Recent Returns: Limerick Pub

First time back to Limerick (11301 Elkin) since our first trip three months ago. Ordered a bit differently but got largely the same results.  Still not quite digging the coffee shop decor.  Service is fine.  The burger is big and beefy and the bun/veggies are good, but the patty was overcooked (asked for medium; no pink to be seen anywhere inside).  I liked the fish and chips: the fish is flaky, moist, and enclosed in crunchy beer-batter goodness.  Fries are only okay — I liked them less this visit — kind of soggy and (this time) underseasoned, though the guy at the next table complained to the server that his fries were too salty (like our oysters last time).  Still swinging the salt pendulum to and fro in the kitchen, it seems.  The pub was hopping when we were there and there is always a crowd at the bar in the evenings, so business is at least okay.  Still hoping the food will move up a notch at some point.  Planning to try Limerick’s trivia night (Mondays at 8PM) one of these weeks…

Good Limerick, Bad Limerick

Not that I of all people should complain about bad puns. The Gazette’s “More Than Meats The Eye” headline atop yesterday’s review of Limerick Pub didn’t really do it for me though.  And the opening limerick is well-intentioned but terrible: I like “meat in” and “Wheaton” but those don’t rhyme with “vegan” and the meter is just wrong.  I’m not sure the “greasy fries” are necessarily incompatible with “vegan” — depends on the oil, I suppose, which is undisclosed in the article.  And most of the menu is clearly not vegetarian, much less vegan, aside from the “vegan meatloaf” and a couple of salads or sides.  It is good to know they have veggie or vegan options, for those who want such things.

/pedantic rant

Anyway, a mixed but overall positive review. I’m glad to see LP get Gazetted, though the review is kind of odd, beyond what’s noted above, also implying the chef is a vegetarian but then never returning to the subject.  Would have been interesting to know more about that.

First Visit To Limerick

Alas not the city, but the namesake pub, which has promise. We went with friends to Limerick Pub (11301 Elkin) over the weekend and sampled as many dishes as we could put away in one sitting, though not the fish and chips.

Overall, a good start, and they still haven’t rolled out their full menu.  You would expect an Irish pub to get the potatoes right, and they do: their chips seem hand-cut and are similar to Five Guys in texture, size, and taste, which for me is a good thing. On the other hand, the appetizer-chips-with-cheese barely had any cheese. Our dining companions got the Irish reuben and Shepard’s Pie, both winners, and the cheeseburger, which was deemed good despite being overcooked (asked for medium, got well).

Mrs. Me had a salad (what? healthy eatin’ in Wheaton? not impossible!) which was deemed good despite being too small.  Apparently the theme is “good, but” and I will go one further: I ordered the fried oyster sliders, which were nearly fabulous except for being so salty I nearly sent them back,* but didn’t. The slider buns were fabulous, perfect texture/toastedness and bun-to-oyster ratio. Good condiments, including red onion, and above-average tartar sauce with nice chunks of pickle. The oysters were expertly fried and I’m pretty sure the menu item will be a major winner if the chef lightens up on the salt (Mrs. Me also thought the fries were too salty, and she is rarely one to complain about too much salt).

So, a good start, with more menu exploration to be done. Other good stuff: I like how Limerick offers beers on tap in both 8 and 16oz pours; I tookthe smaller size (mmm, Smithwick’s) along with a Diet Coke.  Dartboard area is spacious, and the bar has a nice feel and plenty of room. Less good: the dining area, separated by a glass half-wall from the bar, has virtually no character at all.  No worries, they’ve just gotten started — let’s see how they’re doing in a couple of months.

Also, glad to see Royal Mile doing a decent business down the street as we walked by.

* My oysters were not as salty as the plate of arroz con mariscos (from frozen, I suspect, augmented with Morton’s iodized) I was once served at a Peruvian place in San Francisco which I would have sent back, should have sent back, but it was late and we had already taken an hour to pick a restaurant and I was too hungry to wait for a replacement. That heap of nasty rice and stuff remains the saltiest, most inedible dish I have ever been served, but I somehow ate about a third of it anyway.  Necessity is the mother of indigestion.  I ate all three oyster sliders, too.

Early Limerick Review (Not By Me)

Wheaton Calling is back, and with a review of Limerick Pub, including photographic evidence. Sounds about like I expected, and as WC notes, you can only say so much based on one meal on the second night a place is open — clearly further research is required.

Is It Open?

Aye, ‘tis. Not wall-to-wall people but lots of customers at 7 PM.  Lacks the cozy feel of Royal Mile but seems nice enough spot to watch some footie or down a pint. Great bar (in the long-piece-of-built-in-furniture sense). Looking forward to exploring the menu.  In the meantime (ahem):

There was a young laddie from Wheaton
Who wanted a good spot for meetin’;
MoCo stalled on the permits
But now they’ve come to term, it’s
A public house open for eatin’.*

* and drinkin’

There Once Was A…

Is there a new restaurant opening in Wheaton on Monday? Seems like there might be — if only anybody were talking about it.

Wheaton Openings: Pizza and Pubs

We have wished in the past for better pizza options in Wheaton. Little Caesars was not what we had in mind, but it’s what we got, either just opened or about to open at 2567 Ennalls, at Viers Mill across from CVS.  Their “hot-n-ready” concept does not exactly scream “quality” does it? Not sure LC is a better option, but it is an option, and I bet they’ll do decent business.

Meanwhile, the Limerick Pub is crying wolf (or maybe crying Guiness, hard to tell from here) again, with its grand opening now set for March 7 (a Monday). Sounds like it is for realz this time. Can’t wait!

The Continuing Tale of the Limerick Pub

They are making progress but it ain’t easy fighting the man (who, in this case, is apparently a lovely amalgam of WSSC, Pepco, and Moco).  Limericks are still coming soon but not next Friday as recently hoped — opening night has been pushed to January 28.  Hope for LP’s sake and our own that it doesn’t slide right into February.

McGinty’s Public House (Silver Spring)

Pub quiz night at McGinty’s! I had never been before, tucked into the Ellsworth side of Silver Spring’s central core of restaurants. The quiz is held upstairs in a huge open room, nice space.  Shouldn’t take 2.5 hours to get through a sixty-question pub quiz, though.  Maybe I’m just bitter: top three teams out of a field of 21 won prizes, and we finished fourth.  D’oh!

Fish bites ($5 at happy hour) were excellent, though the other components of the mini-fish’n'chips platter were less successful: over-salted fries and bland tartar sauce.  I ate it all anyway, so couldn’t have been that bad. Harp good, Diet Coke watery. Friends had soup and bacony potato skins, all looked good.  Servers were kind of spacey, but maybe it was just one of those nights. I will brush up on my trivia so I can go back and dominate both pub quiz and the happy hour menu.

More Limericks

There once was an Elkin Street pub… (I’ll have to give this more thought)

The Gazette joins the reportage party for Wheaton’s imminent Limerick Pub. Lots of good detail there, I love how the LP and the Royal Mile Pub seem to be working together for mutual benefit.  We all will benefit, I think!

Also in today’s Gazette, Bethesda’s Bistro LaZeez. Mmm, tahini…

And in the Post, a neat article on nanobreweries, focusing on Rockville’s Baying Hound Aleworks, whose beer is about to be (or may be already) available at Royal Mile.  Convergence!  If they make a tahini beer then we will really have something.