Limerick Review

A week before the Royal Mile's reopening, Mr. WC and I decided to pay a visit to Limerick, since we hadn't be there since our original visit on their second night in business.  I plan on returning to my usual habit of going to the RM whenever I'm in the mood for beer and pub food, but we took advantage of the down time before the Royal Mile's reopening to give Limerick a try.

The first thing I noticed was that I had trouble finding any beers (draft or bottles) that appealed to me.  I have a preference for porters and stouts and enjoy trying out beers from local breweries where possible.  Limerick's beer list is heavy on ales and lagers without much of anything in the way of dark beers other than Guinness (of course) and a Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout, which I ended up ordering a bottle of.  Otherwise, it was mostly main stream breweries, some of which I consider too crappy to be worthy of a spot on the beer list of an Irish pub (Bud Light??  PBR??  Miller High Life??).  So right off the bat, I was a little disappointed in the beer list.

For food, they had a good selection of all the usual pub favorites, with some vegetarian options thrown in.  Sandwiches ranged from $7.50-$9.50 and entrees ranged in price from $13.50-$20.  I ordered one of their specials, a lamb burger for $13.  Mr. WC ordered the bangers and mash.  I enjoyed my burger, which came on a toasted bun and was served with a tropical chutney and fries.  The fries were better than the mushy ones we were served on our first visit there, so overall I give my meal a thumbs up.  Mr. WC was so-so with the bangers and mash that he ordered.  First of all, the portions seemed pretty skimpy for the $15.50 price tag.  The bangers were good, but didn't have a ton of flavor.  The mashed potatoes were really bland - we didn't pick up any taste of butter, salt, anything.  They were kind of just tasteless white fluff.  The dish also came with a few breaded fried mushrooms.

Where the Royal Mile's service tends to be, um, "leisurely", we experienced the exact opposite at Limerick.  We had two beers, salads, and two entrees, and were done with everything in about 45 minutes.  So, we spent less than an hour there and spent about $55 with tip.

The place was packed when we were there early on a Friday (around 6pm) and a fiddler was playing some songs, so it was a lively atmosphere.  They also had the lighting dimmed down a little bit from the first time we visited, so it was a little more dim and comfortable than I remembered it being.

As you can tell, my visit to Limerick hasn't made me a convert.  Honestly, even if the reincarnated Royal Mile doesn't live up to expectations, I probably still won't ever be a Limerick regular.  Still, if we were with a larger group of people that wanted to just hang out and have some beers, I'd probably head to Limerick for their roomier bar area (although it was packed to the gills while we were there).

Lamb burger in front, bangers and mash in back