REVIEW: Raglan Road
SUMMARY: Its quiet…..too quiet…..
This was a new adventure for us at Raglan Road, a midweek (Friday) walk-up lunch (no ADR, and a lunch, who are these people??). We completed our early morning touring plan at the Animal Kingdom, and were leaving for the Florida coast that afternoon. After some discussion, dining at the RFC in AK was scrapped in favor of a visit to DTD and Raglan Road. We had earlier this week made an attempt to move our ADR’s around, to be able to have dinner at Raglan Road, but nothing would fit our schedule. Still, our party desired to eat there, so off we went.
We arrived at the DTD Pleasure Island parking lot, i.e. ‘Construction Land’, and made our way around the barricades and barrels and cones (Oh my), to the RR doorway. If not for the two tables seated on the patio to the left of the entrance, I would have thought the place was closed.
Ghost town, crickets chirping in the distance, you get the idea. After checking with the hostess, we stood and waited, while she went and found us a table. Apparently, the delay was in pushing the table for 2 and the table for 4 together, because we walked through an eerily quiet restaurant, with maybe 20 people dining at the time. If you’ve ever been to RR for dinner, picture the exact opposite. Dead quiet, like something out of Hitchcock’s movie
The Birds. No hustle, no bustle, just quiet.
Our server, whose name escapes me, was quite polite and efficient. Our service this meal was above average for WDW, and even for RR. I am embarrassed that I don’t recall her name, especially when I hadn’t been drinking with my meal, but these things happen. She knew the menu, knew the product, and was very attentive. After ordering drinks, we placed an order for two appetizers.
Appetizers: (the white cone wrapper reminds me of the little dog on the RCA logo)
Calamari City - Salt 'n' Pepper calamari and mixed tempura vegetables served with a spicy remoulade sauce. This continued our calamari motif for the trip. We got the sauce on the side, because you never know if you’ll like it or not. The lightly breaded tempura style calamari contrasted with the heavier breaded ones we tried this trip (Il Mulino and Flying Fish), but it was quite good. The vegetables were a nice touch, and there were green beans, asparagus, and zukes. This calamari did have rings and tentacles, for those readers fearing the ‘squigglies’.
Heaven on Earth - baby back ribs in a Guinness and honey glaze. Excellent item, but I wish they had a little more meat on the bone. The flavor can’t be beat, but the order doesn’t go far. I mean there is more meat on most frog legs I have ever tried (long ago, end of that story). Maybe the most flavorful item on the appetizer menu, but not the best value. No real complaints though, since we knew what we were ordering.
And side by side, just for comparison.
After the appetizers arrived, we ordered the lunch items. One child ordered the Crispy Shrimp, with the fries. A good item, and a fairly well sized portion. Our youngest ate all of hers, after declaring the heavy breading ‘yucky’, and peeling off the excess from all of the shrimp. I tried a piece, thought the breading was indeed heavy, but nothing too bad. But hey, I wasn’t the one eating it, nor having to do the peeling.
Kids meal shrimp -
Our other daughter got the Gold’n Chicken, described as two deep fried chicken goujons. Not sure what a goujon is, not sure I want to find out, but it wasn’t a McNugget, and she finished most of the chicken. Instead of fries, she got the garden veggies with this order, and they were a nice change of pace.
Kids meal chicken -
The adults ordered a total of 3 different items:
Fish & Chips – a good portion of fish, lightly breaded. The fries with it are huge, and reminded me more of steak fries. They never seem to crisp up like the traditional fries we are used to. This portion was smaller than I remember from dinner, and seemed similar in size to an order from the Cooke’s of Dublin counter service next door. I won’t say it was disappointing, as the flavor was fine, but I expected the plate to look ‘fuller’.
Keen Eye for the Shepard’s Pie – in Raglan Road style, its a different presentation. Finely minced meat, well flavored, with a large serving of mashed potatos. Excellent, as always, but stand apart from the more traditional Shepard’s Pie. This lunch serving seemed smaller than previous dinner portions, but so was the price. The only complaint was that it needed more gravy/juice. That was quickly rectified by our server.
Fada Burger – a char grilled beef sirloin burger with bacon, tomato chutney, and Wexford cheddar cheese, and it is served with fries. This was the second best burger of the trip, and the third best I have had while at WDW, ever.
Cooked perfectly as ordered (medium well), the tomato chutney (which sounds scary) was much better than a fresh tomato slice. A slab of a burger, cooked right, with great tasting bread. How can you go wrong? Well, maybe with those fries. The fries were the same as the other dishes, so refer to the above fries comments. The plate also had a little salad garnish thing on it, that served no real purpose for me, but I was a sport and tried one bite, and it was okay, as a pile of lettuce goes.
(Please take note of the US beer bottle in the picture. It wasn’t mine, because I was driving and wasn’t in the mood for a single beer with lunch this day. A member of our party got that, despite being in an Irish pub, surrounded by lots of great beers, especially Smithwicks. 
I was so embarrassed……. Sigh.)
I don’t have the total for the bill, the receipt has vanished since it didn’t get packed away with my usual WDW notes.
Summary: The meal was fine. The shepard’s pie and fada burger were excellent, as were both appetizers. The fish (and chips) could have been bigger (and the chips smaller), but the kids meals were better than average. During the day, the restauarant is well lit, and we noticed more of the décor than we typically do at nighttime. It was strange eating at Raglan Road and being able to have a conversation with those around you. The usual loud noises were nowhere to be found, as we are used to so much activity during the dinner service. Still, the a/c was cold, the food was hot, the service was pretty darned good, and we enjoyed our meal. I wouldn’t hesitate to dine here again for lunch, just to be a little different.
NEXT UP: Recap
I agree totally that they ran out of material fast, but those first two seasons were awesome. Their version of Robin Hood still makes me laugh when I think about it ... "Thou has be-squirted me!" 
.. (which of course was a reference to the Atlanta Depot scene in GWTW). 
We can't even get wine here on Sundays!!! We lived in NC for a long time and I got used to it being in the grocery store. Not so here! Just know it could be worse.
That Dessert Guy, thank goodness, I ran into him late in the meal, or I may have lost my appetite for the day, if he had been the first person I saw near the buffet.
