Great review, Kate, of Atrias and the Irish food experience. In that genre and vein, why not also check out http://www.piperspub.com/ . This fine restaurant on Pittsburgh's South Side on East Carson Street after the 18th Street section and next to the Burger King fast food restaurant has excellent food from "Ireland & across the pond." Their Guinness Stew, Shepherd's Pie and other things are great dishes. Also, their draft beer and other selection of alcoholic beverages delights the palate as well. Check out the location for dinner soon, plus visit the web site above for details. It is a place my wife & I have enjoyed several times. Finally, check out the web pages below and pass them along to others who'll be interested. Rick from Mt. Washington(Richard M. Hays, Jr.) [email removed] http://www.americanentrepreneur.net/ http://www.jerrybowyer.com/ http://www.1360wptt.com/ http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/ http://trfn.clpgh.org/speak/ http://pointbeyond.com/d13tm/ http://rauterkus.com/ http://www.sneakypleasurecats.org/ http://www.jefftobe.com/ http://www.burghman.com/ http://www.restaurant.com/pittsburgh.html http://www.pennspeakers.org/ http://www.drudgereport.com/ http://www.newsmax.com/ http://www.post-gazette.com/ http://www.triblive.com/ http://www.pghcitypaper.com/ http://www.slbradio.com/ http://www.wyep.org/ http://www.wduq.org/ http://www.wqed.org/ http://www.stonybrookschool.org/ http://www.pitt.edu/ http://www.bigburrito.com/ -- "The business of expanding your consciousness is not an option. Either you are expandable or you are expendable." Robert Schuller Kate C. wrote: > Eaternet went to Atria's on the North Shore > for their special Irish menu in honor of > St. Patrick's Day. Although I was skeptical > about how authentic it would be and whether > or not it would be just the "corned beef and > cabbage" unimaginative stuff you see everywhere > in this country on St. Patrick's, after talking > to the manager and having the menu described to > me I thought it might be okay. They were planning > some traditional dishes that you don't see every > day - Dublin Lawyer and Dublin Coddle - plus the > usual suspects like Irish stew, colcannon, and > Irish soda bread. They also had a beef stew > with Guiness. So I thought, why not give it a > try, I've always wanted to try Dublin Lawyer. > > For those who don't know, Dublin Lawyer is chunks > of lobster in a cream sauce flamed with Irish whiskey. > Although I don't eat any seafood made with alcohol > I assumed I could order it minus the Irish whiskey. > > Dublin Coddle is a sort of end of week fry up > of sausage, bacon, potatoes and onions. Colcannon > is mashed potatoes with shredded or grated cabbage > and leeks or scallions mixed in. Everyone knows > what Irish stew and soda bread are, right? > > So, we get to the (excruciatingly noisy and > crowded) restaurant and I look at the special > Irish menu. It was really weird. They had > the colcannon listed as an appetizer, fer crissakes! > It's a side dish just like mashed potatoes are in > this country. And it came with 2 small slices of > Irish soda bread - the kind with the raisins in which > is what everyone in this country thinks is soda bread. > (Actually in Ireland the default soda bread is plain > and they usually only make it with raisins for special > occasions.) > > Next was the Soup course - Dublin Coddle! Which is > in no way a soup, nor even a stew. They served it > up in large shallow bowls and it was like a very, > very thick stew. As far as taste goes, it was so > peppery you couldn't really taste anything else. > It also came with the raisin soda bread, which was > way too salty. > > So, I was going to order the Dublin Lawyer, but > thankfully I checked and they put whiskey in the > sauce instead of flaming it at the end so I couldn't > get that. Others ordered it and found out it had > shrimp in it as well. Now, I like shrimp, but if > I were paying the $23 they charged for it and found > the lobster cut with shrimp, I would have been royally > pissed. But I didn't order it so it's a moot point. > > Since I also don't like anything cooked with beer or > ale I didn't want the beef dish and I'm wary of eating > lamb out in certain places so I didn't really want to > try the Irish stew, besides I'm just not a big fan > of Irish stew. I can think of better ways to eat lamb. > So, I went for their regular menu special which was > crabcake and fried shrimp. > > The crabcake was all crab as the waiter assured me > it would be but the seasoning was uninspired and too > salty. Barely edible. The 3 large fried butterflied > shrimp were excellent, however the whole thing was > served with two extremely mediocre sauces evenly if > you happen to like them, which I don't particularly - > tartar sauce and that red cocktail sauce for the > shrimp. Blecch! The crab and shrimp were accompanied > by a huge portion of fresh french fries which were only > average in quality and taste. > > The best part of the meal was the Nestea raspberry > ice tea, which, when I finally got it - it took forever, > was replenished in a timely fashion, and believe me > I really needed gallons of it to wash down the over > salted and over seasoned food. > > So, I think I should have gone with my first instincts > and voted against going to this place as I spent too > much money on mediocre to bad food. And not really > very authentic. And to add insult to injury the > "entertainment" for the evening started before we > were quite ready to leave and force us to get out before > our eardrums started to bleed. We were seated very close > to the "stage". > > Never again. > Kate > -- > Kate Connally > "If I were as old as I feel, I'd be dead already." > Goldfish: "The wholesome snack that smiles back, > until you bite their heads off." > What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about? > mailto:[email removed]
Pittsburgh, PA