La Foret Secrete Review - Disneyland Hotel
We review La Forêt Secrète par Jean Imbert (Secret Forest) at Disneyland Hotel.
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Disneyland Paris Review Published by MFTUK - Last updated |
| Image: © Mickey From The UK |
La Foret Secrete* - or La Forêt Secrète Par Jean Imbert - which translates to "The Secret Forest" - is the newest (and relatively unknown) restaurant inside Disneyland Hotel, Disneyland Paris. It is one of two true fine dining restaurants at Disneyland Paris. Disneyland Hotel also offers La Table de Lumiere (the other fine dining restaurant) and the Royal Banquet. This is our honest La Foret Secrete (La Forêt Secrète) review.
*For the sake of this review I will refer to La Forêt Secrète as La Foret Secrete which is what Brits will search for when looking for a review on this restaurant.
Disneyland Paris doesn't have the breadth and quality of restaurants like at Walt Disney World, but the offerings are improving. Expectations for La Foret Secrete were high as the pricing is set at €140 for a 3-course meal and €200 for a 5-course meal - drinks excluded. We dined at La Foret Secrete with 4 other (Disney crazy) friends on a table for 6 on a Friday evening.- Without question some of the best food at Disneyland Paris
- The welcome process is excellent and very unique for a Disney restaurant
- Enjoying the view of fireworks while enjoying fine food is a magical experience
- Although small, the menu has a wide range of different options to suit most tastes
- The restaurant is well themed and incredibly elegant
- The service, while mostly good and professional, lacked a bit of the "playfulness" that's advertised
- While not outrageously priced for what you get, it is the most expensive meal at Disneyland Paris
La Foret Secrete Booking
Although this may change in the future, you have to call up Disneyland Paris (+33 1 60 30 20 50) to book La Forêt Secrètet. There is a €50 per person deposit you have to pay to secure your place. Amusingly, I asked why there is a deposit and instead of the answer I was expecting along the lines of "it's a small venue," I was told, "because it is an experience."
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La Foret Secrete Welcome
La Foret Secrete is located on the Castle Club floor of Disneyland Hotel, which means you can't just walk up there. When you check in to Castle Club or the La Foret Secrete, you must go to the elevator located opposite the shop and use the phone to call up to the cast members upstairs. When they confirm you're either checking in to Castle Club (I wish) or have a restaurant reservation, they send an elevator down to you. Once you enter the Castle Club floor, cast members greet you as the restaurant prepares for your arrival.
You're then taken into the first room where a cast member will take your coats. This is also where the toilets are located. This room smelled nice and new and I was for some reason taken aback by the carpet design. I love it!
When everyone is sorted and ready to go, two cast members come over and open the two doors together, giving you a grand entrance into the restaurant itself. Something I have never experienced before! When you first walk in, you first notice a table with champagne on the "just in case you didn't know that they offer champagne" table and another table with a lovely bouquet of flowers on it.
You then turn to your right and take in the restaurant's design. It's very green and themed very elegantly as a magical forest. The carpet, as I mentioned earlier, I found bizarrely mesmerising, and it continues into the restaurant, and then when your eyes look up, you see the tree branch theming across the ceiling. It's a small space, but there are plenty of mirrors on the walls and ceiling, which makes it feel bigger. Overall, the welcoming cast members were truly excellent all around.
La Foret Secrete Atmosphere & Theming
We were then taken over to our table at the far side of the restaurant. We hit the jackpot and got a table with a clear window view of Sleeping Beauty Castle! It was raining, but the window soon cleared before the Disney Tales of Magic fireworks show began a little later on. Not all tables appear to have a good view, but there are mirrors on the back wall so if you're facing away from the windows you can still enjoy the view.
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I was too busy taking in the theming to get a photo of our table before we sat down, but here's a look a the empty table next to us.
Here's another look at the restaurant theming from our table.
