Disney Event Food Review
Pacifican Staff Writer Ricky Rauchfuss visted the DUC during their Disney food night. Read on for his review!
On the 16th of November, students were invited to a dinner with a theme that was based on Disney characters and franchises. The themed dinner nights are special occasions at the University of the Pacific that combine food that is not regularly available at the DUC with the theme for that night. I understand that many students have a negative view of the food served at the DUC, so I personally went this past week to review the specials that were available that night to evaluate if the food was, in fact, special.
I ordered the “Mushu’s Noodles Bowl” that was advertised to be served with pork belly, edamame, and corn. I notably didn’t receive any edamame or corn in my bowl, but I personally don’t enjoy those vegetables on my noodles so perhaps I should be thankful. The noodles were the standard chow-mein served at the Banchan station regularly with seemingly no changes. The pork belly desperately needed the small amount of soy-based sauce it came with. Another student, who preferred to be anonymous, complained of the pork’s dryness and noted that he would probably not order this again.
Another special being served that night, “Gusteau’s Royal Sliders,” came on a Hawaiian-style bun topped with cheese and served with a special truffle mac and cheese. An anonymous student who ordered the special said she enjoyed the sliders and that she would order this again. I didn’t get the chance to try the sliders, but I did order a side of the truffle mac and cheese which was unfortunately underwhelming. The sauce was incredibly bland and scattered with undercooked flour. The mac and cheese that is occasionally served at the pasta station is, in my opinion, leagues above the truffle mac and cheese. If the opportunity were to present itself again, I would probably just order the sliders without the mac and cheese.
The gnocchi special, titled “Ursula’s Sea Witch’s cuttlefish potato gnocchi” strangely had both the special potato-based pasta and the regular penne shape evenly distributed throughout the bowl. A student in his senior year named Bryan ordered the gnocchi and explained that he might have ordered the gnocchi again if the two pastas were not mixed. He expressed that the gnocchi special was oversaturated with an excess amount of overall mediocre food.
The desserts served at the event were very well received. Batches of beignets sold out within minutes of their availability and because of this, I was unfortunately not able to try one myself. However, a group of anonymous students who were sharing an order of the beignets all exclaimed their immense enjoyment of them, stewing my envy. I will personally be the first in line the next time the beignets are available.
Fortunately, I was able to get my hands on the chocolate caramel apple, which was very delightful. The juicy apple was layered with chewy caramel, and soft chocolate, adorned with marshmallow ears to resemble Minnie Mouse. A common problem I have with most caramel apples is that I feel like I’m going to break my teeth just to bite into it. This was not the case with this apple. On the contrary, Bryan, the senior mentioned earlier, thoroughly enjoyed this apple and suggested putting it into the fridge for a short time to harden the chocolate.
Overall, the Disney night was very enjoyable, but with heavy reliance on the desserts. The dinners were fairly unappetizing with the exception of the sliders which, if I had to order dinner here, I would prioritize. If I were to attend again, I would personally only go for the desserts and not the dinner specials.