Disneyland Paris Restaurant Review and Ranking: Part One, Buffet Restaurants

The last time I went to Disneyland Paris pre-Covid was near my 13^th birthday. I don’t remember eating there. We left after the parade. It actually wasn’t until watching Disney vloggers for research in 2020 that I learned that the fireworks shows existed. The few things I remembered of food at Disneyland Paris from my 3 trips there, including my trip at 13, was a restaurant that showed clips of the Lion King (my Mum assures me it was likely the Hyperion, Quick Service Restaurant) where I didn’t like the food but was obsessed with watching Timon and Pumba on the screens and—No, that was it. My only memory of the food there. I talked to my parents who told me that we did eat at Cowboy Cookout at least once but for the most part they/we were never a big fan of the food at Disneyland Paris.

            So my first time eating at any of the plethora of restaurants was in 2021 when my Mother and I took a trip to an extremely empty and quiet Disneyland Paris. From that day we bought an annual pass and spent the next year going back and trying as many of the restaurants as we possibly could so that we could do a definitive ranking of what we believe to be the best quality of the restaurants across the board.

            Now, of course, these are all our own opinions. We went in there with an open mind. For research for my book (coming to your shelves when I get round to finishing writing it) I’ve studied a lot of the Disney parks worldwide, studied some other theme parks around the world also, and read up a lot on how Theme Parks operate and the amount of work that goes into them. It was using this research that we gave scores for how well themed the restaurant was (as in the aesthetics and look of the place and the amount of detail), in comparison not only to each other but also to other parks worldwide.

            The Food and level of Service was judged based on my previous experience working in restaurants and training in Service as well as my Professional Cookery training I took for 2 years. My mother gave her scores based on, well what I imagine a lot of people reading this blog will be, being a lover of food and of restaurants. The last two categories we marked the restaurants on were Price (whether it was worth the price it was listed as, not necessarily if it was more or less money) and Ease of Booking. The latter category we added after struggling countless times to get certain restaurants booked and the experience making the restaurant go down in our estimation. After all, if you’ve struggled to get a booking for a restaurant and it has caused you a lot of stress it may put more pressure on that restaurant to be good, leading it to fall down in the ranking of other parts because of your expectations being higher.

            So, yes, each restaurant was given a mark out of 10 (10 being best, 1 being worst) on: Price, Ease of Booking, Theming/Aesthetics, Service and Food. On each restaurant they had the potential to score 2 X 10 points on each category (my Mother’s and my votes separately). Then we did an average of both of our scores to get the definitive mark for that restaurant (e.g. if a restaurant scored 45 with both of us it would average at 45 out of 50 overall).

            With that being said, and the rules explained, this blog post is our definitive list of the best to worst Buffet Restaurants at Disneyland Paris:

Number 9:

 DOWNTOWN RESTAURANT, HOTEL NEW YORK: THE ART OF MARVEL

Overall Score: 31 out of 50

Price: 13 out of 20

Ease of Booking: 3 out of 20

Theming: 15 out of 20

Service: 17 out of 20

Food: 14 out of 20

This was a hard one to put at the bottom and I thought long and hard about the scores I wanted to give. Downtown is a charming restaurant, filled to the brim with the amazing Marvel art-work that’s prevalent around the entire Hotel New York: The Art of Marvel. It is definitely a standard restaurant in terms of layout and seating. It feels like a premium restaurant with great splashes of classily placed Marvel work, celebrating the art from comic books. The chairs are extremely comfortable, the staff friendly and welcoming. We managed to eat here twice, once in Covid times when it was a Sit-Down and they brought you the foods and once when it was back to a full buffet. In Covid times it felt cramped, we were shoved on a two in a corner and were repeatedly forgotten about and felt uncomfortably close to two other tables pushed next to us. The cast member who served us, however, was extremely friendly—something replicated when we went outside of Covid times. It did still feel slightly cramped out of Covid and didn’t feel as organised as it could’ve been, as even though we had booked the Cast Members still looked like they were struggling to find us a table (this may have improved since we last went).

            The food is a game of two halves. I like the idea of splitting the menu into three different distinct cuisines of New York: Chinese, Italian and American. The Italian section is by far my favourite with the Sea Bass (crispy skin and perfectly soft flesh) and the Aubergine Parmigiana (creamy and rich) being my standouts of the restaurant. The American section with its wings, Salmon Bagels etc. is fairly good, standard American food that’s replicated in other areas of Disneyland Paris—however, it’s the Chinese section where it really falls down. Whilst the Crispy Duck is relatively good, if a little bit dry, the rest of the section is either not very good or not very Chinese or both. The dumplings, tested by my Mum because of my Shellfish intolerance, were doughy with little flavour. The ‘Stir-Fry’ tastes like vegetables that have been quickly cooked in an oven and then had sesame-oil poured all over them. The best thing in this section is the little spring rolls but even they’re quite basic and taste the same as I could get locally around my area (and my home is about as far away from any Chinese cooking as you can get). The chilli sauce in little glasses is, like a lot of French chilli sauces etc., extremely hot and packing a lot of flavour. My Mum accidentally thought it was a Gazpacho and tried to shot it which caused a lot of laughter and is a great memory from this restaurant (she’s fine). The puddings is were a lot of the creativity and skill goes: the Groot Chocolate Mousse, Thor Hammer, Lychee Macarons. If I were to go back to this restaurant for anything it would be the puddings.

            Although this restaurant is at the bottom, I would in no way say to not go there. Honestly, it’s one of those restaurants that I long to go back to again—but it’s also because of this restaurant we added the ‘Ease of Booking’ category as this is THE HARDEST restaurant to book. We’ve rang months in advance and not managed to book this restaurant. It never comes on the app to book (except for the occasional table of 1 or 2 at 10:45pm). If you want to book this restaurant you really have to book a Disney Hotel as early as possible and then book this restaurant up to 12 months before you go. It’s a good restaurant, and if you can get it I suggest going, but it’s certainly not worth all the pain and stress of trying to book—especially as the price is one of the highest of any buffet restaurants.

Number 8:

LA CANTINA, HOTEL SANTE FE

Overall Score: 33 out of 50

Price: 15 out of 20

Ease of Booking: 19 out of 20

Theming: 11 out of 20

Service: 13 out of 20

Food: 8 out of 20

Speaking of Price… La Cantina is one of the cheapest buffet restaurants in a hotel at Disneyland Paris (in fact it is one of the bottom three at the hotels, along with Chuck Wagon Café and Davy Crockett’s Tavern). However, unlike the other cheapest restaurants, it definitely feels the cheapest. The layout of the tables is very all over the place, the building is extremely open-plan in that it’s essentially just a big room with a lot of tables. The tables themselves are cheap, colourful metal tables and chairs that weren’t very comfortable and wobbled a lot. The tables are also very close together so you are constantly having to walk past other people’s chairs and around prams etc. It is set up as being a Cantine like in a factory or other big work place and it feels like it… but in doing so it doesn’t feel very special. It doesn’t have that magic immersive landscape because it feels like a work Cantine. It feels like a place to refuel and leave as quickly as possible.

                  The food was passable and the food stations, set up like little separate buildings in a market place were very cute. However, the food was passable because it was very basic. There was a salad bar with okay salads, much like you’d get in many of the other buffets. There was a Nacho bar with a big Nacho cheese station. Burgers, chicken nuggets, chips—basic desserts like mousse, fruit and others you would find in other buffets, but nothing felt special. Does that mean I don’t think it has a place in Disneyland Paris? No. I think if you have children or adults in your party that are particularly picky eaters then I think this is going to be the buffet for you. There’s nothing I imagine any picky eater having problems with (including picky eaters like my own niece who would enjoy most of the food here, especially the big pile of pasta and tomato sauce). For young children I would especially recommend this restaurant as it has ample room to accommodate prams, simple food for the kids to enjoy and a great kids area tucked away at the side (the best themed area of the restaurant with screens, drawing etc. Again, I know my niece would love it). For the adults though, I don’t think this is a ‘special’ restaurant. I think this is a keep your kids happy and then leave restaurant. It’s quite literally, keeping to the Cars theme, a ‘re-fuel station’.

