The new pub is owned by a family, the Hoynes, from southeast Ireland’s Kilkenny County. Kilkenny Castle is the fortress referenced in the name. 

An Irish-American pub, the kind you might find on the streets of New York, which is why you will find this restaurant on the Streets of New York set of Universal Studios theme park. The menu has the usual Irish fare (and some British items): potato and leek soup; bangers and mash; Irish stew; shepherd’s pie; corned beef and cabbage. Nothing is wonderful, but this is one of only two, with Lombard’s Seafood Grill, full-service restaurants, so it tends to get crowded with people who don’t feel like standing in another line just to get their food.

The owners of Liam Fitzpatrick’s went to great lengths to create an authentic atmosphere. It’s a little larger than most of the pubs you’ll encounter in Hibernia but most of the details are there, from the bar to the fireplace nook to the raised dining area. The only authentic touch that is missing is the beer-sodden, well-worn carpeting that seems to be in every pub, and for that I thank the owners of Liam Fitzpatrick’s.There is authenticity in the menu, as well, and I wish the proprietors had the confidence to stick with them. It sends a wrong message, I think, when the server immediately recommends the nachos and announces the kitchen does a really good quesadilla. The kitchen does a very nice beer-battered fish, whether enjoyed as little bite-sized nuggets as an appetizer or as part of the iconic fish and chips. The batter was nicely done, a thick jacket on chunks of grouper. A simple tartar or malt vinegar would have been appropriate; I’m not sure why a Key West remoulade was offered as a dipping sauce.I also liked the Scotch egg, which had a perfectly hard-boiled egg inside a thick coating of spicy sausage. If the sausage didn’t have enough heat, a whole grain mustard could kick it up.For entrees the corned beef and cabbage came close to being a winner. The meat was just right, with just a bit of chew and a good salty taste (overseas you’re likely to see this dish listed as salt beef). However, the cabbage, a big wedge, was undercooked and hard, but still tasty.

You’ll find traditional music, familiar ales and even genuine fittings from old bars in Ireland, but the food is an updated version of Irish classics, some a bit highfalutin.

For example, we started our dinner with a seared scallop on a mint and pea puree. Just saying the words mint and pea puree will get you thrown out of most pubs in Dublin. But it was tasty, as was the potato and asparagus soup, lighter and smoother than you’d expect.

The next course was shepherd’s pie, but as I said before, things aren’t done in a traditional way at Raglan Road, and this was certainly the oddest shepherd’s pie I’ve seen. Here, the ground meat mixed with gravy was dolloped onto a large spoon with a little mashed potatoes piped on top. It was a little more than one should shove into one’s mouth all at once, but there wasn’t quite enough to reallly get a feel for the flavor.

Whatever you have for dinner be sure to have the bread pudding for dessert. And the house band, which performs nightly, will make you want to get up and dance without moving your arms.