Vegetarian disney dining?

[wdwnut]

Hi: We have a ladies trip planned for next April, and one of our group is a vegetarian. Any suggestions for dining where she will be able to find something delicious as well as the rest of us? Also, one of our people wants to do the Hoop De Doo; will they be able to substitute something for our vegetarian- she will eat fish if she has no other option. thanks

 

[IluvKingLouis]

I try to eat vegetarian, as well as fish too. I would suggest looking at the menus at www.allearsnet.com. Every sit down has at least one veggie dish, and most of the counter services will offer some type of veggie wrap sandwich.

Veggie burgers are pretty common too, as is cheese pizza. My favorite veggie wrap is at Cosmic Rays, and my favorite veggie dish at a sitdown is the stuffed pepper at 50's Primetime.

Have a great time!

 

[bicker]

I just was researching that a bit deeper this morning, going over our plans for February. I actually canceled Liberty Tree and swapped in Tony's Town Square instead, just because the vegetarian options were better (and we already have three other character meals, so I didn't feel that we necessarily needed a fourth one ).

What we ended up with, balancing the needs of two vegetarians (myself and DW55), and six meat-eaters (DB39, DSiL39, DNp10, DNc5, DGMiL58, and DGFiLiL53 -- now have fun figuring out what the letters all mean! ) was:

- Akershus
- Sci-Fi Dine Inn (50s Prime Time was unsatisfactory for us vegetarians in October)
- Mama Melrose (We ate at Brown Derby, with almost the same specific group, actually, a few years ago, and it wasn't that great with the kids).
- Tusker House (My wife and I just ate there in October -- super! -- so good its worth going back to again so soon)
- Cape May Cafe (We're staying at the Beach Club)
- Crystal Palace (Good for all involved!)
- Tony's Town Square (Better than the other alternatives in MK)

 

[rubato]

I think it's pretty easy to eat at Disney as a vegetarian, especially if she will eat some fish. You might call about HDD and let them know that you will need a vegetarian meal, they can probably accomodate you with no problem. I used to be a vegan and, I know, there is no way I could have been happy eating at Disney. But, then, I could barely eat out anywhere. She should be fine!

 

[Bete]

the front page of all ears website, right now. I just read it. It's been recently updated which makes it pretty current. It's dealing with counter service only.

Most table service places will cook to order and have a few choices available from their menus.

 

[TillyMarigold]

There are a few people around here who write vegetarian dining reviews, v_gan (a vegan, obviously) being one of them.

The seared maize cake over grilled vegetables with piquillo pepper sauce at Jiko was my husband's favorite meal of the trip, although he also liked the tofu dish at Sci-Fi. Mamma Mia had excellent penne a la vodka that I ordered without the pancetta, and they had the best tomato-and-mozzarella appetizer I've ever eaten. I've heard the best non-breakfast buffet for vegetarians is Crystal Palace for charcters or Boma without, but if I wanted to eat vegetarian and see a lot of characters, I'd probably do breakfasts (I recommend Cape May).

Best veggie QS was probably the hummus sandwich at Columbia Harbour House, but the ubiquitous veggie burger (well, not ubiquitous, but there's at least 1 QS that serves them in each park) was really good. We also eat seafood so we didn't look too hard for vegetarian items, although we ate them sometimes if we were somewhere they looked good. By the way we had breakfast at Pizzafari one day and they offered us double hash browns instead of meat with our breakfast, which I mention only because our resort food court wouldn't do that.

If she likes ethnic food, I recommend the Picnic in the Park ... the vegetarian wrap was nothing special, but the tandoori spiced tofu and zucchini side was really the best QS item we had on the whole trip. It was amazing. And I'm advocating for it because I'm afraid that if no one orders it, they'll do away with it before I get back to have it again.

Overall, I would say it's *really* easy to eat vegetarian at Disney if you're not picky, and not that hard if you *are* picky but it requires more planning.

 

[Maggi May]

Here are a few other recommendations.

Table Service:

Saana @ AKL Villas features several vegetarian and vegan selections on its Indian-African inspired menu. It's gotten good reviews, and it's on my to-do list for next month.

Boma and Tusker House buffets also feature good selections. Both are kind of African/Middle Eastern, but also have more traditional selections. The soups and hummus at Boma are delish. The chefs are usually available at both restaurants to let you know what items are vegetarian.

Counter:

Columbia Harbor House (MK) has a veggie hummus sandwich and tuna sandwich that are both great.

Also good choices at Tangerine Cafe and Sunshine Seasons at Epcot.

The new CS at Contemporary also has some interesting choices but I haven't tried them yet.

I hope you and your friends have a great time.

 

[bicker]

The seared maize cake over grilled vegetables with piquillo pepper sauce at Jiko was my husband's favorite meal of the trip

Ours too! It was excellent.

Best veggie QS was probably the hummus sandwich at Columbia Harbour House

I've read about this, but we never seem to be there around lunch time.

I have to voice dissent about two of the options: Sanaa and Tangerine Cafe. Sanaa was just "okay" compared to the other meals we had last month. My food at Tangerine Cafe has consistently been "dry".

 

[everythingALICE]

For Table Service...
- I absolutely love Boma. The buffet is so big that everyone should be able to find something that they like, and it's very veggie friendly.
- I was surprised by the number of options at Crystal Palace. I went in not expecting much, but found many dishes that I could eat and loved it.
- Asherkus usually has one veggie entree on the menu, but if you call ahead the chef will come out to talk to you and he can come up with something different if desired.
- Chefs de France has an awesome veggie lasagna, and also an adult mac n cheese.

For Counter Service...
-The Lighthouse Sandwich at Columbia Harbour House is delicious, and they also have a vegetarian chili that I've yet to try.
- The CS cantina in Mexico will make any burritos, tacos, etc. without meat upon request. The portions are large and I thought very good.

