*This dining experience took place in September 2014. 

When it comes to good fish and chips and a pint of cider, there’s no place better than Raglan Road Irish Pub, located in Downtown Disney (soon to be Disney Springs). With dedicated fryers and proper fried fish and chips (and more!), there’s a reason Raglan Road has been voted as one of the best gluten free places in Orlando. It’s my restaurant of choice, whenever I visit the Downtown Disney area, not only for great food but also for great entertainment.

On this particular occasion, I stopped by on a mid-week evening for a quick bite. I had originally planned to go to Cooke’s of Dublin for their delicious shrimp and chips (also gluten free and dairy free fried wonderfulness) but the quick service location was beyond packed. I was with my brother and his wife, and we quickly headed back to Raglan Road to see if they had any bar seating open. Thankfully, they did!

Of course, the first thing I did was order a Magners Irish Cider. I asked for their pear cider, which is my favorite, but they were out. So, plain cider it was. Not really needing to go through the menu, I quickly ordered the gluten free (and dairy free) fish and chips and onion rings to split with the group. I always double-check with the server or the bartender to confirm that the ingredients are still safe for me to consume. 

I have to say, sitting at the bar with a proper pint of Magners is pretty much my idea of heaven after a long day (especially, after a long day of conferencing, which I was doing for the next several days). 

I love Raglan Road’s onion rings. They are fried well and are nice and crispy. They are not overly battered which I really appreciate. My only slight complaints are that the gluten free fried items tend to be under-salted (which is a matter of opinion, but I don’t consider myself one to be adding salt frequently) and that they need to have a sauce to accompany the onion rings. My vote? The sweet chili onion jam. It’s so good! I do usually ask for it on the side but just forgot that night.

My fish and chips were delicious as always. If you’re not a big steak fry fan, you may want to ask for Skinny Chips as a substitution or on the side. I know Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando is a big fan of these! 

I absolutely adore their house-made tartar sauce which is just fresh and delicious. I think I need to do a top 10 condiments list one of these days. This would surely make the list (along with the sweet chili jam). 

Overall, Raglan Road continues to be the best non-Disney owned restaurant on Disney property (with Cooke’s of Dublin being the best non-Disney owned quick service). Their attention to special diets and consistent offerings make this a location I will go to again and again!

If you’re not craving fried food, don’t worry. They have plenty of non-fried options. I’m a huge fan of their citrus salmon salad, and their shepherd’s pie has a huge gluten free following. 

Have you been to Raglan Road Irish Pub? What’s your favorite dish to order? 

*This dining experience took place in August 2014.

When it comes to my favorite restaurants on Disney property, I have to say it probably boils down to two. These are the two that I consider the ones I could eat at nightly and not be bored or disappointed. One is Sanaa and the other is Boatwright’s Dining Hall. Both have decidedly unique culinary themes and both are a bit spicy (and condiment heavy, which I adore). I also consider both of them to be a bit of hidden gems on property; both very affordable and delicious. 

And they are equally popular with my family and friends. Case in point? This meal was requested by my friend for his birthday! Yep, people love Boatwright’s. What I love most about it is the food is excellently prepared and delicious. Port Orleans resort restaurants in general are all about real food. Boatwright’s, to me, is pure comfort food, with a Cajun and Southern twist. And they have crawfish bites and remoulade. Enough said.

On this particular occasion, we were greeted by Chef Tony. He had been making up a beignet storm at the August Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW meet-up that afternoon; let’s just say the meet-up and the beignets were very popular! It was a terrific meet-up, and I’m so glad the team at Port Orleans really worked to accommodate our group.

At dinner, one of the first things that Chef Tony did was bring me out a basket of GNI rolls and some extra virgin olive oil with herbs. This is, as it always is here, a perfect combo. The GNI rolls were heated really well (more bonus points for Boatwright’s!) and I love having some variation with the olive oil. 

Of course, I really can’t go to Boatwright’s and not get crawfish bites. I think it’s literally impossible. Chef Tony served them up with a huge serving of remoulade (ah, the culinary team here knows me all too well). Our group shared these, and everyone agreed they are delicious.

Every time I eat these, I have visions of a crawfish Po’ Boy made at Sassagoula Floatworks & Food Factory using these in my head. That would be so amazing.  

For my entree, I ordered the sweet tea brined pork chop with sweet potato and bacon hash. The onion straws do normally contain gluten and dairy, but with advance notice (2 weeks through Disney’s Special Diets Department), they are able to make these along with the crawfish bites gluten free and dairy free. 

I’ve had this dish several times, and this is officially my favorite dish on the menu. Those onion straws are my culinary jam. Breaded in Namaste pancake and waffle mix with some spice added to it, these were heavenly. And, as you can see from the photo I was not lacking in the portion department with these either. They truly add a nice crunch to the dish, and I’m so grateful that the team can make them for me here. Onion straws for the win!

