could make recommendations. She gave us a few minutes, as we wanted to look over the drink menu.
“Alcohol in Magic Kingdom?” My sister asked.
“We’re still in Magic Kingdom?” I rhetorically answered.
We received our bread along with some special butter. I love that every restaurant offers bread with different sea salt. This butter had a black sea salt.
My dad loves dark beers. He told us that he used to drink Kronenbourg in his “younger days.” I think he just wanted an excuse for having a beer. No excuse necessary. He and I ordered the lager, while my sister opted for the Blanc, a wheat beer. My mom stuck with some iced tea. I loved the lager and drank it slow. It had a frothy, white head and was amber in color. My sister’s beer looked like a mix between Blue Moon and Hoeegarden. The taste of orange peels was prevalent.
We each started with the French Onion soup. It was delicious. The cheese was slightly browned at the top. Once you bust through the cheesy crust, you were treated to gooey-melted cheesy goodness. It wasn’t overly cheesy, but had enough to cover the top of the bowl. Of course, everyone knows the best part of the French Onion soup is the burnt cheese on the side of the bowl. It tastes just like Cheez-Its. It kind of lacked the burnt cheese, which was a bit of a letdown, but it didn’t ruin the dish. Anyway - the cheese was good and the bead was the perfect size. The soup was average. I would have liked more caramelized onions in the soup - this was mostly broth, but I happily slurped it up with the complimentary bread.
For dinner, I went with the shrimp and scallop puff pastry, as did my mom and sister. My dad went with the chicken. I had my fill of steak, I eat chicken breast almost every day on my diet, and I wasn’t interested in the pork or lamb. At first glance, the pastry was a bit small. Once you really dissected the pastry, you realized just how large it was. This thing was thick, hearty and filled with shrimp and scallops. I expected to have a few pieces of shrimp and scallops and a ton of vegetables. It was quite the opposite. To start, you have a square puff pastry. It’s flaky and holds the filling nicely. None of the pastry was soggy from the sauce. At the center of the square puff pastry is a hole filled with scallops, shrimp, green beans and other vegetables in a brown wine sauce. At the side of the pastry is a lonely shrimp and scallop for presentation. It’s a little salty. I know, Disney food is typically salty. But this dish was noticeably salty. It didn’t ruin the dish, but I definitely felt my cholesterol soaring and I was definitely very thirsty later in the night.
I enjoyed the dinner, but was pretty full after. I left some pastry on my plate. I wanted to save room for dessert! The waitress came by to collect our plates and told us about the dessert. She told us to look over the menu and said that she would be over soon with the cart. She rolled over the cart and everything looked fantastic. My sister and I went with the gray stuff. How could we not? My mom went with the fudge cupcake, while my dad opted for the lemon meringue. My mom loved her cupcake. I really enjoyed the gray stuff. The presentation was gorgeous. The gray stuff, by itself, is a light whipped topping. From reading recipes, it gets its gray pigment from crushed oreos and other coloring. The gray stuff was light and fluffy - I expected more of an icing, but was happy it was not. It was served atop a hard brownie. At first bite, I thought the brownie was stale. Then, I realized it was intended. It had a hard cookie outside and a soft inside. It tasted like a double-chocolate chip cookie. Alone, it would not be very tasty, but topped with the gray stuff, it was delicious.
After dinner we snapped some photos in front of the window. They had a small Christmas tree, which made for a nice picture. We then met with Beast. We took our photo and left the restaurant. We saw the talking knights on our way out and walked through the doors back into the park.
The restaurant definitely met expectations. Wow, this place is impressive. From the design to the theming, you really do forget that you’re in the park. The food was decent. Like I said - I think my cholesterol shot up a few points due to the saltiness, but I would definitely return. You got a lot for your money - the pastry was PACKED with shrimp and scallops. The dessert was fun and delicious. I had the gray stuff, but would probably opt for a different dessert next year. If you go there for one reason, go to see the inside!
I wasn’t sure what to think about Be Our Guest when we first booked it. Sure, I had heard the hype - it was difficult to secure a reservation, guests would wait hours just to get in for lunch and how you “had to try the gray stuff.” But I wasn’t sure about the menu. By the end of our trip, I already had my fill of steak and I wasn’t sure about the pork or lamb.
Fast forward to our reservation. It’s a dark and dreary night and I’m just starting to get over my cold. We walked up to the restaurant and checked in with the hostess. We received our beeper. I liked that we weren’t seated right away - it gave me a chance to really take in the architecture and design of the restaurant. From the outside, this place really is incredible. I looked down from the bridge to the water. A CS cup littered the water. “This is why we can’t have nice things,” I thought. Our beeper rang and we walked toward the entrance. We were greeted and the doors magically opened.
We entered a dark room where our server explained the restaurant. We would be seated in the main dining room. The Beast would be greeting guests and taking photos only after your meal was complete. He would not be signing autographs.
