Move Over Poutine...You've been replaced

Shepard's Pie

Saturday night in Shoreview....oh, no, that ain't is not happenin'.

The proverbial question:  "Where should we go?    Where can we find some actual food?"

After thinking about all kinds of great places to go, we remembered last night's traffic on the way to Uptown.  So, we decided to stay closer to home.  What adventure could we have on short notice?

Success!   We decided to check out Paddy Shack at the Half Time Rec.   What a great way to spend a Saturday night (thanks especially to the St. Paul Jazz Pigs rugby team who was having a party---not for the faint of heart or children [John Comment:  Linda does not understand rugby.  It was a totally appropriate post rugby match socializing.  You get hot playing.  You need to lower your body core with cool beverages and reduce swelling of broken limbs]).

This is a great Irish Pub menu.  It reminds me of a trip to Portland OR with the juvenile justice team from Dakota

Corned Beef & Cabbage Fries

County and the West St. Paul police a few years ago.  After working all day on juvenile justice issues, we'd hop on the light rail and hit some of the fabulous food spots around Portland (the only place I remember being able to have edamame for lunch at the shopping mall).  We hit a great Irish bar there one night...memorable bangers and mash and great brews.

So, here we are at the Paddy Shack in St. Paul....bangers and mash or one of the other fun choices on the menu.  We decided (John will say I decided [John Comment: "The only thing I was allowed to select was my own beverage, a Surly Hell."]) to do an eclectic mix from the whole menu to get the 'flavor' of the place.   That was our second excellent decision of the evening.

We chose:  corned beef and cabbage fries, soup of the day (carrot with tons of ginger), the Cork dog, and shepherd's pie.   This was a flavor tour from first bite to last.

First, move over poutine....you have definitely been replaced.  The corned beef and cabbage fries were creative,

Carrot Soup

crunchy, creamy....delicious.  We didn't really get the horseradish cheddar flavor (we prefer our own sandwiches with the horseradish cheddar where you really get the horseradish kick), but overall the whole concept of corned beef and cabbage fries was fabulous.   These could have been a meal for the two of us.

On to the soup.  As I said, a little too gingery for me, but John loved it.  It was served with very tasty brown bread and, of course, the oh so fatty fatty fatty Kerrygold butter (could I have more please????).  So John ate the soup and .... I don't know what happened to that bread and butter : ) [John Comment: "I only was able to sample the soup because someone else did not care for it.  When I was handed the plate there was no bread or butter in sight."]

Ah, the Cork dog.   A big fat grilled dog with a crispy exterior and great flavor.  This baby was topped with beer mac and cheese, chili pesto, a healthy dose of mustard, and popcorn...served with some crispy kettle chips.   The beer flavor came through if you didn't get a bite of the pesto at the same time.  I loved the beer essence in the mac and cheese--I may have to have a whole serving of that next time.  The pesto was straight peppers!   No foolin' around, no some hot, some not--just clean straight pepper

Cork Hot Dog

flavor.  The perfect bite here was a little bit of everything on your fork at the same time...some dog, some bun, & all of the toppings in one big bite.  The was a little side trip on the whole flavor tour.  Outstanding.

In spite of the fact that we should have stopped eating 20 minutes earlier, we plowed on to the shepherd's pie.  Oh, I wish I could have eaten more than 2 bites.  Deep rich flavor and wonderful spicing.  These guys know their way around the herb and spice world.  Flavor, flavor, and more flavor.  I'm already looking forward to the leftover (and yes, we brought home the Kerrygold for tomorrow).

St. Paul Jazz Pigs Rugby Team

Then, there was the 'ambiance'.   Dive bar....complete with a whole rugby team (some with no shirts, some with
no shirt and a sport coat, some with lederhosen and no shirt, you get theidea....but all with matching hats).  This part of the evening is not appropriate for children.  But it was hard not to enjoy what a great time they were having [John Comment: "It was all fine, nothing inappropriate.  Everyone was wearing pants of some sort.  I go to a lot of restaurants where shirts are optional."].

So, if that wasn't enough of a great evening, our chef came out of the kitchen.  Looked familiar.  We had a nice

Chef Aaron at the Paddy Shack

chat about the great food.  He said he used to work in Vadnais Heights.   It took me a few minutes (hey, I'm old...cut me some slack here) to figure out that the last time I saw this guy, I was complementing him on the fact that he had actually made decent fajita veggies at Chipotle (one of the few things I eat at Chipotle - which would have saved me during the recent salmonella 'event' - I guess I'm smart like that!!!).  They were actually prepared with some knife skills (which I understand, but am sorely lacking in talent for doing myself).  Aaron actually remembered that conversation from 2 years ago...I remember at the time that he said I made his day.  Well, he made our night tonight with the great execution on preparing the great menu options.  Thanks Aaron for putting out wonderful food that we'll be back for (and we saw the spotlessly clean kitchen....one of those things we notice...and don't see very often).

So all in all, a delightful night out.  A dive bar, a crazy rugby team (oxymoron?), and great food prepared by Aaron that was a flavor dance.  Outstanding all around!

Paddy Shack Half Time Rec