Trying to plan out all of your meals for your Disney World trip and feeling OVERWHELMED? Yeah, we get that. There are SO many restaurants in Disney World, that it can be difficult to know if the one you’re picking is the “right” one.

Should you splurge for a meal at Cinderella’s Royal Table? Is dinner at Wine Bar George a good idea? What places are must-dos in EPCOT? It can be…a lot. But we’re here to help! We’ve got all kinds of top lists, videos, and reviews to help you pick the best dining choices for your family. Today we’re bringing you a FULL review for a Disney Springs restaurant that might be on your consideration list or one you might have never heard of before — Raglan Road Irish Pub and Restaurant. Is this a place you definitely MUST visit or one your family really wouldn’t enjoy? Let’s find out! 

Atmosphere

Ragland Road is a FULL ON, authentic Irish pub. And when we say “authentic,” we mean it! The bars and furniture inside of the pub were actually built in Ireland. There’s no joking around here!

The folks at Raglan Road also take authenticity very seriously when it comes to food. The Irish owners brought in top chefs from Dublin to create “the very best of modern Irish cooking” (according to Disney’s website).

From fish and chips to shepherd’s pie and all kinds of beer options, there are a lot of picks here that you won’t find at “standard” theme park spots.

Another big thing about Raglan Road is its live entertainment. There is free live entertainment at the restaurant every single knight. You may find them on the main stage or the patio stage (outside). Here’s a peek at their entertainment schedule:

Perhaps more than anything else, Raglan is famous for its Irish Show which features some seriously incredible dancers. This is typically performed 4 times daily from 4:30PM to 9:45PM (but times can vary).

Looking for that entertainment and an earlier meal? You can check out Raglan Road’s Rollicking Brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, which features Irish music, live entertainment, and (of course) brunch food!

We mentioned the word “authentic” above, but truly that’s the main feeling you’ll get here, and one of the things we love most about this place. From the Irish-style songs that the performers sing or play, to the dancing, decor, and food — you can truly grasp that theme and it feels very real and valid.

But, we do have to caution you — because of the entertainment, Raglan Road can get very LOUD. In fact, it can be so loud that you might not be able to really hear the person talking to you or your server. So, if you’re not a big fan of loud noises, just consider your options here carefully and perhaps ask for a table in the quietest portion of the restaurant.

Between their outside seating, indoor bar seating, and indoor general seating — there is a pretty wide variety of options. There are standard tables and chairs, booths, bar seating, and outdoor seating.

If your main goal at Raglan Road is really to soak up all of that entertainment goodness, you might want to ask for a table near the stage inside. Just remember that it will get loud!

Alright, enough about the restaurant as a whole — let’s get into the menu!

Menu

When we visited Raglan Road recently, we were provided with a reusable, paper menu. You can also see their menu online though.

We were there for dinner, so we’ll focus on that menu.

The menu starts with some appetizer options, which include the Whiskey BBQ Lollipop Chicken (DELISH!), nom nom wings, and more.

In terms of entrees, there are a number of choices. You’ve got burgers, pasta, steak, shepherd’s pie, fish and chips, and a whole bunch of other options — it’s a menu that’s able to satisfy a pretty broad range of palettes.

You can also get some side dishes…

…and (of course) desserts, including the guest favorite, Ger’s Bread and Butter Pudding!

Kids can order off of the kids menu, which has a limited number of entrees and a dessert as well.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, since this is an authentic Irish PUB, there are a pleeeeennnnnty of drink options. You’ll find a variety of beers…

…specialty drinks…

…whiskey…

…and wine!

We’ve eaten here many a time before, so what did we choose to munch on this time?

Let’s dive in!

Eats and Drinks

At meals in the past, we’ve been served the complimentary Irish Soda Bread and a bread-dipping sauce made of a Guinness Reduction and Olive Oil. For many, it’s a FAVORITE part of the meal. But…this time we did NOT get bread at all.

Never fear though, we ordered plenty of food to make up for it! We started our dinner with the Scallop Forest, priced at $26. This dish is made of Foleys all natural Georges pink sea scallops in a golden batter served with a citrus lime dipping sauce and sweet chili jam.

The citrus lime dipping sauce here is no joke. It was like a SMACK of lime to the face, with an underlying mayonnaise flavor. It did have a kick of spice (a light one) but it was mainly just lime and mayo. And if that’s your jam, then grab a plate and scoot up to the table.

