42 Bannister St.
Mount Pearl
Ph. 368-2909
Thousands of pubs and eateries around the planet bear the name Rosie O’Grady’s. However, I doubt there are many that do the kind of design about-face of Rosie O’Grady’s in Mount Pearl. On the outside you’d swear up and down its brown-trimmed white front - with old English text sign - that you were looking at an authentic Irish pub complete with rosy-cheeked publican to greet you at the door. It really does look quite smart. But when you walk into the place you’ll do a double take. You may even think you’ve walked through the wrong door. Why? It’s because the interior of Rosie O’Grady’s in Mount Pearl looks more like a Southeast Asian cocktail lounge than an Irish pub. Bangkok comes to mind, not Ballymaloe.
Rosie O’Grady’s is overloaded with those high-backed rattan chairs of the “Miss Universe” type. Each table also features plastic banana leaf placemats. (I knew Ireland was famous for spuds but I didn’t think bananas were a big cash crop on the old sod. If so, perhaps Chiquita or Dole should be notified.) Looking over the top of the rattan forest you’ll see that Rosie O’Grady’s looks pretty much like an ordinary bar. The walls feature dark wainscoting - as well as plenty of dartboards, neatly hidden in their own cupboards - there’s a small dance floor and big screen television in one corner, a horseshoe bar and 5 or 6 video lottery terminals at the back and leaf print - oak, not banana - carpet on the floor.
When I walked into Rosie O’Grady’s recently, I didn’t know I was about to encounter a real live bee whisperer. It was our server, Gail. Upon arriving she informed my guest and me that there was a bee loose on the premises and that a table far from the window might be a good idea since that was where the striped offender was last seen. Not being one to submit to threats from bugs I chose the sunlit window. There was mild reluctance on the part of my guest but, well, I was buying. As if on cue, while waiting for our appetizers, “Mr. Bumble” arrived, buzzing and whirling around our heads and then relentlessly blitzing up and down the windowpane in frenzy. Server Gail spotted him at the same time and sprang into action. With a Rosie O’Grady’s mug in right hand and a laminated menu in left she deftly corralled the bee into the mug, pressed the mug against the window to trap him, and swiftly slid the plastic menu between the glass and top of the mug making a cap for it. Then, she transported the errant bee outside and set it free to search for another pub, perhaps on George Street. So, if you ever need a live bee caught and put into a container, Gail’s your gal. Incidentally, I know how she got so good at bee wrangling. She told us it’s very bad luck to kill a bee indoors. Who knew?
It had been ages since I’d eaten any pub snacks so we ordered a basket of Rosie O’Grady’s wings and a plateful of their potato skins. The wings came in mild, medium, hot or dry spiced ($7.95). We ordered dry spiced. They arrived with a couple of dipping sauces in case we wanted to moisten them. One was sour cream and the other was a tomato-based sauce that tasted of chili powder. I liked the wings. They were fresh, crispy and spiced just enough to give them a kick but not take away from the flavour of the chicken. Strips of raw carrot, sweet red pepper and a few broccoli florets added lots of extra colour to the basket of golden wings.
The potato skins ($5.95) were darn good too. Again, carrot, sweet red pepper and broccoli florets were provided as garnish. The skins were “crispy fried, topped with bacon bits, Tex Mex cheese and served with sour cream.” Each piece was large and covered with a very generous portion of cheese. I’m not sure what kind of cheese it was. It may have been a combination of cheeses but it had the colour and flavour of mild cheddar. It didn’t appear to be the semi-soft jack cheese that’s often used in Tex Mex cooking but if a mix of cheeses was used, some may have been in there. Whatever the type it was soft and very cheesy and made an excellent topping for the nutty potato skins. I liked the feel of the thick, gooey cheese preceding the layer of fluffy potato flesh and the crunchy, slightly wrinkled outer potato skin. It was a meal in itself but, of course, I wanted more.
More was Rosie O’Grady’s fish and brewis ($9.95). It was a modest serving that came in a small gratin dish. The brewis, salt fish and scrunchions were mixed together, a la fishermen’s brewis. My only complaint was that there wasn’t enough of the delicious concoction. It tasted completely authentic and I wanted a meal of it. Making do with the sweet mustard pickles, roll and broccoli that came on the side was not that satisfying. By the way, a rhubarb chutney accompaniment was advertised but no chutney materialized - too bad because I was looking forward to it.
Rosie O’Grady’s Guinness beef pie was disappointing. On the plate it looked fabulous topped with golden puff pastry and slivers of sweet pepper and carrot. However, I would have preferred a real pie pastry. Once my fork penetrated the temperamental puff pastry it fell flat and turned into a soggy, thin pancake that couldn’t be cut. I had to fold it over and eat it all at once leaving bare what looked more like a plain thin stew than a pie filling. Plain is the operative word because this pie cried for seasoning, everything from salt and pepper to thyme, bay, onion and mushrooms. Also, I wasn’t getting much taste of Guinness. The Guinness beef pie should have been thick with the flavour of beef and Guinness and developed seasonings. It had plenty of beef but tasted rushed, and, as I said, seriously under seasoned, not like something that should have been slowly simmered for a few hours.
A lady diner on her way out suggested we try Rosie O’Grady’s apple crisp that she thought was “out of this world.” As a matter of fact I’ve never heard such praise for a simple apple crisp. It was very good and came with a scoop of good quality vanilla ice cream. However, as with many crisps I’ve tasted in restaurants lately, it was too sweet, cloyingly so. For this dish to work well for me there needed to be a balance between the tartness of the apple and the sweetener. In this case, tartness and apple flavour was thoroughly blunted by too much sugar.
I’d advise you to keep an eye on Rosie O’Grady’s because genial owner, Eric Healey - Harvest Bakery - and manager Reg Foley are determined to turn it into a quality eatery. They and chef Christian Houle are set to unveil a new menu and, after a couple of years of wrangling with city hall, Rosie O’Grady’s will operate a sidewalk café this summer, the first in Mount Pearl. In 2005? I’d say it’s about time.
Our meal at Rose O’Grady’s Irish Pub and Eatery, including a glass of Kilkenny ale, two glasses of Keith’s lager and tip cost $66.02.
Best Points:
Rosie O’Grady’s has a great looking exterior, good food and service.
Areas for Improvement:
Think about replacing the rattan chairs and banana leaf placemats with furnishings more appropriate for an Irish themed pub.
Ratings Category:
All things considered, Rosie O’Grady’s gets 7 out of 10 points.