It’s been a bit since we made it out to Ale & Compass Restaurant at Disney’s Yacht Club for dinner. When the resort reopened for Disney Vacation Club Villas they reopened the restaurant and the lounge. The restaurant is currently only serving breakfast and dinner with no lunch service. The menu has been a little modified, but not by much.
Just like all the other restaurants at Disney they are encouraging the QR code scan for their menu. They do still have paper menus for allergy menus, but these don’t show the plant-based icon on them. We were hoping to still be able to get some of our favorites from here, but were unsure with the menu changes possibly leading to some supply changes as well.
We asked our server if we could speak with a chef before ordering our meal. She said she would go get one, but then soon returned asking what our allergy was. I told her we were vegan and I asked if we could still get the Buffalo Cauliflower made vegan with vegan ranch, and if they still had their vegan burger around, which used to be on the lunch menu. She told me they could still do the cauliflower and would check about the burger.
Within a few minutes she returned to tell us they did have it and could make us a burger. We never ended up speaking with a chef, but she seemed pretty knowledgable about their options so I didn’t feel uncomfortable with dealing with her instead. With that being said, if you ever feel that your server doesn’t know what veganism is, or seems to be dismissing you when you ask about the options, always ask to just speak with a chef or ask them to ask the chef for you.
We ordered all of the vegan options we could here, starting with the Ale & Compass Salad. The salad as described on the menu is Watercress, Sorghum, Pumpkin Seeds, Rainbow Carrots, Beets, and Radish with Lemon-Balsamic Vinaigrette.
The portion of the salad was quite large, but not something I would consider a meal salad. It was a nice starter, and we shared it between two of us. The lemon-balsamic vinaigrette had a really nice tang to it, and the crunch of the pumpkin seeds were welcomed. It was a nice light salad in texture and flavor, and something that I could enjoy again.
We got the Roasted ‘Buffalo-style’ Cauliflower made vegan, which means they have to substitute the buffalo sauce to not have butter and they make a vegan ranch for dipping. When we first received ours we didn’t get the ranch. When our server made her way back around I asked for it and we got it a few minutes later.
The cauliflower is roasted and cooked very well. The flavor of the buffalo is great and not overly hot. I do sometimes wish it was a more crunchy breaded cauliflower, but it is nice to just have a solid roasted vegetable. You can also get this at the lounge, which pre-covid we would often do.
Last year we were told they were making their own ranch with a WayFare product. It seemed this was still the case as it was definitely house made and absolutely delicious.
The dinner option on the menu is the Plant-based Protein Bowl. On the menu this dish is described as Plant-based Italian Sausage, Quinoa, Sweet Potatoes, and Broccolini with Roasted Tomato Sauce.
The plant based sausage here is a Field Roast one, which is a nice change of pace with so many restaurants in Disney carrying Beyond. You get one link, and they cover it in the roasted tomato sauce. The quinoa was seasoned well and great on its own. I could probably have eaten a bowl of just that.
The broccolini was not seasoned at all, I pretty much avoided that on the plate. It was cooked pretty well, but when there’s no salt or anything to put on it from the table it makes it hard to eat. The potatoes were cooked well and were seasoned much better than the broccolini. The whole dish is kind of random, but things work well together. The roasted tomato sauce isn’t overly tomato-y and didn’t add a whole lot to the dish.
To our surprise they were able to make us a Vegan Burger here. Previously on their lunch menu they had a vegan bacon cheeseburger, so I wasn’t necessarily expecting that as the option with changes, but was excited to see what they did. They also noted that they used an air fryer for the french fries instead of frying them for us (we didn’t specifically ask them to do this).
The burger was on a toasted bun, no longer tiny bread slices. It was also an Impossible burger instead of the old Beyond burger here. There was no vegan bacon, but we did get a slice of Follow Your Heart Smoked Gouda on it and a ton of vegan mayo. The toppings included caramelized onions, lettuce, and tomato.
This burger was one of the better burgers I’ve had on Disney property, which made me happy as the burger they used to have here was my favorite Beyond burger at Disney. The Impossible burger was cooked absolutely perfectly and was very flavorful. The toasted bun really took it up a notch and the smoked gouda went so well with everything.
Since the burger isn’t on the menu, I think it will 100% depend on the chef working and how accommodating your server is if you try to order this. Our server kept saying how great their vegan burger was, so she was definitely an advocate for the vegan options on the menu.
For dessert here there is a Mango Torte Spiced Lemon Pound Cake. This was another option that our server heavily talked up, she couldn’t wait for us to try it. This dessert featured Rich Mango Mousse Layered with Vanilla Cake served with Fresh Berries and Raspberry Coulis.
The dessert hit the mark, that is for sure. The cake was mostly a heavy vanilla flavor, and we honestly didn’t taste any mango. But none of this was a bad thing because it was still absolutely delicious. There was a lemony flavor of whatever the triangle was on top, and the toasted coconut shavings were great. I would come back for this dessert.
Our meal here was delicious. Ale & Compass can be pretty hit or miss for us, but usually the cauliflower is a safe solid option if they’re willing to make it vegan. We have never had an issue here with speaking to a chef or asking for modifications, but we have heard from many of our followers that they have here specifically. If you come across this, as I stated earlier, just ask to speak with the chef. If the chef is the one being reluctant then unfortunately there isn’t much to do from there. While that is rare, it has happened to us too.
Hopefully they just bring back the burger on the menu because I would 100% come back there in a heartbeat for it.
Price $$$
Review from October 2020
