Blue Bayou Restaurant Review
Blue Bayou is a restaurant inside Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris (Blue Lagoon there). This Blue Bayou review covers the Tokyo Disneyland version of the restaurant. Design-wise, this version of the restaurant is very similar to Disneyland’s Blue Bayou, although cuisine-wise, they’re substantially different.
Due to its location adjacent to Pirates of the Caribbean with boats of guests on the attraction floating past the waterfront restaurant, Blue Bayou Restaurant has become a quintessential Disney experience. Even those who have never been to the parks know that there is a restaurant “in” Pirates of the Caribbean, and want to eat there. The proximity to the attraction and the ambiance of the restaurant are unquestionably the big draw, with the food often taking a backseat to the experience of the restaurant.
This is certainly the case in Disneyland, where Blue Bayou has decent to good food, but comes up short as compared to its less-expensive counterpart, Cafe Orleans. In Tokyo Disneyland, the dynamic is different, as Cafe Orleans is an excellent counter service restaurant for crepes, with no other table service restaurants in the New Orleans Square sub-land of Adventureland.
Tokyo Disneyland guests get the best of both worlds, as the its Blue Bayou has the same great ambiance as Disneyland’s, and it also serves very good food at reasonable (given the location) prices.
In general, Tokyo Disneyland is about the details. Blue Bayou Restaurant is no exception. It strikes an excellent balance between being down on the bayou and well-appointed Southern hospitality (making it both elegant and on-theme). This creates an excellent, romantic mood in the restaurant. The lobby is beautiful, with pretty fixtures and touches, and the main dining room makes you feel like you’re deep in the bayou. Of course, this is offset with nice dishes and silverware, all of which bear a “BB” stamping for Blue Bayou.
Let’s take a look at the various items we ordered. Sarah and I each ordered three-course special sets, which are common at Tokyo Disney Resort restaurants. Apologies for the photo quality–if you’ve ever been to Blue Bayou Restaurant in Disneyland, you know that a big part of experience is the dark lighting. Not only are you on the bayou, you’re on the bayou at night, with lanterns casting moody lighting on the tables.
This was my appetizer with the 30th Anniversary Special Set. Smoked Salmon with Scallop. Pretty good smoked salmon, with an impressive presentation.
This is the Lobster Bisque soup. It was creamy with a subtle lobster flavor.
I didn’t try the Blue Bayou House Salad, but it looked pretty good, with a variety of fresh vegetables, plus potatoes.
Sarah ordered the Salmon, Snow Crab, and Scallop au Gratin. This, in my opinion, was absolute perfection. Rich, loaded with seafood and cheese, and bursting with flavor. Sarah thought it was a bit too rich, but I disagree entirely. I ate about half of hers and wish I could’ve had more. How can you go wrong with an excellent au gratin dish topped with fresh seafood?!
This is the Grilled Sirloin Steak with Vegetables and Ginger Sauce I ordered. It reminded me a lot of the steak I got at the S.S. Columbia Dining Room, although this one was better. Despite being a thin cut, it was fairly flavorful (that was probably given a slight assist by the relatively light sauce). It was also perfectly cooked (difficult to cook a thin steak like this ‘rare,’ but they managed) and tender. The steak was really good, but if I learned anything at Tokyo Disney Resort, it’s always to opt for the seafood dishes over the steak. Always. (In retrospect, this seems like common sense: Japan is known for seafood, not for steak…I guess I was just in a daze during this trip!)
The Creme Brulee Sampler that Sarah ordered was excellent. The three varieties included were custard, vanilla, and dark chocolate. I had never had a dark chocolate brulee, but this was fantastic.
This was the cake that came with my 30th Anniversary Special Set. I didn’t note what it was called, but it was delicious, just like every dessert at Tokyo Disney Resort. The cake was light, and had a great balance of rich chocolate and cream.
