The Bland Palette

I have a friend at work who eats a ham & cheese sandwich every day normally with a salad or some chips. Once in awhile he forgets his lunch and we go down to the cafeteria where he usually has some variation of a ham & cheese sandwich. Every once in awhile he might have a turkey sandwich but I think its just to screw with me. Another friend and I kid him about his "bland palette."

Now Mrs. DisneylandTraveler is bland palette of a different color. There are some things she refuses to eat starting with all seafood. If she so much as sees something like a mushroom or olive on her plate she'll get this winced expression on her face like she just stepped on a thumb tack. Something like blue cheese would be out of the question. She claims all Chinese food makes her ill. She's pretty much a meat and potatoes person in a world that's trying to stretch the dining out envelope thanks to the Food Network. I once spent all afternoon making a lasagna from scratch. Her response? "It doesn't taste like Stouffers".

Disneyland was traditionally was a safe haven for the bland palette serving up pretty standard burgers, chicken, sandwiches, salads, and soups but even Disney has tried to stretch the food envelope because they came to realize that if you continued to serve expensive bad food, people would go elsewhere to eat. So now almost all of the dining facilities in Disneyland and DCA offer some interesting menu options.

But leave it to Mrs. DisneylandTraveler to turn interesting options into tough decisions. Start at the top - my favorite meal in Disneyland is the cajun salmon served at the Blue Bayou. Since all Disney restaurants offer extremely limited menus, her choice at the Blue Bayou naturally gravitates toward the chicken, and at that price, its not always worth it. Not to mention they put blue cheese crumbles, dried cranberries, and some kind of nut on her salad. We don't go to the Blue Bayou as much as I would like. Shift gears and walk across the street to Cafe Orleans. We love the share the pommes frites but when it comes to picking an entree, I'm having the wonderful and rich seafood crepe (pictured above) and after an agonizing decision Mrs. DisneylandTraveler goes with infamous Monte Cristo sandwich. I've loved the meals we've had at Wine Country Trattoria. Mrs. DisneylandTraveler usually sticks with the lasagna even if it doesn't taste like Stouffer's version. I could go on but you see my position here. Even the simple things are not all that easy.