mckennarose
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 22, 2015
- Messages
- 2,230
Wine Bar George is officially our new favorite place to eat at WDW! We ate here during our trip last week and honestly, I was a little leery about what they would offer that is gluten free. I am very, very happy to report that not only are a lot of the items on the menu naturally gluten free, there are others that can be modified by the removal of breads and addition of gluten free crackers to make it gluten free.
The restaurant is beautiful inside and the atmosphere and staff very approachable, which is good if you're not a super wine enthusiast. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and will help you figure out what type of wine you like since they have over 130 different types! I prefer dry Old World style reds and our server found three for me which he created into a flight; two Spanish wines and one from South Africa. You can configure choices into a flight of any size or you can purchase by the ounce, glass, or buy a whole bottle. DH prefers sweeter reds and chose the Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz, which they also serve at Jiko and Food and Wine Festival. I wouldn't say anything there is super sweet from what I saw, but I focused on the drier reds so I could be mistaken. They also have dessert wines and we had a 10 year Madeira that is delicious.
For the food portion, the choices are very interesting and very complimentary to the wines and whole vibe of the place. You can tell a lot of thought went into the choices, how they're prepared and what they are served with. I like that even though the restaurant looks fancier, it is really more family style and using your fingers to eat some items was encouraged. I can't even call this a restaurant first; it's a wine bar first, with an outstanding food selection.
We had the small plates of Spiced Olives which were slightly warm in a lemon vinaigrette and gluten free. They were really good olives, with pits, both green and black of different styles. For an olive lover, they were perfect.
The Grilled Octopus Salad, which was my favorite, is a cold salad of grilled octopus with olive/pepper/garlic medley and lemon vinaigrette over lettuce leaves. We were encouraged to use the leaves to wrap up a bit of the octopus in the lettuce and add a squeeze of lemon. It was cooked perfectly, tender and not chewy and there was plenty! This is also naturally gluten free.
We also had the Burrata which is served with San Marzanos, olive oil and grilled bread. Everything but the bread is gluten free so you can just leave it off. In our case, DH ate the bread. The Burrata was the best I've had, nice and creamy in the center and not grainy or stringy at all.
DH got the chicken skewers which are Asian influenced and served over an Asian style slaw. I tried this dish and it's a little spicy which I loved and the chicken was very tender. This is not gluten free, so I only had a small taste. He also got the Porchetta Spiced Pork Cheeks over Polenta and I also tried this even though it also isn't gluten free. The pork was so tender it melts in your mouth with a traditional porchetta spice profile. The polenta is served soft, not set and delicious also. If I could eat gluten I would've had more than just a small taste! DH loved both of those dishes.
We also had sampled the family style skirt steak with chimichurri, roasted potatoes and asparagus. We didn't order this but some of our family did and we got to try it. The whole thing is on a large platter and was so-much-food! This dish is gluten free and wonderful! The steak was cooked perfectly, the asparagus was tender-crisp and the chimichurri wasn't overly vinegary or spicy. I would not hesitate to order this another time.
We ordered the Olive Oil cake for those at the table to sample for dessert. It is not gluten free, but I was full and didn't want the Chocolate and Wine pairing which is a gluten free dessert choice. The Olive Oil cake is a small portion, served with a lemon mascarpone cheese and candied olives. At first I thought they were cherries on top, but I tasted them and they were olives, which sounds weird but they were very slightly salty in a sugar syrup and amazing! Think of salted caramel, that salty/sweet pairing. I did take a nibble of the cake and it was very good also, especially with the lemon mascarpone. Nothing was overly sweet, which is how we like things. The highlight was the Madeira pairing with the dessert! It is my new favorite dessert wine and we actually found a distributor in the Orlando area who carried it and bought two bottles for home.
All in all this was an outstanding experience and so much more than a just dinner! I'm so happy they have so many naturally gluten free items on the menu and that others can be made gluten free very easily. I did nibble on the gluten containing items and didn't have a reaction....I couldn't help myself! I can sometimes tolerate a small amount without getting sick but I'm still super careful. The foodie in me just had to try! Gluten free foodies....don't hesitate to try this place! I'm already making my list of must try's for our next trip!
