Dining Review! (Gluten for me, but none for him!)

mccathy

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 30, 2008
Messages
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Alright everyone - I'm going to start working on my dining reviews from our past trip. It was just my husband and I for our anniversary! He has a gluten-allergy so I'll include his meals with my review!

We dined at:

Brown Derby

Le Cellier

Marrekesh

Artist Point

We didn't use the dining plan, but had the Tables in Wonderland card.
 
Alright so let's start with the Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios. We got the Fantasmic Dining Package which meant we had to order an appetizer, entree, and dessert!



Since we were on an adults-only trip I went ahead and order the Hollywood Lights drink - it was so yummy and I loved that my drink kept changing colors!



And of course, after reading so many reviews on here about the Cobb Salad - I went ahead and ordered that for my appetizer! I absolutely loved this. Our waitress made sure it was safe for my husband to share it with me - he loved it too. I wasn't expecting it to be chopped, but I love when salads are chopped - every bite had an amazing taste to it. If we weren't doing the dining package I could have eaten this just for my meal!



Our waitress said that if Chef Russ was working my husband could have gluten-free crab cakes! Oh my gosh - he was so excited about that - I am so thankful that Russ was indeed working in the kitchen that day. These crab cakes were delicious and since it's something my husband can't easily get it was an extra special treat. He even took a few bites before I got a chance to snap a picture!




I had to force myself to stop eating the Cobb Salad to save room for the Char-grilled Filet of Beef. I got the six ounce portion and was only able to eat about half (I had to save room for dessert.) I always order my filets "medium" and this was cooked to perfection. I loved the white truffle whipped potatoes - something I've never even heard of! So yummy!


Okay, so it looks tiny, but really - it filled me up!

My husband ordered the Sterling Silver Pork Chop - I don't think the Chef had to do anything special to this order to make sure it was gluten free. The cheese on top of the pork chop - delicious! Such a unique taste!



And now.... our desserts! I ordered the disboards favorite - grapefruit cake. I didn't really care for this dessert - a little too sour for me, but I loved the look of it.



Another thing my husband was thrilled to get gluten-free - a creme brulee! He loved it so much he forgot to offer me a taste!

 

Believe the hype, people. I didn't believe the hype and I've had two Disney Trips of not even trying this place. Believe the hype. And if you think you can't take kids there - think again. It would be a fine place to take your kiddos - sure not very entertaining, but when we go out to eat at home it's usually to a place that doesn't really "entertain" our kids!

Anyway... we ate here for lunch. We ate lite - I had an appetizer and lunch and my husband only had lunch. No dessert for us (I was saving my dessert for a crepe from France!.

I started my meal with the cheddar cheese soup with the pretzel bread. (Of course - they also brought sour-dough bread and multi-grain brain, but clearly, the pretzel bread with the cheese soup is the way to go. My pour husband had the "go-to" gluten free bread Disney uses and was so jealous of the pretzel bread. Also - the cheese soup was not "clear" as the chef put it.)

The soup was okay - I mean, it was good, maybe a bit too spicey for me, but I might try something else next time - or just munch on the bread!

Now - for what really surprised us! The main meal.

My husband ordered the Le Cellier Mushroom Filet Mignon, even though he doesn't like mushrooms. He subsituted the mushroom risotto with the cream cheese mashed potatoes and was so glad he did!


After pushing the mushrooms off to the side he really enjoyed this. I mean, he's still talking about it and it's been a week since we've eaten there. I can't blame him, I'm still talking about my meal!

I ordered the Walnut-Crusted Salmon. It was difficult for me to order something other than a steak, but after having a filet the day before from Brown Derby I was sort of in the mood for some salmon. I'm not a big fish-eater, but usually enjoy Salmon.


Oh my goodness. This was amazing. The balance of flavors was perfect. I loved the maple syrup along the edge - I could dip a piece of salmon in there or not - either way - delicious. I will still be talking about this for weeks - I never would have thought of having walnuts and salmon together - but it was amazing. Seriously.

We really enjoyed our meals at Le Cellier. The atmosphere was fine - nothing fancy, but what it lacks in atmosophere it totally makes up for with good food.
 

Great reviews! I don't really eat salmon but that one at Le Cellier looks really good!

It was so good! If you can convince someone in your party to get it - try it - it really didn't taste like regular salmon!

I'm hoping to get up the other two reviews tonight!
 
Great reviews! That salmon looks wonderful!
 
So here we go... I posted my two favorites first and then life sort of got in the way (or, uh, laundry)! :laundy:

Anyway - the next review is for Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco. Before I begin the review I should preface it by saying that my stomach was a little iffy all day. After riding Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at 8:15am and then indulging in some nachos and a margarita around noon - my stomach decided it had had enough.... anyway...





We loved the decor of Marrakesh. It seemed laid back and we were able to get right in (about an hour before our reservation). The belly dancer wasn't at all intrusive. She invited all the little girls in the audience to come and dance with her, so that was cute!

I order the vegetable couscous.



