Gluten Free Dining on the Disney Dream - Part 3 (Animator Palate - Pirate Night)

 

 

On this, our third day of the cruise, I was bound and determined to eat somewhere other than Royal Palace.   I was still a bit leary of Cabanas, so we decided to try out the buffet at Enchanted Garden for breakfast.  

 

Enchanted Garden (Breakfast)

 

At Enchanted Garden, we were escorted to a table, and our drink order was taken.   From there, we were told to enjoy the buffet.    At the buffet, I asked for a chef due to my gluten allergy.   The chef walked me down the buffet line, and offered to make me pancakes, toast (I believe) or waffles.   I told him that a waffle would be lovely, and made my selections from the buffet.   I was able to have fruit, eggs, bacon, sausage, cheeses, deli meats and some seafood.

 

I made a plate of fruit, cheese, sausage and deli meats.    After about ten minutes, my waffle was brought out, as well as a syrup container.    The plate from the buffet was delicious - especially the sausage, which was flavourful and not overly greasy.   The waffle was a pre-made frozen waffle, and was not terribly good.   I like my toaster-style waffles good and crispy, and this was a bit soggy.   I would have sent it back to get a more-well done one, but by that time I was fairly full, so I decided to just leave it.   I really appreciated the effort though.

 

Other members of our party were eating breakfast at Cabanas, so we went upstairs to see what was on offer.   From my quick tour of the buffet, I noticed that the sausage was the same, as was the fruit and deli meat selection.   The fruit looked so good that I made a plate and ate a TON of pineapple and cantaloupe - it was absolutely sweet and delicious.     I also had a plate made up of three different cheeses and two different meats - which I took down to the stateroom to save as a snack for later.   Now that I was totally stuffed, I couldn't imagine eating again for a while.

 

Royal Palace (Lunch)

 

Inevitably though, by the time that lunch rolled around, I was hungry again.   Once again, we went to Royal Palace for lunch.   I'm pretty sure that I had the same thing that I had yesterday - steak and salad.   The menu was a bit different, but I don't have a picture of it, and I can't quite remember.

 

Animator's Palate (Dinner)

 

By the time supper rolled around, we were very excited, as Animator's Palate was the one main dining restaurant that we had not set foot in yet.    As it was pirate night, the large screens around the restaurant were showing pictures from Peter Pan, sketches and pictures from Pirates of the Caribbean and other pirate-y things. 

 

The Buccaneer's Sun-Ripened Pineapple - fresh island pineapple with a coconut covered banana and orange glaze

 

I had ordered the pineapple entree, as the others on the menu either couldn't be made gluten-free easily or did not appeal to me.   My dish came out looking markedly different than the others - my bananas weren't covered in coconut (the topping contained gluten), but to make up for the lack of visual interest, the chefs had added a pineapple top to make the plate look pretty.    I really appreciated the effort to make me not feel left out and my plates were often prettier than anyone elses.

 

As for the dish - the pineapple was absolutely delicious!   It was perfectly ripened and very sweet.   The plain bananas were good as well, and the orange glaze was delicious.    It made for a lovely light appetizer - just enough to make you want more.

Jerk Chicken Salad - jerk-seasoned chicken strips over fresh crispy greens with a citrus dressing and plantain chips

 

For the next course, I had selected the Jerk Chicken Salad, as I absolutely love the spice profile of jerk chicken.    This salad came with a very generous portion of chicken, and the citrus dressing was lovely.   The dressing was brought out seperately from the salad and was poured on by the server, so you could have as much (or as little) as desired.     The spice from the chicken paired nicely with the tang from the dressing, and the plantain chips added a nice little crunch.   This was my second favourite salad of the week.

The Dutchmen's Dijon-Crusted Sirloin of Beef - thick cut of beef with oven-roasted sweet potatoes and a black spot tomato with deep red wine glaze

For the main course, I had ordered the sirloin, cooked medium rare (I was consistantly impressed with the doneness of my meat - often when I order beef medium rare it comes medium, but all of my beef entrees were cooked perfectly on the cruise).    The oven roasted sweet potatoes were not gluten-free, so I got mashed potatoes and veggies instead.    The meat and potatoes were absolutely delicious with the glaze, and the carrots were cooked perfectly (I hate broccoli, so didn't eat it).

Floating Island - crisp meringue, vanilla anglaise and marinated fruits

 

For dessert, I was presented with a lovely dish of vanilla creme anglaise with lovely crispy meringes and fruit.   This was one dessert that came straight off of the menu with no substitutions necessary and it was absolutely delicious.   The meringues were light, fluffy and crispy and the vanilla anglaise was creamy and very vanilla (it tasted like vanilla bean as opposed to extract).

 

This dinner was absolutely lovely, with well-balanced offerings.   The pirate menu was one that I was a bit hesitant about, but there was no reason to.   Once again, our server brought out the menu for the following evening, and I ordered my meal for the last night of our cruise.   It was at this point that I should have asked about dining options on Castaway Cay, but I didn't think of it.

 

I hope you`ve enjoyed this third installment of Gluten-free Dining on the Disney Dream. If you have any questions or comments, or want additional information on planning a gluten-free Disney vacation,  please feel free to comment below or send me an e-mail at megan@magicalmousegetaways.ca.

Have a magical day!
Megan