As of time of time of writing, the 2022 Mardi Gras festivities concluded at Universal Orlando.  Many restaurants at Universal Orlando offered special Mardi Gras offerings in collaboration with that event. As of April 25^th, 2022, The Today Café stopped selling their seasonal Mardi Gras flatbread. Now, a new vegetarian flatbread has started being sold here. This flatbread goes by the title “Watermelon, Feta, and Basil Flatbread.”

If those combinations scare you, then I understand. They scared me. However, I knew this item was brand new. What else was a theme park blogger to do besides try it?

This flatbread costs $14.99 before any annual pass discounts. The menu description presents a large amount of ingredients. The cauliflower pizza crust is topped with watermelon, feta cheese, roasted corn, basil, tomato aioli, balsamic glaze, arugula, and a lemon olive oil vinaigrette. In my opinion, that toppings list sounds massive.

Before I discuss the quality of the flatbread, I appreciate the Universal Orlando chef’s creativity with vegetarian food. Please bear in mind this menu item does not meet vegan standards. I am not confident that it would be as good of a menu choice if modified to be vegan.

So how was it?

Disclaimer, I think I was one of first people to order it. The staff really wanted to know what I thought about it. Another disclaimer, April 25^th was a tough day for operations at The Today Café. one of the cash registers was down. Also, the food prep took longer than normal.

On the positive side, the flavors of this flatbread tasted great. The combination of all those ingredients creates a wonderful light meal adventure. The basil, feta cheese, and the vinaigrette offer high quality ingredients for theme park food. Surprisingly, the watermelon works with this. Fruit, of course, always tastes better in Florida compared to most parts of the world. The quality of the watermelon added just a touch of sweetness to this flatbread. The other ingredients help pull it all together.

On the less positive side, the cauliflower crust makes a good idea for vegetarian item. However, the crust was tough to chew even for cauliflower crust. This weakness only influences the dining experience with the outer crust though. Since this flatbread does not meet vegan standards, I would suggest switching to a more traditional flatbread crust. Using cauliflower crust makes sense. However, if that brings the menu item down in terms of quality while also not creating a vegan item, then not worth effort for chefs.

Now, if Universal Orlando chefs can find a way to make this a vegan item, then cauliflower crust all the way!

As I am typing this, I am discussing, via social media, the merits of the flatbreads at Pinocchio Village Haus in Magic Kingdom. In my opinion, I would choose this vegetarian one at Universal Orlando over those flatbreads any day.

As always, eat like you mean it!