Monday, May 25, 2015

Whispering Canyon Cafe Lunch - Disney's Wilderness Lodge

Earlier today, my daughters and I had lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, my favorite resort at Walt Disney World.  We have never stayed there, but I think the resort is incredibly beautiful, and I love the theming.


In December, I had breakfast at Whispering Canyon, but we have not had dinner or lunch there in probably 5 years.  Before we moved to Orlando, we ate dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe every year when we took our annual trip to Disney World.  With my husband and grill master out of town, I thought Whispering Canyon would be a great place to enjoy some American favorites on Memorial Day.


Whispering Canyon Cafe does not have an allergy-friendly menu yet, but our server Chad told us that they should be available the first week of June.  Chef Philippe quickly came out to talk to me about gluten free options.  He told me that they had gluten free buns if I wanted to order one of the Trail Sandwiches, but I decided to go with the all-you-care-to-enjoy skillet, which has always been my favorite meal at Whispering Canyon.  


Chef Philippe told me that everything on the skillet is now gluten free, including the barbeque sauce.  The skillet includes slow-smoked pork ribs, barbecued pulled pork, roasted chicken, Western-style sausage, mashed Yukon potatoes, corn on the cob, and cowboy-style baked beans.  


I thought everything on my skillet was great.  I loved the flavor of their barbeque sauce, which was a little bit sweet, just how I like it.  It was already on the ribs, but I was given a side of it too, that I poured on my pulled pork.  The mashed potatoes were nice and creamy, and the baked beans were some of the best I have ever had.  The chicken was a little on the dry side, but still tasty, especially with the addition of some barbeque sauce.  The ribs and pulled pork were really good, and I even enjoyed the sausage, which is usually my least favorite meat.  For dinner, the all-you-care-to-enjoy skillet is also served with mixed greens tossed in an apple vinaigrette dressing, seasonal farm fresh vegetables, and oak-roasted beef strip loin.


My skillet came with gluten free cornbread, which tasted exactly like the delicious cornbread served at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue.  It is oh so good slathered with lots of butter!  


For dessert, Chef Philippe told me they had gluten free cheesecake and chocolate cake.  Before digging into my lunch, I thought my daughters and I would share one of each dessert, but I was so full from attempting to eat my skillet, that we decided to split one order of the chocolate cake.  


Chef Philippe presented us with this beautiful dessert, which the pictures certainly don't do justice to.  On our plate were two mini round chocolate cakes with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and fresh berries.  


The chocolate cake was a little spongy, but delicious, so no one was complaining.  I love that it was served with vanilla ice cream and fresh berries, which complimented the cakes well.  Chef Philippe told me that they are working on a gluten & dairy free version of the chocolate cake, which should be ready soon.  


My gluten-eating daughters loved their slow-smoked pulled pork sandwich served on a brioche roll with cowboy-style baked beans, barbecue sauce, Western slaw and house-made potato chips.  They split this adult entree, which was plenty of food for the both of them.  The only negative part of our dining experience today was that we had advance dining reservations for 11:45 when Whispering Canyon opens for lunch, but they did not start seating anyone until 12:00.


You can read more about Whispering Canyon Cafe, view their menus, and make advance dining reservations on Disney's website here.

August 3, 2015 Update - you can view my dinner review here, and Whispering Canyon's allergy-friendly menus here.

What are your favorite gluten free dishes at Whispering Canyon?



0 comments:

Post a Comment