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Tiki Central / Tiki Drinks and Food / Sauce... cooking, not booze

Post #208496 by freddiefreelance on Wed, Jan 18, 2006 11:33 AM

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On 2002-06-29 03:43, hanford_lemoore wrote:
For years I had been looking to find a sauce similar to the "polynesian sauce" used on chicken kabobs at the Bengal Barbecue in Adventureland at Disneyland. I didn't really research it, but every store I went into I scouted for something like it.

I finally found Lawry's "Hawaiian" 30-minute Marinade... tastes just like it (well, to me anyway), and I use it as a glaze/sauce rather than a marinade. It's sweet, with pineapple, but there's more to it than that....

I found Albertson's and Safeways by my house stock it regularly.

FYI: Did you know that Guest Services at Disneyland has a lot of their recipes on-hand? You can go there and ask them about the recipes and there's a good chance they'll hand you a recipe card straight from behind the counter. Alas, they didn't have the polynesian sauce from the Bengal Barbecue though :(

~Hanford

Hanford, I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, or at least a lousy rumor, but I just read this in the latest Mouse Planet Disneyland Park Update:

Bengal BBQ rumored to close permanently in September or October 2006 to provide room for expansion of River Belle Terrace.

River Belle expansion
In July 2003 (link) we first reported the rumor that River Belle Terrace in Disneyland might be getting complete makeover (warning, going to that old old Park Update will cause flashbacks of the X-Games at DCA). Then last August (link) we put out the word that the project appeared to be approved for late 2006.

The complete reconstruction of River Belle Terrace into a larger two-story restaurant with improved views for Rivers of American and Fantasmic is still on course to begin after the 2006 summer season, as early as September but possibly as late as the end of October. Recent word indicates that this project will be the death of Bengal BBQ as the reconstruction will eat up that space to give more room to the redesigned restaurant. It may also cut into the space occupied, or completely close, the Indiana Jones Adventure Outpost store.

It turns out that River Belle Terrace is a place with quite and appetite for barbeque. Back in 1961, the restaurant was known as Aunt Jemima Pancake House when a project began to expand it to the current size. As part of that expansion, it consumed the space occupied since 1957 by Don DeFore's Silver Banjo Barbecue. So this will be the second time River Belle Terrace has eaten up a neighboring BBQ stand. For more information on the under-remembered Silver Banjo, see Werner Weiss's page at Yesterland.com (link).

Being only 15 years old, Bengal BBQ probably isn't deserving of protection as a historic landmark at Disneyland (perhaps as a sign of its relative value, neither Bengal BBQ nor the previous occupant, "Sunkist, I Presume," are listed in Dave Smith's nearly encyclopedic Disney A-Z), but the menu of meat skewers has a strong following, and not only because the food is good but because Bengal BBQ offers one of the few truly unique choices in the park. Hopefully a place can be found elsewhere in the park for them.

From the point of view of Adventureland, this will be a bit of a hit as the already small area is further marginalized with the Tiki Juice Bar and a fruit stand becoming the only food options in the land. No doubt, this will increase calls for management to revive Aladdin's Oasis into the restaurant it once was. On the plus side, it isn't hard to imagine that removal of the Bengal BBQ queues and diners will help greatly with foot traffic through Adventureland. Currently, the Adventureland/Frontierland/New Orleans Square intersection can become uncomfortably congested, even on moderately attended days.

Aladdin's Oasis returns? Or maybe the the Tahitian Terrace?