We were able to visit Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris for the opening of Avengers Campus. There, we had the opportunity to dine at the new PYM Kitchen buffet, and, of course, we had to try everything both big and small! If you’re looking for a review of Pym Test Kitchen in Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure instead, you will find it here.
Exterior
Pym Kitchen offers probably what is the most interesting façade in all of Avengers Campus Paris.
The test lab building, shrinking and enlarging particle tubes, and the Quantum Tunnel entrance make for an intriguing lead-up.
There is a giant Pym Particles Disc outside the labs.
A menu board displays images of the items.
There is also a list menu in both French and English, with prices.
Interior
Guests enter the PYM Kitchen restaurant through the Quantum Tunnel, under a sign reading “Shrinking problems, growing solutions.”
Lines of light surround guests as they walk through the tunnel.
Wires run along the walls.
The interior is decidedly different in places from PYM Test Kitchen in California, with the only common features being the Quantum Tunnel and the shrinking/growing food effect near the pickup counter.
Sadly, Paris opened to use solely screens for the effect and does not have the physical conveyor that you’ll find in California.
The trays for resting tongs are branded with the Pym logo.
The white plates have small hexagon shapes on them.
The rest of the interior is bright and full of hexagonal patterns (which seems to be a Marvel thing given its heavy use both here and in Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT).
The hexagon-patterned carpet is black, grey, green, and shades of red.
Columns with hexagonal patterns light up around the dining area.
And a large dome in the ceiling is hexagon-patterned, with some shapes lit up white.
The booths have silver back cushions and red seats.
The tables and chairs are white with black legs.
The artwork on the walls depicts Ant-Man and The Wasp with giant foods.
In this one, they stop a giant wine bottle from toppling off a Pym truck.
The Wasp gives a thumbs up as Ant-Man helps scientists examine a giant baguette.
Things get chaotic in the lab as a giant chicken flaps its wings near the giant eggs.
Here, The Wasp shows off giant heads of lettuce and other food items.
Ant-Man, The Wasp, and some ants collect strawberries from a field.
In this artwork, Ant-Man has constructed his own version of the Eiffel Tower out of asparagus.
Here, he carries a giant carrot across the Pym Lab farm.
There are three-pronged light fixtures flat on the ceiling.
A window looks out at the giant particle tubes we saw outside.
A sign nearby warns guests not to use red Pym Particles near wildlife.
Drink Menu
A drink menu on a laboratory clipboard is provided upon seating.
At the Table
The placemat (which is not only for children, it is at every seat) features activities that tie into the lore of Avengers Campus — some Spider-Bots from W.E.B. have escaped, and you have to help Ant-Man and the Wasp save the restaurant! It’s also illustrated by Cassie Lang, the daughter of Ant-Man.
Napkins are custom and feature a graph paper-like design.
Condiments are served on the table in test tubes, keeping in step with the laboratory theme.
Water is served in a large flask.
PYM Kitchen All You Can Eat Buffet
42 € for Adults, 30 € for Children (Ages 3-11)
Bread Service
The bread service is a giant soft pretzel. It’s warm and breaks apart easily.
We would prefer a bit more salt, but otherwise, it’s a great pretzel.
Sides
Freekeh and Smoked Salmon Ancestral Salad
Fresh and contrasting flavors, including creamy avocado and tart cranberries, made this salad a winner. However, we didn’t find much smoked salmon within.
Super Hummus with Jalapenos and Nachos
Despite being advertised as having jalapeños, we didn’t detect any. This was a cool and delicious hummus with more spinach than chickpeas. There were some tortillas for dipping scattered throughout but not nearly enough. We resorted to dipping bread into it since it was so tasty.
Soybean Molecular Salad (Vegan)
Another winner, juicy oranges and hearty soybeans in a bright vinaigrette.
Shrimp and Blue “Serum” Mayonnaise
These are the requisite Disneyland Paris shrimp offering found at many buffets. They are large but average in quality. The blue “serum” mayonnaise is a fun way to incorporate the PYM Kitchen theming.
Vegetable Noodles, Sesame and Soy Vinaigrette
With a dominant soy flavor and crunchy veggies, this dish pairs perfectly with the salmon salad.
Super Salad
Hearty quinoa and bulgur wheat together with plentiful sharp and creamy goat cheese make this salad super! This was our favorite of all the cold salad offerings.
Caesar Salad and Colossal Croutons
What’s interesting about this is the giant croutons. They’re essentially just large bread pieces seasoned like a crouton, which is good because we didn’t want to have to break these at the table and fire hard bread particles across the room. They’re soft and somewhat simple to cut, and the entire thing tastes of garlic. It’s terribly over-seasoned. The salad itself was fresh, and the Caesar dressing was as well. It is offered with or without chicken at the buffet.
