Saturday, October 03, 2009

Saturday night . . .

. . . at the Irish Rover

My jones for a good plate of fish & chips had reached critical mass. Previously we had tried Finn McCool's, which advertises Atlantic cod in a Bass beer batter sauce with chips and tartar sauce.

Tartar sauce?

That should have been a clue.

They did have malt vinegar after all, so I ordered the fish & chips. The fish was undercooked and soggy, and I couldn't get a black and tan.

Scratch off Finn McCools as a bunch of poseurs.

Last week, Mrs. B put on her internet search hat and found Conklin's Irish Rover. Bless her little heart.

She ordered some non-Irish baked fish, and I ordered the fish & chips.

Real fish in Guinness batter. Chips, not potato chips.

"Malt vinegar, or tartar sauce?" says the serving wench.

"Malt vinegar, of course!" says I. "My Riley ancestors would haunt me otherwise"

So, it was fish & chips, a half-and-half (Guinness & Harp) and a fine little slice of Irish soda bread.

Very nice.
Growlings by at

5 comments:

Punctuation said...

Ah yes, the future Mrs B had already filled me in on a few of the details. Nicely done!

I was surprised that you couldn't get a black and tan at any place that claimed to be "Irish" - is Pale Ale a rarity around those parts then?

When I did shifts as a part-time barman in my distant and hazy youth the area I worked at was predominantly Irish and we used to make the black and tans almost automatically because, at the time, it was the drink of choice amongst the ever-so-slightly insalubrious clientelle that frequented the place. At the time, in the early 1980's, there was still a political element to choosing and even pouring drinks: where I worked it was essential to pour what was known as a "catholic head" on the Guinness. This refered to the amount of white froth or head - I don't remember us ever 'painting' a shamrock shape into the beer! Pouring the wrong amount of head was considered risible and provoked much good natured abuse...as long as you only did it the once.

When Lisa was over here last time I took her to the fish and chip shop my mum used to take me to when I was a little boy (yes, it's still going!)

Fish, chips and mushy peas; which she ate out of the chip paper! Yes, I'm THAT classy.

10:41 AM
Lisa said...

I'm glad you could find some legitimate fish and chips. :)

I haven't figured out why people put tarter sauce on fish yet. Not when there is good malt vinegar. :)

2:03 PM
Jack said...

Maybe it was just the serving wench at McCool's. They seem to have all the ingredients. I could have gotten a half-and-half there, but the fish was awful, so there's no point.

Besides, as I remember, the layered black and tan with Bass and Guinness is an American affectation.

7:32 PM
Punctuation said...

*Bass* and Guinness? No no no! Pale Ale - or IPA. :-)

7:38 PM
Jack said...

Oh . . . as it turns out, one has to order French fries at Conklins in order to get the Brit version of chips. Their chips are thin sliced, and look more like crisps.

7:38 PM

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