The Protego Foundation once wrote about Liz Tuttle. In fact, they used aspects of the Hogwarts Mystery game showing a character named Liz Tuttle for their claim she was the first vegan in Wizarding World (that we know about). They wrote, “The creature-loving Slytherin, Liz Tuttle, is the Wizarding World’s first open vegan and, with regards to Hermione Granger, its second-most outspoken creature advocate.” This idea caused me to wonder what Liz Tuttle would eat if she visited the Leaky Cauldron at Universal Studios Florida theme park. Fortunately, in the last few years, Universal Orlando added several new vegan items to their menu. One of them offering some solid flavor can be bought at the Leaky Cauldron, the Shepherd’s Pasty Pie.

The Shepherd’s Pasty Pie entrée cost $16.49.

This hand pie contains meatless beef crumbles and vegetable stew and comes with creamy stone ground mustard dipping sauce, apple beet salad, and wedge fries. The portion size of this hand pie equals reasonable expectations for a quick service meal and the quantity of filling within deserves high marks too. In addition, the pastry shell holds together as you eat this hand pie. When adding mustard to the hand pie, especially the meatless crumbles, the flavor raises to another level. I find the flavor of the hand pie with mustard very pleasant.

On the negative side, the fry portion size is small with the standard wedge fries sold here. The salad must be intended to balance the savory aspects of the hand pie. Yet, I find the flavor of the salad a bit too inconsistent to be a good pairing. In fact, I question if it goes well with the meatless crumbles at all. For almost $17 as a quick service meal, I desire a higher quality side. Yes, I know I sit down in the highly-themed Wizarding World restaurant to enjoy this. Sure, vegan dining often costs more. Yet, I think the sides could be better. Maybe, the standard boring Wizarding World salad fits this better. Of course, I know that the chefs were trying to avoid the repetition of just giving vegan diners a basic salad.

Would Liz Tuttle order this entrée? I think she would be happy with it. Sure, it could be better but still has good value. In fact, I prefer this option over several of the other non-vegan options at the Leaky Cauldron. If you, like Liz Tuttle, dine vegan, this pasty pie should be considered. Of course, do not expect too much from the salad and fries.

As always, eat like you mean it!