Toad Hall Restaurant Review
Toad Hall Restaurant is a counter service restaurant located in Disneyland Paris’ Fantasyland that is themed after an English manor owned by Mr. Toad, from Disney’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. In this dining review, we’ll share a photo tour, offer thoughts on the themed design, and our opinions on the food.
Toad Hall specializes in fish & chips, with not really anything else of consequence on the menu. Despite the lack of variety, it’s one of the best–and coolest–counter service restaurants at Disneyland Paris. The star of Toad Hall Restaurant is the whimsical architecture (the exterior is almost a direct lift of Toad Hall at Disneyland) and interior decor, but before we get to that, let’s at least touch on the food.
After all, Toad Hall Restaurant is…well…a restaurant. The fish & chips we had at Toad Hall Restaurant was possibly the best food of our first trip to Disneyland Paris. I don’t mean “best” relative to price or only in terms of counter service restaurants. I mean the best overall, including the table service restaurants at which we dined…
While we’ve since returned to Disneyland Paris several times and had better success with the food, things didn’t go so well on our first trip. In retrospect, our table service experiences at Disneyland Paris that trip were the exception rather than the rule, but in any case, Toad Hall Restaurant is a winner on the counter service front. These are solid fish and chips in a park that otherwise is notorious for weak dining.
Before you get too excited, it’s worth noting that Toad Hall Restaurant is only open seasonally. To our knowledge, it hasn’t been open at all in 2021 since Disneyland Paris reopened. At the very least, it hasn’t been open regularly–and probably won’t be until sometime in 2022 when park capacity is fully restored.
The menu at Toad Hall Restaurant consists of fish and chips, a double order of fish and chips, a chicken muffin sandwich, veggie burger, plus a variety of side salads and desserts. The main menu item is the fish & chips–everything else is an afterthought.
In that regard, Toad Hall Restaurant is sort of like Yorkshire County Fish Shop at Epcot. The key difference is that the fish and chips at Toad Hall Restaurant are much better, and closer to authentic (still not quite what we’ve had in London). The pieces of fish are huge and actually mostly fish, rather than mostly breading.
The batter is crispy with perfectly cooked, dense fish inside. The chips are thick and somewhat wedge-like, rather than just ordinary fries. Disneyland Paris does meal sets, so we also received a soda (small and no refills), decent side salad, and Activia yogurt.
If you plan on eating at Toad Hall Restaurant, definitely order the double portion (two pieces of fish instead of one). It’s only a couple more Euro, but much more food. It makes the meal almost enough for two people to share and be satisfied.
The restaurant is seriously lacking in seating, so if you plan to dine at Toad Hall Restaurant, either arrive right when it opens or wait until about 3 p.m. Definitely do not show up at noon. We’ve since dined at Toad Hall Restaurant during the lunch rush, and it was not the most pleasant experience.
When we dined here at 3 p.m., we still had to wait for a table. That was during off-season. It’s much worse during peak season at lunch, especially when Disneyland Paris inexplicably has most of its restaurants closed. (As too often happens.)
Another thing is that the kitchen is incredibly slow, so expect to wait a bit for your food.
It’s almost as there’s a pond somewhere behind Disneyland Paris where they catch the fish after you place your order. On the other hand, at least it’s freshly cooked!
The entrance to Toad Hall walks guests through a small library that immediately sets what can only be described as the ‘lighthearted-pretentious’ tone of the restaurant.
Although it hasn’t been open for the Christmas season recently, we once dined here during the holidays and found the decorations to be perfectly on-point for the theme.
The view upon entering Toad Hall Restaurant in the kitchen is unassuming enough. It has nice brickwork and is remiscent of an intimate manor, but there’s really no art to speak of.
The ordering area is also part of the kitchen, but the low, exposed ceilings remind me more of a wine cellar. I can’t say I’m especially familiar with British manors, so maybe this is a common kitchen look with which I’m unfamiliar.
The main dining room is the Games Room. This area features tributes to Mr. Toad’s supposed athletic prowess, his sporting goods and awards, and portraits of his gamesmanship.
There’s also a painting (far right, above) that rotates between a Toad da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh, as well as automobile memorabilia.
This cozy booth in the corner of the room demonstrates what’s on the wall in the Gaming Room. This entire room is very detailed, and is well worth wandering. Many of the Mr. Toad paintings are cute and funny.
