This dinner was truly a long time coming - we had it booked for our original first ever visit to Florida in 2020 which got delayed, and then V&A hadn’t reopened when most things as Disney did. However, a few days before our dining reservations opened, they announced it was reopening and it all seemed to fall into place. We reserved a table and had been looking forward to this for months.
A bit of context, it was me (25yo female) and mum (aged 50), both from England. We’ve been AP holders at Disneyland Paris since 2016, and mum is also a Shareholder at DLP. We visit regularly and like to do special things when there, such as the Sparkling Experience. I now live 170 miles away from mum, but we see each other all the time and always like to do nice things like dinners, shows and special experiences. We know this isn’t for everyone but a dinner like this really is perfect to us. We had done the Sparkling Experience at Disneyland Paris for my 21st, which was amazing and had heard brilliant things about Victoria & Albert’s. I had been a little wary since the reopening about the decor change as it was so lovely before and the new photos made it look a little like the Newport Bay in DLP, which we aren’t keen on at all. However it was absolutely stunning in person and I felt silly for worrying that it wouldn’t have the same ambiance or feel as the old decor seemed to have.
I’m able to post the photos now - so here they are, captions briefly explain which dish and what it was: https://www.flickr.com/gp/196338329@N04/0g2H9V3044
We arrived at 6:40 for our 6:50 reservation, and they knew who we were. We were seated and introduced to our two amazing servers; Robyn and Craig who spent the whole evening with us. One thing about the Sparkling Experience in Paris was that the wine pairing was a lot of wine so we chatted to Craig about what this was like and he said it was about a glass of wine per hour which sounded perfect (for context the Sparkling Experience was about a 125ml glass per meal, for 8 courses). I’d also seen on here that the zero proof pairing was highly recommended, and in the end we decided that mum would have the wine pairing and I would have the zero proof pairing. We were both delighted with our choices as it was the perfect accompaniment to each course, and especially for me as I don’t really drink much or enjoy wine like you need to for this kind of thing, it couldn’t have been better.
We dined in the dining room, and as the chef’s table currently isn’t open they also offered us the chef’s table menu, which had two extra courses - one was A5 wagyu and the other I can’t remember.
We went with the dining room menu which was $295 per person, the wine pairing was $150 and the zero proof pairing was $110.
The chef’s table menu was $375, with the wine pairing being $200 and not sure on the zero proof pairing cost.
We’re glad we stuck with the dining room menu, we were so full at the end.
I’d also had a phone call earlier in the week about my dietary requirements - I’m a pescatarian with allergies to all nuts apart from coconut and almond, and also allergies to celery, fig, sunflower seeds and kiwi. The biggest concern with dining for me is stocks as they often have celery, and desserts which often feature pralines and other nutty concoctions. As a result, my menu varied a little to mum’s - I had some of the plant based dishes and also some elements that had been created just for me by the chef which was so special. Throughout the evening, Robyn and Craig explained the flavours, inspirations and backgrounds of each dish and it’s wine and zero proof pairing, and were so lovely to chat to.
We started the meal with some amuse bouche - compressed pineapple, a langoustine tartelette and heirloom tomato on a fried shiso leaf (this was utterly incredible).
Course two was caviar with a cauliflower purée - mum’s was a cauliflower panna cotta but obviously this had gelatine so mine was altered - and the pairing here was a yuzu seltzer which was so citrusy and delicious.
We were then served French bread with butter and Maldon salt - particularly special for us as Maldon is only 15 minutes from our house and many summer days as a child were spent there.
Course three was hiramasa for us both, and I think this was my favourite - the carrot sauce was just divine. My pairing here was also incredible - a tomato and melon drink which was so light and the perfect addition.
The second bread was then served, a croissant style bread with a brown butter which was lovely.
Course four took us to Asia with toothfish, radish wrapped sushi rice, and the most delicious charred mushrooms with spicy sambal. My pairing was a sake inspired lychee drink which was amazing.
