Village Haus recently unveiled a new menu and Culinary Quest was there to taste it. Let me say this – the new and improved Village Haus menu is a great development in Disneyland Resort dining. We tried all of the new items and loved everything with only one small exception. There appears to be a focus on more unique offerings and fresher higher quality ingredients.
We shared everything off the new menu so here goes. They have a BLT Flatbread ($8.50), which is a thin crust pizza topped with smoked bacon, mozzarella and provolone cheeses, caramelized onions, marinated tomatoes, arugula and fennel. The fact that it had fresh tomato and bacon that hadn’t been sitting there since Rocket Rods made it great. We really enjoyed the combination of flavors and the freshness. It tasted like it was made just for your order, which is a change for Disneyland counter service. It is possible to make the Flatbread vegetarian if you ask them to leave off the bacon. Next time around we will probably do this ourselves as we would have enjoyed it just as much. It was plenty of food for the price.
Another new offering is the Chicken Sausage with Sauerkraut on pretzel roll. This was good too. I am normally not one for chicken sausage, but this had all of the flavor of a pork sausage. To be honest I couldn’t really tell the difference (and that’s a good thing). It tasted more like an Italian sausage rather than a bratwurst. The pretzel bread roll was great. As I have stated in the past, I’m not a big fan of Disneyland counter service sandwich breads and rolls. They are starting to change my mind. The roll had a soft and fresh texture inside with a crisp pretzel-like crust. It actually tasted like a pretzel and complemented the overall combination.
Village Haus offers an Apple and Cheddar salad at $7.49. The salad comes with a tangy Honey Yogurt dressing and includes julienned red and green apples, mixed greens, raisins, cranberries, and walnuts. This delightful crisp salad provides a refreshing option. It also illustrates what seems like a move towards more freshly made salads and dressings throughout the parks.
Now for the desserts. Yum! The two new items are an apple strudel and a black forest cupcake. The apple strudel was served warm. The filling was moist and the crust was flaky; we both really enjoyed it. It was much better than I had expected for a counter service. Both desserts are priced at $4.99.
The Black Forest Cupcake was outstanding. First, it had real fresh-tasting whipped cream frosting on the top. Second, the cake was moist. Third, the inside featured chocolate cream and three candied cherries which was a delight.
Our one exception to the love of the new menu was the burger. When you offer a pastrami burger you are appealing to carnivores that idolize “Man Vs Food”. This burger will not satisfy them, nor anyone who likes pastrami. The flavor of the pastrami was non-existent. No, I am not exaggerating. My wife didn’t even know it was on there until I pointed it out. I asked a guy next to me about it, and he said the exact same thing. The horseradish sauce is not spicy at all. In fact, it was more sweet than anything else. So, if you are planning on ordering this hoping to have some Mom and Pop greasy spoon special, don’t. The burger does have some redeeming qualities though. It has Swiss cheese and grilled onions, which is not offered at other places. If I were to order it again, i would leave off the pastrami and lower my expectations, and they should lower the $10.49 price. Then it would be a good choice.
Village Haus is my new favorite counter service restaurant in Disneyland. They have unique offerings which are tasty and can be easily customized to specific dining needs. The food was the freshest I have had at a counter service non-buffeteria style location. The other great thing about the menu is that you can still get the usual theme park fare if you wish, a la regular burgers, pizza, and kids meals. I am really excited about the changes and hope this is a sign of more good things to come for Disneyland counter service dining.
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