Menus at Walt Disney World have been slowly getting a (much needed) update. One of those is at Backlot Express at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This quick service location is located between Star Tours and the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular show. This restaurant used to have a delightful vegan option, the Tattooine Two Suns Hummus, but has been replaced with a new option.
The new option is the Teriyaki Tofu Bowl which features jasmine rice, marinated tofu, yuzu-pickled vegetables, and a lemon-tahini-chipotle vinaigrette. If we’re being honest, this option is pretty odd since the other non-vegan options are basically just burgers and chicken with a chicken teriyaki bowl as well. But I also suppose the hummus was an odd choice for here too, but I digress.
Upon picking up our order (which we mobile ordered and walked past about 50 people in line to order in person) I asked if there was any soy sauce at the condiment bar, I was told they had no soy sauce there or in the back. I could see the amount of rice we were given and knew soy sauce would be a nice added touch, but unfortunately they don’t carry it.
The bowl was just okay. I had higher hopes because the hummus was very good, so I figured if something replaced a good option it better be equally as delicious. This was CLOSE to being good, so hopefully they make some minor adjustments.
Now let’s talk about the flavors and why we felt that way. The tofu itself was good, it was cold which was a surprise, but it seemed to have actually possibly been pressed which helped with firmness. The flavor of the tofu wasn’t anything special, but you could visibly tell it had been marinated.
The pickled vegetables were the best part of the dish. They weren’t overly pickled, but they had a nice tang and offered a great lightness and crunch to the bowl. There was red onion, edamame, carrot, cucumber, and green onions. Remember that sauce I mentioned before? We got the tiniest drizzle of it. For it having been lemon, tahini, and chipotle flavored, there was no real flavor of that.
The worse part of the dish was the large helping of incredibly dry rice. Not only was it dry, it was very much stuck together (like the bottom of the rice cooker rice) and just not enjoyable to eat. If we had had soy sauce, this would have been a different story all together.
I really REALLY wanted to like this new dish. It was super close to being good, but just missed the mark. I am hoping they add some soy sauce packets to the condiment bar. This is a really nice reprieve in a sea of faux meats. If you plan on getting this and they still don’t offer a soy sauce, ask for extra sauce on the side!
Price $
Review from April 2022.
I just ate this for lunch (May 5th), and it seems like more sauce has been added. Comparing mine with the picture above, it almost looks like a totally different item! My bowl had more than enough sauce (tasted like a sweet soy ginger sauce) to cover the rice, which was well cooked and not dry, and the tofu was nicely covered too. There was a fair amount of the lemon-tahini-chipotle vinaigrette also, though it was mostly overpowered, flavor-wise, by the sweet soy sauce. I would definitely order this again!
Princess and the Bear commented the very same thing you said. Excessive rice no soy sauce cold tofu no seasoning. Small portions except for the rice
So close to being great. But just missed the mark.