Course five was a little different for me and mum. I had the huitlacoche which is a fungus found on corn, whilst mum had chicken. Both of these were served with pasta - tortellini for me and a raviolo for mum, and the pairing was a sweet and smoky one. The truffle on this was also incredible.
Our final bread was then served - the butter here was so smoky it tasted almost like a smoked Gouda which was delicious.
Course six had similarities, both inspired by blueberries but whilst mum had lamb, I had salmon. This was a favourite for both of us, and my cassis drink paired beautifully.
Course seven was our cheese course, prepared by the sous chef who grew up in Norway and wanted to bring that to the table. The dish was focussed on plums, with a kalamata olive soil and the cheese was like a sweeter Brie. The tapioca crunch was to emulate a cloudy day in Norway and was delicious.
We then moved onto the sweet offerings and I had a coffee which was brewed at the table. We started course eight with a palate cleanser of honey ice cream with raspberry, but I forgot to take a photo so the picture comes from AllEars. We then had course nine, a warm chocolate cookie which was the best cookie I’ve ever enjoyed, and there’s been a fair few in my 25 years!
The main dessert event, course ten, was different for mum and I. Whilst she had a chocolate spectrum, with pralines, chocolate cake and mocha creme, I had a chocolate temple with a strawberry semi freddo, chocolate cake and salted caramel. Both sublime.
We finished the meal how we started it, with small bites in the form of course eleven which was petit fours. I enjoyed a sticky toffee cake, a tahini ice cream on a ginger snap, a blueberry pavlova and a cherry tart, whilst mum had a caramel stick, a praline truffle, a pistachio and lemon chiffon cake and also the pavlova.
We finished at 11pm, so it really is an experience - we were there for over four hours but it was just perfect. Throughout the meal, the harpist played a variety of pieces, ranging from musicals such as Billy Elliot, Waitress, Hamilton and Wicked (all of which mum and I have seen together which was magical), to Disney pieces like Star Wars, and also popular songs from the likes of Harry Styles and Taylor Swift. It truly was a magical few hours, we got quite teary at points as music can be so emotive, and it’s certainly an evening we’ll never forget.
If you have the opportunity to do it, we couldn’t recommend it more.
A bit of context, it was me (25yo female) and mum (aged 50), both from England. We’ve been AP holders at Disneyland Paris since 2016, and mum is also a Shareholder at DLP. We visit regularly and like to do special things when there, such as the Sparkling Experience. I now live 170 miles away from mum, but we see each other all the time and always like to do nice things like dinners, shows and special experiences. We know this isn’t for everyone but a dinner like this really is perfect to us. We had done the Sparkling Experience at Disneyland Paris for my 21st, which was amazing and had heard brilliant things about Victoria & Albert’s. I had been a little wary since the reopening about the decor change as it was so lovely before and the new photos made it look a little like the Newport Bay in DLP, which we aren’t keen on at all. However it was absolutely stunning in person and I felt silly for worrying that it wouldn’t have the same ambiance or feel as the old decor seemed to have.
I’m able to post the photos now - so here they are, captions briefly explain which dish and what it was: https://www.flickr.com/gp/196338329@N04/0g2H9V3044
We arrived at 6:40 for our 6:50 reservation, and they knew who we were. We were seated and introduced to our two amazing servers; Robyn and Craig who spent the whole evening with us. One thing about the Sparkling Experience in Paris was that the wine pairing was a lot of wine so we chatted to Craig about what this was like and he said it was about a glass of wine per hour which sounded perfect (for context the Sparkling Experience was about a 125ml glass per meal, for 8 courses). I’d also seen on here that the zero proof pairing was highly recommended, and in the end we decided that mum would have the wine pairing and I would have the zero proof pairing. We were both delighted with our choices as it was the perfect accompaniment to each course, and especially for me as I don’t really drink much or enjoy wine like you need to for this kind of thing, it couldn’t have been better.
We dined in the dining room, and as the chef’s table currently isn’t open they also offered us the chef’s table menu, which had two extra courses - one was A5 wagyu and the other I can’t remember.
