Happy Birthday! Raglan Road Disney Springs.
Can’t believe it has been 11 years since Raglan Road opened for business, Congratulations to the team for bringing a “Taste of the Irish” to the Disney Springs area and before that, to the food and entertainment district of Downtown Disney. From Irish dancers and entertainment, to food concoctions from the “Emerald Isle”, Raglan Road has delivered a “snap shot” of Irish culture to many thousands of tourists and locals alike.
Having lived in Dublin, anything short of a Guinness from my city local, poetically assumed to be made with water from the “Liffey River” but actually originating from the Wicklow Mountains, or eating Fish and Chips on the sea wall at Howth, pales in comparison, but Raglan Road does a sterling job. As the marketing boasts, the pub was built entirely in Ireland and shipped lock, stock and barrel to Orlando.
The food element of the Raglan Road experience is not just some token menu comment, achieved by adding “Irish” to the start of any menu description, rather Master Chef Kevin Dundon, who is Raglan Road’s Chef partner, has been responsible for the creation of contemporary and imaginative cuisine at Raglan Road and has taken great pains to include specific Irish favorites such as Boxty (Irish Potato Cake), Cashel Farmhouse Cheese and Dalkey Mustard (Handmade in Ireland) to name but a few and of course cooking with the Famous “Black Stuff”, Guinness.
After seeing their “Irish Egg” everywhere on social media, and remembering with fondness the “Scotch Egg” variety that was a picnic stalwart in my family, I had to give it a try, plus a couple of other favorites from the menu.
An Irish Egg – Guinness & onion sausage crusted egg, pickled cabbage, saffron aioli. This differs from the “Scotch Egg” variety by the addition of the Guinness and onion sausage as opposed to Pork sausage in the original. Mine was crisp, perfectly cooked and tasted amazing, excellently pared with the pickled cabbage for balance. As evidenced by the speed I devoured the dish, a clear winner.
Fish & Chips – Beer battered fish & chips served with fresh tartar sauce. European versions of the dish have larger fillets of fish than the American diner is used to and for this reason so much the better. The larger fillet seems to hold the moisture better and the addition of beer to the batter lightens up the mixture and allows a very crisp coating without making it stodgy. Only thing missing in my opinion? Mushy Peas!
Full Irish – Full Irish breakfast with sausage, black pudding (blood sausage) and white pudding (no blood), bacon, roasted tomato, mushrooms and fried eggs with roast potatoes. A full Irish as with a Full English, normally describes a hearty breakfast that can include Bacon, Eggs, Baked Beans, Mushrooms, Black Pudding, Cooked Tomato, Fried Bread, Fried Potatoes and Sausage. If that does not set you up for the day I don’t know what would. The Irish version at Raglan Road was great, I have had better black pudding but I am just being picky.
As with all Disney restaurants pricing can be an issue but to avoid “Sticker Shock” you can mix and match from the menu and you should not break the bank. On the other hand, a special occasion or one off splurge may be in order. Warren Buffet once quoted that “price is the dollars you pay value is what you receive in return”. So how does Raglan Road stack up in terms of price and value?
Value:
- Access straight off the I-4
- Free car parking
- Disney experience without buying a park ticket
- Arguably the best entertainment in the area
- Disney Service and Quality
- Great Food
On the above criteria value overrides price by some margin, but you must be the judge yourself. The key word at Raglan Road is EXPERIENCE, or as the Irish say the “Craic” it can never be the same as sitting in bar in Dublin City, but after a couple of Guinness with the foot stomping jigs and reels playing in the background and a full Irish under your belt, you can imagine you are.
Slainte!