Steve
11-19-2005, 11:52 AM
Nine Fine Irishmen clings to its roots in design and menu.
By Ken White
As the Nine Fine Irishmen menu says, everything's authentic except the toilets -- they're from Wisconsin.
The pub was designed and built in Ireland by the Irish Pub Co. and shipped to the United States, where it was installed in New York-New York, 3790 Las Vegas Blvd. South. It features a downstairs bar modeled after the famed Trinity bar in Ireland and an upstairs bar based on the Long Bar from Ireland. The upstairs area also features two snugs, private dining tables where in the old days the women would not be seen drinking.
There's mahogany wood paneling throughout, plus a fireplace, wood tables, a sitting room area, and plenty of authentic Irish farm implements and other knickknacks on the walls.
The pub also offers outdoor dining on an upstairs and downstairs patio area, complete with misters, that looks out onto the Strip.
Named after nine Irishmen who headed a revolutionary movement in 19th-century Ireland and were exiled or escaped to Australia and the United States, the recently opened Irish pub features the authentic Irish cuisine of chef-proprietor Kevin Dundon, who also owns Dunbrody Country House Hotel and Restaurant, in a small village about seven miles from the famous Irish town of Waterford, where the crystal glass is made.
The pub also includes a replica of a courtroom where the nine fine Irishmen were put on trial.
"Our whole philosophy in the food is about the `organicness' and freshness of the ingredients," says Dundon, whose background includes stints at La Mere Catherine restaurant in Switzerland and the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, among others.
Dundon spent 10 years working outside of Ireland and returned to his homeland with a background in fusion cuisine, which he put to use in traditional Irish dishes.
Many ingredients are imported directly from Ireland, such as the smoked salmon, cheeses and butter.
"All of these things give us an edge and a different flavor in the food," Dundon says. "We've taken the traditional Irish dishes and turned them on their head and made them funkier."
Such as Dundon's signature dish, grilled Irish goat cheese salad with herb-crusted Irish farmhouse goat cheese on a summer fruit compote salad with balsamic vinaigrette ($7.49 as a starter, $12.99 as a main dish).
Other appetizers include colcannon, a creamy soup of cabbage, leeks and potatoes ($4.99); O'Brien's crab cake, a traditional potato crab cake with chive dressing ($9.99); Dillon's oysters, grilled oysters with champagne salsa and caramelized onion bread ($9.99); and smoked Irish salmon served on a warm chive pancake with mixed leaves and a Dalkey mustard grain dressing ($8.49 starter, $14.99 main dish).
Nine Fine Irishmen also offers such house specialties as a roasted loin of Irish bacon glazed with Irish Mist and served with a colcannon potato cake and braised cabbage ($19.99) and oyster pucks, Atlantic oysters served in a shot glass with salsa and Poitin moonshine ($8.99).
One of the menu's unique offerings is the Nation Fresh Seafood Selection ($25.99), a daily special featuring dishes created by nine chefs from Ireland's best restaurants -- Dundon's Dunbrody House Hotel in County Wexford, Hayfield Manor in County Cork, Woodstock Hotel in County Clare, Tinakilly House in County Wicklow, the Hibernian Hotel in County Dublin, Dunraven Arms in County Limerick, Rathsallagh House in County Wicklow, Glenlo Abbey Hotel in County Galway and the Park Hotel in Kenmare County Kerry.
Among the best-selling main courses are the gourmet Irish sausage with mustard champ, 9 inches of caramelized apricot and pork sausage served on a butter mustard champ (potatoes and onions) with an onion jus ($14.99); Celtic chicken, farm chicken breast glazed with honey and tarragon and served on sautéed potatoes with a semisun-dried tomato oil ($16.99); Widow MacCormick's Irish stew, a traditional Irish stew with lamb, potatoes and vegetables served with soda bread ($15.99); beer-battered fish and chips ($16.99); Irish farmhouse mixed grill, double-cut lamb chop, fried tomato, grilled mushrooms, black and white Irish pudding, gourmet Irish sausage and rashers of bacon, served with a potato ($22.99); Cashel Blue Irish farmhouse cheese and pear pizza, with Cashel Blue farmhouse cheese, poached pears and sun-dried tomatoes on a thin, crisp pizza dough ($14.99); and Kilmore Quay fisherman's pie, smoked fish in a creamy cheese sauce topped with a potato crumble ($19.99).
Dundon's dessert list also isn't run-of-the-mill. It features brown bread ice cream, caramelized brown bread pieces in homemade vanilla ice cream served with a fruit compote ($7.99); whiskey pudding, a warm fruitcake topped with a whiskey-flavored butterscotch ($7.99); bread and butter pudding, raisins and cream mixed with bread and butter, baked and served hot with vanilla custard ($7.99); and the Dunbrody Kiss, Dundon's signature dessert, with chocolate mousse on a crunchy caramel base topped with a chocolate ganache sauce ($8.99).
And there's beer, of course -- Guinness, Wexford, Harp Lager, Bass -- along with premium liquors such as Jamesons, Boru Vodka, Cork Dry Gin and Bushmills Whiskey.
Nine Fine Irishmen is open daily for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. The bar is open from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 24 hours Fridays and Saturdays.
By Ken White
As the Nine Fine Irishmen menu says, everything's authentic except the toilets -- they're from Wisconsin.
The pub was designed and built in Ireland by the Irish Pub Co. and shipped to the United States, where it was installed in New York-New York, 3790 Las Vegas Blvd. South. It features a downstairs bar modeled after the famed Trinity bar in Ireland and an upstairs bar based on the Long Bar from Ireland. The upstairs area also features two snugs, private dining tables where in the old days the women would not be seen drinking.
There's mahogany wood paneling throughout, plus a fireplace, wood tables, a sitting room area, and plenty of authentic Irish farm implements and other knickknacks on the walls.
The pub also offers outdoor dining on an upstairs and downstairs patio area, complete with misters, that looks out onto the Strip.
Named after nine Irishmen who headed a revolutionary movement in 19th-century Ireland and were exiled or escaped to Australia and the United States, the recently opened Irish pub features the authentic Irish cuisine of chef-proprietor Kevin Dundon, who also owns Dunbrody Country House Hotel and Restaurant, in a small village about seven miles from the famous Irish town of Waterford, where the crystal glass is made.
The pub also includes a replica of a courtroom where the nine fine Irishmen were put on trial.
"Our whole philosophy in the food is about the `organicness' and freshness of the ingredients," says Dundon, whose background includes stints at La Mere Catherine restaurant in Switzerland and the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, among others.
Dundon spent 10 years working outside of Ireland and returned to his homeland with a background in fusion cuisine, which he put to use in traditional Irish dishes.
Many ingredients are imported directly from Ireland, such as the smoked salmon, cheeses and butter.
"All of these things give us an edge and a different flavor in the food," Dundon says. "We've taken the traditional Irish dishes and turned them on their head and made them funkier."
Such as Dundon's signature dish, grilled Irish goat cheese salad with herb-crusted Irish farmhouse goat cheese on a summer fruit compote salad with balsamic vinaigrette ($7.49 as a starter, $12.99 as a main dish).
Other appetizers include colcannon, a creamy soup of cabbage, leeks and potatoes ($4.99); O'Brien's crab cake, a traditional potato crab cake with chive dressing ($9.99); Dillon's oysters, grilled oysters with champagne salsa and caramelized onion bread ($9.99); and smoked Irish salmon served on a warm chive pancake with mixed leaves and a Dalkey mustard grain dressing ($8.49 starter, $14.99 main dish).
Nine Fine Irishmen also offers such house specialties as a roasted loin of Irish bacon glazed with Irish Mist and served with a colcannon potato cake and braised cabbage ($19.99) and oyster pucks, Atlantic oysters served in a shot glass with salsa and Poitin moonshine ($8.99).
One of the menu's unique offerings is the Nation Fresh Seafood Selection ($25.99), a daily special featuring dishes created by nine chefs from Ireland's best restaurants -- Dundon's Dunbrody House Hotel in County Wexford, Hayfield Manor in County Cork, Woodstock Hotel in County Clare, Tinakilly House in County Wicklow, the Hibernian Hotel in County Dublin, Dunraven Arms in County Limerick, Rathsallagh House in County Wicklow, Glenlo Abbey Hotel in County Galway and the Park Hotel in Kenmare County Kerry.
Among the best-selling main courses are the gourmet Irish sausage with mustard champ, 9 inches of caramelized apricot and pork sausage served on a butter mustard champ (potatoes and onions) with an onion jus ($14.99); Celtic chicken, farm chicken breast glazed with honey and tarragon and served on sautéed potatoes with a semisun-dried tomato oil ($16.99); Widow MacCormick's Irish stew, a traditional Irish stew with lamb, potatoes and vegetables served with soda bread ($15.99); beer-battered fish and chips ($16.99); Irish farmhouse mixed grill, double-cut lamb chop, fried tomato, grilled mushrooms, black and white Irish pudding, gourmet Irish sausage and rashers of bacon, served with a potato ($22.99); Cashel Blue Irish farmhouse cheese and pear pizza, with Cashel Blue farmhouse cheese, poached pears and sun-dried tomatoes on a thin, crisp pizza dough ($14.99); and Kilmore Quay fisherman's pie, smoked fish in a creamy cheese sauce topped with a potato crumble ($19.99).
Dundon's dessert list also isn't run-of-the-mill. It features brown bread ice cream, caramelized brown bread pieces in homemade vanilla ice cream served with a fruit compote ($7.99); whiskey pudding, a warm fruitcake topped with a whiskey-flavored butterscotch ($7.99); bread and butter pudding, raisins and cream mixed with bread and butter, baked and served hot with vanilla custard ($7.99); and the Dunbrody Kiss, Dundon's signature dessert, with chocolate mousse on a crunchy caramel base topped with a chocolate ganache sauce ($8.99).
And there's beer, of course -- Guinness, Wexford, Harp Lager, Bass -- along with premium liquors such as Jamesons, Boru Vodka, Cork Dry Gin and Bushmills Whiskey.
Nine Fine Irishmen is open daily for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. The bar is open from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 24 hours Fridays and Saturdays.