Review of Raglan Road – An Irish Pub at Disney’s Pleasure Island
On a whim after checking into the Port Orleans French Quarter resort at Walt Disney World on Saturday July 19, 2008 we decided to try to get a reservation at Raglan Road, a wonderful authentic Irish Pub, located at Disney’s Pleasure Island.
Given that it was a Saturday evening at the peak of the summer tourist season, we weren’t holding out much hope but while my husband and daughter went to order lunch at the food court, I stopped by the Concierge Desk. Unexpectedly, there were no guests at the Concierge Desk so I had three cast members waiting to help me. I inquired as to what time the evening entertainment would begin that night at Raglan Road. Surprisingly, that information was not in the Disney system (Raglan Road is a private restaurant at Disney’s Pleasure Island). However, the cast member mentioned that he has been there around 8pm and remembered seeing the show around that time. I had done a little research before leaving and remembered reading somewhere that a live band started at 9:00pm. So, I decided to try for an 8:15pm reservation. To my amazement, the cast member was able to obtain a reservation for the three of us at 8:15pm that night. My husband couldn’t believe it when I told him. I have to mention that my husband has wanted to go to Raglan Road for the evening entertainment for about three years now.
We arrived a little after 8:00 and were given the traditional beeper and told we could go to the bar if we wished. I had requested a table near the entertainment and was advised there could be a little longer wait which was fine.
Raglan Road has an outside courtyard but reservations are not accepted for outside seating. You need to wait in a standby line until a table opens. Same goes for the restaurant inside, if you do not have a reservation, but the standby line inside seemed to be much shorter. We headed to the bar only to find out that my daughter, who is 10, was not allowed to sit at the bar. So, we had to pull her chair out away from the bar about two feet and then we were fine. Go figure.
As I mentioned, Raglan Road is an authentic Irish Pub and I mean authentic. Raglan Road has four antique bars (each more than 130 years old), an authentic Irish Band, and real Irish dancing. The furnishings, lighting, and wall coverings were all built/created in Ireland and shipped to Walt Disney World.
Five minutes after getting settled in and moving chairs at the bar, our beeper went off. We were directed to a great table in the main room literally next to the stage where the Irish dancer performs and two table away from the band.
Our server promptly appeared for our order. The food here is best described as Irish bistro with the finest of Irish beverages of course! My husband started with a perfectly poured Guinness while I started with the “Four Provinces” beer flight. The beer flights are a great way to try four different Irish or European beers. I also find them quite enough to last throughout a meal. Our daughter ordered her usual Shirley Temple.
For appetizers, we selected both the battered cocktail sausages and the salt ‘n pepper calamari. Both were listed on the “Starters to Share” section of the menu and for good reason. The portions were huge! I had almost wished our server had pointed out how large both would be as we really should not have ordered both to share between three of us. The cocktail sausages which we liked, were served in an interesting way, with about a half dozen of the sausages on forks standing up on a the wooden plate. The calamari was served with tempura vegetables. We didn’t really care for the calamari. Probably our own fault. Why would we order calamari and tempura vegetables at an Irish pub anyway?
For our main course, we decided to share the 10 oz sirloin and we ordered the Sheperds Pie off the children’s menu for my daughter. We had previously enjoyed lunch at Raglan Road two years ago and had ordered the traditional Fish and Chips and Bangers and Mash at that time so we decided to try different entrees this evening. The sirloin was quite good but the Sheperds Pie was amazing! I will never order anything else at Raglan Road. Lesson learned when in an Irish pub, order Irish food. My husband, who is extremely picky about his Sheperds Pie, says “on a scale of 1-10 it is a 10″.
The band started promptly at 9:00pm. A four piece Irish band started playing songs and telling stories. They were quite enjoyable. At 9:20pm, the Irish dancer appeared, right next to our table, and performed to one song. After dancing, she also circulated the room talking to the younger children and posing for pictures.
We ended our night just after that, so not much time for desert. Overall, Raglan Road is a fun family restaurant. If you stick to some good Irish libations and order the more “traditional” food, you will be happy. Try to make a reservation around the time of the evening show. You won’t be disappointed
Location:
Pleasure Island Downtown Disney
1640 East Buena Vista Drive, Lake Buena Vista, Orlando FL 32830
Hours:
Lunch Served 11:00am to 3:00pm.
Dinner Served 3:00pm to 11:00pm.
Bar Menu Served all day.
Live Entertainment starts at 9:00pm to 2:00am, with our Irish band and Irish dancer, who perform 6 nights a week. Live music with Paul Duffy 8:00pm-2:00am on Sundays.
Reservations and Information:
Call – (407) 938-0300
Email – email@raglanroadirishpub.com
Website – http://www.RaglanRoadIrishPub.com/
Food ordered:
Dalkey Duo - Dalkey-battered cocktail sausages with a Dalkey mustard dipping sauce $9.95
Calamari City – Salt ‘n’ Pepper calamari and mixed tempura vegetables served with a spicy remoulade $9.95
Serious Sirloin Steak – 10 oz sirloin topped with Irish whiskey glazed, drizzled with fresh basil oil. Served with mashed potatoes and topped with crispy fried onion strings $23.95
Young Shepherds Pie – Traditional Shepherds Pie with our contemporary twist to this favorite dish $7.95
| 0.0 |
Author profile. To change this standard text, you have to enter some information about your self in the Dashboard -> Users -> Your Profile box.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
[...] of Downtown Disney West Side On July 19, 2008 after an awesome dinner at Raglan Road at Disney’s Pleasure Island, we decided to explore Downtown Disney West Side. These are some of the photos I got of the [...]