During my August trip to Orlando area, I visited Raglan Road restaurant on my first night there. Trying to do useful food reviews, I focused on menu items that were new at Raglan Road. When I went, about eight new items were on the menu there. I ordered one of the new appetizers and one of the new entrees. For my entrée, I ordered a salad. Yes, I said a salad. With all the options of menu items, I selected a salad. Why would I do that?
First and foremost, this salad qualified as a newer item on the Raglan Road menu. Second, I had already ordered an appetizer before this entrée. Third and finally, I knew the next day involved two table service dining reservations along with trying about eight treats at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. In simple terms, a salad can make a good choice during your Walt Disney World dining experience. I realize people say vacation calories do not count. Still, a bit of nutrition sounds like a good idea at least once during a vacation.
However, this counts as no ordinary salad. If you were thinking I ordered a generic salad with no frills, think again. I ordered “That Salad With Chicken.” I wonder who got paid a salary to come up with that title for this salad. This salad costs $20.This salad provides diners with “grilled Bell & Evans chicken breast, arugula, roasted broccolini, pickled red cabbage, confit tomatoes, roasted butternut squash, red quinoa, and smoked almonds, A lovely honey mustard dressing comes with this salad.
` The presentation of the salad earns high marks. In addition, the salad matches well with the complimentary soda bread service provided at Raglan Road. For the record, the soda bread presents a wonderful flavor here to start your meal.
So how was this salad? As expected, the chicken here comes very well prepared but more about that balance of flavor later. The arugula and other greens match the dressing almost perfectly. I found myself wanting more arugula with a touch of the dressing when finished. Even though I ate almost morsel of this salad, the portion rates as large for a $20 salad at Disney Springs. That rating should perhaps be higher based on the solid overall flavor of this salad. The accompanying vegetables and quinoa were also prepared very well.
On the negative side, the broccolini, though prepared very well, tasted a little too salty by itself. I also found it harder to chew that expected. In fairness, I generally avoid broccolini in my everyday dining so I might have a bias in this case. Also, the smoked almonds, though nice, fell to bottom of salad quickly. When you order this, plan for that aspect.
The key to this salad falls on the chicken to bring it together. The chicken offers a reasonably seasoned flavor. Initially, I thought the chicken was be a bit dry. Yet, in seems apparent that the chicken balances the other components, especially the broccolini. Guests get a reasonable amount of chicken with this salad. As a result, the chicken holds it all together flavor-wise. Based on that apparent intent, this salad with chicken makes a good option for diners looking for some nutrition in their Disney dining regiment. Of course, do not be fooled. Just because this menu item calls itself a salad, there are plenty of yummy calories within it. I doubt you will feel you sacrificed too much getting this salad.
As of time of writing this, I have another dining reservation at Raglan Road coming up in less than a week. Yes, I booked that with the help of the MouseDining reservation alert system. If I were not going back to review some other new menu items at Raglan Road, I would not hesitate to order this again. Considering I am scheduled to review about thirty food items at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando in that same week, I probably could use a salad or two (or five). Yet, this salad meets the expected standard of a place like Raglan Road. Thanks for reading this review. As always, eat like you mean it!
