Jake O'Connor's

I have only been to Jake O'Connor's once before, to stop in and have a drink. It was quite crowded, so I didn't get to stay long. The place's literal title is "Jake O' Connors Public House." Basically, the formal term for a pub, and appropriately so. So on my lazy Tuesday evening, I found myself with my guest (let's just call her Mrs. D) and actually kind of excited to try the food.

Jake's actually is quite nice on the interior. I rarely see an Irish themed-pub/restaraunt that I don't like. Dark shiny wood, nice spacious bar, and a variety of seating. The restaraunt is set up with tables, booths, and has another room just a few steps up from the main dining room, to accomodate more seating. It is somewhat posh, no surprise being in Excelsior, and on the $$-$$$ scale. It is also quite cozy, despite there being a good amount of space. Mrs. D and I chose a booth. The booth annoyed me, as wood booths normally do. They are too...upright, and usually hurt me bum. So usually I feel kind of lurched forward...with a sore bum. Ew.

The menu seems to have your standard such as Shepards Pie, Fish and Chips, Champ along with some others. Other fare is halibut, chicken, steaks, chops, burgers, a few pasta's, and sandwiches. The wine list looks quite extensive and a wide range of price, from 6.50 a glass to $200 bottles Ms. D settled on the half roasted chicken (Half a chicken brined for twenty-four hours before being roasted over a pot of gold. $16.95), and i went with the stuffed chicken breast A 10-ounce skin-on chicken breast stuffed with spinach, bacon and goat cheese. Seared crispy and finished with a white truffle chicken au jus. $15.95.) Each one comes with choice of potato (mashed, fries, or risotto) and veggie (brussel sprouts, mushrooms and onions, or the special: broccolli and cheese) I got the risotto and brussels, Mrs. D got the mushrooms and onions and mashed potatoes. I shall first introduce Mrs. D's choice!

Half roasted Chicken (and more crappy cell phone pics!)

And mine, the Stuffed Chicken Breast:

Let me start by saying I've never had risotto before. From my "experience" (aka...watching cooking shows) I understand it's difficult to perfect. It's either hard and underdone, or too gummy. Maybe I'm a newbie, but it was the best thing on my plate. It was cheesy, garlic-ey, and soft. But not gummy or too starchy. It didn't only taste of garlic- it tasted of roasted garlic. Even better. The juice you see on the plate is the white truffle chicken au jus. It tasted like a rich butter-garlic sauce. It had earthy depth to it, and was delicious. The brussell sprouts were perfect with this sauce. They were tender, but firm, and not mushy or artificial tasting. I really love the satisfying mouth-feel of this vegetable. The chicken breast was not so great, unfortunately. The description sounds pretty decadent. Goat cheese? Spinach? It even looks pretty good.



See?

I found this piece of my meal an overall disappointment. The chicken itself was bland and dry. The juice adds to it, but you have to really douse it in the stuff. I also tasted no goat cheese, no spinach, no...nothing. It's a puzzle for the senses - you can see it in there, but the flavors just don't shine through.

I of course tried some of Mrs. D's meal. Besides the mushroom-ey onion-ey DOOM on the plate. Her chicken was much more flavorful than mine. Parts of it were actually too salty (this coming from an American, where we cherish salt!) I had a little food envy, but not much. Her mashed potatoes were...bland. They has green onions on top, which helped. But it needed more of the usual mashed 'tato suspects.

I shouldn't blame Jake's for this entirely. Their interior is cozy and appealing, and while not cheap, it would for a good place to treat oneself/others to a few drinks. The next time I am in the mood for Shepard's Pie or Boxty, and have a nice chunk of change, I just may find myself at Jake's again. unfortunately, either scenario is likely to be no more than a fable for me anytime soon, and I don't feel that the food is worth the money spent. If I'm going to spend $15 on an entree, I expect to at least really like it.

http://www.jakeoconnors.com/