                   The service is okay. You wait in the first line and pay (the cast member at this front desk was amazing, funny and very kind), and then you move to wait to be shown to your table. They weren’t the quickest to do this but it was fine as the cast member here was very smiley as she took us to our table. You’re then basically left to your own devices. You go and get your own drinks from a special bar on the way to the buffet and that’s your only human interaction. The cast members weren’t being very quick at cleaning the tables (I suppose partly because of how hard it was to see the tables inside the masses of other tables) and overall I don’t think the layout of the restaurant helps them do their jobs.

                 As I said I would recommend this restaurant if you have young children, especially if you happen to be staying at the hotel, or if you or an adult you’re travelling with is a picky eater themselves, but I would avoid it otherwise (although, it is the easiest to book even up to last minute).

Number 7:

PLAZA GARDENS, MAIN STREET

Overall Score: 34 out of 50

Price: 15 out of 20

Ease of Booking: 16 out of 20

Theming: 13 out of 20

Service: 13 out of 20

Food: 11 out of 20

  We have been to Plaza Gardens countless times. It’s one of the easiest to book for a regular midday meal and is one of the few places to go for a character meal (the only one currently that had Mickey and Friends as well as others like Winnie the Pooh, Pinocchio, Smee etc.)—although the character meals are much harder to book. This ranking, however, is entirely based on a general Non-Character Dining meal. If I were to include the Character Dining Plaza Gardens would’ve got a higher ranking just for the quality of the breakfasts (I’ve never seen my Dad smile more than last Christmas meeting the characters over breakfast. Again, some great memories from Disneyland Paris). The breakfast scrambled eggs, pain au chocolat and sausages are all amazing and some of my favourite food in the parks in general. But for this ranking I chose to ignore the breakfasts (although I would advise to book as early as possible if you can as they can be hard to get—otherwise you can do the same as I did and chance your luck at getting one on the app 3-4 days before your wanted reservation. You will have to keep checking though and book as fast as possible if one comes up). This ranking, as I said, just covers the non-character dining available over the lunch period.

                      Plaza is a beautiful building, really matching the time and feel of Main Street with a bit of a late Victorian influence. The seats and tables are well spaced apart and they’re all cushioned and very comfortable. If you’re lucky you’ll be seated in one of the little conservatories that are off the main room which gives you a feeling of privacy and a great view out into the parks (these are also the same windows you can spot the characters in when walking past at Breakfast or Dinner). The buffet is shining gold with a cold area in the middle and two hot stations, one at either side. The food itself is very similar to other buffet restaurants: cold meats, cheese, salad items and stews, beef etc. for the main courses. However, similar to Sante Fe (though not quite as bad), it feels very plain and basic. For the most part it all tastes okay but it doesn’t taste special. It just tastes—okay. You’ll leave full but not completely satisfied. I’ve been here with my family two or three times and each time we all agreed it was—okay. Even my niece, a picky eater, wasn’t fussed about any of the food there and didn’t think any of it was special. It was very similar to what you would eat at home.

                 The cast members are all perfectly friendly and clear tables very quickly but you’re left alone for the most part and the cast members are kept very busy with the quantity of people coming in and out of the big-seater restaurant. The best meal I’ve probably had at the restaurant was in Covid times when it was a Sit-Down and they brought you sample plates of a Set Meal: A large fish and meat platter they happily changed to just Meat for us because of my Shellfish intolerance, a Main chosen from a group of 3 or 4 dishes which were okay, and a selection of patisserie (one of my favourite details, that I discovered on the allergen list I was given for all the dishes, was that one of the patisseries was called Choux au Cendrillion—translated to Choux of Cinderella: Cinderella’s Choux. I’m sad that most people never got to see that prime pun and just wanted you to know that it existed and still makes me laugh to this very day).

                     So would I say Plaza Gardens is a bad choice? No, and it’s a reasonable price, but it’s not the best choice. It’s a ‘I’m hungry. I could eat’ type of restaurant that fills you up and keeps you going as you move around the parks.