As for the Hoop de Doo Review, they will make a veggie entree if you call ahead, but don't set your expectations very high. When I called, the options were pasta with marinara sauce, steamed or grilled (I forget which) vegetables, or a fish dish. I don't eat fish so I got the pasta, and also ate the salad, cornbread, and potato that came with the meal.

 

[HunnyJar]

I eat so well when we are at Disney World! Much better than when we are staying in town..sad really. ANYWAY! Your vegetarian should have NO problem finding things to eat. Just make sure that the CM takes note that you have a vegetarian in your party when you made your ADR's. Some chefs will come out and speak with your vegetarian about what they like and what they offer and I have even had a few chefs walk me through the buffets and point out what is vegetarian and vegan.

Here are my picks for the best meals..

Table Service:

Boma - I love this place. I have never had a bad meal here and there is always more than enough for me to choose from.

Marrakesh - Yum! The vegetable cous cous is great! The vegetables remind me of my mom's cooking. Nice to have now that she's gone.

'Ohana - I've been lucky enough to have chefs come out and ask me what I like to eat and be more than happy to accommodate me. Plus there is always nibbles on the table that I can share with my family (salad, bread, vegetables, etc.)

Whispering Canyon - The food was really tasty and the atmosphere was a lot of fun!


Counter Service:

The Mara - Great counter service! I had the best veggie burger here. It was NOT the standard Garden Burger. This was flavored with cumin and other African type spices. SO good!

Cosmic Ray's - I love the condiment bar here. I can make my veggie burger just how I like it. The mushrooms are awesome!

Pecos Bill's - The salad they offer here can be made without the chicken. It is really tasty and refreshing. The jicama is a nice touch!

Sunshine Seasons - The food here is great. Plus they have really yummy desserts!


Regardless of where you go, your vegetarian should be able to have some great meals! Disney is so great about accommodating our meals.

 

[bicker]

For Table Service...
- I absolutely love Boma. The buffet is so big that everyone should be able to find something that they like, and it's very veggie friendly.

I don't want to ruin anyone's enjoyment, but vegetarians eating at Boma should inquire about the use of animal stocks in the various grain dishes.

- I was surprised by the number of options at Crystal Palace. I went in not expecting much, but found many dishes that I could eat and loved it.

I have to make the same inquiry at Crystal Palace. My gut-feel, though, is that there will be fewer unfortunate surprises along these lines at Crystal Palace than at Boma. Just a guess, though.

 

[marshmellow86]

Once you have selected and scheduled your restaurants, have them note that she is vegetarian on the reservation. They can plan better and have better options to accomodate if they know ahead of time. I think that they may even be able to discuss options with you on the phone ahead of time(they may have someone call and speak with her).

 

[JeffGoldblum]

Yesterdays episode of WDW Today talked about Vegan and Vegetarian options at Disney.

 

[DisneyRunner2009]

'Ohana has a specific dish for vegetarians, it's huge. The dish contains broccoli spears with breading, pan noodles of some sort, glazed tofu and more. It was . Just let them know. The Chef did come out and talk to my daughter in August.

 

[TinkerbellinLouisian]

So much detailed info here...but I will add...

My youngest had decided to be vegetarian in 2008...so I poured over menus to accomodate her.... the TS options all seemed to have good choices...plus we did go with buffet's like Cape May and H&V.

But CS choices were a bit harder as I was trying to keep her from having veggie burgers every day (and not sure she would eat them...) here is what we ended up with for CS:

MK: Cosmic Ray's had the MOST Veggie choices
EP: Sunshine Seasons had the MOST Veggie Choices
DHS: I found Sunset Market...which is an outdoor area near RNR & ToT ... and it had the MOST Veggie choices.....

At Universal...we ate at Mythos.

Have a magical visit!
Mary

 

[cbg1027]

Allears.net recently updated their vegetarian dining info section -
http://allears.net/din/special.htm

Scroll down to the bottom and you will see these options:

- Quick Service Vegetarian Dining Experiences
--Parks Counter Service
--Parks Table Service
--Resorts Table Service
--Strategies for WDW Vegetarian Dining


Great info, check it out!

 

[Maggi May]

I
Counter Service:

The Mara - Great counter service! I had the best veggie burger here. It was NOT the standard Garden Burger. This was flavored with cumin and other African type spices. SO good!

The Mara at AKL also has a falafel pita that's very filling, too. Also a veggie flatbread that I didn't try but looked good.

I agree with a prior suggestion to make sure that dishes don't have chicken broth or other animal based products.

 

[punkin712]

'Ohana has a specific dish for vegetarians, it's huge. The dish contains broccoli spears with breading, pan noodles of some sort, glazed tofu and more. It was . Just let them know. The Chef did come out and talk to my daughter in August.

Be careful with 'Ohana...while there definitely is a chef (Chef TJ) there who does a wonderful job for vegetarians, we were there on one of his nights off and the chef that night was less than accommodating. I made the reservation 2 months in advance (with a note about a strict vegetarian diner) and confirmed the reservation several times prior to our trip. Apparently, Chef Steven (who covers for Chef TJ on his off nights) isn't fond of doing vegetarian meals and the result was obvious. Even our server told us we probably wouldn't be happy with the meal!

Anyway, the bottom line is if you go to 'Ohana, make absolutely certain Chef TJ is working that night and you'll probably have a wonderful experience.

 

[Jeanieblue114]

As PP's have said, Allears just posted a special update with Vegetarian and Vegan menu options (pretty much in park).

There is a link on the main page of Allears.net.

It has a chart format and details the items.

 

[wdwnut]

Thanks to all- keep the ideas coming please