All the tableware and cutlery are all very elegant and nicely laid out. The chairs are comfortable and are at a good height. On your table, you'll find a book with "La Foret Secrete" written on the front.
It is an understatement to say this book is absolutely stunning. It features Disney stories and the inspiration for some of the dishes. While enjoying the book, it was quite amusing to us that the menu is in the centre pages. If we all flicked through and didn't notice, I can picture us all sat there awkwardly waiting for some sort of menu to be provided. I thought for a second you got to keep the book at the end of the meal, but sadly you do not. As far as I know, they're not even for sale. I very much wanted to take this home.
La Foret Secrete Menu Options
La Foret Secrete offers two menu options as well as a children's menu. The first menu is a 3-course €140 "Discovery menu".
La Foret Secrete also offers a 5-course €200 "Tasting menu".
While we wanted to try as much of the menu as possible, there is no flexibility or choice with the €200 tasting menu, which is odd. As I don't eat much seafood, it was a non-starter for me, so we all opted for the €140 "Discovery menu". There is also a champagne menu, and we did treat ourselves to a couple of bottles of Veuve Clicquot.
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We placed our orders and our servers wanted all 3 courses up front. In my opinion the menu offers a good range of different options, although the lack of flexibility on the 5-course menu lost them that sale. We had a cheers to a magical evening and then waited for our first course to arrive.
First, we were brought over an Up-inspired dish. It was a bread roll with dots of different flavours. I couldn't make them all out, but there was saffron, lemon (which stood out, very tart), beetroot, red pepper and more. This dish is incredibly well presented, and although I didn't love all the flavours, it was a unique course that I enjoyed very much.
Next up, we were presented with some bread. It was delicious and fresh, as expected.
The bread was served with some themed butter featuring the Disneyland Hotel clock design. It was half plain butter and half flavoured butter. Its little bits of theming like this are often not given any thought which is appreciated.
To start I ordered the Mrs. Potts' Brew even though I am wary that soups and broths in France tend to be served (like at Walt's) colder than my British palette enjoys. Mrs. Potts' Brew features Root vegetables ravioli and black truffle. While waiting for my first course, a cast member to my left caught my eye, I looked over and...
How adorable is that?
This was a delicious first course. The broth, thankfully, was super hot, and the ravioli was soft and tasty. The pouring of the broth using a Mrs. Potts pot was a fantastic touch. Here's a look at Under the Sea, which features langoustine, shellfish, and citrus fruits. It was a very fresh and nice mix of different flavours and textures.
For our second course, I enjoyed the Wandering Bear Delights, which features duck, honey, orange, and turnip. Your meal is presented, and then broth is poured onto your plate. Although I think the dish needed some starch, perhaps some sort of potatoes to finish it off, as it felt a little incomplete. The duck itself was delicious, tender, and perfectly cooked.
For our final course, we shared the Mickey's Souffle and Princess Aurora's Gateau. One of our table mates also had the third dessert - Lost Ark Shortbread (below) - which we were told was very good.
Starting with the Mickey's Souffle, it was delicious! As someone who doesn't have too much of a sweet tooth, this was one of the best souffle's I've had and comes with a little dollop of hazelnut ice cream.
The other dessert was incredibly well presented Princess Aurora's Gateau that features blueberries, vanilla, and timut berries. Each layer has different flavours inside. It was a delicious and unique dish that's very well themed.
After our third course we were brought over some fresh Madeleines and chocolate.
They were soft, fluffy and delicious - just as you'd expect!
Even though the madeleines were good, what put a smile on everyone's face was these themed chocolate coins on a bed of chocolate sawdust. Not only were they delicious, they were well presented and themed nicely to the Disneyland Hotel.
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La Foret Secrete Castle View
One of the experiences priced into this meal - if you time it right - is being able to see the fireworks from your table.
Just like eating at California Grill at Walt Disney World, there's just something very special about enjoying a nice meal with fireworks going off in the background.
