Double-Fisting at Gaston's Tavern!

Since the opening of New Fantasyland, we’d read plenty of reviews on Gaston’s Tavern and it’s unique offerings: LeFou’s Brew and the Roasted Pork Shank. So we just had to make some time to try these out in New Fantasyland! We liked one of these so much we tried to make our own at home!

Nestled into New Fantasyland just around the corner from Beast’s castle is Gaston’s Tavern, a cozy tavern with a modest number of offerings. The tavern itself is easy to overlook if your too busy looking at the incredible statue of Gaston and LeFou out in front.

We grabbed a table outside near the fountain, and I went inside to get us our lunch. We had a big breakfast at Cinderella’s Royal Table and we knew we had other snacks in mind as well as dinner at Be Our Guest, so we kept it light. Lisa opted for the Hummus and Chips, Bella got some apples with caramel sauce, Jackson had a mixed fruit cup, and I got the famous Roasted Pork Shank.

And of course we had to get a LeFou’s Brew to sample as well.

Lisa’s Hummus and Chips, Bella’s Apples, and Jackson’s fruit cup were all prepackaged items that you would get if you had bought them in the store. Nothing to write home about. Then there was the Pork Shank…

The portion is very generous. It’s not much smaller than a Turkey Leg. You could easily split this with somebody if you were inclined to share. My first bite was full of flavor and I thought to myself that the shank was living up to the hype. I quickly discovered that once the skin was gone, so was most of the flavor. What remained was a well-cooked, very tender piece of meat… it just didn’t have any flavor to it. Lisa wouldn’t try it herself, but I remember describing it to her by comparing it to a roasted chicken that we get at our grocery store. All the flavor is in the skin.

So for me, the Shank had some tasty bites, but didn’t deliver on the hype with every bite. It was by no means bad, but I can’t say I’d go out of my way to get another like we did on this visit.

Now on to the Brew…

We got ours in the souvenir stein (I saw there was a goblet available, but that seemed wrong considering it’s Gaston’s tavern and all). Jackson didn’t seem interested in the Brew, and Bella was afraid she wouldn’t like it. Lisa and I both thought it was very tasty! After some prodding, we got Bella to take a taste and that was the last either Lisa or I saw of the Brew! Bella kept the rest to herself!

We should have gotten more! And you can bet the next time we go we’ll all be getting our own! That’s months away though… wouldn’t it be great to be able to get a LeFou’s Brew at home??

Before we left we took another look inside just to see all the antlers, and we even caught a glimpse of Gaston himself mingling with guests.

At Home Twist

Our at home twist is making your own LeFou’s Brew! We found a recipe for LeFou’s Brew over at The Disney Diner (link will open new window) I also learned over there that the West Coast version of this is called Red’s Apple Freeze at Disney’s California Adventure.

The Recipe

Foam Topping Ingredients:

1 cup heavy whipping cream, cold
4 tablespoons Mango Nectar/Juice (I found this in my grocery store’s Mexican Food aisle)
4 tablespoons Passion fruit Juice (I found this in the refrigerated juice section, by orange juice)
3 tablespoons sugar

Foam Topping Directions:

Pour whipping cream into mixing bowl. Add mango and passion fruit juices. Add sugar and beat on high until stiff peaks form (this can take a while and it helps if your mixing bowl has been chilled). Set aside in fridge.

Apple Slush Ingredients:

2 (12 ounce) cans of frozen no-sugar added apple juice concentrate (keep frozen until ready to use)
12 ounces cold water (I just filled one of the empty juice cans for this)
3 squirts (or tablespoons) Torani Toasted Marshmallow Syrup (I found this for less than $5 from this site: lollicupstore.com)**

** We couldn’t obtain toasted marshmallow syrup on short notice, but we did find Vanilla flavored syrup, so we decided to try that for our at home twist version!

Apple Slush Directions:

Dump both cans of frozen apple juice into a blender. Add water and 3 squirts of the toasted marshmallow syrup. Blend on high for about 10 seconds. You should now have a slush texture beverage. Immediately pour into glasses and top with prepared foam topping. That’s it!

We followed the directions, substituting our vanilla syrup for the hard-to-find marshmallow syrup. In just a few minutes, we had a batch of LeFou’s Brew ready to go… and Lisa added a little something extra at the last moment before we tried them…

Some ground cinnamon sprinkled on top…

We only had one souvenir cup!

I have to say that Lisa’s idea with the cinnamon was a stroke of genius! Just the smell of it alone as I took a sip of my brew really added something to it!

Jackson and Bella agreed!! They really liked it!

So there you have it, an easy way to make your very own LeFou’s Brew at home! Give it a try and let us know what you think! Be sure to visit The Disney Diner for more great recipes and even some video of the recipes being made! (That’s a great feature that really helps me sometimes when the recipe itself seems a little unclear.)

Thanks for stopping by!! Be sure to leave a comment below!

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Ideas to Get You Excited for Beauty and the Beast

Sunday 12th of March 2017

[…] and the Beast things to do. In the Magic Kingdom, dine at Be Our Guest or grab a quick snack at Gaston’s Tavern. Outside you can meet Gaston himself. Then head over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to catch […]

Lisa at The Disney Diner

Friday 9th of August 2013

I'm glad y'all enjoyed the LeFou's Brew Recipe! Thanks for linking back to us (The Disney Diner). Loved your review and pics!! :)

baseballmickey

Saturday 10th of August 2013

Thanks, Lisa! We certainly did enjoy it! Your site is always one of our first stops when hunting for a Disney recipe to try out at home!! We're big fans!

Desiree' - Finding the Skinny Geek Within

Wednesday 7th of August 2013

Wow that is awesome! Sounds delicious too! I'll have to give this a try!

Thanks Desiree! You should definitely give it a try!

Longhorns2

Thanks for the info on the Shank- good to know! And awesome on the home made Brew! Sweet!

glad you enjoyed the post!