Great Irish Fare A Stone’s Throw Away

Ok. So we’ve lived here nearly 20 years.  All this time we have not ventured into a nearby pub, just down the street and around the corner from where we live.  I think we got a bad impression at first because someone who lives nearby routinely got drunk there and we thought of it as a dive bar.

Well, it just goes to show you we should remain open-minded until we investigate something for ourselves.  Today as my daughter and I drove to the park for our daily walk, I told her to stop by this pub so I could find out if they were serving corned beef and cabbage today. A woman close to my age standing outside told me the food is the best of its kind here is in town and we should definitely try it.

When we returned home after our walk I informed my husband that we were going out to eat at the neighborhood pub because I’d heard good things about it.  At about six o’clock we drove to the pub and entered into a very cozy, very pubish atmosphere.  There was plenty of Irish fiddling on the soundtrack, interspersed with some of the great songs of Van Morrison. It was all very inviting.

The food turned out to be spectacular! The potato leek soup I ordered was one of the best soups I’ve ever had.  It was creamy, interlaced with tiny shreds of corned beef, peas, carrots and probably leeks. It tasted the way I imagined it would taste in a cozy pub in Ireland. My poached salmon on a bed of Irish-stout laced cream melded with artichokes and capers was one of the best Salmon dishes I’ve ever had.  My citrusy Sam Adams was the perfect accompaniment to it all. My daughter was quite satisfied with her Shepherd’s pie and my husband with his corned beef and cabbage and Guinness Stout.

We enjoyed the ambiance…the wait staff and owner couldn’t have been more friendly or helpful; the Irish movie on one screen, the still shots of scenic Irish places on another screen; and the energizing soundtrack.  I told my family that if they came home and couldn’t find me, to look for me at the local pub!