Raglan Road Lunch - Disney Springs

After walking around Disney's Port Orleans Resort to get some exercise, and stopping in at Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory for a small order of gluten free beignets, my daughters and I headed to Downtown Disney for lunch.  I was really in the mood for a fiesta chicken rice bowl from Splitsville, but my daughters wanted to go to Cookes of Dublin.  

In the end, we decided on Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant, a compromise they could live with, because of the garlic parmesan & truffle oil skinny chips they love so much. 

I absolutely love Cookes of Dublin, which serves amazing gluten free fish & chips, onion rings, fried shrimp, and garlic parmesan skinny chips, but I wanted to eat in a more relaxing atmosphere today, and I hadn't yet written a blog post about Raglan Road.  You can read my review of Cookes of Dublin here.   

When I informed our server Paul about my need to eat gluten free, he told me that they don't bring out the chef because Raglan Road deals with so many special diets requests.  He said he could help me with anything on the menu and would discuss my meal with the chef when he placed our order.  I really wanted the citrus salmon salad, but how many chances to you get to order gluten free calamari?  

My daughters ordered two kids meals, and we ordered the garlic parmesan & truffle oil skinny chips to share.  

The calamari city contains salt 'n' pepper calamari and mixed tempura vegetables, and is served with a spicy remoulade.  The calamari was delicious, but needed a touch of salt.  The tempura vegetables included broccoli, green beans, carrots, and red & yellow peppers.  I liked them, but I would have preferred to just have the calamari.  

The garlic parmesan & truffle oil skinny chips (fries) were amazing.  We also like to eat them next door at Cookes of Dublin.  

For dessert, I was told that I could order a fruit plate, the strawberry & apple crumble, or the Dundon's Delight.  I couldn't pass up a chance to try the Dundon's Delight, a raspberry pavlova with vanilla pod ice cream and raspberry sauce.  A pavlova is a meringue dessert with a crisp outside crust and a soft, light inside.  It was delicious!

Raglan Road does an amazing job accommodating special dietary needs and their website states that most menu items can be modified to meet your nutritional requirements.  It also says they offer gluten free scallops, fish & chips, calamari, onion rings, and pasta dishes.  You can view Raglan Road's lunch menu here.

On previous visits, I have eaten the gluten free fish & chips and the Raglan Risotto.  If I am in the mood for fish & chips, I prefer to stop in at Cookes of Dublin, which is attached to Raglan Road.  The Raglan Risotto is a butternut squash risotto with shiitake mushrooms, shaved parmesan & arugula.  It was good, but I had to ask for a lot of extra parmesan to flavor it up a bit.

I was at a special event hosted by my friend Sarah from Gluten Free & Dairy Free at WDW when I tried the risotto.  I think they accidentally left the parmesan off altogether thinking I also had a dairy allergy.

May 8, 2014 Update

Today, I had lunch at Raglan Road with my friend Sarah from Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free at WDW. We both had the citrus salmon salad, which is grilled fillet of Atlantic salmon with mixed greens, carrots, orange segments & toasted almonds, tossed in a citrus herb vinaigrette.  My salmon was cooked perfectly, and I really enjoyed the dressing on the salad.  I would definitely order this dish again, though next time, I will ask for them to leave off the onions.  

For dessert, I decided to try the strawberry and apple crumble with vanilla ice cream and fresh cream.  Wow!  How many restaurants offer gluten free desserts like this?  My crumble was served piping hot, right out of the oven.  It took a while to make, but it was definitely worth the wait.  I loved the mix of strawberries and apples with the crumble topping, and I poured the cream right on top and ate each bite with some cold ice cream.  It was incredibly delicious!  Raglan Road is definitely two for two in the gluten free dessert department.  They were recently awarded Best Restaurant by Orlando Magazine, a well deserved reward.  I loved that our server asked if we had any food allergies before we even mentioned it, and I was impressed when she said that 90% of the menu is gluten free.

August 8, 2014 Update

Today, we had lunch at Raglan Road with friends after bowling at Splitsville.  My girls and I shared two orders of the crispy shrimp from the kids menu, with a side of garlic parmesan & truffle oil skinny chips.  The fried shrimp at Raglan Road are so amazingly crispy and delicious.  With a little added salt, this dish was just perfect.  We also split an order of the Shepherd's Pie, one of my daughters' favorite dishes.  

My friend Shelley really enjoyed the Cashel Castle salad with chicken, crumbled blue cheese, caramelized pecans, grape tomatoes, raspberries, pancetta crisps, and a raspberry vinaigrette.  To make this dish gluten free, they left off the crostinis.

When I asked her son Noah if he enjoyed his gluten free Gold'n Chicken from the Kids Menu, he held up his empty plate and smiled.  I guess that means he really liked it.  :-)  

You can view Raglan Road's menu, and make advance dining reservations on Disney's website here.

You can read my dinner review of Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant here.

December 1, 2015 Update - Raglan Road now has a gluten free menu on their website, which you can view here.

What are your favorite gluten free dishes at Raglan Road?