Molly Malone's - 3 Turkeys

After moving from Boston, land of more Irish pubs than you can count, we've been on the search for an authentic pub in Cincy to quelch our hunger pangs for some good comfort food.  So last night we ventured to Pleasant Ridge to check out the food scene at Molly Malone's.  We've been before just for drinks and really enjoyed the overall atmosphere so we wanted to put it to the real pub test.

When we first arrived we were greeted by a crowd of 20 large inebriated men there for a bachelor party.  Pausing to rethink our decision we were reassured by multiple people that they were leaving shortly.  So we hung around until they slowly left and then pounced on a table (there isn't a hostess).  It took a while for the waiter to clean off the 20 or so empty glasses of what looked to have once been Irish car bombs.  Yum!  We started our night off a little more tame - a Guinness for him and a Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA for me. They had a good deal of beer on draught and in bottles to choose from but we stuck with these all night.

The menu was extensive with not only plenty of traditional dishes you'd expect to see but also some pasta, pizza, mexican, etc.  We both opted to go for a straight up Irish experience - I think at one point my husband started talking with an Irish accent even. ha.  My husband got the Shepherd's Pie - a combo of ground lamb and beef with fresh carrots and peas.  The flavor of the meat mixture was delicious and had a strong lamb taste.  He commented that the meat chunks were much bigger than he typically sees in Shepherd's Pie dishes.  The mashed potatoes that were on top were typical mashed potatoes.  What I liked were the chunks of potato that weren't all the way mashed up.

My fish and chips were pretty standard.  It was a an unusually thick piece of flaky white fish but other than that tasted normal.  The seasoned fries were good - nothing special but if I'm looking for a solid fish and chips meal again I may find myself back but in the meantime I'll be on the lookout for a tastier option.

One of the best parts of the meal was the Irish band that played the entire time - Fintan.  They even passed out a sheet with the refrains for their songs so we could sing along.  They played a lot of traditional Irish tunes.

For another night of music and drink we'll be back again.

Score: 32 points

Ambiance (3), Tastiness of Dishes (5), Menu (4), Drink Selection (4), Cost (7), Accessibility (3), Service (3), Location (3)