| Pittsburgh, PA Wednesday November 25, 2009 |
| |
|
News Sports Lifestyle Classifieds About Us |
 |
|
|
|
|
  
|
 Molly's Irish Pub tries to tap into Ireland's cozy tradition
Friday, March 15, 2002 By David Templeton, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Let's mince meats not words here: Traditional cuisine from the British Isles is boring. It's meat and potatoes. Too spicy means too much pepper. On a daring day, you might get carrots and gravy.
From the British empire, we got good government, not great gastronomy.
So when Anna and Ed Dunlap, the owners of the LeMont Restaurant on Mount Washington, decided they wanted to open Molly's Irish Pub in Peters, Washington County, they understood the challenge. They wanted pub and grub based on tradition, but tempting to southwestern Pennsylvania taste buds.
To accomplish that, the Dunlaps sent a tandem of chefs to investigate 14 successful Irish pubs in Washington, D.C., before settling on decor and menu. The results, for the most part, are right bonny.
One reason is the Irish-American cuisine gives leeway to improvise and Americanize on traditional Irish victuals.
Although they worked hard to transform a common building that housed a Boston Beanery and Avanti Ristorante into an Irish pub, they didn't altogether succeed. Yes, it features an Irish flag, stained-glass windows with shamrocks and Celtic knots, and dining room tables displaying maps of Ireland and photographs of famous Irish castles. They even have shamrock-green lights and a wallpaper border consisting of beer taps.
The intent is clear; the effort, admirable. But it doesn't capture the ambiance of neighborly Irish pubs. There's a bit of sham in them there shamrocks.
The menu duly honors the mother country with stews, cod, salmon, Cornish hens and lamb all bearing Irish names. Confirming the pub flair are eight beers on tap, ranging from Guinness and Bass to the less common Boddington.
On the first night, we ordered Wicklow (potato pancakes), which was tasty enough with bacon, sour cream and applesauce but nothing extraordinary. But I admit I ate every bit of it.
Wife Sue went straight for the cockles (little-neck clams) and mussels steamed with shallots and white wine, topped with tomato and basil cream sauce and flavored with Jameson's Irish Whiskey. She was quiet for 15 minutes. The sauce brought flavors right out of their shells.
On a second occasion, we tried the smoked Irish salmon on toasted bread and served with cream cheese, diced onions, chopped eggs and capers. It was our mistake, not Molly's, but we weren't in the mood for raw-tasting salmon, although it was nicely prepared and presented. My potato leek soup, however, was too thick and routine.
Wanting nuttin' of mutton the first night, we ordered the Galway shepherd's pie and a traditional Irish stew served in a whole-grain bread bowl not as dark as Irish bread but no less interesting. The stew was busy with beef, but nothing beyond expectations. Any Irish mum could make this stew.
The shepherd's pie, however, was a savory concoction of ground beef, bacon and vegetables in thick gravy and covered by herbal potatoes whipped then pumped from a pastry bag. We argued whether the potatoes were real or mashed pretenders. LaMont Executive Chef Robert Vargo assures they are real and whipped twice daily.
Vargo has been training the kitchen staff at Molly's Irish Pub, which opened in October.
The dinner salads were pleasant with red-leaf rather than iceberg lettuce, red onion, tomato and croutons. A delicate combination of herbs, including tarragon, bolstered the mixture and a malt vinaigrette turned simple into special.
On a second evening, Sue ordered the braised Cork County lamb with mint au jus prepared rare rather than medium as ordered. It was returned for a second visit to the oven, only to be served overdone. But the baby New Zealand lamb, not as gamy as American-raised lamb, was an unexpected treat for two who are not dyed-in-the-wool lamb fanatics.
But there were other problems with the order. Sue had to ask -- after 10 minutes of waiting for our waitress to reappear -- for mint jelly. She had eaten half her meal before the mint jelly showed up.
The Oxfordshire Field corn beef, served with cabbage and green beans, was bold and juicy.
The Belfast fish and chips that the pub proclaims to be the region's best could be the pride of any Irish chipper. The batter-fried cod was thick as a brick, tender and moist and accented by a tartar sauce featuring horseradish and capers.
Indeed, we tried the beer. Sue had a light Harp's draft and I had a darker Bass ale served cold to satisfy local taste.
The biggest surprise was the desserts prepared at the LeMont commissary. Traditional bread pudding with whiskey sauce was superb. Although the traditional Irish whiskey cake was rather bland pound cake serving as a palette for chocolate sauces, the Bailey's chocolate mousse pie was rich and creamy and not too sweet, making us compete for the last bite.
But we encountered a few problems at Molly's.
On our second visit, a server, not our waitress, brought our daughter the Welsh Cornish hen rather than fish and chips. We wondered whether we'd confused the waitress. After some discussion, and an investigation, it proved to be a kitchen error.
And there was another problem diners never should encounter in a fine restaurant: On this occasion, we were seated in the back of the dining room next to louvered doors that apparently led into the dishwashing operation. During dinner, we could hear loud leprechauns, all woefully lacking in social charm, overwrought with Irish bedevilment and obviously washing pots devoid of gold.
This wasn't the Irish entertainment we expected.
So I wish I could give Molly's some good pub. But top of the day, although generally satisfied by the vast and interesting menu, we were not overwhelmed. And we left the pub after our second visit rightly perturbed by Molly's Irish follies.
Molly's Irish Pub
|
|||||||||||||
Back to top  E-mail this story  | ||||||||||||||
|
Search | Contact Us |
Site Map | Terms of Use |
Privacy Policy |
Advertise | Help |
Corrections |
||||||||||||||
Hours: Irish-American cuisine; Entrees range from grilled chicken Caesar sandwich and Irish reuben ($8.50) to braised Cork County lamb and Shannon bacon wrapped filet ($18.95); Appetizers from $4 to $9.50; Eight draft beers on tap in full bar; Major credit cards accepted; Handicapped accessible. Reservations recommended, especially Fridays and Saturdays.
