Raglan Road

After two days spent at Universal, our energy and patience were left depleted.  We decided to trade Harry Potter magic for some Disney magic so instead of eating dinner on Universal property, we headed to Downtown Disney for some grub.

We had no specific restaurant in mind. We figured we would just walk around and wait for a mood to strike.  As we approached Raglan Road comments flooded my mind.  I remember it being talked about favorably on The French Fry Diary, Make Mine Magic Podcast and The DISUnplugged Podcast.  With all of the recommendations, I figured it had to be pretty good, and after our more artistic dinner the night before, I felt like I could go for something comforting.

Raglan Road is an Irish restaurant.  There was a tiny bit of a wait so we wandered around the great Irish store attached to the restaurant, then hung out around the posted menu.  There were multiple times that we watched people walk up to the menu, read it, and then make some sort of comment about it being too challenging.  One woman in particular complained about the lack of pasta and grilled chicken on the menu.  I felt like the menu wasn’t challenging in the least (though I know our food tastes lean more to the adventurous side), and I felt bad for the people who walked away because they missed a wonderful treat.

Our server/cast member, Xiomara, was marvelous.  From the moment we sat down she made it seem like she was expecting us and was so happy to see us.  She swept in and placed a basket of brown bread with a sweet Guinness dipping sauce onto our table.  

The bread was good, but the dipping sauce was heavenly. We only had one piece each because the bread is dense and filling.

For our first course we had the Tomato Salad with balsamic and Parmesan crisps.  

It might look ordinary, but the tomatoes were so fresh it tasted like they had just been picked and the balsamic was high quality. There might have been a slight scuffle at our table over dividing up the Parmesan crisps.

For our entrées we both got the Guinness Beef Stew. I love that it came in little pots.

It was the best Guinness stew I have had thus far.  The meat was tender; the sauce was perfect. Not too much Guinness and just the right balance of smokey and tangy.  It was like a warm hug in my belly.

Not only is Raglan Road one of the more affordable sit down restaurants on Disney property, for the price of your meal you also get some top notch entertainment.  While we were eating a band named Drops of Green played Irish music.  The band alternated with a group of Irish dancers who performed traditional jigs.  

It was a relaxing, entertaining, and yummy night. With our stomachs filled with comforting goodness we were ready to catch some zzzzzs so we would be well rested for all of the  rebel smuggling to come.