Sunday Brunch: Hungry Adventurers Find a
Jungle Oasis
24 February 2013
In a dark and mysterious corner of Disneyland, dense
jungles and forbidden temples entice explorers as they answer to the
call of adventure! Among the jungle vegetation and beneath the cover
of trees, a small smoking hut at the end of a row of colorful shops
trap visitors with the wafting aroma of fire roasted meats. This is
the Bengal Barbecue.
While named after the Bengal Tiger, an indigenous
large cat species of the jungles of India, Nepal, and Bangladesh,
the Bengal Barbecue features fire grilled meat skewers and other
snacks with a variety of flavors. The African, Indian, and Island
flavors are reflective of the global jungle themes of Adventureland
itself. Those seeking explosive flavors may go for the Banyan Beef
Skewer with a hot and spicy sauce, while the less adventurous may
choose the tamer Bengal Beef Skewer, with a sweet Zulu sauce from
Africa.
The Bengal Barbecue was one of the most anticipated
of the hundreds of Disneyland snack stands I was looking to try.
While Walt Disney World pleases its carnivorous guests with a Turkey
Leg cart round every bend, Disneyland serves a little more class in
its protein snack options, serving a variety of meat skewers and
other jungle themed snacks. I also noticed an Outback Vegetable
Skewer was available for vegetarians, a nice consideration on
Disney's part (perhaps WDW will get Tofurkey legs soon). I chose the
Bengal Beef Skewer and the Chieftan Chicken Skewer, which had a
sweet Polynesian sauce. Both were terrific, high quality snacks,
using good cuts of meat and having just enough of that fire roasted
barbecued flavor. The Zulu sauce on the Bengal Beef Skewer was a bit
confusing as it was more savory than sweet; there was a hint of
ginger which may have accounted for the sweet part of its name.
Bengal Barbecue
Chieftan Chicken Skewer
Other snacks include the Mickey Pretzel, Tiger Tails breadsticks,
and Jalapeno Cheese-filled Pretzel
The coolest (or rather hottest) part of the Bengal
Barbecue is that a giant flaming grill nestled inside a giant tree
trunk is visible for all to see, as your order is grilled fresh
right in front of you. Also, there is a small scattering of tables
right outside the small walk-up counter. On particularly busy days a
sign directs guests to the nearby Aladdin's Oasis.
An amazing tucked away corner of
Disneyland, Aladdin's Oasis features plenty of seating, shaded from
Arabian awnings and umbrellas. All the tables seem to be set to be
in view of a stage like area with an awesome recreation of the Cave
of Wonders to the left. Upon further research, I learned that this
area started as the Tahitian Terrace, an extremely popular
Polynesian themed dinner show (possibly the inspiration for WDW's
Polynesian Resort), and in 1993 became Aladdin's Oasis dinner show.
Aladdin's did not perform as well as hoped and became only a full
service restaurant, then a story telling area, and now a meet and
greet area occasionally opened up to accommodate seating of Bengal
Barbecue diners.
The Bengal Barbecue was a great adventure of
snacking in Disneyland, not only as one of many examples of the
amazing food options at the resort, though also an insightful
adventure of the ever changing Disneyland. I am a bit sad to learn
that a once popular Disneyland dinner show had turned into a seating
area for a snack stand across Adventureland. Though nonetheless, it
is nice to know Disneyland efficiently makes use of seemingly
forgotten areas, and one hopes it's a sign of more exciting things
to come. The great thing about Disneyland is unlike WDW, more often
than not, that's what usually happens.
Make sure to sit down to Brunch next Sunday as we
see how Disneyland transformed a somewhat 'wasted' space into a new
and popular dining venue.