The time has officially come and Chef TJ has been moved to a new Disney restaurant. We’re so fortunate that he has made such an impact at this restaurant that they are continuing to provide excellent options for vegans. Currently Chef TJ is over at Cape May Cafe, but we are unaware of his new schedule there.
In our living in Florida Fourth of July/Independence Day tradition, we made plans to go to Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground to watch the golf cart parade and then have dinner at Trail’s End. When we found out that Chef TJ wasn’t going to be there we debated back and forth about whether or not we should still go, we obviously decided yes.
As usual we checked in with the hostess and when we were seated we were given the allergy guideline pamphlet. Now this pamphlet is great if you have top 8 allergies, but for veganism it’s pretty much pointless. Some of the items are noted due to shared fryers (which we don’t mind), things don’t say if they have chicken stock, meat, or honey in them. We always still ask to speak with a chef when we’re given these. On the pamphlet though, it seemed like there were a handful of things we could get on the buffet.
Soon enough Chef Steven came out to show us what we can have on the buffet. Many of the items on the pamphlet weren’t even on the buffet, like four or five things that seemed promising. On the buffet we could have vegetable soup, mixed greens with balsamic, arugula salad, and fruit. He asked if we had been given the vegan menu, I said no and he appeared frustrated that they hadn’t given it to us. He said we would be getting samosas, fried tofu with vegetables, and a dessert.
I went to the buffet to get some of the soup. Corey opted for some greens. The soup was okay. It was full of carrot, corn, potato, and beans. It was just fine, nothing exciting. The arugula salad was better than the mixed greens according to Corey.
The samosas came out pretty quickly. We got three plates worth because of there being three of us (even though our little guy is only 2). The samosas were great. They have a bit of heat to them and were very crispy. They were filled with potato and pea. The plate also came with a sweet and sour sauce to dip.
Our next course was the Chef TJ signature grilled vegetable plate. I am so happy they have kept this around as this has always been one of my favorites from him. The tofu was a little too fried in my opinion though, as it was kind of dried out on the inside.
The vegetables were great as always. The balsamic portobello is the best part. The fried rice was the best I’ve had there, usually a bit too heavy on onion for me, but this was perfect.
Lastly we got vegan strawberry shortcake for dessert! The dessert is topped with a soy whip (the same as the Lemon Blueberry Trifle they have on the brunch buffet). The shortcake was great, I would go back just for this dessert. We left with about four boxes of leftovers.
I am so glad that they have kept the vegan options here. Fort Wilderness is one of our favorite places to hangout outside of the parks. Chef Steven said they’re working on a few other options for vegans here and I am really excited about what he’s working on and can’t wait to go try it!
I did a terrible job of taking photos during this dinner but I got everything on video for our YouTube video. You can also see some of the golf cart parade! Check it out below. I promise to do better at documenting for both in the future.
Review from July 2019.
Price $$
We went a few weeks ago without Chef TJ and we had everything you listed plus- some sort of fried green tomato app, vegan Mac and cheese, field roast platter, bbq jack fruit and baked potatoes (from the buffet) with vegan butter brought to us. It was so much food that I didn’t cook the rest of our trip.