Tower of Vegan Deliciousness and Other Vegan Disney Dining Reviews (August 2009)

[Shenanigoat]

I'm enjoying your reviews. It's so nice that Disney is able to make sure everyone is well feed.

 

[mamaboogie]

Awesome reviews! My bf is vegetarian and we've booked Ohana in the hopes of getting Chef TJ (he was amazing to us in Boma in 2007 and made my bf a huge stirfry and deep-fried Oreos!) Our ADR is on a Sunday so I have my fingers crossed FWIW, my bf didn't like the tofu dish at HBD either and they were one of the places that was quite dismissive of him being vegetarian. Most other places were excellent and talked him through the menu, offered to make entree size portions of appetiser dishes, offered to sub tofu for meat etc.

That's why I'm getting confused! I knew I recognised Chef TJ and had heard what a fab guy he was at catering for dietry requirements - but I'd read reviews of him and Boma! I didn't know Chefs moved between restaurants!

Punkin - sounds to me Chef Steven is slightly jealous of the legend that is Chef TJ!

I would have been so upset at being treated like this. You just don't expect it at Disney!

 

[Lizzybear]

That's why I'm getting confused! I knew I recognised Chef TJ and had heard what a fab guy he was at catering for dietry requirements - but I'd read reviews of him and Boma! I didn't know Chefs moved between restaurants!

Punkin - sounds to me Chef Steven is slightly jealous of the legend that is Chef TJ!

I would have been so upset at being treated like this. You just don't expect it at Disney!

I remember reading he got promoted, definitely well deserved and i'm really pleased he's working to widen the choices at Ohana for those who don't eat meat as well as accomodate various food allergies

 

[Plasticletters]

I remember reading he got promoted, definitely well deserved and i'm really pleased he's working to widen the choices at Ohana for those who don't eat meat as well as accomodate various food allergies

I wonder what constitutes being "promoted" in regards to switching restaurants at Disney. Do you think the more frequently visited restaurants are "higher" up on the totem pole of chef employment or does it go by how expensive the average meal is?

 

[Lizzybear]

I wonder what constitutes being "promoted" in regards to switching restaurants at Disney. Do you think the more frequently visited restaurants are "higher" up on the totem pole of chef employment or does it go by how expensive the average meal is?

I'm not sure but I bet restaurant popularity has something to do with it, Ohana is a pretty hard ADR to get it seems... Though saying that Boma was packed when we ate there, partly why we were amazed to get such great service especially with it being a buffet

 

[Plasticletters]

I'm not sure but I bet restaurant popularity has something to do with it, Ohana is a pretty hard ADR to get it seems... Though saying that Boma was packed when we ate there, partly why we were amazed to get such great service especially with it being a buffet

that's a good point. You have to assume that Victoria and Albert's is the most coveted chef spot, followed by the "signature" restaurants at the resorts (California Grill, Jiko, etc), beyond that I really don't know.

 

[Plasticletters]

Coming up next - California Grill!!

 

[v_gan]

Coming up next - California Grill!!

Yay!

 

[mamaboogie]

Coming up next - California Grill!!

Oh - I can't wait! I love California Grill!

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

Looking Forward to reading more reviews. . .

 

[ehartman4]

Michael and I went to EPCOT, and I was so hungry that I got a black bean salad for breakfast (weird, I know) from Sunshine Seasons. It had a little bit of a spice to it and tasted delicious! It didn't taste the same as the black bean salad we got at Backlot Express, which was good. It's nice to have a bit of variety!
(I tried taking a picture showing the ingredients. That didn't work out very well. Oops)

Later on in the day we ate in America and got veggie burgers (I don't remember if this counter service restaurant had a name, ha). Beware though, you have to request gluten free buns! We also asked if we could substitute anything for the dessert since we don't eat dairy, but the woman taking our order seemed already pissed at us and basically told us there was no there way they could do that (but other places can?). Lame, but we got over it.

The burger and fries were so good! We love having a fixin's bar. We always stock up on lots of pickles to also fill our bellies. Yum!

That night we had reservations for California Grill in the Contemporary. We heard that they definitely cater to vegans, so we were pretty excited. The woman at the main desk acted like she had no idea what they were going to do to cater to us (she seemed a bit clueless overall). We told her we could just talk to the chefs and she seemed ok with that idea. Once we arrived at the restaurant (you have to have someone escort you to the elevator in order to get up) we were given a pager thing while we waited. Unfortunately, there's not much waiting room inside the restaurant so we sort of wandered aimlessly for a bit until Michael discovered we could go out on the observation deck! However, we were paged right then and were seated RIGHT NEXT TO the window! We had a perfect view to see Wishes. Also, the electric light parade was going on when we sat down so we watched that while we waited for our server. Even though he took a while to get to us, he was very sweet. He brought out us this bread to start off with (he made sure it didn't have any dairy in it)...