Number 6:

CROCKETT’S TAVERN, DAVY CROCKETT RANCH

Overall Score: 34.5 out of 50

Price: 15 out of 20

Ease of Booking: 13 out of 20

Theming: 15 out of 20

Service: 13 out of 20

Food: 13 out of 20

Now, you may be thinking that based on these scores that Crockett’s Tavern isn’t a popular restaurant and is easy to book. However, you’re both right and wrong. Crockett’s Tavern is very small compared to other buffets and so the selection of different foods is very slim—but all the food is for the most part very decent. It’s very Old-West both in theming and in food. The buffet in one small cart in the centre with salads (the buffet itself is tucked in a corner at the back of the restaurant), a long corner table to the other side with desserts and cold meats and one small hot-food station at the very back. Because of how small it is and because it’s the only restaurant on Davy Crockett’s Ranch (located a 10-15 minute drive from the parks) it does get booked up fast. It’s a nice restaurant to go to if you’re staying at the Ranch so that you don’t have to drive anywhere except possibly from your Cabin to the restaurant itself near the main square (you can also walk as there’s a path).

                      Usually you can snag a table on the same day as people who’ve previously booked often cancel… but you do have to book it fast (as soon as it comes up) as it’s popular and small.

                The cast members are all perfectly nice. You pay near the beginning (again, it is one of the cheapest of the buffets but unlike Sante Fe it doesn’t feel cheap, it just feels small compared to big places like Agrabah or Chuck Wagon Café) and then after being seated you’re left to do everything yourself. There’s not much interaction with any cast members so it’s hard to judge on service. They take away plates regularly so that you don’t end up with a pile of plates (which we did end up with at Sante Fe). Overall, it’s a nice, quaint little restaurant themed to the Old West like all the buildings around it. My sister and niece ate here as their first Disneyland Paris restaurant and they loved it (although the shop across from the restaurant is really what stole their hearts). It was quickly outshone by other restaurants that we went to but it created a great first impression. The only thing I would say negatively (on the food) is that the Mickey Caramel Tart was very hard to eat as the caramel was one solid, sticky block. Otherwise the sweetcorn tasted amazing (a theme that continued at other restaurants with corn on the cob) and the food was all really good. If you’re staying at Davy Crockett or Villages Nature next door I’d recommend booking it. The only reason I would book it if I was staying somewhere else, however, is because I wanted to have an excuse to come into the peaceful, serenity of the Davy Crockett town square (and the shop etc.). The Ranch is one of my favourite places to stay of the Disney hotels. It feels a world away from the Disney parks and truly transports you to another world, as does the restaurant.

Number 5:

HUNTER’S GRILL, SEQUOIA LODGE HOTEL

Overall Score: 35 out of 50

Price: 16 out of 20

Ease of Booking: 14 out of 20

Theming: 14 out of 20

Service: 13 out of 20

Food: 13 out of 20

I’ve eaten at Hunter’s Grill 3 times: Once with my Mum when it was quiet, once at breakfast time when it was really quiet, and once with my entire family including sister, Mum, Dad, niece and myself during the first Easter holidays post Covid. On each of these trips the food was all the same quality. It was all good, bordering on great—some items better than others—and was enjoyable enough (although it wouldn’t be on the list of my favourite foods as I think I would even choose Downtown over it overall, despite the Chinese section not being good quality). However, what really changed was the Service on each trip.

                    The first quiet trip was fine. The Cast Members were friendly and nice, although I got the sense even then that organisation wasn’t this restaurants strong suit. The breakfast, that we had on this first trip as well, we were seated in a quiet two-person table that had clearly previously been sat on as there was a pile of cereal spilled on the floor that I kept crunching my feet on as we sat there. The cast members were fine at breakfast but we didn’t see them much. The last time, in April, we felt so bad for every single cast member (the we being my Mother and I… I don’t think anyone else at our table was paying as much attention as we were).

                   In April, there was a queue running from the door all the way down to the lake (something we would see repeated—albeit not all the way down to the lake but just out of the main hotel doors– as we walked past a few other times—it’s a popular ‘on-the-day restaurant. Please, if you have a reservation take a picture of it so you don’t lose it waiting to get to the counter). The cast member at the front was sending the other cast members to seat customers and then that cast member would find out it was already full or wasn’t big enough. The look of sheer panic on every cast members face was—well, it was heartbreaking. As people who had previously worked at restaurants (my Mum not since she was young, me more recently) we just wanted to get up and help them. It was a nightmare.