As for the sweet chili jam, that was SUPER GOOD! It had the texture of a salsa, but with the chili kick. You know that slight tingle in your tongue that you get from a gooood chili sauce? This was it! The jam part was very sweet, which added a great balance to the sauce. Overall, this was fantastic!

In terms of the scallops themselves, the batter was nice and crispy (just as it should be!) and the scallops were tender. But the scallops were just a bit too mushy for our taste. You can tell they are of a good quality though.

Overall, the scallops themselves are pretty simple, which we could see being a good fit for those looking for something like that. Personally, we would have liked a bit more seasoning, but we suppose that’s where the dipping sauces really shine.

There wasn’t anything bad about these by any means, but a bit more seasoning and slightly less mushy texture would have taken them to the next level.

Next, it was time for more seafood with the Kiss Before Shrimp, priced at $18. This dish features pan-seared shrimp in a garlic and chili lemon butter sauce with a sliced baguette.

The baguette here was very fresh and slightly toasted (on the top and bottom), which gave it a great crunch. 

There was some garlic butter on it and seasonings baked into the bread, which we loved.

The shrimp were cooked really well (not overly chewy or anything) and they were lightly seasoned. They were also pretty decently sized (nothing like getting a tasty dish that only features tiiiiiiiny shrimp) and very juicy! 

We got a little bit of the lemon butter flavor, and could taste a bit of garlic if we really searched for it, but we really didn’t taste any of the chili in it! The lemon butter was definitely the predominant flavor here, which wasn’t a bad thing, but we would have loved to have gotten more chili and garlic flavors.

Overall, this was a salty and yummy shrimp dish!

Both the shrimp and scallops could be good picks if you love those types of seafood and aren’t looking for tons of seasonings on the seafood items themselves. The portion sizes are also pretty decent, making them fairly good picks. BUT they aren’t exactly cheap. The shrimp isn’t terrible at $18, but that scallop forest comes in at $26 for just an APPETIZER, so that’s something to be mentally prepared to see on the bill later.

For our final appetizer, we got the Pull The Boxty at $17. We actually got this one by accident. We had ordered the Salmon Boxty (an entree) but were provided this instead. As we mentioned above, the music here can be LOUD, making it difficult sometimes for servers to hear your orders, so you might want to triple confirm with them that they’ve got the right items written down before they head to the kitchen. Our server was fantastic about the mixup though, and they quickly provided us with the right menu option later.

So, back to our happy accident of getting to try the Pull the Boxty! This is an Irish style crispy boxty potato cake, with pulled ham hock and caramelized red onions with Dubliner cheese sauce.

The red onions on top of this were caramelized perfectly, with a very sweet glaze to them! The potato cake was the perfect blend of crispy and fried on the outside and fluffy on the inside. We will note that the potato cake on its own is rather bland, but with everything else it’s delicious!

The pulled ham hock just falls apart in your mouth, and is VERY salty. Add on the nice garlic flavor and you’ve got some serious deliciousness. The garnish was fresh and added a nice crunch but…not much else. There really wasn’t a lot there in terms of the flavor department with that garnish.

Finally, the Dubliner cheese sauce it comes with is VERRRRRRY thick. We’re talking like mashed potato thick! But that’s not a bad thing. We just wish there was more of it!

If you love ham hock or pork, we think this is a good pick. It was a really tasty option and super filling. Had the potato cake been seasoned, we truly would have been overjoyed. If you order this tasty treat, just don’t go into it expecting a full pork meal, because this, true to its category, is really just an appetizer.

Next, we reach the entree portion of this meal. There’s MORE food?! Yes, there’s MORE! First up we have the Salmon Boxty for $31. This dish is made with a roasted Atlantic salmon fillet on an Irish style crispy boxty potato cake and celery root purée, with a refreshing Apple, grape, caper, almond, and smoked salmon dressing.

Unfortunately, this boxty came to us a bit…burnt. Perhaps it’s because this was the second boxty the kitchen had to make for us, since we got that first Pull the Boxty appetizer by accident. Regardless of what happened, it was definitely burnt on the outside and that burnt flavor unfortunately came through.

The good news? The inside was REALLY good and fluffy! The potato by itself really didn’t have any flavor (again) but was good when mixed with the other ingredients. The garnish on top was nice and light, and this time we did get a flavor from the garnish — a bit of a parsley and onion flavor came through, which was nice.

The apple, grape, and caper pieces on the sides, paired with the almond and salmon dressing was…odd. The apples were sweeter, the grapes were tart, and the salmon dressing was…a thing. It felt like a whole bunch of flavors put together. BUT the salmon itself was a bit dryer, so it did add a refreshing moisture component that we felt the dish needed.

