Strandhill Public (Brandon) — Restaurant in Florida

Tried this place a couple times, first was good, second was bad. The dinner portions are small, especially for the price. My husband says it's decent for a sports bar and a little bit less than mediocre for an Irish pub/food.

The Irish beef stew is and isn't what I expected to get and it was hardly seasoned. The meat was cheap and had no flavor and was very much overcooked. In all of the pictures it shows a lot of carrots so I was worried it would be sweet if they always use that many carrots and it was sweet unfortunately. It had a strong, weird herb flavor that I couldn't pick out which totally threw off the dish, I couldn't finish it. Also the portion was not enough for a grown man or any hungry person really, maybe a small bowl.

The fish and chips are okay, but the batter on the fish is really sweet. The coleslaw has a lot of dried fruit in it which was not good, and sadly the cabbage was not fully washed because it tasted like dirt so it was inedible.

The soda bread was not what I was expecting at all. I thought it would be a savory bread basket or loaf that 2-4 could share, turns out it's a sweet bread with a lot of dried fruit in it. It's really a dense, heavy fruit loaf. I know sofa bread usually has some raisins or dried fruit, but this was filled with it and too sweet. It was good, but it came with one decent sized slice and one tiny slice, not enough to have paid $6 for. The spread that it comes with immediately did not look like butter so I smelled it and couldn't tell. It tasted bad and felt bad in my mouth. I went to try it again the next day and it was more solid from the fridge than butter would be and when I tasted it I knew it was CRISCO with something else mixed in, possibly lard. It looks like crisco for sure and is definitely the reason for the bad texture in my mouth.

They have good fries! The pulled pork sandwich is delicious! My husband liked his burger, I think it was the classic. It didn't come with any sauce which was...

Updated 2/2024 Don't bother getting the salads. Not that they're not okayyy, the price point compared to some of the other items doesn't sit right.

The chicken tenders were fried hard and again...price point was off. For a children's chicken tender meal with 2 tenders, it was 12 dollars. For an adult chicken tender meal with 3 tenders, it was 17 dollars.

The beers are good and the mains are pretty good. I'd stick with those. Hands down.

.........

Went out for a quick date night. Noticed this place next to the escape room we frequent.

At first - you may just think it's a pub. Went inside and it's certainly has a warm ambience. It's perfect for drinking OR for getting a bite to eat solo, with friends, or a date night. There were booths to eat at. A bar. And outside seating.

It separates casual dining vs intimiate night out very well. For example, you could see inside that groups of people were enjoying their meal intimately, but weren't effected by me and my date playing corn hole outside while drinking Stella.

In fact, you can't even see inside from the outside. It has tinted windows to keep the vibe. The food was great. We had the fish and chips and chicken tenders. Super simple, but they cooked it well.

There were other options on the menu that we wanted to try. Like Shepard's pie. But we wanted something lighter. Speaking to the waiter - who was super friendly. Really informative and knew the menu well - he said some of their meals were large enough for two people.

He wasn't lying. My meal alone I could have taken a doggy bag home if I wasn't so hungry.

My only gripe is that if we hadn't been riding through and knew this quaint little area, we wouldn't have seen much signage to know they existed.

Nevertheless...a superb experience. We'll be making this the new hang out spot. And not in that teeny bopper, let's go to the mall feel. But like...let's get the close friends together to go hang out, drink, eat, and then go see a...

Well.... Not a good first visit.

We walked in about 11:30 there were a few tables and the bartender was running around handling them all. We were her fourth. Service was.. "Challenging"

Other tables food came out while we waited for service. Large portions of fish, mashed potatoes and fries. ordered an appetizer of cheese sticks -some time later when waitress came by, we ordered our food; Beef stew Burger with blue cheese crumbles

Food?? ... A swing and a miss!

The BURGER was burnt beyond recognition (not medium, or when close) and had dressing (not crumbles... BIG difference). After verifying the temp of the burger, she sent it back. Turned off by what she saw, she wouldn't reorder.

The BEEF STEW I believe was a burgundy based broth. Not traditional, but flavorful. Unfortunately the vegetables in the stew were hard and only partially cooked. Chunks of potatoes, carrots and others INEDIBLE?!

Like I said... Horrible visit.

The atmosphere was relatively nice however take a look up... Not way up... Just a feet up, to the lights above the tables. They were ALL COVERED in dust. Like dangling. I noticed as a guest walked in and a piece floated down because of the wind. Not cool if it landed upon someone's food plate.

After a visit like this, my mind starts to wander. If they aren't succeeding in the basics I experience as a guest... What is NOT being properly executed where I CAN'T see (like I'm the kitchen)

I don't know if I'll be back. Hopefully they do better: Have a server and bartender at opening -Verify order -Do housecleaning -Food quality Immediate follow-up after food hits table

Hope...