Tommy Condon's- Charleston, SC

Fish and Chips

Tommy Condon's in Charleston, SC is what I'd call a southern Irish bar. It has traditional Irish fare, and some traditional Southern fare. Having gone through traditional Southern fare for a couple of days I decided to go with the fish and chips. As the Irish would say, it was a proper fish and chips, nothing amazing, nothing disappointing. The fish was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside. The chips were crispy and hot. It was even better than a few fish and chip meals I had in Ireland. Of course, I had to have a pint or two of Guinness to wash it down.

Guinness, as if I have to tell you that

Now here's where a restaurant shines or fails. Teresa got the Shrimp Po Boy and it was disappointing. The roll was stale and the remoulade mediocre. She pointed this out to our waiter and he comped her meal, even though she ate most of it. That was a nice touch.

I'd say to stop by and try them, and I'd recommend the fish and chips. Just don't go expecting a five-star meal. It's an Irish bar in a tourist town, so expect decent Irish pub food.

The Shannon Rose, Ramsey, NJ

Murder Burger

The Shannon Rose sounds like the name of either a beautiful Irish Lassie, or a rusty tramp steamer out of Belfast bound for some exotic port of call. In this case it is a rather nice Irish restaurant on route 17 in Ramsey, NJ, part of a small chain of three restaurants with the same name. Looking at it you realize that someone spent a whole lot of cash to build it and that money was well spent. It is large and well appointed with dark wood and glass etched with Irish expressions. 

Murder Burger on the menu

We looked over the menus and Teresa decided on the open faced Rueben with fries. The meat was lean and it had Irish cheese on it instead of the traditional Swiss cheese. She said it was quite good. I debated between three burgers. One was the Dublin with Irish rashers and cheddar, the second was the stuffed bacon and blue cheese burger. 

The winner was the Murder Burger, shown at top. This burger consisted of quality meat cooked exactly to the medium which I ordered. It sat in a brioche roll with American and pepper jack cheese, sautéed onion, jalapeños, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and thousand island dressing. They took the whole thing and battered it in a Harp beer batter, then deep fried it. 

Okay, this sounds like a heavy burger, but it had a nice light taste to it. The cheeses and the dressing gave a creamy taste with a slight crunch from the bun. The bun actually took on a donut taste. Overall, it was amazing and I would order another. The next time I'd ask for a few more jalapeños to kick it up a bit.

The food was very good, the ambiance nice and the prices reasonable. The two sandwiches set us back $25 with tax. We'll definitely stop by again. By the way, they have traditional Irish fare such as; shepherd's pie, bangers and mash, meatloaf and a traditional Irish breakfast with both black and white sausages. 

Paddy's Hollow, Wilmington, NC

Paddy's Hollow is in the Cotton Exchange in Wilmington and we've passed by it a few times, mostly when I park at the Cotten Exchange and walk downtown. The entrance looks inviting and I've been meaning to try it for some time and today, when the place I wanted to hit didn't open until two, we decided to pop in. We being myself and two of my daughters for a father/daughter lunch.

Inside it looks a bit like an Irish bar with wood and brick and it is well lighted. Except where we were seated seemed like the only dark spot. Look at the picture below and you can see that, but it did make the background go to black even though I did drag the shutter at 1/20th.

After looking over the menu, I ordered the crab cake sandwich (shown here) for $8.99 with mac and cheese as the side. There are a few options for sides and the mac and cheese was a good choice. The crab cake was good and it was on a wheat roll that was fresh. I washed it down with a Guinness, it is an Irish place after all. I was going to go for the Po' Boy, but changed my mind.

One of my daughters got the corned beef on marble rye and I took a taste. Nice and lean. My other daughter had the cajun spiced chicken sandwich and she liked it. 

Overall a nice place and I'd go back again.

Murphy's Grand Irish Pub, Alexandria, VA

Murphy's Grand Irish Pub in Alexandria is a classic Irish pub. You know, the kind you can find almost anywhere in the world and when you find it you'll feel at home. It reminded me of a pub in Dublin where I knocked back a few pints. We stopped there because we found a coupon in a travel guide when we went to Alexandria offering 'buy one entree, get a second free'. That seemed like a nice idea, accompanied by the fact that two of the restaurants I wanted to eat at were closed between lunch and dinner.

The visit to Murphy's turned out to be a good idea. First of all it was very hot outside and the air conditioning cooled us off right away. Second there were several large screen TVs all turned to the Olympic women's soccer finals with the USA in, a rematch against Japan for the loss in the World Cup. Can there be a better place to watch a football match (soccer game) than an Irish pub? I can't think of any and the cheering during the game added that much more atmosphere. 

I ordered the Murphy Burger at $7.75. It was quite good with Canadian bacon (the proper Irish method is to use rashers, but they are hard to find here in the US and the concept is similar), provolone cheese melted and slightly charred on a fresh sesame bun. It came with fried potato disks. Teresa ordered the Reuben at $9.50. It had lean corned beef that was still moist and flavorful with the right amount of sauerkraut and cheese. Good food at reasonable prices. 

The service was good, Kim was very attentive and helpful, and they have a fairly good beer selection. I stuck with a Guinness for the first round (it is an Irish place) and found it to be served more like one might find in Ireland being slightly warmer than American tastes. My second was a Smithwich's.

Mahoney's Irish Pub and Steakhouse, Poughkeepsie, NY

Emmett Mahoney's Irish Pub and Steakhouse in Poughkeepsie is located in the old train station, right next to the new train station, near the waterfront. I've heard about it for a while and we almost went there once. It turned out it was around Saint Patrick's Day and there was a parade so the place was mobbed so we didn't. Well, today we stopped.

I didn't get much of a look inside since it was such a nice day that we decided to eat on the patio. We were given menus and the waiter went to get us the water we wanted. When he returned we ordered. I got the Celtic burger at $10.95 which had Irish cheddar cheese and rasher (Irish bacon) with fries and slaw. I ordered it medium and guess what? It was well done, but it was a juicy and flavorful well-done so I let it go. Dry well-done and it would have gone back. The rasher gave a nice flavor and the fries were crispy. Teresa ordered the Jack Daniels Panini at $11.95 which was made from a tender cut of steak and was quite good.

Overall the food was good, service was good and the prices reasonable. Stop by and give them a try. They have a website for information.