Ireland

This week I decided to take another stab at an Irish pub since I struck out the last time I tried.  This time there must have been a leprechaun riding shotgun because my luck was great when I hit McHales Irish Pub in downtown Rock Hill.  Not only did I get a space on the street almost in front of the place it wasn’t very busy either.

McHales has that pub feel, kind of dim with heavy wood furnishings stained dark and a couple of regulars sitting at the bar chatting with staff.  As I said, I pretty much had the place to myself aside from the guys holding down the bar so the waitress was able to be attentive.  She was attentive and friendly without being annoying.

Of course since I was in an Irish pub I had to get my standard pint of Guinness while I checked out the menu.

The menu was loaded with bar food but there were some more “Irish” dishes on the menu and I opted for a small bowl of potato soup and the corned beef and cabbage.

The potato soup was very good.  It was creamy with diced skin on potatoes that were firm and not cooked to death.  The cheddar and bacon were great garnishes.  A little black pepper and it was about as good as you could ask for.

The shredded corned beef and cabbage came with some potato cakes and it looked quite good.  My first taste was of the cabbage and it was disappointingly bland.  Oh, wait just a second.  Grabbing a fork full of the corned beef, “There it is!”  A big old dose of salt.  Either of these two by themselves would actually be off putting, however if you balanced each forkful with a bit of cabbage and a bit of the corned beef you had a winner.  The potato cakes had a hint of cheese and were good but needed just a bit of onion to be great.

Overall I enjoyed the meal and the staff was very pleasant and attentive.  It was heavy though and I’m going to have to go for a long walk to burn it off.  Right after my nap.

Don’t forget to checkout the Tell Me More page for a recipe, some music and goods with an Irish theme.