The sweet potato hash is excellent. Combined with the flavors from the pork chop and the onion straws, the dish just is perfection. And the portions are huge! One thing I know, you will never leave hungry at Boatwright’s!

Boatwright’s continues to impress me. I can’t believe it took me until this year to dine there. It has quickly come up the ranks as one of my favorite places to dine, and yes, I’m quickly going through the menu options! With big flavors and comforting dishes, I look forward to my next meal and more to come!

Have you been to Boatwright’s? What dishes do you order there?

*This dining experience took place in September 2014. 

Ravello located at the newly opened Four Seasons Orlando Resort (located in Walt Disney World in the Golden Oak community), is a modern Italian restaurant that recently opened this fall. I was lucky enough to attend the preview dinner of Ravello and was blown away by the level of service, attention to detail, and special diets offerings. It’s not often that I get such a lovely meal outside of Disney World, and I was pleasantly surprised and delighted by the preview dinner. 

So much so, in fact, that I wanted to go back again after the menu had fully launched to try some of the other offerings. Both Executive Chef Fabrizio Schenardi and Executive Sous Chef Samuel Faggetti have mentioned rumblings of house-made gluten free pasta and pizza dough (made in dedicated areas of the kitchen), and I was hoping that they would have some on hand. 

On this particular visit, I was joined by Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando. We had spent the day visiting Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival and attending the Back to Basics sessions offered for free during the festival. We had been busy at the parks, and we were ready for a nice relaxing meal.

We dined here early in the day (5:30 p.m.) and found the restaurant to be quite quiet. I adore the decor in this restaurant and love the modern contemporary feel. I like the touch of upscale, and I think it would be a great place for an adults only dinner or for date night.

When we were presented with the menu, we could see it had been expanded from the preview dinner, which was terrific. There were many more appetizers which also made me very excited, as I love ordering interesting starters to a meal.

Our server, went over some of the options with us and did go back and forth to the kitchen to assist us with our questions. I didn’t get a chance to say hello to Chef Fabrizio or Chef Sam, but our server did work to answer questions promptly for us.

For my appetizer, I ordered the grilled radicchio salad that came with pancetta, beets, and capers in a vinaigrette. To be honest, it wasn’t what I pictured in my mind, but it was delicious regardless. It was very earthy, highlighting the beets and the grilled radicchio. As you can see, it was also gorgeously presented. 

For my entree, I ordered the shrimp and lobster pasta. Ravello is not currently making house-made gluten free pasta (darn!) but they did have Italian imported gluten free pasta on-hand.

I have to say that Italian gluten free pasta is ever so much better than some of the brands you buy here stateside. Some are great but others? Not so much. This dish normally comes with a pappardelle pasta but this came with penne.

The pasta itself was cooked perfectly al dente and was delicious. The sauce was rich and flavorful, as was the seafood. I think my only complaint is that the portion was a wee bit on the small side for a $35 entree. Still, the components were very fresh and well cooked. I’m glad I got to try this dish, though next time I may go back to the chicken dish I had on my first visit (which was beyond amazing) or another non-pasta dish. 

Overall, I really enjoyed my meal at Ravello. The food quality is exceptional and the service is excellent. It may not be a restaurant for everyone, although I saw many families and children dining there, enjoying pizza, pasta, and the like. You can read Alexis review of Ravello on Gluten Free in Orlando.

I can’t wait to check out the breakfast. As a brunch fan, I’m dying to check out their gluten free section of the buffet. If you’re looking for something more casual, head over to PB&G for excellent barbecue!

If you do dine there, be aware that the resort is valet parking only. You can get parking validated when you dine at Ravello, making the cost $5 plus gratuity (at the time this article was written). 

Have you been to Ravello or the Four Seasons Orlando Resort yet? 

*This dining experience took place in September 2014.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, at least that’s what this brunch junkie thinks! I am always looking to try new breakfast options at the Disney parks & resorts restaurants, and recently I got a chance to visit Riverside Mill not once but twice for breakfast. Work conferences sure have their advantages some time!

On my first visit, I met Chef Ron. He asked me what I was interested in for the day, and I decided to go with a modified version of the adult Bounty Platter which normally comes with scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, bacon, sausage and a biscuit. I switched out the sausage for more bacon and added in Udi’s Gluten Free toast with Smart Balance vegan margarine. 

The bounty platter is more or less the same at most quick service locations with slight variations of the breakfast potatoes. I enjoyed the spicy (but not too spicy) breakfast potatoes at Riverside Mill. Overall, a very solid meal. 

