HUngry Bear food leaves vegetarians hungry
On our last evening in Disneyland, Hungry Bear Restaurant served the worst meal I can remember having at Disneyland. As part of the On-the-Go dining package for Fantasmic!, vegetarians have only one option – the Mushroom Leek Frittata, so my wife and I ordered that. We were told that we would have to wait 10 minutes for it to cook and were offered a funnel cake.
Unfortunately, the steamer stopped working and our frittatas, so 30 minutes later, the manager was informed of the problem and let us know that we would not be able to get the frittatas. We could choose something else from the menu, a veggie burger or a salad minus the meat, and he refunded our entire meal, not including the Teddi Barra Lavender Sparkler.
We chose the veggie burgers with cheese, which were a colossal disappointment. The bread was a bit stale. The patty was dry, and ketchup and mustard couldn’t save it from the texture of the bun and patty combined. The fries were just okay if a bit cold. The lettuce and tomato slice didn’t help improve it much. Veggie burgers don’t have to be this way. At least they were free, and the chef included the salad from the Fantasmic! meal.
The Teddi Barra Lavender Sparkler was a mistake. Both my niece and my daughter ordered it because they wanted to try a lavender, elderflower, lemon juice sparkling drink. One of them said it tasted like “old lady air freshener.” By the time I got to it, 40 minutes after they had ordered the drink, they were flat and had the consistency of a liquified gummi worm that had somehow maintained its gelatinous texture. Each sip got worst, and I would have taken one of them back had the restaurant not been shuttered for the evening. As it was, I finished one of the drinks off, and the last couple of sips were the best – not just because they were the last couple of sips, but also because they were diluted with the melting ice, which revealed what could have been a refreshing drink.
The best parts of the meal were the house-made funnel cake, which was decent fair food, and the Blueberry Honey Crème pie, which was also good with the blueberries being the best part. The pie was also thrown in as a concession to our wait time and lack of meal availability. Both my niece and my daughter enjoyed the Blackberry Ribs that were cooked fresh. They said they could actually taste the fruit in the sauce.
While the staff provided the best service they could, they were hampered by the early closing time of Hungry Bear, the newness of the menu offerings and the Fantasmic! seating system. I suspect once the bugs are worked out, Hungry Bear will be a fine place to get your Fantasmic! dining option. However, the regular Hungry Bear menu options for vegetarians are inadequate, especially since it is now missing the Fried Green Tomato sandwich option that it used to have.
Unfortunately, the steamer stopped working and our frittatas, so 30 minutes later, the manager was informed of the problem and let us know that we would not be able to get the frittatas. We could choose something else from the menu, a veggie burger or a salad minus the meat, and he refunded our entire meal, not including the Teddi Barra Lavender Sparkler.
We chose the veggie burgers with cheese, which were a colossal disappointment. The bread was a bit stale. The patty was dry, and ketchup and mustard couldn’t save it from the texture of the bun and patty combined. The fries were just okay if a bit cold. The lettuce and tomato slice didn’t help improve it much. Veggie burgers don’t have to be this way. At least they were free, and the chef included the salad from the Fantasmic! meal.
The Teddi Barra Lavender Sparkler was a mistake. Both my niece and my daughter ordered it because they wanted to try a lavender, elderflower, lemon juice sparkling drink. One of them said it tasted like “old lady air freshener.” By the time I got to it, 40 minutes after they had ordered the drink, they were flat and had the consistency of a liquified gummi worm that had somehow maintained its gelatinous texture. Each sip got worst, and I would have taken one of them back had the restaurant not been shuttered for the evening. As it was, I finished one of the drinks off, and the last couple of sips were the best – not just because they were the last couple of sips, but also because they were diluted with the melting ice, which revealed what could have been a refreshing drink.
The best parts of the meal were the house-made funnel cake, which was decent fair food, and the Blueberry Honey Crème pie, which was also good with the blueberries being the best part. The pie was also thrown in as a concession to our wait time and lack of meal availability. Both my niece and my daughter enjoyed the Blackberry Ribs that were cooked fresh. They said they could actually taste the fruit in the sauce.
While the staff provided the best service they could, they were hampered by the early closing time of Hungry Bear, the newness of the menu offerings and the Fantasmic! seating system. I suspect once the bugs are worked out, Hungry Bear will be a fine place to get your Fantasmic! dining option. However, the regular Hungry Bear menu options for vegetarians are inadequate, especially since it is now missing the Fried Green Tomato sandwich option that it used to have.