IRISH PUB GRUB IS STRONG IN LAS VEGAS: THE TOP FIVE BLARNEY GOOD DISHES Las Vegas has more than its share of Irish pubs, most of them specializing in stereotypical dishes eaten for centuries around the Old Sod. The funny thing is, most Irish people under 60 don’t really eat that way anymore, preferring pasta or chicken curry and even Chinese dishes to their traditionally heavy farmhousestyle cooking. On a recent trip to the Isle, most young people I spoke with smirked and said, “That stuff’s only for tourists,” or “I haven’t had Irish stew in 20 years,” when I mentioned what we ate in America’s Irish pubs. Stick-to-the-ribs fare, such as bangers and mash and the notorious full Irish breakfast, has yielded in the face of Ireland’s prosperity, tech boom and full membership in the European Union. Dublin looks more and more like any European capital these days. Ironically, Las Vegas might be a better place than Ireland to eat Irish pub fare, starting with these five.
MAX’S MENU PICKS Torta de pierna, $7. Chanclas, $7. Frijoles charros, $3.50. Elotes, $3. Gelatina de fruta, $2.
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THE BEER EVENTS KEEP POURING FORTH! • Through October 6, Park on Fremont is daring guests to try all of its beers. Not in one sitting, of course, but by stamping their Oktoberfest punch card with each purchase. Studs and studettes who try all 66 get a free night at El Cortez and $50 gift cards to Park on Fremont and Commonwealth. ParkOnFremont.com. • Beer-lovers have two nights to take in the fourth annual Golden Nugget Fall Beer Festival. The All American Craft Beer Tasting ($50) kicks off 7-10 p.m. October 18 with more than 125 craft-beer selections as well as appetizers and live music. The free Paulaner Oktoberfest pool party goes off 1-7 p.m. October 19 at The Tank, with more than 150 American craft beers available for purchase along with bratwursts and pretzels. 866.946.5336, GoldenNugget.com/LasVegas/ FallBeerFest.asp. • Save October 22 for the inaugural Spago Oktoberfest, a dine around-style affair featuring executive chef Eric Klein’s contemporary interpretations of traditional German fare (think mini-schnitzel), plus an array of breweries (Reutberger, Schonramer, Hopf—oh, my!) offering more than a dozen beers. $70, 6-9 p.m., in the Forum Shops at Caesars, 369-6300. – Xania Woodman
Corned Beef and Cabbage. Actually, this is an American invention. The Irish eat bacon and cabbage, which is shredded cabbage cooked with Irish back bacon, accompanied by potatoes. Ri Ra does the dish American-style. The corned beef here is just about the best in the city, tender house-brined meat that falls apart if you look hard at it. The kitchen uses delicate Savoy cabbage, and the accompanying mashed potatoes and parsley sauce are delicious. In the Shoppes at Mandalay Place, 632-7771. Irish Stew. I love lamb, especially in this hearty stew of potatoes and carrots. At Blarney Castle’s cafeteria, I sampled a bowlful so thick with flour you could have baked it into a cake. But at McMullan’s Irish Pub, a dark, clubby place next to the Orleans, the kitchen combines gamy, flavorful chunks of lamb with vegetables in rich, velvety gravy, adding cut stalks of celery, as well. 4650 W. Tropicana Ave., 247-7000. Shepherd’s Pie. This casserole of ground beef, mashed potatoes and cheese isn’t easy to find in Dublin these days, but most of our Irish pubs serve it. I prefer the one at Sean Patrick’s, even if they spell it funny (Sheppard’s Pie on their menu.) The potato-top crust is baked to a nice crunch, the veggies are nicely minced and the proportion of meat to potatoes seem just right. 8255 W. Flamingo Rd., 227-9793. Fish & Chips. The atmospheric Summerlin Irish pub J.C. Wooloughan’s was transported from Ireland piece by piece. Chef Sid Barai makes great fish and chips, three huge pieces of Pacific cod battered with Harp Irish lager, flour, baking powder and spices, the better to puff up golden brown. Sides include cole slaw and shoestring potatoes, per pub regulars. The fat, Irishstyle chips didn’t fly. 221 N. Rampart Blvd., 869-7725. Full Irish Breakfast. Every hotel I stayed in had an Irish breakfast buffet, and all were unspeakable, but Nine Fine Irishmen does a good one: two eggs; bangers; rashers of bacon; tomatoes and mushrooms; plus muffin-shape pieces of white and black pudding. What’s that you say? White pudding is fatty ground pork mixed with oatmeal. Add blood for black. Yum! Well, not really. In New York-New York, 740-6463. Follow Max Jacobson’s latest epicurean observations, reviews and tips at VegasSeven.com/DinersNotebook.
PHOTO BY JON ESTRADA
DINING September 26–October 2, 2013 VEGAS SEVEN
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the menu, and it’s a dream sandwich, especially when eaten with a bowl of the terrifc frijoles charros (cowboy beans) as a side dish. The frijoles (in this case, pinto beans) are served in a mini cazuela, bubbling hot in a stew favored with bacon, onions, chile, cilantro, peppers and chunks of sausage. It’s the best bean dish I’ve had in many a moon, and it makes a good accompaniment for many of the items on this menu. How about chanclas? These are two large shredded chicken sliders served “wet”—again with avocado and onion—smothered in a ragu of chopped Spanish chorizo. Make it shredded beef, fry the bread and you’ve got pelonas, this time also using a spread of refried beans and spicy sauce, turning them into a somewhat more flling proposition. Did I mention molletes? Picture a long submarine roll, split, then topped with beans, mozzarella cheese and lots of pico de gallo (chopped tomato, onion and chilies) added after the sandwich is grilled in the oven so the cheese can melt. What Avendaño doesn’t do is cemitas, which border on religion in their native habitat of Puebla. Cemitas are sesame egg buns stuffed with milanesa, a pan-fried beef cutlet, or pork skins, plus Oaxaca cheese, avocado and salsa. But Cowboy up: terrific frijoles charros. take heart—he’s looking for the bread. Now about that mole. You’ll eat it here on shredded chicken and served with a shaker of enchiladas, and it’s just about powdered chili that you add to the most chocolate-rich mole I’ve taste. For dessert, a dish called ever tasted. (Avendaño’s wife gelatina de frutas—multicolored makes it.) If that doesn’t float cubes of Jell-O in various flavors your boat, then surely you’ll drowned in cream and sugar to want elotes, Mexican street corn, obscure their different colors—is dusted with powdery cheese surprisingly refreshing.