The smaller main room is the Drawing Room. I wouldn’t have known this, but I read a fascinating article on Designing Disney with Tom Morris that discusses Toad Hall Restaurant. It’s definitely worth reading.
The Drawing Room contains a suit of Toad armor and a nice fireplace.
Also, note Mr. Toad’s likeness on the wallpaper. So many details and nice touches in this restaurant that it’s easy to miss things.
Here’s the men’s restroom sign. One thing I haven’t sufficiently conveyed in this room is how the decor in Toad Hall shows Mr. Toad as a character who borders on being a pathological narcissist.
The art in each of the rooms shows a different admirable quality or interest of Mr. Toad, and between those things and the pieces of classic art featuring Mr. Toad, what he thinks of himself is quite clear.
In this case, it’s all lighthearted fun. After all, Mr. Toad is a toad who associates with other cute little animals.
I don’t have any issue with this, I just find it fascinating that Mr. Toad essentially seems to be the amphibian version of Jay Gatsby. Next time we visit Toad Hall Restaurant, I’ll have to capture more photos of the details that set this tone.
Overall, although Toad Hall Restaurant has a very limited menu and is short on seating, it’s a restaurant that we highly recommend. The fish & chips are some of the better food you’ll find in Disneyland Paris, and the limited seating is a result of the setting being Mr. Toad’s manor.
If there were more seating, Toad Hall Restaurant would necessarily be larger, which would kill the intimacy and beauty of the location. It may take some work or eating at an off-hour to find a table, but the incredible environment is a perfect reward. In terms of restaurants at Disneyland Paris, this one is a must-do for all Disney fans–even if you don’t care for fish & chips. It is definitely one of the best-themed counter service restaurants in any Disney theme park.
For the basics of planning a visit to Disneyland Paris, check out our Disneyland Paris Trip Planning Guide. Want to see more photos or read about Disneyland Paris in agonizing detail? Check out our Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Trip Report or our Disneyland Paris 25th Anniversary Trip Recap!
YOUR THOUGHTS
If you’ve visited Disneyland Paris, what’s your take on who it’ll appeal to most? Did you enjoy your visit, or would you rather stick to other Disney Parks? Have you ever dined at Toad Hall Restaurant? Did you like your meal? Are you a Mr. Toad fan? Anything with which you disagree in this post? Any questions? Hearing your feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!
We found the chicken platter to be quite good at Toad Hall. We ate it there twice.
I love the Wind in the Willows. Such great stories- I’d love to experience Toad Hall in person. Thanks for the review.
From my extensive knowledge of english manors, gained exclusively from watching about 16 seasons (or as the British say series) of Midsomer Murders over the past year, low ceilings ARE common.
Well, there you go then! Thanks for the info.
In regards to food, I sadly don’t see anything different to the sandard food found all over the two Parks. I think the Fish & Chips at World Showcase are much better in taste to what I have had previously at Toad Hall. Unfortunately it’s been a few years since I last dined here so the food supplier might be different now.
The theming on the other hand is outstanding paying respect to Mr Toad and so when it’s opened which isn’t always often enough just buying a few drinks and sitting to enjoy the surroundings is a must do….
All Counter Service is best avoided and my advise is to stick with Earl of Sandwich for food inside the Disney Village.
The caveat with this review is that we *didn’t* eat at many Disneyland Paris restaurants because the food was so bad. We ended up eating at Earl of Sandwich every single night we were there. During the day, however, it was too much of a hassle to go there.
From what a couple of people said on Twitter, Toad Hall Restaurant has a new fish supplier and machine(?) for making the fish and chips, so perhaps that could explain the difference? These were DEFINITELY better than the ones in Epcot.
Since you clearly have more experience with Disneyland Paris, where else have you dined there? Which restaurants would you consider okay or good? Which are the worst?
54 visits to DLP having dined in every single restaurant multiple times. Recommended:
TS (Table Service)
CS (Counter Service)
DLP:
Silver Spur (TS)
Last Chance Cafe (CS)
Fuente Del Oro (CS)
Hakuna Matata (CS)
Auberge de Cindrillon (TS)
Plaza Gardens (buffet)
Walt’s has been some of the best and worst over the years
WDSP – maybe Remys, but poor.
Hotels – California Grill, Innovations, Hunters Grill
Village – Steakhouse, Annettes, le Grange, Earl of Sandwich
Or go to Val De Europe (bus or one stop on the train) where there are awesome restaurants – chinese, Indian, bistro, sea food, Lebanese, Tapas etc.