I sat down for my theme park writing morning (of course for a while every morning is theme park writing morning now) to see an update of the most searched for dining reservations at Walt Disney World. The MouseDining system tracks this. Some restaurants I just get used to seeing at the top of a list like Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’, Space 220, and Cinderella’s Royal Table for example. I looked at the ranking for the Walt Disney World Resort hotel restaurants to see a different restaurant in first place instead of Topolino’s Terrace. To my surprise, Ohana ranked as the top searched for restaurant in that category.
I tried to determine what caused this change in rankings. My conclusion revolves around the return of characters for dining there increasing searching for those advance dining reservations. Then, I pondered what one would do if they wanted to eat at Ohana, but a reservation was not possible. I asked myself where you would go if you did not want to pay for the upcharge tat character dining creates. Sure, you could order from a nearby lounge to get some of the Ohana menu for dinner. However, what if your group really wanted table service dining?
Since I have been doing a large amount of research about more budget friendly table service dining at Walt Disney World, I had a thought. Ohana costs $55 for dinner for an adult. My easily distracted brain scanned through the list of restaurants until I reached Sebastian’s Bistro at Caribbean Beach Resort. Now, the food at Sebastian’s fails to match quality at Ohana. Still, a similar meal at Sebastian’s costs $29 per adult. Please respect that I took a long way to get to discuss Sebastian’s Bistro, but what is done is done.
Why would I even suggest Sebastian’s as a “poor man’s alternative” to Ohana? Well, this place costs less, of course, and it will be easier to get an advance dining reservation. According to the latest MouseDining search data, Sebastian’s Bistro falls a little below middle of list of most searched for resort hotel restaurants. In addition, this menu will satisfy most any appetite or dietary need.
Like Ohana, your meal comes with unlimited refills of the food skillets or plates. Also, your meal starts with signature bread. At Sebastian’s Bistro, they bring buttery house-baked pull-apart rolls. These come with guava butter and caramelized onion jam. The butter and the jam make this bread taste wonderful. Based on my recent experiences with bread at Ohana, I prefer the Sebastian’s version.
Soon after the bread service, you receive the salad course for dinner at Sebastian’s Bistro. The Spice Necklace Salad includes mixed greens and kale with spiced candied pumpkin seeds, tropical fruit, and radish with key lime dressing. The overall balance of this salad offers diners a good quality salad. One complaint I hear, and agree with, involves the radishes sometimes being lower quality. Still, I have heard of guests requesting more than one serving of this salad for their group.
The main course earns the title of “Taste of the Caribbean.” Guests may order this in standard form or vegan friendly version. The standard selection comes as a plate of oven-roasted citrus chicken, slow-cooked mojo pork with mango sambal, grilled chili-rubbed beef with mojito relish served with cilantro rice and beans, vegetable curry, and grilled seasonal vegetables. Just like the salad, guests may request unlimited amounts of these dishes. Consider the cost for an adult is $29, that makes for excellent value especially at Walt Disney World. You can upgrade your dining experience for $8 more per person by adding shrimp.
The vegan version of “Taste of the Caribbean” offers some expected alternatives. Vegan diners may enjoy an Impossible™ kabob, fried jerk tofu, and Impossible™ sausage served with cilantro rice and red beans, vegetable curry, and grilled seasonal vegetables. I have not consumed this version at Sebastian’s Bistro. However, my friends dining exclusively vegan stated this meal holds up very well in terms of vegan dining on Walt Disney World property.
Like Ohana, dessert consists of bread pudding. Sebastian’s Bistro offers a plant-based version also. Sebastian’s calls their version a coconut-pineapple bread pudding. This bread pudding gets drizzled with caramel sauce. Vanilla ice cream finishes this concept. The vegan version involves plant based caramel sauce and vanilla rice milk frozen dessert.
I love Ohana. I see why many people want to dine there. However, often overlooked Sebastian’s Bistro offers an incredible theme park resort value for an excellent meal. Once again, the food at Ohana rates higher. Does it deserve to cost almost twice as much as Sebastian’s Bistro? I suggest it does not. Especially if looking to save a bit of money during your vacation, a trip to Caribbean Beach Resort for Sebastian’s Bistro might be what your budget ordered. As always, eat like you mean it!