My jaw dropped as we entered the main dining room. This place was impressive. The ceiling reminded me of Grand Central Terminal in New York City. The dining room was massive. We were seated toward the back, near the window. Outside the window it was "snowing" - which further reminded me that our trip was ending and we’d soon be returning to a bitterly cold New York. For the time being, we weren’t in New York, we weren’t even in Disney - we were in the Beast’s castle. The decorations and theming had us fully engulfed.
I loved the seating at Be Our Guest. At first glance, there’s a ton of tables closely quartered; though after being seated, it really felt pretty private. Maybe it was the loud background noise of others speaking, but you couldn’t hear the table next to you and at no point did you feel on top of one another. It allowed for a private dinner in a very public, crowded setting.
We were then greeted by our waitress. We had the normal meal plan introduction and she told us a little bit about the items on the menu and made some recommendations. Plus one. I love a server that knows the menu and could make recommendations. She gave us a few minutes, as we wanted to look over the drink menu.
“Alcohol in Magic Kingdom?” My sister asked.
“We’re still in Magic Kingdom?” I rhetorically answered.
We received our bread along with some special butter. I love that every restaurant offers bread with different sea salt. This butter had a black sea salt.
My dad loves dark beers. He told us that he used to drink Kronenbourg in his “younger days.” I think he just wanted an excuse for having a beer. No excuse necessary. He and I ordered the lager, while my sister opted for the Blanc, a wheat beer. My mom stuck with some iced tea. I loved the lager and drank it slow. It had a frothy, white head and was amber in color. My sister’s beer looked like a mix between Blue Moon and Hoeegarden. The taste of orange peels was prevalent.
We each started with the French Onion soup. It was delicious. The cheese was slightly browned at the top. Once you bust through the cheesy crust, you were treated to gooey-melted cheesy goodness. It wasn’t overly cheesy, but had enough to cover the top of the bowl. Of course, everyone knows the best part of the French Onion soup is the burnt cheese on the side of the bowl. It tastes just like Cheez-Its. It kind of lacked the burnt cheese, which was a bit of a letdown, but it didn’t ruin the dish. Anyway - the cheese was good and the bead was the perfect size. The soup was average. I would have liked more caramelized onions in the soup - this was mostly broth, but I happily slurped it up with the complimentary bread.
For dinner, I went with the shrimp and scallop puff pastry, as did my mom and sister. My dad went with the chicken. I had my fill of steak, I eat chicken breast almost every day on my diet, and I wasn’t interested in the pork or lamb. At first glance, the pastry was a bit small. Once you really dissected the pastry, you realized just how large it was. This thing was thick, hearty and filled with shrimp and scallops. I expected to have a few pieces of shrimp and scallops and a ton of vegetables. It was quite the opposite. To start, you have a square puff pastry. It’s flaky and holds the filling nicely. None of the pastry was soggy from the sauce. At the center of the square puff pastry is a hole filled with scallops, shrimp, green beans and other vegetables in a brown wine sauce. At the side of the pastry is a lonely shrimp and scallop for presentation. It’s a little salty. I know, Disney food is typically salty. But this dish was noticeably salty. It didn’t ruin the dish, but I definitely felt my cholesterol soaring and I was definitely very thirsty later in the night.
I enjoyed the dinner, but was pretty full after. I left some pastry on my plate. I wanted to save room for dessert! The waitress came by to collect our plates and told us about the dessert. She told us to look over the menu and said that she would be over soon with the cart. She rolled over the cart and everything looked fantastic. My sister and I went with the gray stuff. How could we not? My mom went with the fudge cupcake, while my dad opted for the lemon meringue. My mom loved her cupcake. I really enjoyed the gray stuff. The presentation was gorgeous. The gray stuff, by itself, is a light whipped topping. From reading recipes, it gets its gray pigment from crushed oreos and other coloring. The gray stuff was light and fluffy - I expected more of an icing, but was happy it was not. It was served atop a hard brownie. At first bite, I thought the brownie was stale. Then, I realized it was intended. It had a hard cookie outside and a soft inside. It tasted like a double-chocolate chip cookie. Alone, it would not be very tasty, but topped with the gray stuff, it was delicious.
After dinner we snapped some photos in front of the window. They had a small Christmas tree, which made for a nice picture. We then met with Beast. We took our photo and left the restaurant. We saw the talking knights on our way out and walked through the doors back into the park.
The restaurant definitely met expectations. Wow, this place is impressive. From the design to the theming, you really do forget that you’re in the park. The food was decent. Like I said - I think my cholesterol shot up a few points due to the saltiness, but I would definitely return. You got a lot for your money - the pastry was PACKED with shrimp and scallops. The dessert was fun and delicious. I had the gray stuff, but would probably opt for a different dessert next year. If you go there for one reason, go to see the inside!
