Don't Plan a Proper Meal

Do you ever have that day when you’re at Walt Disney World for a week where you just can’t decide what to eat for dinner? For me that day always comes when it’s later in the trip, I typically have taken the afternoon off for a nap, my room is feeling small, and, on some level, I’m homesick. In those times I can wander all over property and nothing sounds good, and I will get hangrier and hangrier (hungry and angry, for those of you not in the know), until I plop myself down in whatever food court I’m closest to and settle for a burger or something quick. When, in all actuality, what I really want is a hot meal, home-cooked, that resembles comfort food. Turns out, there is a solution.

I have, on more than one occasion, wandered my way into the Contempo Cafe in one of these homesick states. While menu items here seem to rotate off and on, there are a few staples that tend to stand the test of time. Currently, one of those plates happens to be the meal I’m speaking of today, the Beef Pot Roast.

The Beef Pot Roast comes with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. As you can tell from the photograph above, on the day I had this plate that seasonal vegetable happened to be green beans. You really can’t come up with a more down home, typical American dinner than pot roast, mashed potatoes, and green beans.

I’m not going to try and sell you on this being the most amazing meal on property that no one’s heard of, because it isn’t. And we all know it. However, the pot roast is fork tender and falling apart before it arrives on your plate. The mashed potatoes are a perfectly vehicle for the gravy, which is liberally applied to both the potatoes and beef. The green beans are fresh, or at least frozen fresh, and steamed. There is nothing fancy about this dish, but it can be just what you are looking for.

The Beef Pot Roast at the Contempo Cafe may be more akin to a lunch served in a school cafeteria, but definitely a step up, than it does with something your parents or significant other whipped up after hours in the kitchen. That said, this dinner will remind you of home in some fashion when you start feeling a little homesick or just need a break from your long-time favorites or the overwhelming offerings that now encompass the table service circuit. Don’t put this on your must eat list, but do keep it in your back pocket for a rainy evening when you just want to feel warm inside!