Apparently, I’m doing a series of reviews on local pubs. Sometimes life just turns out that way, you know? At some point I’ll sign up for a series of reviews on fancy schmancy restuarants. If I can figure out where one signs up for something like that.

Last Thursday I visited the Claddagh Irish Pub in Maple Grove, MN along with Z & A and Mr. Hockey.

The restaurant is located in a suburban “faux urban” center. You know one of those developments that’s smacks of Disney and tries to make you think you’re in a quaint and cozy small town business district.

That being said, they did do a fairly nice job of replicating what I think an old world pub interior would actually look like. The stone work and the wood. The lighting was adjusted a couple of time while we were there. The wall decorations aren’t too over the top but subtly suggest a place that’s got a history. Even though you know it couldn’t possibly have one because the whole development is not even five years old yet!

The wait staff was acceptable. Not too clingy and available when you needed them. The host stand did an excellent job of seating one of our party that was late.

They serve actual beer there. Guinness, Newcastle, porters and stouts as well as American “beers” of, I don’t remember….maybe Miller? Anyway, one thing I haven’t noticed on other pub menus is that they have blends. Like a black & tan (which I had) and some others (which I don’t remember.) The pours were good.

I was a bit disappointed in the menu though. We ordered “cabbage rolls” for an appetizer. There was enough to share for a table of four so the portion size was good. My gripe is that they weren’t cabbage rolls. They were cabbage and meat wrapped in wonton skins and fried. That’s an egg roll, people. Seems like if you’re going to go to the trouble of creating a theatrical verison of an Irish pub you could have actual Irish food. Of course, that means you need to have an actual chef and not a lot of line cooks heating stuff up from Sysco. Which is what I’m afraid this was.

Mr. Hockey had the meatloaf sandwich. He didn’t rave. I don’t know what the issue was but if it was like the chicken sandwich I had it was that it just didn’t have any flavor. I chose the Chicken Spinach melt. It was supposed to be a chicken breast on toast with spinach artichoke dip and cheese. The bread was soggy and the spinach artichoke dip was more like mayonayse with green stuff in it. No flavor to speak of. And the chicken, because it was skinless and I think precooked and just warmed up, didn’t have much flavor either.

A. and I shared a chocolate torte dessert. That was pretty good. The chocolate was dark and the icecream tasted top shelf. It was big enough to share, so again, portion size isn’t the issue.

With the split appetizer and dessert, 1 beer apiece, and an entree each Mr. Hockey and my bill came to $40 which isn’t bad for an evening out, but as I mentioned a couple of days ago, if the entree doesn’t have more flavor and interest than McDonald’s I don’t know why you’d spend the money.

Bottom line? I’d recommend the place for beers and/or dessert but not for the dinners. There’s plenty of other places around so maybe it’s a stop on a progressive dining experience?
— — —
A year ago (or longer) on This Journey…

Now what? 2009
From email… 2008
done. ordered. is it here yet? 2007
a little space 2007
Enjoying the moment 2006

October 15th, 2007 | Category: Restaurant Reviews | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL