A big shout-out to Amy Wold for this incredible review of gluten-free options at Walt Disney World!
Meal #1: Raglan Road at Disney Springs
This was our first full day at Disney, not a park day, and we had no plans really for most of the day. I had heard about gluten free fish and chips at Raglan Road, so was excited to try them, but on the My Disney Experience App it looked as though there was no table available. My husband walked over to the restaurant while I shopped for a phone case ☺ and there were plenty of tables! (Moral of that story: if you really want to eat somewhere, check – maybe they hold out tables for walk ins? Maybe the app didn’t know what it was talking about? Maybe we were lucky that day? Not sure.) The fish and chips. OH.MY.WORD. So delicious! I still think about them a lot…. The batter was crunchy. The fish was flakey. Perfectly salted. The tartar sauce was the exact right blend of flavors with the fish. I need to go back! Bonus: the dishes were super cute, the servers were super nice, and the live music and dancing was super fun!
Meal #2: Whispering Canyon Café at Wilderness Lodge
This restaurant was chosen because my Dad is a malt connoisseur, and this restaurant serves unlimited malts. I was in the mood for a lighter meal, so decided to order some sort of red quinoa cakes served with greens and sauce and a wedge of something that looked like roasted cabbage. The quinoa cakes were mushy, the sauce and greens were good, and the thing that looked like roasted cabbage was so bitter I couldn’t eat it. Yuck. Two thumbs down. The service, however, more than made up for it! Our server was the best. At one point we had all the ketchups on our table, she brought my husband an enormous glass of water with a four-foot-tall straw, I dropped my fork to which she said, “too bad!” We all had a blast thanks to her. (Most of my group liked their food too – just don’t make the ordering mistake I made!) Shout out to Chante, the most awesome cast member!
Meal #3: Epcot’s La Hacienda de San Angel
Our dinner reservations this day were at La Hacienda de San Angel. This is a beautiful newer restaurant at the Mexico pavilion built down on the water. I recommend it just for the ambiance alone, but the food is great too! I imagine it would be a really cool spot to watch Illuminations – just request a window seat. We had gotten so hot over at Hollywood Studios that day, and were afraid we were going to be late, so did our best speed walking from the boat to Mexico. When our server offered us smoothies, we all gladly accepted. Fruity cold goodness that really hit the spot! I love shrimp, so decided to order the gluten free version of Tacos de Camarones (shrimp tacos.) These were delectable! The flavors were perfect. Dessert was Flan de Maiz (a custard.) SO GOOD! Definitely try it. I just love the ride (Cabellaros) in Mexico, which is what we did after our meal.
Meal #4: Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge
This is a family favorite restaurant, and this time did not disappoint! They have gluten free naan! Let me type that again: GLUTEN FREE NAAN!!!! And it is good! Holy cow. If that is the only thing you order you will be happy. I have never found gluten free naan anywhere else. So, we ordered the bread service that comes with a large assortment of sauces to eat with it. Yum. Oh, wait, there is more: for my entrée I ordered the Potjie Inspired, where you pick two dishes (but then our server talked us into ordering a third? What? Not sure what happened there, but we did it!) I chose the butter chicken, paneer tikka, and cilantro-coconut vegetables. Here’s my review of each dish in order: delicious, delicious, and really delicious! The only bummer was that we had a ton of food leftover but were heading back out to the parks so didn’t want to take it with us. Oh, I almost forgot about dessert. I ordered the African Triple Chocolate Mousse. It was gorgeous and delicious. This meal deserves a moment of silence.
Meal #5: Le Cellier at Epcot
Another family favorite! I have eaten here three times, and the first two times I can safely say I had the best steak I have ever eaten in my life. This last time was good, but not as good as I remembered the first two times. My husband says it is because I should have ordered my steak medium rare instead of medium well. He ordered a medium rare steak and said it was the best he has ever had. So, knowing that, if you go, order the filet mignon cooked no more than medium rare. This steak comes with mushroom risotto, asparagus-tomato relish, and truffle butter sauce. Being the third-place steak in my entire life is still really good! I definitely recommend it. For dessert I ordered the maple crème brulee. I’m a fan of maple (we live pretty close to Canada), so this wasn’t anything new, but very very tasty. I love the caramelized top of crème brulee. Yum!
Meal #6: Polynesian Village Resort’s Ohana
This one was new to us. Everyone I talked to who had eaten here raved about it. Thankfully, I was able to grab us a dinner reservation at 3:30 pm on our Magic Kingdom day. It actually worked out really well because that is the time of day when the park is most busy. Let me set the stage…we arrived by monorail. I love this resort! Immediately you are greeted with a relaxing, beautiful, tropical paradise. Flowers, greenery, water features, and torches all around. We were slightly early, so waited in the lobby to be called. If you ever need to just relax on your Disney vacation, that is one place to do it. As you are brought to your table the cast members cheer and tell you that while you are there, you are family. (Ohana!) I’m not going to lie, it made me tear up. I didn’t know what to expect food-wise, but the food was just so fun, delicious, and interesting! There is a big fire-grill right in the middle of the restaurant. First, they brought out bread, for the gluten free people it was not bad but nothing to rave about. The gluten-eaters at our table raved about their Hawaiian rolls. A spinach salad accompanied this. The salad was great – no complaints. This is a family-style restaurant, so they bring out big plates for everyone to share. Since we had both gluten free and not at our table, the table was full! Next, they brought out a big plate with grilled chicken legs and wings, veggies, and rice with some sauces on the side. We remember there were two sauces, and only one was gluten free. All the of this food was flavorful and perfectly cooked. The gluten-eaters had the same but noodles instead of rice. All of us loved it. Then, they start coming around with huge skewers of grilled shrimp, steak, and grilled chicken. The flavor of these grilled things is out of this world! I would describe it as smoky but not overpowering. The shrimp was my favorite, then chicken, then steak. This one, like the fish and chips, is one that I still crave a lot. For dessert the gluten eaters had a bread pudding a la mode that they said was delicious, and us gluten-free peeps were served a delicious banana cake. The banana was subtle, and I think I tasted a pinch of cinnamon, but oh so good. Meanwhile, as we were eating, a man walked around serenading us with his voice and ukulele. Also, the kids were invited up for coconut races and all of us were given leis. I adored everything about this experience. <3 Definitely putting this on my family favorite list!