The salmon by itself was pretty bland and (as we mentioned) dryer than we would have liked. But when paired with the sauce and grapes, it had a refreshing (somewhat sour, in a good way) bite to it.

Finally, we ended our meal with some classic Fish & Chips for $27. This is a staple at Raglan Road, so we couldn’t NOT get it. This dish is made with Raglan Road’s famous beer battered fish and chips served with fresh tartar sauce. Typically the fish is an Atlantic cod fillet. (P.S. be sure to ask about a gluten free option if you need that!)

In case you’re not familiar with it, “chips” here refers to french fries — so don’t go in expecting tiny little crispy chips. The “chips” are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside — true perfection! There was very little salt though, and we were left wanting a bit in that department.

The tartar sauce tasted like a mix of mustard and mayonnaise with a hint of lemon and lime. (That’s not too far off from the recipe for Tartar Sauce from the New York Times, though that recipe features a few more ingredients) It was pretty good and really made this dish.

The Atlantic cod fillet was very good! The fish was nice and tender, the outside was perfectly fried, and the fish wasn’t over battered or fried to a total crisp.

The fish itself was light and had a very subtle flavor, so that could be a good pick for people looking for a dish that’s “safe” for most palettes. Again, there wasn’t a lot of seasoning when it comes to the fish (except a bit of pepper that you could see on top). So, in our opinion, the tartar sauce was really needed here to give the dish a full balance of flavor.

Both entrees could have used a bit more seasoning in our opinion, but the sauces they were served with did help fill a bit of the void! If you love fish, either of these entrees could be a great pick!

And that wraps up our meal at Raglan Road! So, is this spot a must-do or not? Let’s go over our thoughts.

Nosh or Not

Wander on over to Raglan Road if:

• You’re looking for a fun time — the music, dancing, and general entertainment here really create an exciting atmosphere
• You’re looking for some tasty Irish-inspired eats — from fish and chips to shepherd’s pie, there are some great options on the menu that’ll help transport you (albeit in a small way) to the flavors of Ireland. If you’re looking to explore something new, this could be a great place to give that a try!
• You’re looking for a spot with a large drink menu to go along with those eats — entertainment and great eats PLUS a large drink menu? Raglan Road has it all! That drink menu is particularly extensive and diverse as it includes much more than your typical specialty drinks, wines, and beers.

Consider wandering elsewhere if:

• You don’t like loud music — Raglan Road can get really loud inside and outside because of all of that fun entertainment. If you’re looking for a quiet dinner, or don’t enjoy eating at places where it’s sometimes hard to hear the people around you, then consider heading somewhere else OR consider stopping by for lunch right when they open or at a time when things are a bit quieter.
• You’re looking for truly simple, standard eats — while there are some great items on the menu here and we think some could satisfy a broad range of palettes, many are a bit more on the unique side. If chicken tenders and fries or a simple burger is what you’re after, this might not be the best pick.
• You’re looking for entertainment with a Disney flair — the entertainment here is fantastic and something totally unique compared to much of what you’ll see throughout the rest of Disney World. But if the type of entertainment you’re looking for is Mickey and Minnie character dining or a place themed to a castle, then you’re probably better off seeking a traditional character meal or going for Disney-themed spots like Be Our Guest.

Overall

Overall, (no surprise here) we had a good time at Raglan Road. Our server was fantastic, even though it was really hard for us to hear each other due to the music. But, they were quick to fix everything up and make sure we were satisfied.

The atmosphere here is definitely fun! It’s an exciting place to be with all of the dancing, performances, and music. And if you’re looking for some Irish style eats, this place has solid options. In the past, we’ve seriously LOVED the chicken lollipops from here and other comfort dishes done to their FINEST, and we’ve really enjoyed some of their brunch offerings.

Honestly, all of the items we had for dinner recently were good or had good aspects to them (despite being burnt, for example, or a bit more on the bland side). Things can get expensive though, so if you’re on a tight budget, be sure to carefully calculate the costs here. While you’re paying for the food (of course), some of those high costs can come because you’re also paying (in a sense) for the fun atmosphere and entertainment.

What do you think? Are you a fan of Raglan Road? Tell us in the comments! And check back with us for all of the latest reviews of restaurants around Disney World!

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Are you a fan of Raglan Road? Tell us in the comments!

The post REVIEW: We Have to WARN You About This Before You Go to Raglan Road in Disney World first appeared on the disney food blog.