Raglan Road Irish Pub -- Brunch -- Table Service -- Disney Springs
*This dining experience took place in December 2015.
'Tis the luck of the Irish when you dine at Raglan Road Irish Pub, located at Disney Springs. Raglan Road is well known among the gluten free dining community as THE spot at Disney for proper gluten free fish and chips, onion rings, and more. Though not owned and operated by Disney, they consistently provide some of the best gluten free accommodation around and have even been voted the best gluten free restaurant in Orlando.Raglan Road is the restaurant of Irish celebrity chef Kevin Dundon, whose simple and fresh recipes make the food at Raglan Road so good. I've had the chance to meet him several times, including sharing the stage once with him at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival.Ireland actually has a fairly high rate of celiac disease, so a lot of the food prepared at Raglan Road is naturally gluten free or can be easily made gluten free. Chef Kevin even works with the Coeliac Society of Ireland. So, when you dine at Raglan Road, you can be sure they do take gluten free safety pretty seriously!
On this occasion, we had seats at the bar, where you can still order off the full brunch, lunch, and dinner menus. For brunch, we were coming in a bit late (around 1 pm). We started off with a Magners Hard Cider because it's a Raglan Road tradition whenever we go to the bar. We also were very hungry and quickly ordered some gluten free and dairy free onion rings along with a side of sweet chili jam and lime mayonnaise.Sometimes the fried foods at Raglan Road can seem under-salted. I recommend adding more salt yourself or by utilizing the various condiments available. I can't recommend the sweet chili jam and onion ring combo enough!
In addition to our onion rings, we noticed that there was a new pork belly hash listed. I asked if this was gluten free and dairy free, and to my surprise, it was. You can order it as a full entree with eggs or as a side. Not wanting all breakfast food, I ordered it as a side just to try.Filled with crispy pork belly, potatoes, and green onions, this was absolutely delicious. It was perfectly seasoned and so tasty. In fact, it was probably the dish that got eaten the fastest during our meal. I would definitely order again, and maybe even ask if I could swap out in place of fries (with sandwiches and such). The breakfast entree with this is bound to be amazing too.
Of course, Raglan Road is known for their gluten free fish and chips. Crispy and flaky, they are a must order. Make sure to enjoy the house-made tartar sauce, as it's hands down my favorite tartar sauce in a restaurant. It's the perfect accompaniment to the fish and chips.
The pancetta and chicken sandwich can be ordered gluten free with a gluten free bun (as pictured above) or minus the cheese and herb aoili, as it was when I ordered it for brunch last January. I will say that if you can't have dairy, this might be a dish to skip, unless you like condiments, as ordering it plain made it quite dry. On my previous visit, I doctored it up substantially with various condiments.Overall, Raglan Road continues to be my go-to table service location at Disney Springs. I do enjoy Splitsville on occasion for their sushi and rice bowls but for amazing food with lots of variety and consistent special dietary needs accommodations, my bet is always on Raglan Road.Have you been to Raglan Road? What do you enjoy ordering there?