24 February 2016

Jungle Skewers

Disneyland is known for lots of wonderful food items. Whether you’re looking for the complete package of a luxurious meal at Club 33 or need something simple and sweet from the Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe, there is something waiting for you just around the corner. For those on the go, sometimes all you need is a quick skewer with some protein, veggies, or both. Luckily for guests in those quick bite moments, the Bengal Barbecue in Adventureland has you covered!

Since we couldn’t make up our minds as to what we wanted when we were there last year, we decided to give them all an equal footing on our plate. Here’s what we thought of each, ranked from our least favorite to the skewer we would definitely order again.

Chieftain Chicken Skewer
In A Polynesian Sauce
I love a good sauce and a nice piece of grilled chicken, especially when it has pronounced grill marks. This seemed to have all the hallmarks of a tasty morsel when I picked it up, but it fell from atop my list pretty quickly. The sauce is precisely what you would imagine, somewhere between sweet and sour, that tanginess that you would expect from a nice Polynesian sauce. The chicken for us, however, had an odd texture. It wasn’t that it was undercooked, although that was our first thought, but there was just something off here. We discussed taking it back and asking for another, but neither the missus or I had the stomach to try it again. If you give it a go, I’m certain you’ll have better luck than we did.

Outback Vegetable Skewer
Skewered Fresh Vegetables
Do you like grilled vegetables? Then this is the skewer for you. Some of the vegetables were a little crunchier than we would have liked, but the majority of them were tender and juicy. It is the perfect side dish on a stick!

Bengal Beef Skewer
In A Sweet Zulu Sauce
I am the first to admit that sweet and savory, a profile many people love, is not my favorite taste combination. Some nice hunks of beef deserve a marinade or sauce that is going to highlight the built-in pronounced flavors of the meat. This is a great skewer if you love mixing the savory and the sweet, I have nothing bad to say about it, and the missus devoured what I left behind pretty handily, but it just wasn’t doing it for me. As far as the sweet and savory profile is concerned it had an excellent balance of flavors.

Banyan Beef Skewer
Hot & Spicy
I get concerned when my food is described with an ampersand. No, I’m just kidding! That usually means they don’t have time to mince words, they’re too busy cooking up a delicious dish. With something that is going to bring the heat, I’m always looking for complex flavors and not something that is hot for the sole sake of making me reach for my beverage. This skewer struck just the right chord with giving the meat the room it deserved to shine through and put just enough spice on it to kick the back of my throat a little.

Safari Skewer
Bacon Wrapped Asparagus
Winner, winner, bacon-wrapped dinner! There is some charring on the asparagus, but the pieces aren’t burnt to a crisp as is easy to do. The bacon is chewy and adds some smokiness to each bite, but with nothing fancy about it, i.e. peppered, Applewood smoked, etc., it does not overpower the asparagus. This is not the skewer that we expected to be a runaway winner, in fact we thought it would place one spot above the vegetable skewer, but it completely took us by surprise. I would recommend ordering a couple of these, because they will go fast!

Overall, there isn’t a bad skewer in the bunch. The real question is, which is your favorite when on a true life adventure through Disneyland?

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