Disney California Adventure has officially kicked off its 2020 Year of the Mouse Lunar New Year Celebration and it brings with it once again a miniature food festival to ensure a tasty new year! Several fan favorites have returned and new menu options are also available to tempt the palate.
We tried several options this year invite you now for a first taste look at the food and drink available at Disney California Adventure for the 2020 Lunar New Year! ENJOY!
What We Tried This Year
Char Siu Pork Bao
RATING: 🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Char Siu Pork Bao ($8.25) is filled with Chinese BBQ Pork with Pickled Red Onions and Jalapeño. A set of three of these would be a fantastic appetizer. Bao is soft and moist and perfectly sticky.
Smoked Beef Bulgogi Shortrib on Rice Cake
RATING: 🧧🧧🧧🧧⚫
Smoked Beef Bulgogi Shortrib on Rice Cake ($7.75) is pretty solid! Good flavor in the beef, pairs well with the crisp veggies, and the rice was pretty decent, too!
Shrimp & Ginger Dumplings
RATING: 🧧🧧🧧⚫⚫
Shrimp & Ginger Dumplings ($8.25) with Soy Reduction and Sriracha Mayo were not bad but it felt like all the very strong flavors were battling with each other. All the flavors were good they just weren’t quite singing together in concert. The only disappointing thing was the price tag compared to portion size.
Pork Belly Bahn Mi
RATING: 🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Pork Belly Bahn Mi (Sip & Savor portion from Paradise Garden Grill) is a pretty nice option. The pork belly and the veggies were all nice and crispy and the baguette was a nice compliment. An entree sized portion is available.
Korean Grilled Chicken
RATING: 🧧🧧⚫⚫⚫
Korean Grilled Chicken (Sip & Savor portion from Paradise Garden Grill) was a little disappointing only in that it didn’t really have a particularly interesting or unique flavor. Otherwise a good piece of chicken. Our rice was under-cooked and a little grainy. An entree sized portion is available.
Black Sesame Mochi Donut
RATING: 🧧🧧🧧⚫⚫
Black Sesame Mochi Donut ($6) was not as good as we were hoping. Not bad but not must-have. The donut was nice and chewy but it had a slightly bitter flavor to the batter. The icing was a nice lightly sweet complement and the black sesame seeds added a surprising crunch.
Returning Treats
Popular items from previous years have returned again…
Crispy Shrimp Fried Rice
RATING: 🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Crispy Shrimp Fried Rice ($8) was one of our favorite dishes. Very salty but great flavors here with the richness of the bacon and the crispy shrimp on top paired with rice and edmame making for a really pleasing dish.
Mickey Chinese Hot Dog Bun
RATING: 🧧🧧🧧🧧⚫
Mickey Chinese Hot Dog Bun ($6.50) is a great dish if you get it when it’s fresh. The freshness of the bread here is crucial to the success of the dish so if you happen to be at the kiosk when a fresh batch has arrived then you should find yourself pleased with the offering.
Chicken Meatballs with Lo Mein
RATING: 🧧🧧🧧⚫⚫
Lo Mein Noodles with Chicken Meatballs ($7.25) are a surprisingly tasty dish. If you imagine a classic chow-mein you’ve had a thousand times that’s about what you can expect here. The chicken meatballs are a unique contrast here adding a meaty punch.
Mandarin Orange-Green Tea Tart
RATING: 🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Mandarin Orange-Green Tea Tart ($5.50) is beautiful in its simplicity. The light custard underneath provides a lovely sweetness that pairs with the tartness of the raspberries and mandarin oranges. We were surprised with the simple explosion of flavor with this treat!
Novelty Souvenir
Glowing Lotus Flower “cubes” ($5.50) can be added to any drink for a colorful splash.
Ready to Taste?
2020 Lunar New Year Sip & Savor Tasting Passport is available to ALL guests giving you the opportunity to taste your way through your choice of SIX different dishes or non-alcoholic beverages from the Festival Marketplace kiosks.