                   I’ve never felt more guilty than the fact we’d ordered a birthday cake for my niece (secretly my Mum but she didn’t want the attention so sent it to my niece who we hadn’t seen in years) on the cast members’ worst night. They did it, however, and our cast member that was taking care of us was lovely and kind all the night through, despite all the stress I know she must’ve been going through. She was amazing and managed to keep a friendly smile throughout it all. As did most of the cast members I saw. When walking past a few other times I realised that, although the cast members were as good quality as anywhere else in the parks—the organization of the restaurant was what let it down. The system needed an overhaul. Who knows—maybe by now they’ve managed to do it? I know it can’t be any worse than that April, when the tourists really came in full force for the first time post-Covid.

                        That aside, Hunter’s Grill is a good restaurant for families, especially if you’re staying in Sequoia Lodge (another of our favourite hotels). The food tastes nice and fresh, the desserts are great and the restaurants theming—with countless homages to deer and the woodlands, including in the lights next to the tables—is very homely and warming (a great feel in winter with all the buffet’s Winter dishes).

                        I would also highly recommend the bar upstairs before or after your meal for a relaxing, warm and friendly atmosphere. The cast members in the bar are some of the friendliest we’ve met in any of the hotels, the drinks and special food items all tasty (I enjoyed a cold chocolate—Chocolat Froid—every time we went there). The only thing I would advise in the bar is to aim for the seats on the back walls that are more like benches and avoid the couches next to the fireplace as you will be absolutely boiling in winter and in summer. Bonus fact, you can take your drinks from the bar down to the restaurant with you when you go.

Number 4:

Unfortunately the pictures of this restaurant have gone missing– check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qez-NwFY-W0&pp=ygUQU2FtNEdvZCBDYXBlIENvZA%3D%3D for Sam4God’s video of Cape Cod on YouTube):

CAPE COD, NEWPORT BAY HOTEL

Overall Score: 39 out of 50

Price: 15 out of 20

Ease of Booking: 17 out of 20

Theming: 12 out of 20

Service: 18 out of 20

Food: 16 out of 20

Contrary to what this ranking may have you believe, Cape Cod is one of my family’s favourite restaurants on property. It’s heavily influenced by it’s sea-faring town routes and features a lot of fish and shellfish on the menu, which you don’t find everywhere else at Disneyland Paris. This includes things like Mussels, Smoked Salmon, Cod, Prawns etc. If you love Moules-Frites (Mussels and Chips, a truly French/Belgian treat) then you can have this here. I’ve been told that the fish items all taste great (again, I can’t verify that as I avoid fish items at buffets in case of cross-contamination between the shellfish and fish).

                      The service at Cape Cod is arguably the second best we’ve experienced in Disneyland Paris. Our niece has always been called ‘Princess’ whenever we’ve visited, which really makes her day. When my sister and Mother shared a bottle of wine (that was recommended by the Cast Member) the Cast Member came and presented it, told them about the bottle and allowed them to try before he poured them a full glass. And then, like any premium restaurant is trained to do, he would periodically come and refill their glasses for them with the bottle that had been left in an ice-bucket by the side of our table. The only thing I would say, and this is mainly just advice for you from my experience, if you ask for water they will automatically bring you bottled water you have to pay for. Tell them to bring tap water (carafe d’eau). In France, by law, they have to offer free tap water at any food or drink establishment so there’s no reason for you to pay for it. We, however, just accepted our mistake and took home the pretty bottle the water came in.

                      Cape Cod is one of the priciest buffet restaurants at Disneyland Paris and although my family thinks it’s worth it for the Service alone the reason it didn’t get a higher score was because—for me, as someone who can’t eat fish—the non-fish dishes are very hit and miss. And because the fish dishes like the mussels are often placed next to non-fish dishes it makes it harder to assure cross contamination isn’t happening. If you don’t like seafood, Cape Cod is hit and miss on quality. I’ve had a lot of great dishes and a lot of not so great ones. The steak has been perfectly cooked once and dry another time. The pork stew has been tasty once and chewy at least once. If you have family members that don’t like seafood or are picky eaters, Cape Cod may not be the best place to go. A lot of children, including my niece, end up eating very little main and then going straight to pudding (which, although are also hit and miss, there are a lot more options of these than many other places so it is a great place for puddings). The theming is there but it’s very subtle and, whilst it feels like an upmarket restaurant, it doesn’t feel like you’re eating at a special Disneyland restaurant. It feels like what it’s supposed to be, a restaurant near the sea (which, coincidentally, means it feels like a lot of restaurants I’ve been to near my home).

