Every year for Lunar New Year, Lamplight Lounge creates a special menu for the event. For the 2023 festival, four new items have arrived: a savory dish, a sweet dessert, a beer, and a juicy cocktail.
Menu for Lamplight Lounge in Disney California Adventure for Lunar New Year 2023
Food:
- 🆕 Surf & Turf Fried Rice – $29.00
- 🆕 Sesame Seed Donuts – $10.00
Beverages:
- 🆕 Three Weavers Brewery Seafarer Kolsch-Style (4.8% ABV) – $12.00
- 🆕 Lamplight Lounge Lunar New Year Cocktail – $17.00
While Lamplight Lounge had a Lunar New Year Cocktail last year, this year it returns with an entirely new recipe.
Photos of Menu Items for Lamplight Lounge in Disney California Adventure for Lunar New Year 2023
*NEW* Surf & Turf Fried Rice – $29.00
Five Spice-rubbed New York steak, sautéed shrimp, fried rice, ginger pea purée, and chile oil topped with a carrot salad
This was one that didn’t quite land what it was going for. Usually, the specialty items at Lamplight Lounge are amazing, but this one let us down.
The steak had no hint of five spice powder, and the shrimp, while buttery, were just kind of shrimp sitting on the plate.
The fried rice block that is the base of this dish was halfway between a fast food hash brown and arancini, being crispy and fried on the edges, but for the most part sticky and goopy.
None of the three really went together and none of the three were particularly stand out, so this one was a letdown in our book.
*NEW* Sesame Seed Donuts – $10.00
Maple-glazed donuts topped with sesame seed brittle and served with a kaya jam dipping sauce
These donuts were the star of our meal! The donuts at Lamplight lounge are always fantastic, and these are no exception. However, these donuts particularly could stand to be a little bit sweeter.
They have the delicious sesame brittle on top, but no sugar or anything else to round them out, so they’re mostly just fried dough.
The kaya dipping sauce, which is derived from a coconut jam and popular in Malaysia and Singapore, is absolutely amazing and really sets this dish off. It brings the sweetness and the tropical flavor that we wanted for these donuts. Overall, this was our favorite entry for the seasonal items at Lamplight Lounge and the only thing that we would consider revisiting.
*NEW* Three Weavers Brewery Seafarer Kolsch-Style (4.8% ABV) – $12.00
From Three Weavers Brewery: “Inspired by the traditional light ale from Köln, Seafarer is made with German pilsner malt and aromatic, floral Hallertau Tradition hops. This crisp, pale, lively Kölsch-style ale is the perfect first mate for navigating the seas of life.”
*NEW* Lamplight Lounge Lunar New Year Cocktail – $17.00
Han Soju, Aperitivo Aperol, carrot and orange juices, and cream of coconut garnished with a raspberry and mint
Maybe it was the carrot, maybe it was the soju, but something was off about this. We’ve never had a carrot cocktail before, and maybe that was our issue.
The sweetness in this drink was strange, almost like a vegetable sugar, which is what led us to suspect the carrot being the problem. It just didn’t land very well. With so many great cocktails available on the menu here, this one was passable at best and feels like a waste of an appetite.
We love Lamplight Lounge, all of the dishes on their menu are always full of creativity and taste great. We recommend stopping here while you’re visiting the park for the Lunar New Year festival… though perhaps you should just stick to the donuts, if you want a special seasonal item.
The Lunar New Year festival is running from January 20 through February 15, 2023.
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