Mick O’Shea’s Irish pub tasted and rated
MICK O'Shea's teams a warm Irish welcome with a proper old-school pub menu.
THIS striking estate on the road heading down South, looks like a sprawling olde English Tudor village, a beacon to travellers seeking midway city-Fleurieu digs.
It is actually Irish-themed, dripping with old-school fun and cosiness. The rooms are spacious and quite mod, the gardens are lovely, and function spaces have been added, but for the rest, sleek updates have been resisted.
Some might say tired, but we like the pub’s character and friendly colonial feel gleaned from warm timber, sink-in-low chesterfields, snug spaces, and a sweeping bar with conversation-piece old musical instruments, real and decorative, on the over-mantel.
A happy contrast is a more with-it sense of love happening in the kitchen, delivering pub faves mixed with tizzied-up dishes deserving nods for housemade elements, including thoroughly modern preserves, and thoughtful attention to detail in the desserts.
On-trend mac & cheese balls to share are cheerfully upped to fit our party of four, with plenty of the crew’s own bacon jam, a savoury preserve made with a well-restrained hand on the sugar.
A plentiful plate of sticky pork belly could take more acidity, already sweetened by roasted pear, but it’s great value for $12.
And, beautifully cooked local Coorong mulloway with crisp salty skin over flaking fish is a nice alternative to the usual salmon or barramundi. The mulloway works well with pretty little beets, remnants of their tails intact, roasted and rested so not bleeding purple into the silky mash base at all. Generosity reigns again in the southern fried chicken burger that has three layers of meat with bacon plus a chipotle mayo kick, and, beef cheeks, lush from slow cooking, are on a comfy bed of peas, sweet potato mash scattered with a few tender heirloom carrots.
Fitting the Irish theme, beef and Guinness pie is a high-sided, simpler option with chips, sauce and salad.
A sweetie finish shows us more of this team’s cut-above talents, one an open apple rhubarb high pie, another, a prettily deconstructed meringue with twists of miso custard and passion-fruit sorbet.
Mick O’Shea’s Irish Pub
Main South Rd, Hackham, 8384 6944
SCORE: 7/10