New Zealand-themed Raglan Public House in Ocean Beach just completed a major makeover.

And owner PJ Lamont of the eatery at 1851 Bacon St. couldn’t be more pleased. Of Raglan’s recent remodel, which took about three months to complete, Lamont noted he was nervous about it, but confident as well because the restaurant “had been received so well” by the local community.

He added a remodel became necessary because “we had to up our game again and wanted to put our best back into the restaurant making it fresher, nicer, for the community. So we added quite a few skylights and put in booths which we never had before. We blew out an entire wall and made a bigger entrance, as well as created a lounge setting outside that now has a warm feeling with positive energy.”

As managing partner of NZ Eats Group, Lamont now presides over a growing family of Kiwi-inspired establishments including Bare Back Grill in Pacific Beach, Queenstown Public House in Little Italy, Dunedin New Zealand Eats in North Park, and Queenstown Bistro in La Jolla.

The restaurateur talked about how he first got acquainted with Kiwi cuisine while on a surfing expedition to that group of some 600 islands, comprising the sixth-largest island nation in the world in terms of area lying east of Australia.

According to Lamont, the appeal of New Zealand cuisine can largely be summed up in one word. “It was just so unique,” he recalled of his first impression of that island’s cuisine.“It was a burger place in Queenstown (South Island). It was flavors that we had never really seen – or had – before. And everything was organic, made fresh in-house with meat ground daily. It was your basic burger. But the flavor profile was kind of shocking in a great way.”

Lamont has since married a New Zealander. He has also adopted, and exported, food items unfamiliar to many in the West from that country, which has 10 times as many sheep as people and is known for its lamb. “You can take lamb to the next level cooking it with mint dressing, fruits, and egg,” Lamont pointed out adding “We’ve (Raglan) kept it (lamb) as one of our staples and we’ve built off of that.”

Lamont talked about another New Zealand culinary delicacy that is beginning to catch on: meat pies. “We started meat pies a few years back and now we’re just noticing that it has just grown and grown and we’re selling out,” enthused Lamont, noting Raglan’s pies are 100% New Zealand beef made fresh in-house. “Almost everything we have brought over has been a hit,” he added.

Pointing out there is plenty of competition in the local burger market with iconic places like Hodad’s in OB and Rocky’s Crown Pub in PB, Lamont wasn’t deterred from jumping in with his kiwi beef product because of “its sourcing of ingredients and grinding it daily, which makes a big difference.”

So what makes Kiwi cuisine so appealing to San Diegans? Lamont has a theory. “San Diegans, in general, are pretty open to anything international,” he said. “There are a lot of different people, a big melting pot, and people are just more open-minded about trying something different.”

A menu revamp accompanied the structural makeover at Raglan. “We added some things to the menu that we were kind of tentatively doing prior,” noted Lamont. “And we just modified some things like our fish and chips, changing the fish to a fresher, thicker variety. We’ve also added lamb lollipops and lamb skewers. We’re just trying to up it (quality), always trying to improve.”

RAGLAN PUBLIC HOUSE

Where: 1851 Bacon St.

Info: raglanpublichouse.com, 619-794-2304