House of Blues

The House of Blues is located at Downtown Disney Westside, right across from Disney Quest and adjacent to Cirque Du Soleil. We went a few days ago for a late lunch/early dinner (the menu does not change for lunch/dinner).

My husband and I shared an appetizer of brick oven pizza with mozzarella, marinara and pepperoni and I tried a cup of 'file gumbo', which had shrimp and okra. Both were very good. My gumbo came with a corn muffin as well. For an entree, I ordered a Creole Jambalaya with shrimp, andouille sausages, chicken and rice. It came in what seemed like a never-ending bowl. It had a nice flavor but too spicy for my taste, the kind of spice that blooms long after you've gobbled down the food. My husband went with a po-boy sandwich which looked like a whole loaf of bread stuffed with fried shrimp. He thought it was just 'ok'.

From the outside the restaurant looks like a weathered roadhouse with folk art strewn about on the lawn. The inside is pretty much the same, with folk art placed along the walls, along with the molded faces of singers. They played a mix of blues from Joss Stone to Hendrix. It was a comfortable atmosphere until the dinner crowd came in, mostly parents with babies, but it's Disney, so what do you expect?

Overall, I'm not sure we were impressed enough to go back but it's worth a try if you've never been before.

Fulton's Crab House

Fulton's Crab House is situated right where Pleasure Island meets Downtown Disney Marketplace and looks like a docked riverboat. My husband and I recently had dinner here for the first time and were seated on the second floor, overlooking the water, what a nice view. I had the stuffed Gulf Shrimp and he had the Fried Platter. We were very disappointed with the food. His platter wasn't worth the expensive price tag. It consisted of three scallops, three shrimps and a meager helping of lobster on a skewer. My shrimp was stuffed with crab meat, corn and chives and came with a side of broccolini. I expected it to be great but the stuffing had a strong, salty flavor and although the shrimp was good, I only had five, and not worth the $30.00 price.

On a more positive note, the lemonade I ordered was one of the best I've had, and my broccolini was fresh and sauteed perfectly. Also the starter bread was warm and you can't go wrong with warm bread. But, if all you can praise is warm bread and lemonade, we suggest you go to another restaurant and just enjoy the exterior of Fulton's.