This is hard to tell on a weekday lunch time as the vast and beautifully furbished building is virtually empty. The menu itself continues the Irish theme with appropriately named dishes such as “Leprechaun” Steak.
The proper Irish spelling for this Irish fairy which usually takes the form of an old man in a green coat who is most often found decorating gardens or on St Patrick’s Day Greeting Cards is Leipreachan!.
We did in fact order this steak as a second choice to the Fillet Steak which was not available and were highly amused at our waiter’s incorrect pronunciation of LepreCHAUN (sic).
The beautifully presented menu lists both food and drink and the array of cocktails and beers is vast with a very acceptable wine list. It also offers breakfasts of every sort, grills, meals in baskets, pies (I was very temped by the “beef in Guinness” pie) and a good selection of fish including the traditional “fish and chips” (on special on Wednesdays!) and more exotic and pricey “Sole and chips”, Kingclip, Calamari, Prawns and Salmon as well as combo platters.
And there is a well thought out “do-it-yourself” dinner salad which lists items that can be added at will to the basic salad. This is definitely restaurant food on any continent.
My companion and I chose to sit inside as the verandah opens onto the dusty and smelly road which makes it most unattractive. I also have an aversion to eating in full view of passers-by, though there were many people at Café Miller next door doing just that at the tables in front of Fruit and Veg City.
Interestingly Café Miller was enjoying a busy lunch time rush while O’Hagan’s remained empty. We all know that an empty restaurant is off-putting to potential eaters, as well as lacking ambience, which was certainly so in our case.
We chose to share a portion of crumbed mushrooms for starters which was a wise choice as it was a most generous portion of nine mushrooms, more than enough for two and justifying the rather pricey tag of US$8.
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In the absence of Fillet Steak my companion had the Leprechaun Steak which was in fact rump beautifully cooked to order and the same price as the fillet (US$15).
Although tempted by the Beef and Guinness Pie I was seduced by the Sole (US$17), though I knew it would have to be frozen and would be unlikely to be the plump variety of my youth.
I was right, as it was a rather thin offering on the bone, but beautifully grilled and still with a hint of flavour of the sea. Both dishes were served with chips and mixed vegetables on correctly hot plates but the vegetables cooked al dente were cold. My companion took half her steak home in a beautifully crafted basket made out of tin foil, a charming gesture and much preferable to the more usual polystyrene box.
Our shared dessert of Malva pudding would have reduced an Afrikaner to tears, for it had none of the richness of caramelised apricot jam, and was very closely related to a piece of sponge cake with ice cream!
We ended our meal on a high note with very fine Espresso coffee served hot and not warm as so often happens.I definitely intend to return to O’Hagans at the weekend as that should be when it is at its most lively, especially if there is a big match to watch. Only then can I absorb the ambience and see the place in its full glory, but unfortunately that will be too late for this review. It is certainly an attractive, multifunctional establishment, open for incredibly long hours and serving a wide variety of food and drink.
All it lacked when I visited was enough eaters and drinkers to bring it to life, but it is early days yet, and hopefully that will change as it becomes more established.
The long and incredibly well-stocked bar together with the high bar chair seating in one section leads me to think it is a pub and I am impressed that it offers several beers on draught as well as draught Guinness.
The beautifully presented menu featuring breakfasts, lunches and dinners and the lower restaurant type chairs and tables in another section makes me think it is definitely a restaurant.
But then there are the numerous plasma screen televisions showing the Super Sport channels, surely this makes it a sports bar? On the verandah I spot another clue, road signs to Irish towns, according to which Tipperary is towards town but I know better for it is “a long, long way to Tipperary” and you definitely have to cross a sea to get there!
Pub Restaurant5 PlatesExpect to spend between US$15 to US$30 per headBorrowdale Shops
