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Bistro Chez Remy at Disneyland Paris - A Disneyland Paris Dining Review
by Jennifer Lambert

Disneyland Paris recently opened a new dining location and mini-themed land in the Disney Studios park.

Based on the Disney-Pixar film, Ratatouille, the restaurant is called (what else?), Bistro Chez Remy. As you may recall at the end of the film, Linguini earns success as the chef of Gusteau’s Restaurant, due not his cooking, but the culinary skills of his little friend, Remy the rat. The inspiration for the park's new restaurant is found at the end of the film, when Remy has established his very own restaurant. Now, guests at Disneyland Paris are invited to shrink down to the size of a rat and join Remy for lunch or dinner. Guests riding the new Ratatouille attraction get a glimpse inside the restaurant as they disembark from their whirlwind trip through Chef Gusteau's kitchen. Diners near the windows get to watch riders finish their rides, similar to how riders and diners share experiences at both Pirates of the Caribbean/Blue Bayou restaurant in Disneyland and The Gran Fiesta Tour ride/San Angel Inn at Walt Disney World.

The restaurant opened as part of the new Ratatouille-themed land in summer 2014 and offers table service lunches and dinners. The restaurant is part of a new trend of immersing guests in a narrowly-focused theme, like Cars Land at Disney California Adventure and Avatar Land, now under construction at Disney's Animal Kingdom. With some pre-planning, we had dinner reservations at 7:00 pm the day we visited the park.

We arrived at the Studios and luckily we were able to get FASTPASSes for the Ratatouille ride that were near the time of our dinner reservation. I called Disneyland Paris Dining about three weeks before our visit to make the reservation. This was easy, though it required an international phone call to the reservations hotline, (you can make dining reservations up to two months in advance, call +33 (0) 1 60 30 40 50). I was able to select an English-speaking operator during the telephone system prompts. Dining at Disneyland Paris is not the commando style that we have at Walt Disney World, no 180-day advanced reservations needed; but I did want to make sure we had a reservation. That turned out to be a good idea, as there were no walk-up slots available the day of our visit. Also, through research on http://www.dlpguide.com I learned about the menu and the prices. France is part of the European Union and therefore uses Euros as currency, so our meal was expensive even by Disney standards; but we knew what to expect and could budget for it.

We arrived a little before our reservation time and checked in at the podium. Once we were checked in, we waited less than 15 minutes in the salon. This area was wonderfully themed, displaying awards and accolades for Chef Remy, and the first Euros he earned in the restaurant (wait... rats use Euros)? We sat on plush sofas, enjoying the details put in by Disney imagineers, including cookbook covers, portraits, medals, and letters of commendation for Remy and his new restaurant.</p>
The theming in the restaurant is just amazing, as you "shrink" to the the size of a rat. Tables are made from sardine cans and jelly jar lids, and chairs are made from the corks and cages of champagne bottles. Giant plates with the Chez Remy logo surrounded us, standing upright and supported by 7-foot tall cutlery. Round tables are shaded by paper parasol &lsquo;drink&rsquo; umbrellas. Light from white Christmas lights filters through a giant colander. Flowers are 12 feet tall, and there is even a giant champagne bottle in one of the dining rooms. There are two neat photo spots in the restaurant; each featuring HUGE copies of Chef Gusteau&rsquo;s &ldquo;Anyone Can Cook&rdquo; book supported by oversized book holders.

Once I stopped taking pictures, we looked at the menu. Dining at Disneyland Paris was a little different for us; many of the meals, both table service and counter service, included appetizer, entr&eacute;e, dessert, and often a drink. There are two adult menus to choose from at Chez Remy: The Emile Menu and the Remy Menu. The Remy menu includes a starter and main course (no dessert or drink) for &euro;29.99. The Emile Menu adds drink (soft drinks or mineral water) and dessert, and costs &euro;39.99. My husband and I both chose the Emile meals, as this was a once in a lifetime experience, after all. Children order from the Little Chef Menu, which features starter, main course, dessert, and drink for &euro;16.99).

Here is a rundown of the options:

Starter: Mixed leaf salad with cheese and an olive oil, balsamic, and sesame vinaigrette

Main Course Options:
&bull; Cut of grilled beef, homemade ratatouille (but of course!), French fries and the chef's sauce (a b&eacute;arnaise sauce can replace the chef's sauce on request)
&bull; Roasted cod, homemade ratatouille, crushed potatoes, and a beurre blanc sauce
&bull; Vegetable, tofu, and white bean casserole (vegetarian)

Desserts (which can be ordered a la carte if the Remy Meal is chosen) are &euro;7.99: Rum baba, chocolate mousse, fruit salad (no added sugar), apple tartlet, tiramisu, chocolate cake with cr&egrave;me anglaise, Brie de Meaux (Rothschild Estate - Trente Arpents Farm) with vine peach jelly and fruit bread.

We both ordered the cut grilled beef with French fries and ratatouille along with our salads as the starters. We each also requested Coca-Cola soft drinks as our beverage (wine is available by the bottle, after all this is France!).

Our salads were very good, the lettuce was crisp, and I really liked the dressing. The bread course was a whole baguette. We both ordered the same entree (not the best way to sample all a restaurant has to offer); but it was what we both wanted, plus we had both wanted to try authentic ratatouille, which was a real treat! The special chef&rsquo;s sauce that accompanied our steaks was served in a small chef&rsquo;s hat, too cute!

Dessert is where our choices were different. My husband ordered chocolate cake; while I ordered tiramisu. During my wandering around the restuarant I had seen &lsquo;ice cream&rsquo; in a soda fountain glass with a Mickey Mouse cookie on it; I figured that was the dessert for the children&rsquo;s meal, but to my surprise, it was how the tiramisu was served; my husband was jealous. Our meal was great, we had no complaints with the food, pace, or service, and the atmosphere was truly magical.

Added to PassPorter's Article Collection on 01-13-2015 10:01 AM

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