Overall, we have incredibly high praise for Blue Bayou Restaurant in Tokyo Disneyland. The draw of Blue Bayou is unquestionably the ambiance. We would recommend Blue Bayou even if the food were disappointing (and, spoiler, that’s exactly what we’ll be doing for Blue Lagoon in Disneyland Paris once we get around to reviewing it) because the experience is so fun and memorable. It’s one of those restaurants that gets a pass because it’s just so cool. However, it doesn’t need a pass in Tokyo Disneyland, because the food is excellent. Not only is the food excellent, but it’s reasonably priced–Sarah and I each had three course meals, and our total was around $65 for the two of us. I question whether one person could do three courses at Disneyland’s Blue Bayou for $65 after tax and tip. The only letdown of Blue Bayou is that Audio-Animatronics pirates don’t serve you–we’re probably still a few years away from the necessary technology for that sort of thing. (Maybe sooner since this is Japan and they’re pretty good with robot advancements.) We highly recommend Blue Bayou Restaurant for just about all Tokyo Disneyland visitors. The only people who may want to skip it are Disneyland regulars who want to focus on unique restaurants in Tokyo Disneyland. The inside here is virtually identical to Disneyland’s, so even though the cuisine is unique and the prices reasonable, that group may be better suited trying out something else.
If you’re planning a visit to Japan, make sure to check out our Tokyo Disney Resort Trip Planning Guide. It offers comprehensive advice for visiting Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, plus general tips for visiting Japan!
Overall Score: 10/10
To read other Disney restaurant reviews from Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disney Cruise Line, organized by location, check out our Disney Dining Reviews Index.
Your Thoughts…
Have you dined at Blue Bayou Restaurant? What did you think of it? Have you been to other versions of the restaurant? If you have any questions or thoughts to share, please post them in the comments. We love hearing from readers!
Above I saw two posts concerning food poisoning at the Blue Bayou with one guest having to go to the ER. I just wanted to say that I broke a tooth at Be Our Guest in WDW . There was a piece of bone in my beef tenderloin!!! I immediately called over the server, she called the manager and he apologized and offered me access to an on sight Dr. My tooth was broken in half. My meal was taken off the bill and I was handed an accident report.
When I returned from my vacation, I went to my dentist. 3 appointments later my smile now had a newly crowned molar. I called Disney. The representative from Disney asked me to send all of my dentist reports and my accident report from WDW. 6 months later I received a check for all of the dental work. They were efficient, kind and thorough in their investigation. My dentist even received a call concerning my dental hygiene!!! Unlike the above guest Disney paid my entire dental bill. Kudos to them.
I know I am late to the game, but after reading comments I can honestly say that I think I understand the totally polarizing opinions of BB at TDL. I ate there last month when doing a solo day with my girls and while the food was great, it was not exactly ‘kid’ friendly (the kids options were very limited at lunch) and while my food was amazing, it was a little heavier than I was looking for. Having done BB at DL in Cali, I was expecting more of that menu, but honestly this was more like a Signature Dining Experience at WDW.
I think that people may go here expecting a lighter, easier meal and it is more of an experience than some may plan on. For instance, I even saw some of the locals look at the menu and decide against eating there… to the point I heard some say ‘hamburger’ and take off. My husband and I plan on a solo trip to TDL down the road and I would definitely bring him but probably not again with my kiddos. Also, FWIW, we went on a slow day before Golden Week and walked right up to a table. The other TS restaurants were full but BB was much easier to walk up to.
My wife and I are going to Tokyo Disneyland in a few weeks (EXCITED!) and I want to get reservations for Blue Bayou. We’ll be there April 14th. Should I stress about reservations ahead of time, or should we just go on the day of and not worry about it?
Thanks!
If you’re staying at a Disney hotel and have the means of making reservations, do so, without a doubt. Same day Priority Seating can be difficult.
We are NOT staying in a Disney hotel. Is there another way to make reservations beforehand?
Only if you know someone who speaks Japanese and has an address in Japan. Then, they can make reservations for you over the phone or via the online site.
Darn! Thanks for the information!