This pass can be purchased at various locations throughout the park, including Festival Merchandise Carts, Seaside Souvenirs, Kingswell Camera Shop, and Rushin’ River Outfitters.
Prices:
- Regular ($42)
- Annual Passholders ($39)
VALUE ALERT: To get the most bang for your buck out of your Sip & Savor Tasting Passport, you’ll just want to make sure you don’t get any of the items that cost less than $7.00 (regular) or $6.50 (Passholder). Considering the prices, that shouldn’t be terribly difficult as long as you avoid desserts and drinks!
Save Time… Maybe!
Find the Shortest Line
Festival Marketplace kiosks are equipped to sell you items from ANY of the kiosks. So if you find a kiosk with a shorter line you can jump in that one to order your food from another kiosk. Just take your receipt to the appropriate kiosks to get your items!
Mobile Order
You can mobile order any items you wish to purchase and simply go to the Mobile Order return line to pick it up. Mobile Order cannot be used for Sip & Savor redemption.
Caveat Emptor!
The ultimate way to save time is to be smart. The two options above are helpful but might not be the quickest. We advise scoping the scene before ordering anything. In some cases it might be quicker to NOT Mobile Order as we saw lines at the kiosks get quite long with people trying to save time this way.
Notice in the photo below, the Mobile Order pickup line is quite long while the pick-up for cash-register transactions is only about 2 people deep.
More to Savor
Aside from the Festival Marketplace kiosks you can find even more more tasty bites…
Paradise Garden Grill
Mobile Order available.
- Korean Grilled Chicken
- Plant-Based Orange Tempeh
- Pork Belly Bahn Mi
- Whole Deep-Fried Tilapia with Chili Lime Vinaigrette and Steamed Rice
- Mango Mousse
- Almond Milk Iced Tea
- Orange Blossom Cocktail (alcoholic beverage)
- Tiger Beer
- Kloud Beer
Outdoor Vending Carts
- Almond Cookies
- Bulgogi Chicken
Lucky Fortune Cookery
Mobile Order available.
- Bao Bun with Seasonal Fruit
Lamplight Lounge
- Pork Belly Egg Rolls – Fried crispy egg rolls stuffed with tender pork belly and served with spicy mango glaze, pickled carrots, leaf lettuce, fresh cucumber, and pork rinds
Asian Street Eats
Although not technically part of the festival, the new Downtown Disney vendor does offer some fantastic options with much larger portions than you’ll find at the Festival Marketplaces!
Complete Festival Marketplace Menus
- Chicken Meatballs and Lo Mein Noodles with Cabbage Salad and Apple-Ginger Sauce
- Vegetable Egg Roll and Chilled Sesame Garlic Noodles with Cilantro-Cashew Sauce and Toasted Peanuts
- Black Sesame Mochi Donut
- Vietnamese Cold Brew with Coconut Milk
- Tsingtao (bottled alcoholic beverage)
- Shrimp Fried Rice with Garlic Bacon Edamame
- Smoked Beef Bulgogi Shortrib on Rice Cake
- Manadarin Orange and Green Tea Tart
- Peach Sojito (alcoholic beverage)
- Hitachino Nest Beer (bottled alcoholic beverage)
- Char Siu Pork Bao – Chinese BBQ Pork with Pickled Red Onions and Jalapeño
- Mickey Chinese Hot Dog Bun
- Lychee-Grapefruit Gin Spritzer (alcoholic beverage)
- Kloud Original Gravity Lager (canned alcoholic beverage)
- Firecracker Three Cup Chicken Wings
- Shrimp & Ginger Dumplings with Soy Reduction and Sriracha Mayo
- Purple Yam Macaron with Crème Fraîche
- Honey-Lime Green Tea
- Honey-Lime Green Tea with Bourbon (alcoholic beverage)
- Bottle Logic Hanamacahi (draft alcoholic beverage)
See it for Yourself
Lunar New Year celebrations at Disney California Adventure take place from January 17 – February 9, 2020.
See all of our postings for Lunar New Year:
MORE INFO: Details and information about Lunar New Year
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