Mention Irish food to the average guy and you’ll most likely see a turned-up nose rescued by thoughts of quaffing a pint of traditional Irish ale to wash down the cuisine. Enter Paddy Mac’s, a larger-than-life spot that bills itself as a unique Irish restaurant and pub — and that, my friends, is the biggest understatement this side of County Cork.
This convivial establishment packs ’em in, especially on weekends, when you’ll have to surrender most dinner conversation during live music sets ranging from Irish folk songs to Pasty Cline. Think carefree college drinking days, then cozy into one of the handsomely upholstered booths (if you can get one) for the cushiest seating. The ambience approximates Irish pubs with bare wooden tables and a large bar, but the food is white-tablecloth all the way.
For me, happiness is an endless supply of owner/chef Ken Wade’s incredible scones — it just doesn’t get any better than these silken-textured palate-floating little gems. Wade’s Boxty ($5.95) is another thing I could eat every day of my life. Boxty is Ireland’s traditional potato cake — wonderful circular patties of slightly chunky potatoes, ideally textured for a quick grilling before they’re stacked three high for serving. Mesmerizing on their own, they reach new heights surrounded by what the menu says are honey-seared apples (sans any signs of actual searing, they’re still a delicious partner).
Is there an appetite so jaded it can’t be roused by a bit of heat? Something you probably never dreamed of encountering in a cuisine thought so demure — albeit one tweaked by the talents of an innovative chef. Incendiary pleasures are plentiful in Seared Scallops San Remo ($7.95), pairing sea scallops with mixed greens and a rousing apple/jalapeno jelly. Other beginnings include home-smoked Wild Irish Salmon with homemade brown bread ($7.95); Murph’s port wine liver pate ($6.95) with cranberry jam and toast points; and Connemara clams ($6.95), plump with Irish bacon, shallots and garlic, flamed with Irish whiskey.
You’ll have to come back in March with the rest of the Leprechauns if you want traditional corned beef and cabbage. Wade abandons the classic what-else-would-you-expect-in-an-Irish-pub dish by creating it in soup form — Spud Soup to be exact — and it outdoes anything Campbell’s could ever think of. The $2.95 charge will bring you a helping so thick and rich with potatoes, tender nubbins of corned beef and silvery cabbage, you could almost stand a spoon in it. Potatoes, always a hit with the Irish, make encore appearances in vichyssoise ($3.95) and in Granny Mac’s creamy New England-style Galway Bay chowder ($3.95).
By now you’ve guessed that Wade produces one wonderful dish after another. It shows up in LetterKenny Lamb Shanks ($13.95), slowly braised in a sublime Guinness gravy until the meat is so soft you could eat it without silverware.
And again in his original recipe for Salmon Leap ($14.95), a meaty fillet finished with fresh herbs and a delicate potato crust that Wade transports to perfection through cooking techniques that mirror perfection. Our server explained its preparation as fried, but it’s so grease-free you’d never guess.
Those scones would bring me back, but so will thoughts of sampling untried Nutty Dubby ($15.95), a three-nut-crusted dolphin fillet (almonds, pecans and walnuts) roasted with orange butter sauce over fruit slaw, and the Mixed Grill ($12.95), pork loin, Irish sausage and bacon, black pudding and ethnically inspired fried bread.
Stateside Irishmen will feel right at home with any of Paddy’s famous pies ($9.95-$10.95), such as mashed potato-topped shepherd’s pie filled with ground lamb and beef; Irish cottage pie (ground beef and vegetables baked in a traditional Irish skillet); fisherman’s pie (scallops, shrimp and salmon in tomato basil sauce) and a steak and mushroom pie so divine that Wade claims the English stole the recipe! This killer version has a load of tender beef tips, whole mushrooms and onions in a magical but logical marriage of flavors — Guinness and beef gravy. A mile-high puff-pastry top hat completes the tasty picture.
Music, fireplace, warm Irish hospitality — Guinness, Harp, Murphy’s and Hardcore Cider — it’s all here. Add great food and you’ve got nothing less than a rite of passage, one clearly seen throughout a room filled with people loving Paddy Mac’s just for the feel of the Emerald Isle — if only for a night.
G.B. Kirkland is a pseudonym to protect our dining critic’s anonymity. Please phone in advance to confirm information on hours, prices, menu items and facilities.
Cuisine: Irish
10971 N. Military Trail,
Palm Beach Gardens
561-691-4366
Cost: inexpensive to moderate
Credit cards: all major
Hours: lunch Monday-Saturday, dinner daily
Reservations: accepted
Bar: full service
Smoking: areas allowing and prohibiting
Wheelchair accessible: yes
Sound level: live music on Friday and Saturday makes dinner conversation difficult
Poor Fair Good Excellent