...with some oil and vinegar to dip it in. It was delicious! After we scarfed up our bread, Chef Brian came to our table to get our food all figured out. Chef Brian was really cool and talked to us for a bit before talking to us about our food (Michael and I had a few things in common with him. Weird!). We ended up deciding that Brian, along with 3 other chefs, would do "vegan unplugged" for us! Basically, each chef would make up a dish of their own and come up with 4 meals we would get all at once. Brian was really nice and even asked if there were specific foods we did NOT want and all that, but we basically told him he had creative freedom to do whatever he wanted!
The food was brought out right as Wishes was starting (they forgot to dim the lights at first. Woops!). Michael and I each got our own plate of this:

Doesn't it look so pretty?
Chef Brian explained each dish to us. Top left is 4 different kinds of tomatoes marinated in some kind of vinegar. He was SO EXCITED about that vinegar! He kept going on and on about how they aged it and stored it and refrigerated it and a bunch of other methods of preparation. It was very cute, to be honest. he was so proud of his work . The tomatoes tasted so good! Unfortunately, Michael and I don't like the consistency of tomatoes very much so neither of us finished that dish.
Top right is a pile of mixed steamed veggies (carrot, onion, green bean, spinach) on top of a bed of white rice. Michael and I both thought this would be the less flavorful of the 4 dishes, but it ended up being the most! It was my favorite of the 4 meals by far. The white rice had so much flavor in it and the veggies weren't soft at all! I ate this meal first since I thought I'd like it the least. I wish I had saved it for last!
Bottom left is sushi, of course! I honestly can't remember what was in the sushi (probably avocado, carrot, etc) but it was definitely delicious. It was my second favorite of the dishes. There wasn't anything special about it - it just tasted like sushi. It was definitely good quality sushi though!
Bottom right is mushrooms, eggplant, squash, and zucchini (Michael, I sort of forget the ingredients. Help me out here) in a tomato sauce. This was delicious but I don't like the consistency of mushrooms very much so I gave mine to Michael. The taste of the tomato sauce was delicious! It didn't taste like anything you can buy from your local grocery store. You could tell whoever made this dish really spent some time on the sauce! Overall, I think all 4 of these were WONDERFUL!
After we were done, Brian brought us out this...

Lemon sorbet! Oh man was this GOOD. It was definitely made from real lemons and very tart, sour, and sweet. Everything about this sorbet was great. I couldn't eat all of mine since I was so full and because it was so tart, so Michael finished mine. Brian made sure to tell us it was made in house, which is awesome. No store bought pre-made items at California Grill!

Overall, everything this day tasted great. I don't feel like any credits we used were a waste at all (Cali Grill is 2 credits, fyi). For any vegans or vegetarians going to WDW, you should definitely check out California Grill!

 

[v_gan]

Oh, wow. I'm definitely going to try to go to the California Grill on our next trip. That food looks so good! I think I would really like the mushroom dish. I <3 mushrooms!

And that's so much fun that you could see the Electric Light Parade below. You had good timing, and great seats!

 

[Plasticletters]

Later on in the day we ate in America and got veggie burgers (I don't remember if this counter service restaurant had a name, ha).

It is called the Liberty Inn

Beware though, you have to request gluten free buns!

Neither of us are allergic to gluten or counting carbs....the regular hamburger buns are made with milk!

We also asked if we could substitute anything for the dessert since we don't eat dairy, but the woman taking our order seemed already pissed at us and basically told us there was no there way they could do that (but other places can?). Lame, but we got over it.

It was a pretty busy day for Lunch. I'm not sure if she was really angry at US or just the fact that the line was getting held up. Either way, for some reason there was nothing we could get for dessert there, so we just let that part of our meal go to waste

The burger and fries were so good! We love having a fixin's bar. We always stock up on lots of pickles to also fill our bellies. Yum!

If we weren't on free dining I could have easily made a free (albeit somewhat unhealthy) meal out of some of the fixin's bars with all the mushrooms, onions and pickles.

The woman at the main desk acted like she had no idea what they were going to do to cater to us (she seemed a bit clueless overall). We told her we could just talk to the chefs and she seemed ok with that idea.

Yeah, she confused me a little bit and made me kinda worried. She mentioned that they would do a lot for vegetarians but not so much vegans. She talked us through the menu a bit. I really think she was trying to help, but overall she made me feel like perhaps booking this reservation was a bad idea

Once we arrived at the restaurant (you have to have someone escort you to the elevator in order to get up) we were given a pager thing while we waited. Unfortunately, there's not much waiting room inside the restaurant so we sort of wandered aimlessly for a bit until Michael discovered we could go out on the observation deck!

