Raglan Road Irish Pub -- Lunch/Dinner -- Table Service -- Downtown Disney
*This dining experience took place in December 2013
Raglan Road Irish Pub has quickly become a favorite dining place for many gluten free diners. Well known for its simple & fresh Irish flavors and ingredients, while providing safe gluten free options, it's no wonder Raglan Road was voted one of the best gluten free restaurants in Orlando in 2013. As a frequent visitor to the Walt Disney World Resort, this has also become a fast favorite of mine as well.On this particular occasion, I visited with my family in the afternoon on the day after the 2013 Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. We were all a bit tired and really wanted to just relax after a morning of shopping and packed evening the night before. As you can see, we visited in December and the restaurant was festively decorated for the holiday season.
Our server immediately asked if anyone in our party needed gluten free or food allergy accommodations, which I love. It's really a nice touch that the servers are well equipped and prepared to assist with special dietary needs. Because I've been to the location several times, I more or less knew many of the options available to me. I also knew that there was one thing I really wanted to try...the Scallop Forest: Georges Bank scallops in a a golden batter served with citrus lime dipping sauce and sweet chili jam. I also decided to go with a salad for something lighter after eating deep fried appetizers. We also ordered gluten free onion rings, so I really didn't want to push it by ordering Fish and Chips too. That being said, I love their fish and chips!
First up were the scallops. Wow, these were really good. I actually prefer these to the onion rings hands down. The scallops were of high quality and the breading, which is the same that they use on all of their deep fried products (made with a Domata Flour base), was crisp and flavorful. The server said both sauces were gluten free & dairy free, but I skipped the citrus lime dipping sauce just to be on the safe side. The sweet chili jam was out of this world. Sweet and spicy all at the same time. It was the perfect accompaniment for seafood. You can actually purchase this sauce in the Raglan Road store as well! My only complaint for this dish was that I thought the scallops were slightly overcooked, but given the taste of these I'm not going to complain too loudly!
In my hunger, I managed to forget to take a photo of the onion rings, but you can see a recent photo of them in a guest review here on the blog. These were nice and crisp and the onions were well cooked. They were slightly underseasoned, but luckily I still had some sweet chili jam to smother them in. That jam works on everything!For my entree, I ordered the new salmon salad: Citrus Salmon - Grilled fillet of Atlantic salmon with mixed greens, carrots, orange segments & toasted almonds tossed in a citrus herb vinaigrette. It replaces the "Slim Salmon" salad and I think based on the taste of this one, it's an improvement. The portion of salmon was huge, very high quality and perfectly cooked. The salad itself was delicious - well dressed and seasoned. The citrus herb vinaigrette was so flavorful and the addition of fresh fruit and almonds really accented the dish. I would not hesitate to order this one again. It balanced out my deep fried indulgences at the beginning of the meal nicely.
Overall, I continue to impressed by Raglan Road. As I begin to branch out into ordering other dishes, I'm really appreciate the fresh flavors, seasonal and quality ingredients. In addition, the staff is really knowledgeable about gluten free offerings and worked well to make sure everything was dairy free too.I would give this visit a solid 9 out of 10. The meal was divine, the service terrific and the special diets accommodations excellent.Have you been to Raglan Road? What do you think of their gluten free offerings?