The cold meats are standard in most Disneyland Paris buffets. They are nothing spectacular but there if wanted. We recommend choosing more of the “Super” items on the buffet.
Roast Ham with Herbs
A lot of these cured meat offerings are the buffet standards at Disneyland Paris. There’s nothing wrong with he cured meats, they’re unremarkable yet enjoyable.
Rabbit and Hazelnut Pie
Dried Ham
Roast Chicken Rillettes
The roast chicken rillette is rather balsa, I’d save room for some of the more substantial and interesting main courses or even the various salads.
Various Vegetables
A number of vegetables are available to liven up your salad or to enjoy on their own. They’re all fresh enough, but again, just buffet standards and noting remarkable.
The highlight is the fun flasks of flavored oils to add to your salad.
There are tiny bowls to pour the cold soups into. The melon soup and gazpacho were average but are much appreciated on a hot summer day.
Breads
This is the same grain bread served across DLP buffets. It’s there if you want it. There are also white bread rolls that were not labeled.
Again, we have standard the Disneyland Paris cheeses and basic salad found in many buffets. If you need some French Brie, it’s here for you.
Crispy Bacon; Goji Berries; Pumpkin Seeds; Pepper Jack Cheese
Mixed Salad; Fromage Blanc
Brie Cheese of Meaux
Pasta Station
The make-your-own pasta station is a nice option for picky eaters who might prefer simple food. You can choose a cream sauce or a red sauce as well as the following toppings: tomatoes, basil, and garlic parmesan. The pasta was properly cooked just past al dente.
BBQ Flavored Breaded Cauliflower; French Fries
Located at the kids’ station, this is cooked to retain an appropriate amount of crunch. There is one flavor, and it is strong: hot sauce.
Rice; Cheesy Pasta Gratin
The rice was perfectly fine, but the cheesy pasta gratin has turned into a solid black and was nearly inedible on our visits.
Rainbow Cauliflower; Subatomic Mini Burger
Crumble from Vegetables; Glazed Rainbow Carrots
Mini Corn Dog; Green Beans with Crispy Onions
The corndogs are a solid option: well-cooked with a crunchy exterior, followed by soft breading, and a plump tiny hot dog inside.
It’s fun to see these long beans instead of traditional haricots vert. Unfortunately, they were overcooked and cold. It’s nice to see a green vegetable if you need to counter the hamburger and hotdog, but we wish they were prepared better.
Mexican Rolls
This is essentially ground beef taco meat inside a crispy egg roll. Due to their position at the very far end of the buffet, away from all the eye-catching food, they seemed largely ignored by guests. The result was an item inexplicably both dry (the beef) and soggy (the shell). If you want ground beef, the tiny hamburger sliders are a much better choice.
Wheat Strips and Chickpeas (Vegan); Roast Potatoes
Disneyland Paris has recently made significant efforts to add real vegan items to all menus. We applaud this new food program as previously, most restaurants would have only one vegan item, which would be the same at every restaurant. These wheat strips will not please carnivores as the texture is unexpectedly chewy and gritty, but for vegans, the mere existence of this item on the buffet is a big step up.
Bacon Mashed Potatoes; Prawn and Coriander Stir Fry
The potatoes were absolutely excellent. There was quite a bit of butter and bacon in there, with a salty, creamy, and thick consistency.
Roasted Pork Breast with BBQ Sauce; Glazed Salmon with Asian Spices
The salmon had a mushy, gooey consistency, not flaky like it should be.
The quality of the pork left a lot to be desired. It was quite dry and the sauce did little to save it.
Chili con Carne
A basic beef chili lacking any spice or real flavor. While will be nice to have this in the colder months, we were hoping for something more akin to Walt’s Chili at Carnation Cafe, and this did not deliver.
Main Courses
Giant Burger and Subatomic Burger
Lettuce, tomato, melted cheddar cheese, and Mille Îles sauce (Thousand Island dressing)
The Subatomic Burger was, to put it simply, better than any burger we’ve ever tried at a domestic Disney park. It’s well-cooked with a charred exterior and a juicy, pink interior. The bun is lightly toasted to perfection with accompaniments that don’t overpower. Don’t miss this if you dine at PYM Kitchen.
The Jumbo Burger is a bit more well done. With a patty that size, it’s certainly more difficult to cook evenly. Everything else is excellent, but those who don’t enjoy well-done burgers should stick to the smaller burgers.
Giant Bretzel
Smoked salmon, horseradish Cantadou cheese, and arugula salad
The bread here was a bit staler, with the freshness virtually nonexistent compared to the starter bread service pretzel. The salmon is flavorless, and pretty much just gets drowned out by the vegetables.