For breakfast number 2, I went a little more sweet with allergy Mickey waffles. Culinary intern, Chef Emma, greeted me. I know her well from my copious amounts of gluten free, allergy friendly beignet orders and it was great to catch up with her. I ordered the allergy Mickey waffles (made here with Namaste pancake and waffle mix) and a side of scrambled eggs. 

I have to say, these were the crispiest Namaste waffles I’ve ever had on Disney property. I usually find these are less crispy than Bob’s Red Mill allergy Mickey waffles, but these were outstanding on crispiness. I still prefer Bob’s Red Mill pancake mix (personal opinion, not based on the quality of the product) but these were very well done. The side of strawberries was another sweet treat and ordering a side of scrambled eggs really balanced out the sweetness nicely.

Overall, I found Riverside Mill to have excellent special diets breakfast options. Everything was well cooked and seasoned and easily modified. 

If you ever get a chance to visit Port Orleans Riverside Mill for lunch or dinner, I highly recommend it. I’ve had lunch here several times, and they have both been terrific and unique dishes. 

Have you been to Riverside Mill for breakfast, lunch or dinner? What are your favorite dishes here?

 *This dining experience took place in September 2014. If you can believe it, there are actually some restaurants on Disney World property that I have never dined. Flying Fish Cafe, located at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort, is one of them. I’ve always been interested in the seafood-filled menu, but always skipped it for more affordable locations or for Kouzzina, my favorite Boardwalk restaurant. 

As a signature dining location, Flying Fish Cafe has a reputation for excellent seafood options. Admittedly, it’s not a restaurant that I often hear much about, other than it has expensive but delicious seafood. 

Recently, I attended the Florida Bloggers Conference and had a post-meal dinner with Alexis from Gluten Free in Orlando and her family. We were both curious about the new gluten free menu available at Flying Fish Cafe for dinner and wanted to check it out. Perfect excuse to finally visit this restaurant! 

Upon arrival, the restaurant confirmed that we would both need gluten free menus and said that as a dairy free person I could also talk to the chef. It would have been awesome if they also had a dairy free menu, and I hope they will consider adding those in the future. 

As far as the gluten free menu itself. Wow! It was huge! There were tons of choices both for appetizers and for entrees (even sides). There were no desserts listed, but the chef did go over dessert options with us in person. I was also impressed with the amount of gluten free fried items available. You simply must check out Gluten Free in Orlando’s review of the Old Bay Scented Crispy Calamari and Rock Shrimp. This looked to die for! 

Chef Tim went over options with me, and I decided to forgo the appetizer and go with dessert base on his suggestion that he would whip up something different for me. I will say that in the future I’d probably go for the appetizer, as the ones on Flying Fish Cafe’s menu looked really good. 

While waiting for appetizers, bread and drinks, I got a chance to look around the restaurant which is quite beautiful. I love the mobiles and art-work. It really feels refined, yet whimsical at the same time. 

I also got a chance to meet blog reader Bonnie who was there with her husband for dinner and stopped by to say “hi.” I love it when readers catch up with me! It’s always so nice to meet everyone in person. After dinner, I checked in with them, and they enjoyed the meal as much as our group did! Fair to say, Flying Fish Cafe was quite good.

The rolls brought out to our table were Ener-G. It’s been a while since I’ve seen those on property. While I can’t say these are my favorite rolls, they were well heated and tasted fine with the accompanying olive oil (which was very good).

For my entree, I ordered the Oak-grilled Organic Scottish Salmon served with Spanish chorizo, marble potato, carrot, tomato, and Sweety Drop Pepper “hash,” Serrano ham crisp, Catalan-style lemon and garlic aioli and an aromatic saffron-heirloom tomato caldo. The aioli was removed from my dish (darn!) but otherwise, the dish required very little modification which was great.

The picture really doesn’t do this dish any justice, but suffice it to say, it was really very good. There were a lot of flavors going on – though I wouldn’t say any were really that overpowering in considering how many bold flavors were present. The salmon was delicious though a bit overcooked. The vegetables were fantastic. Very well cooked and seasoned. And the broth was just delicious!

For my dessert, Chef Tim brought out a variety of fruits with Tofutti vanilla ice cream and orange blossom honey. He must have read my mind, as the fruits were all my favorites – peaches, apricots, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. It was fantastic to top the fruit with the honey and ice cream. And it was huge! I shared some with the table because there was so much left. Very delicious and a nice variation on fresh fruit that I’m often given.

Overall, I really enjoyed my first dining experience at Flying Fish Cafe. The menu is what you would expect from a signature location, and the prices do indeed reflect that. It’s not a restaurant I would go to all the time, but on occasion, definitely. I’m glad I finally added this to my Disney dining restaurant list!

Have you been to Flying Fish Cafe? What do you think of the new gluten free menu?