Gluten Free Dining (with Pics)

[DVC_Princess]

Hi Everyone! We just got back from our trip last week; stayed at SSR 5/17-5/22. Lots of rain, but very relaxing and didn’t stop us from having a great time

As GF background, I was diagnosed with Celiac in Aug. ’08 so I’m still a bit new to gluten free dining. Disney never ceases to amaze me with how willing they are to help and how knowledgeable they are about cross contamination, hidden ingredients, etc. I traveled to WDW gluten free in Oct. and Dec. last year without any problems and once again had an excellent experience. For advance planning, I still bring lara bars to have as a snack (just in case) and carry 1 to the park each day (although this trip, I only ate them on the plane since there was of course no GF food to be found there). I also bring Bakery on Main Gluten Free Granola and add that to my yogurt in the morning. SSR carries Yoplait (marked Gluten Free) Peach Yogurt, which I had for breakfast on 4 days of my trip with my granola. They also had Berry Yogurt, but I didn’t try that this trip.

Now on to the reviews: I'll be adding ones for Turf Club, Raglan Road, Citricos, Jiko, California Grill, Flame Tree BBQ, and Artist Palate

 

[DVC_Princess]

Turf Club (Saratoga Springs) – We ate here for lunch 3 days this trip. Chef Ron is by far my favorite chef at WDW. He is so attentive; talked to us in detail about what ingredients he had in the back and how he could alter practically anything on the menu so that I could have it. He makes pasta dishes with Tinkyada rice pasta and he grinds up the Ener-G rolls to make breadcrumbs (he says he can make the crab cakes with them). He also makes croutons for the salad out of the Ener-G rolls or GF Flatbreads and he makes the fries in fresh dedicated oil. For dessert, he makes brownie sundaes a la mode (with GF brownies and vanilla ice cream) and he heats up the brownies (which some restaurants don’t) making it very delicious!

BTW, did I mention I love Chef Ron? I really can’t rave about him enough!!!

Anyway, for our first lunch, I had a Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich on an Ener-G roll (without the sun dried pesto which has gluten in it) and fries. This was very moist with the goat cheese… yum! (sorry no pics of this one)

On our second lunch, I had the Angus Chuck Cheeseburger (also on an Ener-G roll) with fries. Cooked to perfection! Also they had Redbridge Gluten Free Beer [Note: Chef Robert was on duty for this lunch and cooked everything perfectly; the Turf Club is really great when it comes to allergy awareness and all the chefs are very willing to alter the menu to fit your allergy needs.]

On our last lunch (before heading to the airport), I had a Mixed Greens Salad (with GF Flatbread toasted with garlic and oil as a crouton), the Penne Pasta with Shrimp (made with Tinkyada Rice Pasta) and a GF Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream. The sauce on the pasta was outstanding and I really enjoyed my lunch! It was the perfect treat before heading home

 

[DVC_Princess]

Raglan Road (Downtown Disney) – This was our first time at Raglan Road and I was very impressed. The atmosphere is great; we had a table near the band and they were really entertaining (and it didn’t feel too loud that you couldn’t talk, which is always a plus). A lot of the food is cooked with Guinness so there weren’t too many GF options, but enough to have a good choice. I debated between the “It’s Not Bleedin’ Chowder” and the “Keen Eye for the Sheperds Pie” and decided to go with pie. It had a good flavor and was quite yummy; it was ground beef and lamb and I noticed some carrots in there; all topped with mashed potatoes. Also they did have the Gluten Free alcoholic Cider on tap (just like the Rose & Crown Pub in EPCOT), but I opted not to have that this time. Though it does make it a good hang out spot if u miss drinking “beer”. I would absolutely eat here again (but mostly for the atmosphere since it’s really a fun place to hang out). Then we had dessert. Here I was really impressed. We had a Chocolate Trio which was all gluten-free… yay!!! It was a tiny chocolate milkshake, a dark chocolate mousse and white chocolate mousse. I love chocolate and this was heaven on a plate… mix a little dark and white chocolate mousse on a spoon… OMG amazing!!!

I wish I had pics of dessert, but it was so yummy that by the time I remembered, we had eaten most of it!

 

[DVC_Princess]

Citricos (Grand Floridian) – I had eaten GF here on my last trip and was once again very satisfied. Chef Phillip came out to the table and went through the menu with me. This was our anniversary dinner and they had a special menu personalized for us to take home. I had a lot of choices here, but decided to once again have the Filet Giardiniere (naturally gluten free). It was very delicious. My only complaint was that all 3 of us asked to have it cooked medium and all 3 meats came out cooked quite differently (my mom’s seemed to be almost rare – she actually had to switch with my husband half way through her meal b/c it was too red for her taste; my husband’s was perfectly cooked and def medium; mine was more medium-well and a little too done).

I wouldn’t complain, but it’s something we hadn’t experienced before and I was a little surprised. I skipped dessert this time and just had a Grand Cappuccino (mixed with Bailey’s and Kahlua). That cappuccino is seriously delicious and always one of the highlights of my trip – this time we timed it perfectly and got to watch the MK fireworks while enjoying our dessert – completely magical!

 

[DVC_Princess]

Flame Tree BBQ (Animal Kingdom) – We enjoyed lunch here and had a great spot to hide from one of the afternoon downpours that occurred during our trip. I took my advice from last time and skipped the ribs (although I think the BBQ sauce might be OK now – I know that they had recently changed it when we went to Hoop-Dee-Doo in Dec; I think they switched vendors and got rid of the Modified Food Starch; They might be doing this all over the “world” so if ur a fan of the ribs, it’s a good idea to ask – they’re a bit dry without the BBQ sauce). Instead I had the Mixed Green Salad with BBQ Chicken (without the shell). This was quite tasty and a great alternative to the typical burger/fries fare that’s at most of the CS restaurants.