Here's the gluten free/allergy menu for Wine Bar George:
https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...731b143/1552505784901/FoodMenuALLERGY+(1).pdf
https://winebargeorge.com/
The restaurant is beautiful inside and the atmosphere and staff very approachable, which is good if you're not a super wine enthusiast. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and will help you figure out what type of wine you like since they have over 130 different types! I prefer dry Old World style reds and our server found three for me which he created into a flight; two Spanish wines and one from South Africa. You can configure choices into a flight of any size or you can purchase by the ounce, glass, or buy a whole bottle. DH prefers sweeter reds and chose the Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz, which they also serve at Jiko and Food and Wine Festival. I wouldn't say anything there is super sweet from what I saw, but I focused on the drier reds so I could be mistaken. They also have dessert wines and we had a 10 year Madeira that is delicious.
For the food portion, the choices are very interesting and very complimentary to the wines and whole vibe of the place. You can tell a lot of thought went into the choices, how they're prepared and what they are served with. I like that even though the restaurant looks fancier, it is really more family style and using your fingers to eat some items was encouraged. I can't even call this a restaurant first; it's a wine bar first, with an outstanding food selection.
We had the small plates of Spiced Olives which were slightly warm in a lemon vinaigrette and gluten free. They were really good olives, with pits, both green and black of different styles. For an olive lover, they were perfect.
The Grilled Octopus Salad, which was my favorite, is a cold salad of grilled octopus with olive/pepper/garlic medley and lemon vinaigrette over lettuce leaves. We were encouraged to use the leaves to wrap up a bit of the octopus in the lettuce and add a squeeze of lemon. It was cooked perfectly, tender and not chewy and there was plenty! This is also naturally gluten free.
We also had the Burrata which is served with San Marzanos, olive oil and grilled bread. Everything but the bread is gluten free so you can just leave it off. In our case, DH ate the bread. The Burrata was the best I've had, nice and creamy in the center and not grainy or stringy at all.
DH got the chicken skewers which are Asian influenced and served over an Asian style slaw. I tried this dish and it's a little spicy which I loved and the chicken was very tender. This is not gluten free, so I only had a small taste. He also got the Porchetta Spiced Pork Cheeks over Polenta and I also tried this even though it also isn't gluten free. The pork was so tender it melts in your mouth with a traditional porchetta spice profile. The polenta is served soft, not set and delicious also. If I could eat gluten I would've had more than just a small taste! DH loved both of those dishes.
We also had sampled the family style skirt steak with chimichurri, roasted potatoes and asparagus. We didn't order this but some of our family did and we got to try it. The whole thing is on a large platter and was so-much-food! This dish is gluten free and wonderful! The steak was cooked perfectly, the asparagus was tender-crisp and the chimichurri wasn't overly vinegary or spicy. I would not hesitate to order this another time.
We ordered the Olive Oil cake for those at the table to sample for dessert. It is not gluten free, but I was full and didn't want the Chocolate and Wine pairing which is a gluten free dessert choice. The Olive Oil cake is a small portion, served with a lemon mascarpone cheese and candied olives. At first I thought they were cherries on top, but I tasted them and they were olives, which sounds weird but they were very slightly salty in a sugar syrup and amazing! Think of salted caramel, that salty/sweet pairing. I did take a nibble of the cake and it was very good also, especially with the lemon mascarpone. Nothing was overly sweet, which is how we like things. The highlight was the Madeira pairing with the dessert! It is my new favorite dessert wine and we actually found a distributor in the Orlando area who carried it and bought two bottles for home.
All in all this was an outstanding experience and so much more than a just dinner! I'm so happy they have so many naturally gluten free items on the menu and that others can be made gluten free very easily. I did nibble on the gluten containing items and didn't have a reaction....I couldn't help myself! I can sometimes tolerate a small amount without getting sick but I'm still super careful. The foodie in me just had to try! Gluten free foodies....don't hesitate to try this place! I'm already making my list of must try's for our next trip!
Here's the gluten free/allergy menu for Wine Bar George:
https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...731b143/1552505784901/FoodMenuALLERGY+(1).pdf
https://winebargeorge.com/
