Biergarten: A Dining Review

One of the few places in the park that we had never made it to was Biergarten, the table-service restaurant in Germany. The reason I'd put off visiting it for so long was simply because I wasn't convinced that, as a non-meat eater, there'd be enough on the menu for me to eat. Unexpectedly though, our plans changed on Christmas Eve and we were left with a full day to enjoy the Disney parks, which we hadn't anticipated.

We decided to head into Epcot and needed to find ourselves lunch for the day, so I decided to be brave and ask at Guest Services and find out what was on the menu that could be a possibility for me. I was pleasantly surprised by the answers. There seemed to be a lot of salad items, some fish dishes, and best of all, a wonderful selection of desserts. By the time I heard the words "Black Forest gateau" and "apple strudel," I was sold, as these are amongst my favorite desserts. We were booked for lunch and would finally get to experience the place.

Before you arrive, it's worth knowing something about the theming of this restaurant, as it may not be entirely what you expect. Whereas many of the restaurants around World Showcase are brightly lit, with some offering superb views of the park, Biergarten is quite dark inside, not unlike Le Cellier and San Angel Inn.

It's quite a shock to the system when you go there for lunch in the middle of the day, but the idea is that you're heading into a town square in Bavaria, Germany to enjoy their annual Oktoberfest celebrations. Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival that takes place in Munich from late September to early October, and stems from the celebration in 1810 of the marriage of the then Crown Prince Ludwig and his bride Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

Now, when I say celebrations, I mean just that. The celebrations held daily at Biergarten include a band, dressed in traditional lederhosen, who come out to regularly entertain the crowds, encouraging people to get up on the small dance floor in front of the stage. The dancing didn't meet with much enthusiasm from adults while we were there, although a lot of kids appeared to find it great fun and a good chance to burn off some energy!