                    Yes, Cape Cod is a place my family loves. It was my sister’s favourite restaurant other than Chez Remy’s or Agrabah’s in the park. However, is it overall the best across the board on all the buffet restaurants? Probably not. But it is still a great restaurant.

Number 3:

PYM’S KITCHEN, AVENGERS CAMPUS

Overall Score: 41.5 out of 50

Price: 16 out of 20

Ease of Booking: 16 out of 20

Theming: 19 out of 20

Service: 18 out of 20

Food: 14 out of 20

Strange that one of the only restaurants we wouldn’t particularly go back to eat at again is also near the top of the buffets list. As you can even see from the average score it was given for Food, Pym’s Kitchen’s strength is not in quality of food. It serves very average, if very giant versions, of what we would call in Europe very ‘classically American’ foods. A giant burger that would fill half your plate and make you full in three seconds or a slider that is—just okay. A giant or mini hotdog which, if you don’t like either American Mustard, Ketchup or another of the toppings, you’re not going to like at all (I would recommend going to the truck at the back of Avengers Campus, past the Training Centre, for a really decent hotdog which you can remove whatever you may not like). Or how about a giant pan of Jambalaya that tastes like a not-very-well-made Paella? Yes, food at Pym’s is not it’s strength.

                        My favourite would probably be the giant Casear Salad. However, the ‘Giant Crouton’ is not a crouton. It’s a giant square of toasted bread. I wasn’t surprised to find, when I went a second time, that they’d put out small regular sized croutons people could add instead. The Caesar Salad is good despite this though. This and the warm pretzel hanging at your table are the best parts of the food here (although I would recommend taking your pretzel with you as a snack for later instead, as the main food is extremely filling).

                      Pym’s Kitchen’s high scores comes from the excessive friendliness of the cast members and the beautiful building and strength/dedication to the theming. It feels both like a premium restaurant and like Hank Pym’s science laboratory from Ant-Man. The cast members all wear lab-coats, all drinks are served in conical beakers or other beakers, the food is all bigger or smaller, the entrance looks like you’re entering the Quantum tunnel. There’s hexagons everywhere. A large dome shaped window with more hexagons above. And the giant pictures depicting various French products in giant or miniature with Ant-Man and the Wasp are not only great but they’re hilarious. It’s an amazing restaurant to just sit in, despite the food not being the best.

                    There is one food or drink item I do count, however, as one of the best things at Disneyland Paris. One of the mocktails, a blue drink with tapioca, strawberry pearls and a raspberry coulis to pour inside is why I went back a second time. If there was a way to just get this drink without having to get the meal I would go there every time I go to Disneyland Paris. It even bested my other favourite mocktail, the 30^th Anniversary Drink, for best drink I’ve ever had. Now I’m writing about it, I’m desperate to have it again—although, I still don’t think I could convince my family that going to Pym’s Kitchen is worth it for that drink alone. If the food was better I would consider telling you to go but for food it’s one of the most average restaurants. Similar to Sante Fe I would take picky eaters here, and let the other people enjoy the décor etc., but I wouldn’t recommend going there for the food. However, for a buffet restaurant, the other aspects are great (if they are more your priority).

As a bonus fun story about the picture above– You see the red coulis in the conical beaker? I, a left-handed individual, went to grab the thing with my left hand (as you would), forgetting that many right-handed people had picked it up and poured it left (as they would) and my hand got covered in red, wet, sticky liquid. Advice for any left-handed people: either check before you pick them up, pick up with your weaker right-hand or beg Disney to please provide a sign warning of this/another handled beaker so other left-handers don’t make this mistake.

