Crystal Lotus

Crystal Lotus Review

The first thing you'll notice in the Disneyland Hotel's flagship restaurant is also the most Disney-ish touch: a computer-animated koi pond, where electronic fish deftly avoid your feet, darting out of the way as you walk across. Once inside the glittering, crystal-studded yet warm and inviting space, you'll choose from a well-thought-out menu that's really more pan-Chinese than Cantonese, with careful preparations of dishes like barbecue fillets of eel glazed with Osmanthus honey, gently stewed king prawns with spicy Sichuan sauce, and perfectly executed XO seafood fried rice. Crystal Lotus is also the only Disney restaurant that offers "Character dim sum" dishes, such as barbecue pork buns shaped like the three little pigs, and seafood glutinous pancakes bearing the likeness of Mickey Mouse. If you wind up in Disneyland—perhaps on your way to or from the airport—this is by far the best way to dine (unless the kids demand a character meal at the Enchanted Garden in the hotel's lower level).