Jumbo Jambalaya
While a fun idea in cent, it was poor in execution. It was overly greasy, the rice and such in the middle had little flavor, and the bone-in chicken is the opposite of what you would expect from such a dish.
Jumbo Beef Hot Dog & Tiny Hot Dog
The tiny hot dog has soft and perfect bread, a great little hot dog overall. But watch out for that classic spicy French mustard if that’s not your thing.
Meanwhile, the jumbo version was so big we had to chow down with a fork and knife. It’s pretty much the same taste, but we preferred the smaller one just for ease of eating.
Crispy Fried Chicken Wing
These are pretty greasy but very good. The breading is extra crispy. This is possibly the best entrée item other than the tiny burger and hot dog.
PYM Kitchen Dessert Buffet
Gigantic Strawberry Dessert
This is a gelatin-based dessert with a subtle strawberry flavor.
If the flavors aren’t profound enough, there’s a flask of raspberry coulis available.
Maxi Biscuit
It has a strong almond cake flavor, and it’s quite nice. There’s not much more to say about this standard dessert.
PYM-ini Cakes, Blue Custard
The red and brown dessert is pretty close to a coffee cake for us. It’s moist, sweet, and enjoyable.
There’s a blue custard sauce nearby, by we didn’t feel like it added anything to these baked treats.
Giant Oreo
Despite how excited we were to try it, we ended up not being fans of this.
It’s a dry, bland cake with plain sweet cream, nothing of which tastes like Oreo.
Maxi Madeleine
This is a great dessert, plain and simple. It was light and fluffy, and a welcome break from some of the complicated attempts at sweets that fell flat.
Chocolate Mum Cake
The chocolate mum cake is rather forgettable (very one-note chocolate cake) and isn’t worth taking up valuable stomachs real estate that can be filled with the better desserts up on the buffet.
Pear Crumble (Vegan)
This is fine, it reminded us of a kugel more than anything.
Strawberry Flavored Jelly
It’s jello, plain and simple, but at least the presentation is very cute.
Forest Fruit Flavored Blue Jelly
This is a tart blue raspberry jello with a raspberry in it. We adore the presentation in the beaker.
Multifruit Tartlet
This is a standard fruit tart that is as delicious as you would expect in France.
Key Lime Pie
The key lime pie was fine, very sweet with a nice crust.
The Wasp Cells with Honey
This honey cake had a very cute presentation, but the flavor left a lot to be desired. It’s probably too much cream and not enough cake.
Mini Cheesecake with Kiri
We were surprised that this pretty much tasted like a New York-style cheesecake, with creamy and rich cheese. We highly recommend it.
Red Velvet Maxi-Cake
Another home run from the dessert bar, with a super rich and sweet cream cheese frosting, and a moist, absolutely perfect cake.
Infinite Pecan Pie
This might be the star of the dessert bar.
It was shockingly delicious, with a giant pecan on top and a layer of pecan inside. The crust is good, and the inside of the cake is gooey.
Kids’ Dessert
Forest Berry-Flavored Blue Jelly and Cake on a Stick
This looks like an ice cream bar, but it’s actually a cake pop, with a side of jello in a beaker.
Alcoholic Beverages
Specialty beverages, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, are not included in the buffet pricing. Each drink must be purchased separately.
Signature Cocktails
Particles Mocktail and Red Fruit Serum – 10.50€
Sugar-free Sprite, Blue Curaçao Flavor Syrup, Cranberry Nectar, Cherry Puree, Lemon Juice, and Strawberry Flavor Pearls
The mocktail is fun, with a small beaker of cherry puree to pour over the drink.
It just tastes like flavored Sprite, but we enjoyed it.
Blue Spritz and Goji Berries
Sparkling Blue Chardonnay, White Vermouth, Perrier, and Goji Berries
The cocktail was bland, without any particularly strong taste. It was refreshing on a hot day, though. The blue chardonnay was featured heavily in the PYM Kitchen marketing, and the coloring does make the drink visually interesting.
PYM Kitchen Overall Experience
After our experience here, we had some pretty atrocious food here (the jambalaya and the shrimp in particular). There’s some good, a lot of forgettable items, and some bad on the culinary side, but from a show perspective, the interior, food presentation, creativity, table setting, and really all the little details together make PYM Kitchen a must for a Disney or Marvel fan, and you must stop in when you visit Avengers Campus in Walt Disney Studios Paris.
For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow WDW News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
The post REVIEW: From Giant Hamburgers & Oreos to Tiny Hot Dogs, We Tried Everything on the Buffet at PYM Kitchen in Avengers Campus at Disneyland Paris appeared first on WDW News Today.