We went with the dining room menu which was $295 per person, the wine pairing was $150 and the zero proof pairing was $110.
The chef’s table menu was $375, with the wine pairing being $200 and not sure on the zero proof pairing cost.
We’re glad we stuck with the dining room menu, we were so full at the end.
I’d also had a phone call earlier in the week about my dietary requirements - I’m a pescatarian with allergies to all nuts apart from coconut and almond, and also allergies to celery, fig, sunflower seeds and kiwi. The biggest concern with dining for me is stocks as they often have celery, and desserts which often feature pralines and other nutty concoctions. As a result, my menu varied a little to mum’s - I had some of the plant based dishes and also some elements that had been created just for me by the chef which was so special. Throughout the evening, Robyn and Craig explained the flavours, inspirations and backgrounds of each dish and it’s wine and zero proof pairing, and were so lovely to chat to.
We started the meal with some amuse bouche - compressed pineapple, a langoustine tartelette and heirloom tomato on a fried shiso leaf (this was utterly incredible).
Course two was caviar with a cauliflower purée - mum’s was a cauliflower panna cotta but obviously this had gelatine so mine was altered - and the pairing here was a yuzu seltzer which was so citrusy and delicious.
We were then served French bread with butter and Maldon salt - particularly special for us as Maldon is only 15 minutes from our house and many summer days as a child were spent there.
Course three was hiramasa for us both, and I think this was my favourite - the carrot sauce was just divine. My pairing here was also incredible - a tomato and melon drink which was so light and the perfect addition.
The second bread was then served, a croissant style bread with a brown butter which was lovely.
Course four took us to Asia with toothfish, radish wrapped sushi rice, and the most delicious charred mushrooms with spicy sambal. My pairing was a sake inspired lychee drink which was amazing.
Course five was a little different for me and mum. I had the huitlacoche which is a fungus found on corn, whilst mum had chicken. Both of these were served with pasta - tortellini for me and a raviolo for mum, and the pairing was a sweet and smoky one. The truffle on this was also incredible.
Our final bread was then served - the butter here was so smoky it tasted almost like a smoked Gouda which was delicious.
Course six had similarities, both inspired by blueberries but whilst mum had lamb, I had salmon. This was a favourite for both of us, and my cassis drink paired beautifully.
Course seven was our cheese course, prepared by the sous chef who grew up in Norway and wanted to bring that to the table. The dish was focussed on plums, with a kalamata olive soil and the cheese was like a sweeter Brie. The tapioca crunch was to emulate a cloudy day in Norway and was delicious.
We then moved onto the sweet offerings and I had a coffee which was brewed at the table. We started course eight with a palate cleanser of honey ice cream with raspberry, but I forgot to take a photo so the picture comes from AllEars. We then had course nine, a warm chocolate cookie which was the best cookie I’ve ever enjoyed, and there’s been a fair few in my 25 years!
The main dessert event, course ten, was different for mum and I. Whilst she had a chocolate spectrum, with pralines, chocolate cake and mocha creme, I had a chocolate temple with a strawberry semi freddo, chocolate cake and salted caramel. Both sublime.
We finished the meal how we started it, with small bites in the form of course eleven which was petit fours. I enjoyed a sticky toffee cake, a tahini ice cream on a ginger snap, a blueberry pavlova and a cherry tart, whilst mum had a caramel stick, a praline truffle, a pistachio and lemon chiffon cake and also the pavlova.
We finished at 11pm, so it really is an experience - we were there for over four hours but it was just perfect. Throughout the meal, the harpist played a variety of pieces, ranging from musicals such as Billy Elliot, Waitress, Hamilton and Wicked (all of which mum and I have seen together which was magical), to Disney pieces like Star Wars, and also popular songs from the likes of Harry Styles and Taylor Swift. It truly was a magical few hours, we got quite teary at points as music can be so emotive, and it’s certainly an evening we’ll never forget.
If you have the opportunity to do it, we couldn’t recommend it more.
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