Laura's Disney Lines

In our quest to eat at all of the Disneyland Resort restaurants (all in the interests of research, you know!) Lee and I had dinner at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney last month.

We arrived at 5:30 for our 5:30 Priority Seating. The restaurant was almost completely empty, and the hostess directed us upstairs (there is seating both upstairs and downstairs - it's a big restaurant!). It was a chilly evening, and we were given the choice of sitting inside or out - we chose outside next to a propane heater. Though we didn't have a table right on the wrought-iron railing overlooking Downtown Disney, we could still look out towards House of Blues and Tortilla Jo's.

Our server arrived quickly with the menus, and brought water while we were deciding on wines. Lee had a glass of the Rock Rabit Syrah, while I tried the Columbia Riesling, which was quite good.

For appetizers we split the Soups 1-1-1, which was small servings of three different soups - the Creole Onion Soup, Gumbo Ya-Ya, and the Soup of the Day, which was a Roasted Pepper soup. Surprisingly that was my favorite of the three - it had a really nice flavor and just a bit of a kick, but not too much. We also had the Paneed Eggplant, Spinach, & Goat Cheese Napoleon - Pan-fried parmesan, herb breaded eggplant, layered with spinach and goat cheese, finished with a Gulf shrimp New Orleans bordelaise sauce. It sounds really different, and I thought it was very good. There were actually several things on the appetizer menu that looked good - maybe sometime we'll come back and just order appetizers! (Sorry that there are no pictures of the appetizers - we were so hungry that I forgot to take pictures before we dug into them!)

I ordered the Blue Crabmeat Topped Blackened Salmon as an entree. Blackened salmon topped with blue crabmeat, served with garlic roasted fingerling potatoes, fresh watercress and a green onion herb vinaigrette. The salmon was disappointing - I expected something a bit more "kicky", but the only spice I could taste was chili powder. And once I got about 1/3 of the way into it I discovered it wasn't cooked all the way through. (For some reason that seems to be a problem for me when I order salmon - half the time it isn't cooked through, and I am NOT into sashimi!) Unfortunately our server didn't check back with us until I'd eaten around the edges and had all that I wanted anyway, so by that time there was no use sending it back. The potatoes were good, though...

Lee had the Creole Filet Mignon - a grilled 8 oz filet mignon, dusted with Creole seasonings, served with bacon buttermilk mashed potatoes, fried oyster mushrooms, wilted spinach and Creole mustard bourbon cream sauce. He likes his meat cooked medium well, so he asked to have it butterflied, which was no problem. He really enjoyed his dinner - the steak was nicely cooked and flavorful.

For dessert we knew that Lee was going to want the Double Chocolate Bread Pudding, which requires a 25-minute preparation time, so had told our server about that when our entrees were delivered. It arrived 5 minutes or so after our entrees were cleared. It's a "rich, dark semi-sweet chocolate bread pudding served with white and dark chocolate ganache." Lee really enjoyed it - the chocolate sauce was dark and rich, though the white chocolate didn't have a lot of flavor.

The dessert menu had a lot of interesting-looking choices and I ordered the Fresh Fruit Cobbler, which was supposed to be apple and blueberry. As I started eating it I discovered there were no blueberries - just apples. Had I known that I would've ordered something else. As cobblers go it was just so-so - I wouldn't order it again. I mentioned to our server that the kitchen had deceived him about the blueberries. Given what had already happened with my salmon he was even more apologetic. When our bill came I saw that he had not charged us for the salmon, which was nice.

The "signature" dessert there is the Bananas Foster, which is prepared at your table. We didn't order it, but the table next to us did, so we were able to see the whole production, which towards the end involves both flame and sparks.

By the time we finished our meal and left the restaurant (about 7:00) the place was PACKED - *and* there was a line of people standing outside waiting to get in - all of the Downtown Disney restaurants were busy on that Friday night, and there were 45 minute waits at most places. So I'd advise either eating early or making sure you have a Priority Seating time - and preferably both.

So Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen...would I eat there again? Well...maybe. But I'd probably order just appetizers (since they had several that sounded good) and dessert. Lee was really happy with his meal, though.