The place we chose was Finnely's Irish Pub. It looks cute and sounds fun so we parked out front and headed in. I was glad to see that they had incorporated a little breezeway to the place. The last time I was there was winter and each time the door was open, my legs about froze solid and fell off. We grabbed a quiet booth and plopped down. The menu seemed different than I'd remembered. A salad sounded healthy but I was eager to fill my belly with something warm since the weather outside is chilly.
The special was chicken gumbo. Chicken gumbo? That doesn't sound Irish to me. And I'd never (in my limited experience) heard of chicken gumbo. The waitress took our orders and I was dissapointed that nothing jumped off the menu to grab my attention. I order the roated chicken breast sandwich with french fries. The waitress returned with our drinks in hand and I continued chatting with my friend.
A short while later our food arrived and I must say I wasn't impressed with the presentation at all. Fortunately, I'm not usually too concerned about presentation as long as it tastes good. Well, they didn't quite have the taste thing figured out either. My sandwich was plain, boring and needed some sprucing up. My chicken breast was fatty and void of flavor. The french fries had potential too but also lacked attention. They were covered in grease and the only flavor I could taste was the sea salt.
Seriously, did I just pay money for that? My husband is a great cook. He's not had culinary training and doesn't prepare fancy foods. He does pay attention to the simple things. Ryan makes a tasty chicken breast sandwich in which he toasts the bun, adds a few strips of bacon, adds some ranch dressing and I throw a few pickles on it in addition to avocado slices, etc.
If you're driving through our small town and feel the need to stop at Finnelys Irish Pub, please understand that the ambiance is far better than the food!
3 comments:
Sounds like if I'm driving thru your small town, I need to eat at Buit's Kitchen Cafe!
Oh dear. You need to come to San Diego and I need to take you to one of our many delish, super cute, and trendy restaurants. This blog post made me realize that I take them for granted!
I am sorry that you were not satisfied with your experience. From how it sounds your meal was not prepared to our standards. I will take some extra time with that cook to make sure that does not happen again. As far as the special soup goes, we just feature a different soup from any culinary style, not necessarily just Irish. Some times French, Russian, southern, Tex-Mex, or just plain old mid-American.
Tim Finley
Owner/Manager
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