Pub Flub!

 

A year ago, while walking the 16th Street Mall in Denver, Colorado, my roommate and I spotted an Irish pub that intrigued us…because we love pub grub.  At the time, we had plans already to introduce a friend of ours to the ways of the Hard Rock Café (Anthony Bourdain…don’t kill me.  I know it’s a chain, but you at least know the food will be edible, LOL!).  We vowed the next year that would be where we at lunch when we venture downtown.

Fast forward to a year later and we find ourselves in downtown Denver, walking through the 16th Street Mall.  After a good deal of walking that morning, we were hungry and decided to follow through on the plan and go to that pub we spotted a year earlier.

The pub in question: Katie Mullen’s Irish Pub and Restaurant.

Our first taste of what was likely to befall us on this visit should have been quite evident in the attitude of the staff.  We were greeted quickly enough, but the manager that day was far more interested in the soccer match (Manchester United was playing) than the actual restaurant.  Our waitress was very nice and gave me some added time to look over the menu because, let’s face it, most pubs are not the easiest thing for a vegetarian to find food at…let alone a vegetarian with food allergies.

My initial instinct was to go with the Portobello Mushroom Sandwich…which is my usual go-to at a pub.  But…my roommate pointed out the Portobello Mushroom and Vegetable Boxty and I decided to go with that…as a change from my pub standard.  The boxty was to include grilled Portobello mushrooms with mixed vegetables, swiss cheese, and a roasted red pepper aioli.  Sounded delicious enough.  With it I got an order of sweet potato fries.  My roommate…her usual pub fare…Mullen’s Fish & Chips…with the hand-cut chips as opposed to the skinny fries, upon the recommendation of our waitress.

It took a L-O-N-G time for the food to arrive.  Thankfully my roommate had ordered a Magners with her meal so that kept her occupied.  As did the wrap-up of the soccer match.  We both had time to venture all the way to the back of the restaurant and use the bathroom and still sit and converse before food even began to get to us.

With food finally on the table, we settled in to eat.  And this is where it all went horribly wrong.  This is also why I adopted a new rule about eating at restaurants…if the food isn’t good or if it might set off an allergy…SEND IT BACK!  Which is what we both should have done with the food we ate here.

The boxty wasn’t what I expected.  Usually boxty is potato cakes…but this seemed more like the mushrooms and vegetables were encased in a tortilla.  It was unlike anything I had ever seen.  But, I cut into it and took a bite.  It was…okay.  Not at all what I expected.  But edible at least…and I was starving.  But…I should have stopped after that first bite.  Honestly.  There must have been flour used to make the “tortilla of gastro-doom!” because my gluten allergy kicked in big time soon after.

As for the sweet potato fries…they looked like they had come out of a bag of Alexia frozen produce.  Sweet potato waffle fries (I have these in my freezer, seriously!)…and worst of all…they were cold!  I don’t know how many of you like sweet potato fries, but they are best while warm and horrible when they get cold.  These came out cold.  And I realize now I should have flagged down the waitress (who we saw very little of while we ate) and sent it back.  But I didn’t.  And I just ate them…cold.

Lesson learned.

As for my roommate’s food…a pub standard…fish and chips.  Well, she said the saving grace was the fish.  It was delicious.  The hand-cut fries that came recommended by the waitress, however, she hated.  Normally one to polish off the meal, she left more fries than I had ever seen…because they were horrible.

You know, the Irish catch a lot of crap for bland food.  But this food wasn’t bland.  It was just bad.  And for the rest of the day, I was miserable…suffering from pains brought on from my meal.  I have never felt as horrible and sick as I did after eating at Katie Mullen’s.  And that is why I will never go back.  As for the locals I know there…they’ve been warned and won’t be going there either.

For an Irish pub…they certainly struck out on the food and the service.  At least I learned a lesson from eating here…and that is to send the food back if it isn’t right or if it’s cold.  In the end, it’s a far better option.

If hungry while out in downtown Denver and if you happen to be around the 16th Street Mall…go elsewhere.  Even the chain restaurants like Hard Rock Café offer better food than Katie Mullen’s did.  And if you really must have Irish pub grub…find a different one.  One that gives a damn about the food and the customers.  This may mean a drive…but trust me, in the end, anything is better than eating at Katie Mullen’s.  Anything!