Saturday, 22 January 2011

japan iii: food at disney

Hey so whilst I was in Japan I went to DisneyLand and DisneySea. It was super awesome. There was a volcano in the middle of an island, and a roller coaster came out of it, and there was a 20 000 leagues under the sea ride, and it was very steampunky, and there was a Monster's Inc. ride, and I bought a ridiculous hat, and it was all very exciting.

steph in the greatest hat ever


I had prepared in advance, food-wise, with onigiri (more on that later) and a big breakfast. I've been to very few theme parks, and I was advised by experienced park goers that vegan food would be thin on the ground. Usually in Australia, I'd assume that I could at least have chips; however I had noticed as I wandered around Japan that this was not often the case, so I didn't want to take the risk and stocked up on delicious onigiri.

I was therefore delighted to find that the Disney Park Guides have a little column for vegetarian food, and where it can be found, where vegetarian means 'no eggs, dairy, meat or seafood but does include garlic and onion.' I am not Jain, so this was super okay by me. Granted there was only one restaurant in each park that had this option, but it was a sure option!

noms at disney sea

At DisneySea, this restaurant was Ristorante di Canaletto, next to the Gondolas, in "Venice." The service here was lovely, the wait was not too long and we got blankets (for sitting outside at less than 10C), and my pasta was quite tasty! That's it featured above, with the eggplant. Someone very important (or so we guessed - she was the only person in a suit and not a uniform) came out to reassure me that my food would be completely vegan and totally suitable for me, which was kind of cool (and way more reassurance than I had needed, but I really appreciated it).

At DisneyLand, the restaurant we went to was the Eastside Cafe, in the World Bazaar. I was worried, because it was all set menus, but there is a little vegan set menu with a surprisingly tasty green salad and a garden vegetable pasta. The pasta was nothing exciting but again, it was definitely vegan, and it was nice to be inside from the cold, and off my feet. Don't believe the website, though - it is not a leisurely meal, we were whisked away as soon as possible, to clear up the table for someone else.

Disney: it was fun, and tasty!

a submarine at dock in mystery island

1 comment:

Hannah said...

How fabulous! I only have very hazy memories of my time at Disneyworld in California when I was 4... I remember Snow White's cottage, the spinning cups ride, and churros, but my bet s the latter weren't vegan in the slightest :P (Maybe the cinnamon sugar they were rolled in was...)