I think I would have really enjoyed it - if I wasn't feeling sick to my stomach to begin with. :sad2: The vegetables were very soft - almost as if they were cooked in a slow cooker all day. The flavor of the dish - well, I don't really know what Moroccan food tastes like, but I thought it would have more of a spice to it. It seemed sort of bland to me.


My husband ordered the Roast Lamb Meshoui.



Nothing special had to be done to this dish to ensure it was gluten-free. He described it as, "eh - okay." I didn't take a taste.

This was one of our least favorite visits - I'm not sure if I was feeling better if we would have enjoyed the food any more than we did.

I did order a mint tea and my husband ordered a coffee for dessert - those were both delicious.

We probably won't be back at this place, but if we were going with friends and they really wanted to try it - we'd give it another go.
 
And finally - Artist Point. A signature restaurant in the Wilderness Lodge.

I absolutely love the feel and look of the Wilderness Lodge. Somehow - I didn't get a picture of anything with Artist Point on it.



so... our one signature choice of our trip. We thought the atmosphere was nice, but not much nicer than Brown Derby (or even Le Cellier).

We were given free glasses of wine for an anniversary toast - the first and only "Freebie" we received for celebrating our anniversary (not that we were expecting any - but it was nice).

Our waiter was great and did a good job going over the menu with my husband. (That's one thing I noticed this trip - we only saw the chef at Le Cellier - everywhere else my husband would talk with the wait staff and decide. He felt very comfortable because each time the wait staff really seemed to know what they were talking about and also double checked everything with the chef.)

I ordered the Grilled Beef Tenderloin



It was delicious - cooked perfect and I really enjoyed the truffle/mashed potatoes that it was on top of. The veggies that are on the side were delicious as well. I will say, that I enjoyed my beef from Brown Derby more than this, but this was still good.

My husband and I were arguing over who got to get the Cedar Plank Roasted Wild King Salmon - I finally let him order it and he shared some with me.



This salmon was very good, but again, I thought the salmon from Le Cellier was better. Again, the chef didn't need to do anything special to this dish to make it gluten-free.

Oh! Check out the butter in the background - it was specks of black salt on top of it. The butter was delicious - so good, in fact, that my husband actually enjoyed his gluten-free rolls with this butter on top.

We didn't order desserts, but again, I enjoyed a nice warm tea and my husband enjoyed a coffee. When I ordered tea, the waiter returned with a box of various teas for me to smell before making my decision! I was impressed with the service here overall. The waiter made my tea in a french press right at the table. so fancy!

Overall, we enjoyed our meal here, but probably won't return. We do like to try new places and now have two places that are on our "we'd like to eat there again" list (Le Cellier and Brown Derby)!
 
I thought I would add some information on our Counter Service experiences - especially for the gluten-sensitive people out there!

Our first night we had hot-dogs from Casey's - they were able to get one for my husband on a gluten-free bun - we had to wait a bit longer. The fries were also safe for him to eat. The chef at Casey's actually came out and talked to me.

We also went on the Keys to the Kingdom tour, which included lunch at Columbia Harbour House. We had to choose our meal at the beginning of the morning so that it would be waiting for us when we arrived. I choose a tuna sandwhich and my husband explained to the tour-guide people that he had a gluten allergy. The pointed out the salad was gluten-free and also said that he could have gluten-free chicken strips. He choose the chicken strips. When we arrived there was a basket of food with his name by it, but it looked like normal chicken strips. He was expected "naked" chicken, but it was in fact a gluten-free breading on the chicken strips. He said they were pretty good. He also had safe fries! We knew about the gluten-free hot dog buns at Casey's, but not the chicken strips here. I'm assuming you'd be able to walk up and order this.

We also ate at La Cantina. My husband ordered the tacos de carne without consulting anyone. He had no reaction. (I, of course, ordered the nachos and margarita and that didn't sit well with me!)



Our last day we went to Beaches and Cream (at the Beach Club) and my husband was able to get a gluten-free hamburger bun.

It's starting to seem that each counter-service place does offer a gluten-free alternative. My husband never had trouble eating gluten-free at either the table service places or the counter service stands.

Yet another thing that Disney does so incredibly well!
 
great report.. now to send this over to my gluten free friend to try to make her stomach come to disney with us next year. :thumbsup2
 
Thanks so much for the review. DH is gluten free also, so this was so helpful!!!!:)
 
We are going with the family, including DS 19 who is celiac. It will be such a treat for him to know that he can order food, especially counter service, that will be safe. And using free dining makes it even better.:cool1:
 
Thank you so much for the review! I love hearing about people's expierience eating gluten free. This will be my first trip since being diagnosed with Celiac and I can't wait to go JUST to eat!!:rotfl:
 
Great reviews!! Thanks for sharing. Yeah, those allergy chicken tenders are GOOD!! Yes, you can get those at any time at CHH. They're also milk and egg free. I think they may even be nut and soy free but anybody with these allergies should definitely confirm.

Just a note for others reading or for a future trip: Not all CS locations carry the buns and chicken tenders or can accomodate various allergies. Make sure you stick with the locations specified by the Special Diets department.
 















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