Irish Pub & Fish & Chips Inc — Restaurant in Titusville

The Irish Pub and Eatery 125 Harrison St. Titusville, FL 32780

4- Stars

Irish fare is a specific type of food, you either love it or you don't. Obviously, our dour server today, Brittany, does not as she ordered a pizza to be delivered for her lunch. Could this be a possible indictment of the food? Time will tell. I asked Brittany for one Irish Sampler Pick 5 with Bangers & Mash, Fish & Chips, Corned Beef & Cabbage, Irish Stew, and traditional Shepherd's Pie (in truth, it is Cottage Pie as it is made with ground beef, not lamb, but I nit-pick).

It wasn't all that long before cantankerous Brittany returned laden with my Irish feast. There must have been an avoirdupois and a half worth of food in her arms, if not more. What a feast! The first to do the Riverdance on the Big Boy's taste buds was the ever-popular UK dish of Bangers & Mash. What I was served is basically a hot dog with mashed potatoes. While Bangers are not seasoned like your typical hot dog, they look similar. This was a tad mushy, as Bangers are, and somewhat bland, as UK food is known to be. The mash was average.

Moving on to the famous UK dish—and, in the opinion of most, the only thing they do well—Fish and Chips. This was superb. The fish was hand-battered and deep-fried to perfection. The chips were done to par, and the house-made coleslaw was bursting with flavor.

Forcing myself to forgo more cod, I moved on to the everyday Irish dish of Corned Beef and cabbage. This dish is as traditional in the Emerald Isle as legends of the wee folk. However, most Americans only eat it on the day the whole world becomes Irish, St. Patrick's Day. I found this version of the standard Celtic dish tasty. The corned beef was properly seasoned and so tender that it practically melted in my mouth. The cabbage was also well seasoned and cooked with obvious care.

I then turned my palate to the Irish Stew. One spoonful and I knew we had a winner. Slow-cooked beef, potatoes, and onions swimming in a hearty beef stock—this was very good. The toasted rye bread was a nice touch and added a taste complement to the stew's seasoning, which I found quite delightful.

This brings me to the last dish in my Irish Sampler to be appraised, the most famous Irish dish of them all, Shepherd's Pie. As I stated above, unless it is made with ground lamb, it is NOT technically Shepherd's Pie (blame America for this misnomer). As this was made with ground beef, it was actually Cottage Pie, but again, I am splitting hairs. This was made correctly, seasoned scrumptiously and cooked to perfection. All in all, this was a great way to end my sampling of their Irish Cuisine.

The Big Boy says, “This was pretty good; you could do much worse. Just don't order the Banger (unless you like bland...

I won’t be back if I can help it. Tonight was my second trip to a bar as a paying customer, so I am unaware of tipping customs in bars. I am not a bar person and was there to support my friend tonight. I am always a generous tipper when I am being waited on at a table or if something is delivered to my house; but was not aware of the fact that a tip is expected by someone making a drink for you, so I paid for my two drinks and did not tip (my bad). As a bartender, suggesting that tips are appreciated or asking if I would mind tipping is perfectly fine, but no matter what kind of customer service you provide, you are providing customer service. To ignore me and serve other customers and/or berate and embarrass me in front of my friends, and proceed to not do anything else for me because I didn’t tip you is never acceptable. I ended up giving the bartender some change from my purse as a tip after what he did because I felt bad and genuinely didn’t understand at the time, but I will not be returning to this bar again unless it is to support my friend, and I will continue to have the best intentions and tip the bartenders from now on. Refusing to serve a customer anymore because you didn’t receive gratuity is a really bad look for you and terrible...

All in all it was a $65 bill for two people. Which would’ve been fine if the food was actually edible we had a really high hopes for this place because a lot of people we knew said they’re always heard good things or had good experiences, but something must’ve changed in the kitchen because the food ain’t what everyone hyped it up to be. Soggy fries, microwaved appetizers that weren’t even warm (except the potato skins which honestly probably were the only edible thing we got), sticky tables, minimal customer service, I ordered the fish and chips and got about halfway through before I had to stop because something didn’t taste right. My girlfriend got the honey Sriracha chicken sandwich, and the chicken itself was so tough and overcooked that you couldn’t even bite into it. It’s really sad considering that we were told such good things about this place. I see it all the time with small local spots like these though the staff changes or loses motivation and unfortunately the customers suffer which then makes the business suffer. Hoping this review will sparks some change in the restaurant. Calling it a pub is a disservice to...