Keep in mind, they do not pump the music of the fireworks show into the restaurant, although I'm not entirely sure I'd want them to. Another thing to keep in mind is that not all tables have a clear view out of the window to watch them, and while you can always ask, sometimes it will just not be possible for you to have a table with a view if it's busy.
La Foret Secrete Service & Experience
The service and experience was a little bit bizarre in a few areas. Like I said, the welcome was incredible, but once we were sat, looked through the amazing book, and placed our orders, it felt like something changed. While the serving staff were incredibly professional and proper, it felt almost... cold? There was barely any interaction.
In one instance, they were plating ladies first, and my meal was plated before my partner's (and I wasn't wearing a dress this time to confuse them, I promise). They immediately lifted my plate back up and then served my partner's followed by putting mine back down. It didn't bother me one bit; it just seemed like they were all getting in each other's way. You put the plate down, you might as well leave it, it's not like I am going to stick my hands straight into my plate and eat before everyone's been served. It's hard to pinpoint, but the best way I can describe it was they seemed too paranoid about getting things right and not making mistakes they're not able to give the experience that's advertised.
Disney states that "[La Foret Secrete] offers an immersive, playful, and refined contemporary dining experience." But there wasn't really much "playful" about it. I don't know - I was just expecting it to be a little more "magical," perhaps? However, if that's the kind of service you want, then you'll be okay.
La Foret Secrete The Bill
It's always good to reflect on the meal when the bill arrives. You get the instant internal feedback of whether it's worth the price you've been presented with or you get buyer's remorse. First off, we were duped a little bit. Although there's nothing wrong with having bottled water you pay extra for, when we were seated, we were asked if we wanted some water for the table. "Of course," we said. However, at no point was it made clear we were buying €12 bottled water. It wasn't until a bottle was put on the table that we were like "uh oh" but just went with the flow as it was already opened. We were a bit disappointed in the service that it was not made clear it wasn't tap water for the table as you'd expect at most restaurants, even if they have an option to have paid-for bottled water instead. It's not like we were presented with a water menu or anything (like you are at Palo on Disney Cruise Line).
At the time of writing, €1084 is about £925. That's a 3-course (although technically a 5-course with the UP-themed bread and chocolate coins finisher) meal, sharing 2 bottles of champagne for 6 people, which works out to about £150 per person. If we went as a couple, we'd likely share a champagne, so that would end up being about £175 per person. Just a glass of champagne each instead of a bottle as a couple would be about £140 per person - you get the idea.
Final Words
La Foret Secrete is an expensive experience - the most expensive dining experience at Disneyland Paris. So of course, expectations are high. The question you'll be asking is did we think La Foret Secrete is worth it? In a weird way it simultaneously exceeded and fell short of my expectations. The space itself is stunning and it offers what any elegant restaurant should. The welcome was amazing and the view from our table was phenomenal. However, I think if I were put on a table without that good view, I would have left a little disappointed. The service wasn't what I was expecting from this restaurant, while professional it lacked any "magic". The food is well themed and very delicious - I can't fault the actual food at all.
We had a very good table for 6, but I think if we went as a couple as we usually would and we were put on one of the back wall tables squashed between two other parties and had no view of the castle, I think it would have had buyers remorse when I got the bill.
While I would say the food is slightly better here at La Foret Secrete, I think the overall dining experience was better at La Table de Lumiere. We had an amazing server who shaped the whole meal as a story depending on what we ordered. That was a great experience from start to finish.
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If you're thinking of visiting La Foret Secrete, I would recommend it for a special occasion. It does offer the nicest and highest quality food Disneyland Paris, and if you get a good table, enjoy some champagne, you'll have a lovely evening. It's expensive, but I don't think it's outrageous for what you get. I think with time they'll tweak and improve things even more. Just ask for a round table and not one of the squashed two-person tables in the back, if available.
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Food 5/5
| Service 4/5
| Experience 3.5/5
| Overall 4/5 |
For more Disneyland Paris reviews, see our Disneyland Paris Reviews page.
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