Revamping The French Market Menu

French Market's Red Beans & Rice with Sausage
A Disney Parks Blog Photo

Disney Parks Blogs (link) posted last week that the menu of the lovely French Market cafeteria style dining facility in New Orleans Square has been updated to give a little bit more of the Big Easy vibe and authenticity. It needed it. Over the years, Mrs. DisneylandTraveler and my own experiences with the French Market have been kind of hit and miss,

The hits have come when we stuck with the basics and had them serve up the roast beef or citrus marinated chicken. The misses came when we went the more adventurous route and had the pasta and vegetable gratin or the chicken & seafood jambalaya. These turned out to be disappointing. The gratin dish was so loaded with the dreaded mushroom that Mrs. DLT would have exchanged it with me if I had been eating a bowl of cream of wheat (instead she got my chicken).

French Market's Shrimp Po' Boy
A Disney Parks Blog Photo

So anyway, though I haven't seen the complete new menu lineup yet, the new selections do away with a few of the older selections and add some new ones like red beans and rice with andouille sausage, a shrimp po' boy sandwich served during lunch, and panko crusted red snapper served during dinner hours. I would be on board with any of these selections though I'm not so sure with Mrs. DLT who lacks the taste for regional or exotic cuisines.

French Market's Panko Crusted Snapper
A Disney Parks Blog Photo

I would be interested in Disney's approach to the Cajun / Creole classic red beans & rice. The dish is steeped in history and lore dating back to the times of slavery. Red beans & rice is a cheap dish to make. I don't know what Disney's take on it will be but slap a $12 or $13 price tag on something that is essentially beans and rice and let's see the public reaction. 

But if nothing else, the French Market is a fine setting to enjoy a meal. Either listening to the live jazz or gazing out on the activity of the Rivers of America, its one Disneyland's better spots to eat. Hopefully the new menu punctuates the setting rather than detract from it.