Hooleys Public House — Restaurant in La Mesa

The Scotch egg was served warm, with a thick sausage and bread crust, and came with a whole grain Guinness mustard, which was fantastic

I ordered the corned beef Mac and cheese, which had plentiful meat, perfectly cooked penne, and an amount of cheese others might consider excessive, but they're wrong

My girlfriend ordered the fish and chips; I've probably had fish and chips a hundred or more times, but I've never had fish and chips like this

The batter was perfectly seasoned and flavored, the fish fillet perfectly cooked, the handmade tartar sauce so savory

Even the chips were near perfection; thick enough to be traditional, but still crispy on the outside and steamy on the inside

She also had the bacon braised red cabbage; slightly sweet, crunchy, savory, but the bacon doesn't come through as much as it could

It gets better with malted vinegar, and the portion size is huge

I had the cucumber mule, which was quite refreshing; light, went down easy

I followed up with the spicy radler-rita; do not order unless you love spicy things, it'll bite back

Finished with the Dark & Stormy; I'm not a rum man, but this was wonderful

Girlfriend had the pot o' gold; she says it's like a ginger lemonade, has a bite

She also had the grapefruit radler, which is part of the spicy radler-rita; she said it tastes like a mimosa

Would come back, would...

I had had nothing but good experiences at hooley's over the years until I decided to go there for Valentine's Day and get the prime rib special for $30. I couldn't believe how tough it was. I really couldn't even get my fork to pierce it and had to do a lot of seesaw to cut through it. That's definitely not how prime rib should be. But everything else I've gotten there has been wonderful. I used to go every Tuesday a few years ago for their 3 tacos special back when it was only $8.99. I especially love their corned beef tacos and highly recommend trying them if you've never had them. We went there most recently on Saint Patrick's Day where I had a very good meal of corned beef, cabbage, and champs which turned out to be mashed potatoes. Whatever that gravy / sauce was the drizzled over everything was so good! I also often order a shandy which is a drink I learned to love in England when I visited there. Also the Scotch eggs which I had over there and never could find over here. In fact the first time I had a shandy and Scotch eggs it had been 30 years since I've had them. I don't get the eggs every time especially since they are kind of expensive for just a few but I almost always...

This was my first time eating eating at this particular Hooley's. It was lunch time and wasn't overly busy. But my server, Galin was serving at least 15 others and I am giving her and the food a 5 stars all day!

I ordered the wings with a side of fries. Even though I would have preferred my wings tossed in sauce.. there was no need to. The wings were soft with a light crisp on the outside with just the right amount of seasoning. I am so happy they didn't come wet. I asked for Buffalo, BBQ and the Suicide Habanero sauce. These sauces made the wings even more enjoyable. Can't go wrong there.

The fries went well with the taste of the wings. Nice and thick steak fries with some light seasoning.... And a really good size portion too. (I can't count how many times I go to a wing place and they serve up the craziest, soggy or burnt fries.)These were legit.

Back to Galin's service, everytime I needed a refill of my ice tea she got me, before I asked.. and when I asked for something she responded super quick. Even though she was running around she made sure I was taken care of. This place was on point.

Definitely coming back...