Your comment that Japan is known for seafood but not for beef is entirely wrong. Japan is well known around the world for it’s wagyu beef, which is incredibly tender and delicious.
I’ve had Kobe beef, and it definitely is delicious, but it’s more of a specialty, and I don’t think it makes Japan known for steak–and certainly not in a theme park context.
What’s up with all these negative comments on Blue Bayou? Are these about the restaurant at TDR or in Anaheim?
I’m thinking they’re about the Disneyland (Anaheim) restaurant. At least some of them…
I visited The Blue Bayou at Disneyland 8th April with my husband, son and friend. I was the only one that had salmon and 4 hrs later started to become really sick. The rest of my night was spent vomiting and ended up in ER at 4am with chronic food poisoning. I let Disney know regarding the severity of poisoning, plus put in a claim for my hospital bill. Disney only would cover 25% of that bill and insisted I sign a confidentiality agreement. I decided not to take it. Instead I warn all of you that go to Disneyland, beware! I am very healthy and active, but this could have killed someone with compromised health. It didn’t get any better with Disney…they handed me over to a guy called Bob Weiss who was arrogant and rude. Shame on you Disney!
This is a really good tip particularly to those fresh to
the blogosphere. Short but very precise information… Thank you for sharing this one.
A must read post!
Would you recommend going for lunch or dinner? Are the menu selections and prices very different? We are very excited about trying this restaurant out during our upcoming trip in June.
The Blue Bayou stands as one of the greatest disappointments of my life. After visiting DL as a child, I was intrigued by the ambiance of the restaurant as I floated by in a “Pirates” dinghy with my family. I knew that some day I would go there. When I had returned to DL as an adult, I made sure that restaurant was on my itinerary. It was delicious, the ambiance was exactly what I had imagined. I ordered a salmon entree of some sort. How is this a disappointment?
About five hours later, my digestive system went into hysterics. Yup, it was coming out both ends and I felt horrible. I’ve had food poisoning before, I knew what it was. The next morning, I felt great, having ridded my system of the taint.
I would go there again- the decor of the BB is definitely the draw. Heck, I might even order the salmon. What are the chances it could happen again, right?
We have been to Tokyo Disney Land and Disney Sea twice but never eaten at the Blue Bayou, so it’s definitely on the list! How does one make reservations? My understanding is that you can make reservations at your hotel (if you are staying at a Disney “official” or partner hotel), via the phone (in Japanese) or on the day of, as a walk-up. Is that accurate? And how difficult is it to get in to eat there? We will be going back to TDR in late September 2014 and hope to eat at Blue Bayou and soak in more of what is unquestionably the BEST Disney park (and we’ve been to all but HK)!
You’re correct on that being how to make reservations. On an offseason weekday, you should be able to get reservations the day-of by simply going to Blue Bayou early in the morning and asking about reservations. If you’re going on a weekend, it’ll likely be fully booked.
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I usually try and make the effort to come here once every trip. Never been blown away but in regards to table service it’s not a bad option for Tokyo Disneyland. I think the smaller food sizes and the overall quality and standard of Counter Service options is why I don’t rate Table Service very highly at the Resort. Going to try and make reservations for CANNA or Oceano in September. See if the Hotel Restaurants provide anything different or unique to the ones in the Parks.
I agree that the quality of the counter service makes it difficult to justify table service. Still, the table service we’ve tried has been really good. (With the exception of S.S. Columbia Dining Room, which was good, but far from the stellar experience we expected.)
Interesting that you’re trying hotel restaurants. We generally found them to be overpriced and avoided them as a result. I’ll be interested to hear your feedback to see if maybe we should reconsider!
This place looks amazing, (as does everything you post about Tokyo Disneyland) I cannot wait until I can experience it one day after college. Thank you for sharing your experiences!
I really enjoy the Blue Bayou atmosphere, but find the food to be mediocre. I would have given it a 9/10 if I were you, but it really depends on the visit.
You’ve been to the one in Tokyo Disneyland, or are you talking about Disneyland?