When Sebastian’s Bistro opened a few years ago, it was a restaurant that I always meant to try but didn’t get a chance to get out to the Caribbean Beach Resort. The menu always had creative options for vegans and vegetarians. So, when it was announced that Sebastian’s Bistro would reopen with a family-style plant-based menu, I moved trying this spot to the top of my “must-do” list.
I will say at the beginning that this was one of the best table service meals that I have had at Disney World in a long time. We had the most amazing service. I absolutely adored this place and will be coming back here again. Sebastian’s Bistro is definitely a hidden treasure and worth the excursion to the Carribean Beach Resort. Here is a breakdown of everything that came with the plant-based menu.
The Bread Service
The plant-based bread service comes with those no frills allergy-friendly dinner rolls served at most table service restaurants in Disney World. These rolls, however, are only mere vehicles to transport the yummy goodness of the guava butter and caramelized onion jam. The guava butter had a subtle tart, tanginess to it that I enjoyed. The onion jam was just as delicious with its equal parts sweet and savory. I loved the unique flavors of these spreads and it really set the mood for the adventurous food options to come.
The Spice Necklace Salad
The spice necklace salad is a mixed greens salad with pumpkin seeds, pineapple, spiced walnuts, radishes and a key lime dressing. This salad was so refreshing! It’s the perfect item to put you in a tropical island mood. The fruits and nuts created a pleasant contrasting texture along with the amazing tropical flavors. If I only had this to eat, I probably would have been content. The salad was THAT good. I will definitely try to recreate this at home.
The Sides
There were three sides that came with the plant-based menu; cilantro rice with beans, curry vegetables and grilled broccolini. All of the sides were pretty solid. I enjoyed the charred flavor of the broccolini yet it still maintained a fresh crunch to it. The cilantro rice and beans were my favorite of the sides. The cilantro wasn’t too overpowering but it gave the rice a nice flavor. I thought the curry vegetables were just okay. It could have been brought to the next level if it had some heat to it. I understand that Disney tends to not get too crazy with the spices in an effort to appeal to more sensibilities. This is probably a good introduction to curry for someone who has never tried it.
The Plant-based “Meats”
So, this is where the plant-based menu starts to differ more drastically from the traditional menu. In the plant-based version, you get jerked tofu, Impossible kabob and plant-based sausages. I loved the jerk fried tofu. It was crispy and coated with spices on the outside and soft on the inside. The sausage tasted like the Beyond Italian sausage that you get at some of the quick services in the park. The sausage was good but felt a little out of place with the rest of the meal. I probably would have preferred to just have some extra tofu instead. The kabob was a spiced and grilled Impossible meat. It was basically like a meatball on a stick. This was probably the item that I was most unsure about trying. The creativity was definitely there and it had a distinct taste to it, but I still haven’t decided if I liked it or not. Since I really don’t need fake meat, they could have just as easily served me a vegetable kabob and I would have been happy with that. I will give them an “A” for their creativity on that item though.
The Dessert
For dessert, the plant-based menu came with its own coconut pineapple bread pudding. This was a fantastic way to end an adventurous meal through the Caribbean. The was a dense cake-like dessert that came with ice cream and caramel (poured on table side). I enjoyed this dessert. It wasn’t too sweet and I liked the salty richness that the caramel provided to it. Fountain drinks and coffee are included with the meal and I would definitely recommend getting a cup of coffee with this dessert.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this meal was a fun culinary experience. I like that the chefs here are willing to take some risks to create some interesting items. I think the plant-based menu could have used less faux meat. I would have liked to have had spiced black bean cakes, empanadas or even just a jerked vegetable kabob. This is a personal preference and I’m sure many will like these options. I would highly recommend Sebastian’s Bistro to vegans and vegetarians. It’s one of the few family-style meals you will have on Disney property and not feel like the meal created for you was an afterthought.
