If you love and miss sushi like I do, you’ll want to book a reservation at Tokyo Dining in Disney’s Japan Pavilion at Epcot as soon as possible!
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Every three years, my mom and dad take the entire family to Disney World. It’s almost like a family reunion of sorts, and it’s something we look forward to years in advance. (staminaproducts.com) We only eat breakfast and dinner, and each person gets to pick one restaurant of choice for dinner.
This past trip my daughter’s boyfriend, Jimmy, chose Tokyo Dining. I was so excited, but also a little fearful since I hadn’t been able to find anything related to eating gluten free recently at Tokyo Dining. We know that soy sauce is a fundamental part of Asian cuisine. And we all know by now that soy sauce isn’t gluten free.
But my fears quickly abated after I spoke with the manager, who assured me they could make me some phenomenal gluten free sushi! Of course if I didn’t want sushi, they could modify most anything to make it safe for me to eat.
Where is Tokyo Dining?
Upstairs from the Mitsukoshi Department Store are the two main restaurants in the Japan Pavilion at Epcot’s World Showcase. Teppan Edo is a hibachi grill style restaurant where Japanese chefs cook your food right in front of you. Tokyo Dining, on the other hand, is a little more elegant than the grilling style of Teppan Edo.
Japan is my favorite pavilion in World Showcase in Epcot. In fact, World Showcase is one of my favorite places altogether. I just love to walk around and see all the countries and all the people from those countries. It really is a unique experience that you won’t have anywhere else.
The Menu
There is no separate allergy menu at Tokyo Dining. The manager told me to look through the regular menu and she would come back and personally take my order and tell me how it could be modified to be gluten free.
Appetizer Options at Tokyo Dining
I was told the gluten free appetizer options were the edamame, miso soups, and the garden salad. As far as the appetizer sushi rolls, all of them could be made gluten free except for the tempura shrimp roll (for obvious reasons).
Specialty Rolls
The specialty rolls section of the menu is my favorite part of the any sushi restaurant and I was happy to be able to order from it! The manager explained that every roll could be made gluten free with modifications.
I ordered the sunshine salmon roll and the volcano roll. The sunshine salmon roll was naturally gluten free (they informed me their “sea legs” or fake crab, aka “krab” was all gluten free). It was unbelievable and I ate every single bite! The roll was incredibly fresh and the salmon was melt in your mouth tender. The sauces were vibrant and not too spicy. I could have licked the plate, haha!!
My volcano roll was brought to me without the tempura crunch, but I didn’t miss it one bit. Although not quite as good as the sunshine salmon roll, it was still flavorful and fresh.
Of note, they brought me my own bottle of gluten free soy sauce to use as desired throughout my meal.
Entrees and Noodles
Other than the tempura, pretty much everything under the entrees section of the menu can be made gluten free. By the way, if you aren’t gluten free, my parents both got the shrimp and crab tempura and said it was delicious!
I didn’t ask, but I don’t think any of the noodle dishes are gluten free.
None of us wanted dessert that night so we didn’t bother looking at the dessert menus. In retrospect, I wish I had asked to see one just so I would know what was on it.
If you’re a sushi lover like me, or even if you’re not into sushi, there are plenty of delicious Japanese offerings at Tokyo Dining in Disney’s Japan Pavilion at Epcot. It was one of our new favorite restaurants to add to our growing list of must do’s at Disney!
MEG MAYO LUCAS says
And now we will have to see what the new restaurant Shiki-Sai: Sushi Izakaya features when it opens this summer.
Did you know that you can get gluten Free teriyaki chicken and shrimp at Katsura Grill in Japan in Epcot? It's decent.
And have you tried the sushi place at The Swan, called Kimono? We used to go all the time before I found out I had Celiac. I haven't gone back to see if they have GF sushi. I'm sure they have sashimi GF. What I really miss is eel, but eel is always precooked in a sauce that uses regular soy sauce.
Kim says
Oh, I didn't even know about the new restaurant coming! That's exciting!! I've been kind of out of the Disney loop recently.
I've never been to the Swan, but I need to make it a point to go one day. I did have sushi at the California Grill at the Contemporary and it was so good! I wish I lived closer to Disney because I'd be there all the time getting all the sushi (and anything else I can think of).
Pam V says
You have opened my eyes to a new restaurant, we have never even thought of going there. Had no idea they had sushi, and we love sushi. So glad you had such a delicious meal!
Cyndi in NC says
I love sushi too! When I go to the commissary I always get sushi, it's freshly made. I always have soy sauce at home and keep saying I'm going to take some with me to my Pho place but forget. *L* I figured they could make food for you, and it looked wonderful. Yum!
Kim says
Yes to the sushi at the commissary, Cyndi!!! I've had it many times, but of course they never do those specialty rolls quite like a restaurant. I used to go to Yama Sushi off General Booth all the time before I was diagnosed and I miss it so much. Things are changing, though, slowly but surely. I'm finding more and more places are starting to offer gluten free rolls and I'm so excited 🙂