Welcome to another vegetarian food review from our last Disney World trip. The first full day we had in the parks was spent at the Magic Kingdom (of course!) and lunch this day was at Columbia Harbor House. Vegetarians can rejoice at this location, because Columbia Harbor House has a lot of great options for us leaf-eaters to order straight off the menu with no adjustments! (Not something I'd say at too many Disney quick service locations) This includes veggie chili, a salad with no chicken on it (!) and sides of broccoli and couscous. I'd read a lot about the Lighthouse Sandwich, and it sounded like it would be pretty tasty, so I gave it a shot. The menu describes the sandwich thus: Lighthouse Sandwich - hummus with tomato & broccoli slaw on toasted multigrain bread with potato chips.
As you can see, it's a pretty tasty looking sandwich. There is a really good helping of tomato on the sandwich (not just a piece or two, it's a sizable serving of tomato, and it was pretty flavorful tomato too). The multigrain bread is slathered with hummus (in the best way something can be slathered), and the broccoli slaw is very tasty and fresh. While the menu says the bread is toasted, mine was a little soggy on the inside (probably from the tomatoes). It wasn't so soggy that it was inedible, but it didn't exactly taste like toast. That aside, this is a really good vegetarian option at Magic Kingdom! My one regret about this meal is that I didn't order the chili to go with it. On the Disney Dining Plan this is a Quick Service meal credit, and it comes with Disney chips (fairly unremarkable) and choice of a dessert. They have standard Disney chocolate cake or strawberry yogurt as dessert options (although the most recent menu update has "seasonal cobbler" listed as a dessert as well!).
For those of you with meat-eaters in your life who may want to have lunch with you, this is also a good place to meet their needs. Nathan had the fried shrimp platter (with fries and coleslaw--although he had the option of fresh broccoli)
Never fear, though, there are many un-fried options on the menu that are a little different from the typical burgers and pizzas that you see at other locations, and might be a good choice for a group craving a quick lunch so they can get back to the Mountains, but are looking for something a little different from standard Disney quick fare. You could have a tuna sandwich (Anchors Aweigh Sandwich - white tuna with lettuce and tomato on toasted multigrain bun with potato chips), A grilled Salmon plate (Grilled Salmon - served with couscous and steamed fresh broccoli) and a unique sounding salad (Broccoli Peppercorn Salad - mixed greens, garden vegetables, chicken, broccoli, Parmesan cheese, tossed with a creamy peppercorn dressing).
For me, Columbia Harbor House is a must try! One of my goals on our next trip is to get my hands on that veggie chili (do note that the veggie chili is not on the Disney Dining Plan) I'm thinking about it and a side of broccoli dumped over the top of the baked potato from Liberty Square Market, what do you think?
