Back in the summer of last year Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort in Walt Disney World completed a major renovation to its Old Port Royale building which acts as a “port of entry” for guests and houses the hotel’s lobby, quick service food court Centertown Market and and gift shop Calypso Trading Post. They also established a new outdoor lounge and full service dining locaation right on the edge of the water and named it Sebastian’s Bistro.
Interested in a vegan Disney food review of Sebastian’s Bistro? Read on…
Sebastian’s Bistro Decor
The restaurant is reminiscent of a Caribbean seaside retreat with bright white washed walls and ceilings, natural wood paneling floors and chairs, muted grey wainscoting and coral and turquoise accents throughout.
You’ll find a variety of seating options to choose from including traditional tables, booths and banquette. There are vaulted ceilings and huge picturesque windows which allow a great deal of natural sunlight into the space making it feel bright and airy. Wall hangings depicting sea life as well as the restaurant’s name sake Sebastian from The Little Mermaid adorn the walls.
I always request a table by the window with a view overlooking the lake.
The Caribbean “under the sea” vibe extends to both the dishware and glassware as well as the menu. So let’s get on to the food shall we?
Sebastian’s Bistro Vegan Food Offerings
I’ve dined at Sebastian’s Bistro a handful of times and all of those times have been during lunchtime hours. Sadly today marked the last day of lunch service at the restaurant. I spoke with a manager who informed me that many of the guests staying at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort are on the dining plan and were requesting lunch to be served in the Centertown Market quick service area. Previously Centertown Market was only open for breakfast and dinner with lunch and dinner being offered at Sebastian‘s Bistro.
The addition of lunch to the quick service Centertown Market area pulled business away from Sebastian’s Bistro, so management decided to shut the full-service restaurant down during lunch and have it only open during dinner service.
Please keep this in mind when reading through my review. There are some food items that cross over between lunch and dinner, namely the appetizers, but the two sandwiches featured below were only available on the lunch menu. One of which was my favorite food item on all of Walt Disney World property. Fingers crossed that it makes it onto a menu somewhere else.
The cocktails on the menu at Sebastian’s bistro include several signature drinks (a heavy accent on the rum) with names like Purple Martin, Banana Cabana and a twist on the Long Island Iced Tea aptly named Poolside Iced Tea. There are also wines by the glass, sangria and beer available. The drinks themselves come from the adjacent open-air Banana Cabana pool bar which in and of itself is a beautiful space.
There are two vegan-as-is appetizers on the menu. Both of these items are currently available on the dinner menu as well.
This is the Marauders Snack ($15) with tostones, arepas, and house-made crackers served with black bean hummus, guacamole, and Pico de Gallo.
I’ve also sampled Sebastian’s House Salad ($9) which is a gorgeous presentation of mixed greens with with black beans, avocado, pumpkin seeds and cilantro-lime vinaigrette.
There were two vegan sandwich options on the lunch menu, of which there was a definite and clear winner.
This is the Island Curry “Eggless” Salad Sandwich ($14) on multigrain bread with lettuce and tomato served with your choice of french fries, sweet potato fries, or jicama slaw. This sandwich was by no means bad. It was actually quite delicious with a filling of curried tofu and some bits of sweet and crunchy apple.
If you ask nicely your server might even bring you out a tiny basket of their fried yuca as your side.
My heart was won by the Plant-based Banh Mi Sandwich ($16) with a perfectly seared Impossible Foods burger patty, cucumbers, mint, cilantro, pickled vegetables, and vegan miso-sriracha mayonnaise. This sandwich also came with the promise of french fries, sweet potato fries, or jicama slaw.
Now that the restaurant is no longer serving lunch items I will have to make a return trip to bring you new photos of their two vegan dinner offerings which include a modified Caribbean Vegetable Curry ($19) with cilantro rice and crispy yuca and a modified Jerk Butternut Squash dish ($17) with black beans, cilantro rice, collard greens and a chili sauce.
I’ll be sure to update this post with those photos as soon as possible.
Sebastian’s Bistro is located along the Old Port Royale promenade at Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort. You can access the restaurant by taking Walt Disney World bus transportation from any theme park or Disney Springs. You will also be able to reach the restaurant via the new Disney Skyliner beginning in the Fall.