 

[dd53]

Great reviews! Thanks for the GF look at the restaurants!

 

[DVC_Princess]

Jiko (Animal Kingdom Lodge) – This is one of my new favorite places to eat and I’m really sorry that I didn’t ever eat here before this trip! I was a bit hesitant about eating here GF since some of the dishes are new to me (so I had no idea about ingredients), but upon our arrival, Chef David came out to greet us at our table and brought me my own GLUTEN FREE MENU. I was so excited and the list of choices was immense. Chef David definitely gets an A+ for allergy awareness and customer service (having your own GF menu just takes all the guess work out of ordering; I was very happy – basically beaming… ). For an appetizer, I ordered the “Taste of Africa”; it had 3 dips and my own flatbread – the bread was very thin; almost like a cracker, but made out of lentil flour – very delicious. The 3 sauces had such unique flavor and ranged in spiciness. I can’t remember the names, but I really enjoyed it and mixing them balanced out the heat.

For dinner, I had the Swahili Curry Shrimp (with East African Curry Sauce, Artichokes, and Coconut Rice). This was my favorite meal throughout our trip; the balance of the heat from the curry and the sweetness of the coconut was an excellent combination. There were a lot of shrimp as well; it was a big portion. The flavor was something new, different, and exciting; I’m so glad that we finally tried it!

After dinner, the server brought us out a special mini pistachio creme brule for our anniversary. I didn't order this because the combo didn't sound so appealing, but once again, I was completely wrong. This was excellent and I will probably order the full size portion next time we go.

Then for dessert, I had the Artisan Cheese Selection. It was 5 different cheeses, homemade jam, and my own special GF toast. Once again, the food was excellent. The jam had a delicious sweetness to it and the toast was just like real bread (I’m actually very curious how he made it because I’d like to serve it at parties… ). The cheeses were just perfect; an excellent ending to an outstanding meal!

 

[DVC_Princess]

California Grill (Contemporary) – We hadn’t eaten at the CG in about 10 years and I was happy to be back. The view is better than I remembered and greatly adds to the ambiance of dinner (even with the rain, we still really enjoyed it). We had a view directly facing the MK (it would have been perfect for fireworks, but we had an early dinner so that wasn’t going to happen; but we could have came back to the viewing area that evening; it was raining again though so we opted to skip it this time). After we were seated, Chef Jason came out and went over the menu with me. There were quite a few options that I could have. For an appetizer, I had the lobster risotto (which I was a little nervous about b/c it’s easy to hide ingredients in risotto - wheat in chicken broth, etc. - but he assured me it was safe and I decided to try it). I’m really glad that I did; it was very yummy; the lobster was fresh and cooked well – delicious.

For dinner, I had the Oak-fired Filet of Beef with mashed potatoes. The standard teriyaki sauce had gluten (regular soy sauce is used to make it although Chef Jason said they have GF soy sauce in the restaurant if ur interested in using it for dipping with sushi) so he used a zinfandel glaze (same as the pork tenderloin) instead. I really enjoyed my filet; it was cooked perfectly; melt-in-your-mouth texture (I found it to be better than Citricos this trip, but I do think we had an off day at Citricos this time as it’s not our past experience).

For dessert, I could have had the crème brule, but I was craving chocolate and decided to have a GF brownie with 1 scoop homemade caramel ice cream and 1 scoop homemade vanilla ice cream. Both were good, but I liked the vanilla better (the caramel flavor was a bit strong). My only complaint was that the brownie was cold; a few seconds in the microwave would have made it much yummier. Overall, I think we will be returning here in the near future and I’m glad that we gave it another try.

 

[DVC_Princess]

Artist Palate (Saratoga Springs) – For a quick lunch on our arrival day, I had a house salad here; Chef Robert made it for me. It was yummy with apples, dried berries, and walnuts. Not overly filling, but a good option since we were having an early dinner. (You can also add chicken to it if u want something a little heartier.) Also one day for breakfast, I had a GF Mickey shaped waffle. This was very delicious and I ate it with a little honey (the syrup options available all had caramel coloring, which sometimes gives me trouble so I prefer to avoid it). The only downside was that I had to wait maybe 10 minutes before the chef came out from the back to discuss my options and another 15 minutes for the waffle to be made. It was really good though so worth the wait (just remember to ask for a chef as soon as you get in line and not when u’ve already waited in line and are ready to order – since it might take a few minutes if they are busy). (As a note, this was not Chef Ron or Chef Robert. I’m not sure of the chef’s name or whether or not she was just particularly busy at this time; I’ve never had to wait more than a few minutes for Chef Ron or Chef Robert when they taking care of Artist Palate.)

 

[DVC_Princess]

Snacks – We had a lot of big meals this time so not too much snacking. I did have a pineapple and vanilla swirl Dole Whip at Aloha Isle (Adventureland – MK), which was delicious as always. Also I had an Island Bahama Mama while waiting in the lounge at AKL for dinner; this was really well made and I’d highly recommend trying it – a fruiting island drink always makes me feel like I’m on vacation…

So overall, another great trip! Hope you find the info helpful; let me know if you have any questions

 

[Daisy414]

wow great food reviews! the pictures are very appealing. Can't wait to go back to the world in Sept.

 

[MickeyNicki]

Great review of Cali Grill....I need that lobster risotto!