Thursday, March 14, 2013

Shamrockin'

Corned Beef at the Irish House.  Photo by renee b. photography.
On Sunday New Orleanians of all races, creeds, and colors will be donning their favorite green attire in celebration of the patron saint of Ireland. Copious amounts of potatoes, corned beef, and cabbage will be consumed. Over on Third Street between Magazine and Constance, roast beef will be the celebratory sustenance of choice. Old men will quench their thirst with glasses of emerald hued Bud Light - liquid courage to proposition the young lass standing next to them with four simple words: "Kiss me, I'm Irish."

About a half mile down the road on the corner of St. Charles and MLK, a true Irishmen will be wrapping up a week long celebration of his native culture. Chef Matt Murphy decided that his homeland deserved a week long celebration leading up to St. Patrick's Day, and so he has flooded this week's calendar with traditional Irish music, special whiskey tastings, Irish film screenings and more.

In this month's issue of OffBeat Magazine, we review the Irish House, Chef Matt's local take on the traditional Irish pub. The menu includes much of the stereotypical Irish fare that we associate with the Emerald Isle - corned beef, pot pie, and plenty of potatoes. But Chef Matt has also successfully incorporated local flavors into his menu with Irish twists - such as the boudin cake with colcannon and smoked tomato sauce.

Chef Matt welcomes all to the Irish House this week to raise a glass in celebration of his heritage. Your last name need not be O’Brien, Callaghan, Fitzpatrick, or Flanagan to take part in the festivities. You only need to be Irish in spirit... or simply enjoy a well-poured pint of Guinness.

The Irish House
1432 St. Charles Avenue
(504) 595-6755

3 comments:

Brian C said...

Hey, what if your middle name is O'Brian?

nikinik said...

I ate at the Irish House once and it was terrible. VERY bland and terrible service. I just don't get the love for this place.

Anonymous said...

I really wanted to love this place, but I gave it two chances in the same week and both visits had issues. First, I ordered the Murphinator poboy for lunch, which came without the dipping sauce or the aioli. It was dry and skimpy on the roast beef, and it took several minutes to get the attention of our waiter. The tomato cole slaw was a flavorless mess of mayo, not much else going on.

I came back a few days later because it was St. Patrick's day eve, and because I had really wanted to like this place. I got small plates of bangers and mash (great bangers, bland mash)and guinness beef stew (BLAND, thin, uninspired, plus there was a piece of plastic wrap in the stew).

In other words, despite my high hopes, I won't be returning or recommending.