This is a place that Nathan and I have frequented quite a few times. We usually come here for lunch because it’s close to his work, offers a great outdoor seating area, and the food never disappoints—sort of. We always tend to order the same thing when we come here. I love the fish and chips and Nathan gets the Irish Stew—an amazing stew with carrots, peas, adorable baby potatoes, delicious tender bite sized pieces of beef, and a dollop of mash potatoes right in the middle. Both of these two options seem to be the staple plates for this restaurant. Tonight however, after going to Luna Rosa for happy hour and Nathan getting denied a drink because he forgot his ID, we decided to head over to Muldoon’s for yummy drinks and a yummy dinner.
Funny little fact—we didn’t get carded at Muldoon’s, whereas in Luna Rosa (regardless of the fact that we have been there a number of times) they still refused to sell Nathan a drink. I am even pretty sure that the waiter is the same one who has helped us before. We even asked to talk to the manager; we figured we could plead our case being that Nathan seriously doesn’t look like he’s under 21. The manager wasn’t in, we were told she had stepped out and would return in 20 minutes, but by that point we were thoroughly frustrated and just decided to go somewhere else and swing by the apartment to pick up Nathan’s ID.
Back to the food! As usual, Muldoon’s was pretty busy, which is always a good sign in my opinion. We seated ourselves and our waitress was super attentive. Our amazing fennel infused soda bread was brought out along with our drinks—I got an Emerald Drop and Nathan got a little three sample beer thing (the beers were pretty meh—but I am not a big beer fan).
Tonight we were feeling particularly brave so we decided to pick some new stuff on the menu. Nathan ordered the New York Steak and I got the Irish Stew (I figured it would be good to order one thing that we were sure we liked). The stew, as always, did not disappoint. This has got to be one of the densest dishes I’ve ever had, but it’s just absolutely delicious. The steak looked great but didn’t really taste amazing. The sides were really disappointing, some pretty flavorless mashed potatoes and their summer grilled vegetables which consisted of a stack of red pepper and a few pieces of zucchini.
With one hit and one miss we decided to go for desert and ordered the Mint Chocolate Chip Mud Pie. It was described to us as Oreo pie crust with mint chocolate chip ice cream inside, fudge poured over it, and whipped cream. It wasn’t all that great. It sort of tasted like something store bought rather than something they make themselves, which is pretty disappointing for the sort of establishment that this is. The fudge sauce that got poured over it was light brown, almost looked like caramel but tasted way too strong and sweet (and not in a good way). The whip cream was just this huge spoonful on the side of the plate. In fact, the whole thing didn’t look very appetizing. I think presentation and plating is very important.
Overall—I am pretty sure we’ll wander back in here at some point, maybe for lunch again. After all, their fish and chips are still hard to beat and their Irish Stew never disappoints, but I think we’ve definitely learned our lesson about being adventurous with this menu.
-Gabriela
romantical dinners 