Number 2:

AGRABAH, ADVENTURE LAND

Overall Score: 42.5 out of 50

Price: 18 out of 20

Ease of Booking: 17 out of 20

Theming: 19 out of 20

Service: 15 out of 20

Food: 15 out of 20

Ah, Agrabah. Now, this is my family’s favourite buffet restaurant. When my sister came with us for the second time this year one of the first things she asked was: Are we going back to that Agrabah restaurant again? The answer was no, unfortunately, as we decided with my niece it wasn’t the best place to go. You see, Agrabah is a great restaurant with great food and great theming but it isn’t picky-eater proof.

                   The food, as you would expect, is themed to North Africa/Middle East (Morocco etc.). The starters include light as air flat breads and a plethora of dips (many different flavours of hummus and Baba Ghanoush/Aubergine Dip to die for). The other starters are extremely fresh salad items flavoured with herbs, oils and spices. Everything feels meticulously thought about and looked after. They serve, also, some hot starter food like filo-cigars of cheese which are salty, tasty little morsels. They also have a harissa soup which is tasty (but quite spicy so don’t eat it too fast). The starter section alone is my family’s favourite food in Disneyland Paris (and possibly anywhere). However, we are biased, as we love dips etc. anyway.

                 The mains included chicken in spices, salmon, falafel, mickey potato faces (found in nearly every buffet) as well as an area to make your own tagine bowl—with cous-cous, meats (including spicy merguez/lamb sausages), vegetables and sauce. The tagine is our least favourite section, for no other reason really than we’d rather fill up on the starters.

                   The pudding section has some of the usual buffet favourites like macarons and mousse cakes but also features a plethora of different desserts like baklava, Orange Blossom Polenta Cake (which is heaven in a cake and made me fall in love with Orange Blossom), Orange Blossom Cream/Chocolate Cream etc. etc. etc. You’re spoilt for choice. However, most of this stuff isn’t for picky eaters—like my niece.

                    And maybe she could get by with what little she could eat but, even if she could, they also don’t have any sauces available like ketchup or mayonnaise etc. for her to eat it with. So this restaurant, as good as it is, isn’t for the picky eaters. Even if you were to bring some ketchup with you, you would be going because you want to—and you would be thinking, much the same as us, we’ll get something for the picky eater later from a quick service.

                   The theming, as the streets of Agrabah, makes each room feel intimate and private within the space and you feel truly immersed in the Aladdin story with multiple carpets and shop signs representing the film. Don’t fear the weather either as, above the fake roofs of the buildings there’s a see-through roof above to protect from the rain and snow. The cast members are all friendly and we’ve had some very nice conversations with cast members in there but they, again, are more likely to leave you alone and it’s sometimes hard to get their attention compared to places like Cape Cod etc.

                One of the best things about Agrabah is it’s a (mostly) easy restaurant to book on the day (we haven’t seen any walk-ins be turned away yet or not given a table for later), the price is one of the cheapest in Disneyland Paris for top quality food and it’s so peaceful and fun to be there. I’ve seen some kids enjoy it but I know picky eaters like my niece don’t—that would be my only real complaint.

                 Bonus, for one of the cheapest restaurants, it’s also the only restaurant I’ve seen at Disneyland Paris serving lamb (an expensive meat in France)—and the lamb is carved for you and is covered in lovely warming spices and is heavenly and moist.

Number 1:

CHUCK WAGON CAFÉ, HOTEL CHEYENNE

Overall Score: 43 out of 50

Price: 18 out of 20

Ease of Booking: 18 out of 20

Theming: 18 out of 20

Service: 15 out of 20

Food: 17 out of 20

We put off going to this restaurant for a long time. We were so sure it was going to be a let down, or the exact same as somewhere like Billy Bob’s (which is included in the Disney Village ranking, rather than this one) or Crockett’s Tavern. Yes, we liked both Billy Bob’s and Crockett’s Tavern but we didn’t want to eat the same food again. A few times I booked Chuck Wagon and then cancelled, moving to another restaurant instead.

                Finally, we went to eat here near the end of our long list—and we loved it. So much so that we immediately booked a table to take my sister when she was coming over a few months’ later. There’s a feeling in Chuck Wagon that’s shared in Crockett’s Tavern. It feels peaceful, and homely, but on a grander scale. The seating is, thankfully, very spaced apart so that you never feel on top of other people. The covered wagon tables (which, unfortunately we never managed to sit at) not only are a fun area to sit in but also fun to look at and break up the space. There’s Old-West/Cowboy themed items all over the walls. A barbeque cooking outside. The bar has saddles instead of stools to sit on. The buffet section itself is, similarly to Sante Fe, set up like individual buildings in an old-west town (replicating the outside of the hotel which is set up like a town in the Old West and is a great place to walk through and immerse yourself into the story).

                     The food is amazingly well done for seemingly simple fair. The soup rotates flavours but both flavours I’ve had are really well done. There’s cornbread, if you want to try cornbread for the first time—Cornbread, if you want to know, tastes like a muffin with sweetcorn bits inside. Very strange. Not bad, but strange (and, because you eat it with very salty foods, really plays into the sweet and savoury flavours that American food really seems to love). The salad bar is nice and fresh (though not as nice as Agrabah’s but decent enough). They have an Omelette bar next door to the salads were you can ask them to make you a specific flavour of omelette (I believe: plain, cheese, herb, and cheese and bacon?—I had the herb and the cheese and bacon—and whereas I still prefer the omelette I make at home I would choose the cheese/bacon over the herb one if I were to order here).

                       They also have a wok station where you can choose what you want in your wok. My Dad, who orders Wok everytime he goes to the Chinese restaurant closest to us, tried this and enjoyed this (although not as much as the more local one). I think speaking French, although not a necessity as they do have cast members who speak English, may help you get what you want at the Wok Bar as my Dad seemed confused by the whole set-up of how to do it.

                     The mains are where they shine. The chicken falls off the bone and is moist and full on flavour. The many different pastas, potatoes and vegetable sides seem to be packed with unique textures and different flavourings like spices, fats, herbs etc. The sweetcorn, like I mentioned in Crockett’s Tavern, was succulent and sweet. The baked/jacket potatoes are where they really shine. Baked, or perhaps even barbequed?, in tin foil they were full of flavour, smoky and rich—and served with the herby sour-cream next door they were heaven. If we ever went back my Mum and I agreed, however, we would share one as they are giant and there’s so much else to eat here as well.

                    For pudding, as well as the standard dishes that are shared between all the buffets, there are giant bowls of deep, rich chocolate mousse and big bowls of a strawberry jelly and a lime/lemon jelly which you can scoop as much as you want into your bowls creating a big bowl of heaven. In other buffets that had jelly or mousse they would only have little cups you would pick up and take to your table and this mousse at Chuck Wagon was the superior of the mousses (although Disneyland Paris hasn’t made a bad Chocolate Mousse yet). They also were one of the only restaurants to serve a hot dessert, in the form of Apple Crumble, which my Dad loved and I found a smidge too dry.

                  The only place we decided they really fell down is with the service because, we weren’t sure where to get water from (as it was a hot day and we were extraordinarily thirsty) and it took a while to get anyone’s attention even on a not busy day (it’s a machine by the bar, in case you wanted to know—the second time we went they had jugs ready and prepared). The Cast Members were mostly friendly but hard to get the attention of sometimes. However, this didn’t bring the restaurant down enough to not put it at the top of the buffet list. It’s one of the easiest to book, one of the cheapest to buy (compared to other buffets) and one of the tastiest around Disneyland Paris. A well-deserved win for a restaurant we prejudged too harshly before finally going.

Thank you for reading, if you’ve made it this far. I know it’s a long list and a lot of words but I hope it helps when/if you need to make choices regarding buffet restaurants at Disneyland Paris. The next blog on this subject will be a ranking of Sit-Down Restaurants, followed by another post ranking Disney Village Restaurants, and then finally a blog post showing the full ranking of all the restaurants (plus how they compare to four other restaurants local to Disneyland Paris).

I hope you enjoyed this. If you’ve eaten at any of these restaurants, what do you think? Did you have a different experience? Feel free to leave a comment and give your own opinions down below—and please, consider following this blog for more. If you want to leave a donation, you can and we’d be grateful for anything you can give. If you can’t afford it, that’s okay too. Have a great day.

Signed,

The Literary Onion.