We got to check out the observation deck after our meal. It was awesome! You can see EVERYTHING from up there. Here I am striking a pose on the roof

Even though he took a while to get to us, he was very sweet. He brought out us this bread to start off with (he made sure it didn't have any dairy in it) with some oil and vinegar to dip it in. It was delicious!

And when they saw we had finished it, they brought us more! Our server also mentioned to us that the bread is usually brought out with butter, but that they made up a vinegar/oil mix just for us. It was REALLY good

4 different kinds of tomatoes marinated in some kind of vinegar. He was SO EXCITED about that vinegar! He kept going on and on about how they aged it and stored it and refrigerated it and a bunch of other methods of preparation. It was very cute, to be honest. he was so proud of his work . The tomatoes tasted so good! Unfortunately, Michael and I don't like the consistency of tomatoes very much so neither of us finished that dish.

He talked about storing the vinegar at -20 degrees and then letting it sit and then storing it in super cold storage again. Whatever it was, that stuff was delicious. Normally I cannot stomach tomatoes by themselves (I need them mixed in with things) but the vinegar and other spices made this a wonderful dish for me. I ate most of it (which is a milestone for me as I usually pick tomatoes out of almost everything).

Bottom left is sushi, of course! I honestly can't remember what was in the sushi (probably avocado, carrot, etc) but it was definitely delicious. It was my second favorite of the dishes.

Avocado, carrot, sushi rice and seaweed wrap mixed with some spice. We also got pickled ginger to eat! (the pink stuff you see)

Bottom right is mushrooms, eggplant, squash, and zucchini (Michael, I sort of forget the ingredients. Help me out here) in a tomato sauce.

I think that's all there was sweetie

Lemon sorbet! Oh man was this GOOD. It was definitely made from real lemons and very tart, sour, and sweet. Everything about this sorbet was great.

To compare, the portion of sorbet we received at the Hollywood Brown Eye...er...Derby...was less than an eighth the size of what we got here.

 

[Plasticletters]

Oh, wow. I'm definitely going to try to go to the California Grill on our next trip. That food looks so good! I think I would really like the mushroom dish. I <3 mushrooms!

I also LOVE mushrooms. That tomato sauce dish was really good, but didn't have as many mushrooms in it as you probably think. If you go to the California Grill I would suggest telling the chef that you really like mushrooms though. When Chef Brian came to our table he seemed really willing to work with our particular tastes, likes/dislikes. We just told him to do whatever he wanted, but he seemed very open to taking requests.

 

[ehartman4]

That tomato sauce dish was really good, but didn't have as many mushrooms in it as you probably think.

Yeah, it wasn't much of a "mushroom dish". I'm pretty sure it had 2 of everything listed... 2 mushrooms, 2 pieces of eggplant, 2 pieces of zuccini, etc.

 

[Wall-E1]

Do you know what kind of veggie patty they were serving? Disney used to serve Boca Burger patties, but when I was there about a year ago they had switched to some other type of patty. I didn't like them. They seemed more like grains and chucks of vegetables in the shape of a patty (hope that description makes sense). I was hoping they still served the Boca Burger patties at some locations.

 

[Wall-E1]

p.s. - I'm really enjoying your dining reviews. I'm a vegetarian and am leaving to Disney in just over a week. Your reviews have given me some excellent dining ideas.

 

[ehartman4]

Do you know what kind of veggie patty they were serving? Disney used to serve Boca Burger patties, but when I was there about a year ago they had switched to some other type of patty. I didn't like them. They seemed more like grains and chucks of vegetables in the shape of a patty (hope that description makes sense). I was hoping they still served the Boca Burger patties at some locations.

They probably serve the same as the kind you had. Michael and I (I'm pretty sure I can speak for him) both don't like veggie burgers that are supposed to taste like meat, like Boca does. We like burgers that have veggies, grains, etc. in them. I'm almost positive they serve the same veggie burgers all across Disney, so you probably won't be able to find any Boca ones.

 

[Plasticletters]

p.s. - I'm really enjoying your dining reviews. I'm a vegetarian and am leaving to Disney in just over a week. Your reviews have given me some excellent dining ideas.

Awesome! I'm glad we could help

PS: Coming up next - counter service bonanza (and a BIG "oops")!

 

[SharonLowe]

They probably serve the same as the kind you had. Michael and I (I'm pretty sure I can speak for him) both don't like veggie burgers that are supposed to taste like meat, like Boca does. We like burgers that have veggies, grains, etc. in them. I'm almost positive they serve the same veggie burgers all across Disney, so you probably won't be able to find any Boca ones.

Thank WDW for realizing that most vegans/vegetarians don't want things that taste like meat. I hate Quorn for making things that taste/feel like meat and I sure don't want another veggie burger that tastes/feels like meat.

Love your reviews!!