Moher -or- Improving Western Devon Ave. with one "Irish

I'm constantly complaining that the bars out here on the NW fringe of the city are mostly places for old men to drink an Old Style and grumble about the old lady or places for the youngsters to meet & greet... no place for a middle aged type to read her book and enjoy a pint, maybe talk sports or politics or beer at the bar.

Well, I'm hopeful things have changed for the better. There's an "Irish" bar recently opened near Devon & Central, and so far all of the signs are positive. The bar is intended, I think, to look like one of those pubs you see on the Irish postcards. Bright paint & flowers outside, dark wood inside. Not too much "flair" on the walls. Part of the ceiling is tin, part painted in a celtic knot pattern. Nice looking, imho. Not over the top. The clientele, in my visits there so far, tend to be small groups of friends and families with kids. Trixies & Chads in scant supply. As an American bar must, there are TV screens with sports, but they are less-obtrusive flat panels and aren't turned up very high.

And what about the food, yer asking. Haute bar food. Ususal suspects, plus some Irish numbers like boxty, Guiness stew, shepherd's pie [ok, that's English], Irish breakfast. Colcannon and braised cabbage as a side. Oysters and mussels. Nice selection of beer/stout/ale on tap, and most worthy of note is the fact that they're well poured and served at the proper temperature. I just can't tell you how irritated I get when I'm served Guiness or a nice English bitter at 32.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Beers like this are supposed to be served at cellar temperature [50-ish], not nearly freezing. The proprietor understands this, and, in fact, claims to have "one of the best pours in the city." Well, we'll see about that one, but every beer I've had there so far as been all it should have been.

I've only eaten there once; thought I'd try the cheeseburger. How better to judge bar food than the burger? Not all it should have been, frankly, but a solid B+ effort. Fries had skin on & might have been improved by ordering them crispy. Burger was on a nice, fresh, egg bun. There was something I didn't like about the texture of the patty and when the owner, Gerard, came by, I was assured that it was hand formed in the kitchen [dismissing the thought I'd had that it was a frozen pre-formed burger]. Burger itself was ordered medium-rare and came medium.

Which leads me to speak to how hard the owner appears to be working to provide good food & service to the customers. There was a comment card inside the bill, which I filled out mostly with very positive comments and a mention that my burger wasn't quite how I'd ordered it. I also included my e-mail address under the part that asked if I'd like to be informed about events at the bar. A few days later, I received an e-mail that said they were sorry about getting the burger wrong and would give me another one gratis if I presented the e-mail. OK, I'm impressed by the good intentions.

I'm strongly considering making this my "local", will try other parts of the menu, and report back one way or another. Moher also completes a sort of "chow triangle" at Devon & Central. You could have a beer there before or after dining on Ann's wonderful Thai food at Elephant. Of course, you can go across the street from Elephant to the Chocolate Shoppe for ice-cream as well. Something for everybody. But instead of ice cream, I prefer beer for my extra calories .

Moher
5310 W. Devon
773-467-1825

Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream
5337 W. Devon
773-763-977

Elephant Thai
5348 W Devon
773-467-1168

Giovanna

Giovanna wrote:There was a comment card inside the bill, which I filled out mostly with very positive comments and a mention that my burger wasn't quite how I'd ordered it. I also included my e-mail address under the part that asked if I'd like to be informed about events at the bar. A few days later, I received an e-mail that said they were sorry about getting the burger wrong and would give me another one gratis if I presented the e-mail. OK, I'm impressed by the good intentions.

I think your new favorite bar did exactly the right thing. For the small investment in a hamburger, they've firmed up your loyalty. It's amazing to me that more small businesses don't do stuff like this -- just a little extra effort can make such a difference.

As Oak Park has one of the Midwest's highest concentrations of Irish bars right next door in Forest Park, I don't have to travel far for same, but it's always good to have another one to add to the list.

Hammond

Giovanna wrote:Moher also completes a sort of "chow triangle" at Devon & Central. You could have a beer there before or after dining on Ann's wonderful Thai food at Elephant. Of course, you can go across the street from Elephant to the Chocolate Shoppe for ice-cream as well. Something for everybody.

Giovanna,

Thanks for the info on Moher, this is now the closest bar to my house. Was......Oh, damn, what's the name of the place about a block from Katsu?

I've only stopped at Moher once, about 10 on a Friday night, and it was hopping. I didn't eat, just had one beer and left, basically wanted to what's what and if I wanted to go back with Ellen. I thought it well worth a return visit and, especially in light of your post, will head back for a beer and meal.

As I was writing this post I've been perusing Moher's menu, seems interesting, I mean who can resist Irish Spring Rolls (Corned beef, cabbage, cheddar cheese and mustard sauce) along with Shepherd's Pie.

In reference to the Devon & Central chow triangle, I'd include Edgebrook Diner in the list of notables.

Enjoy,
Gary

As I was writing this post I've been perusing Moher's menu, seems interesting, I mean who can resist Irish Spring Rolls (Corned beef, cabbage, cheddar cheese and mustard sauce) along with Shepherd's Pie.

In reference to the Devon & Central chow triangle, I'd include Edgebrook Diner in the list of notables.

Enjoy,
Gary

Correct you are about Edgebrook Diner, of course.

But, gee, I was thinking that the Irish Spring Rolls were a cause for staying away from the place. Let me know how they are after you try them, ok?

Giovanna

Regarding Irish Spring Rolls, I had a similar dish at Mader's in Milwaukee last month. The problem is, to get the corned beef into the egg roll, they mince it, which (especially when sauerkraut is added to the mix) gives it kind of a mushy texture that I don't like much. Of course, that was a Mader's, and I guess there's no reason why this odd menu item could not be made well.

Hammond

Giovanna wrote:But, gee, I was thinking that the Irish Spring Rolls were a cause for staying away from the place. Let me know how they are after you try them, ok?

Reporting back as ordered Miss G.

Irish Spring Rolls at Moher's were interesting

Ok, they were pretty good, but, as Hammond said about Mader's, the corned beef was minced a bit fine and, frankly, there could have been a little more CB in the roll. The cheddar melded nicely with the corned beef and sauerkraut and the mustard dipping sauce was good, though benefited from a couple of shakes of hot sauce. The overall taste of the Irish Spring Roll worked, though my perception may have been influenced by Smithwick's Irish Ale and Powers.

We also shared a Lump Crab Stuffed Boxty. I'm not familiar with Irish Boxty's so I don't know if this is traditional, but we were basically served a thick crepe made from potato rolled around a sauteed crab cake. This tasted better than it sounds and the light lemon butter sauce was a nice compliment. Both the Spring Rolls and Boxty were served with a small micro green salad.

MsWiv had a bowl of Irish Cheddar soup, basically French Onion soup made with cheddar. I did not taste, but she said it was quite good. All in all I like Moher's, friendly staff, Finn the bartenderess was especially nice with an easy smile and lovely Irish lilt to her voice. For a bar, or restaurant for that matter, Moher's has a high ratio of staff to customers and service, both table and bar, is very efficient.

Moher's seems family friendly, there were a few tables of youngish parents with small children, including two of the cutest twins I've seen in ages. It's a nice addition to the neighborhood.

Enjoy,
Gary

I hit Moher for the second time in two weeks yesterday. I went with my parents and the wife and kids for the Father's day dads eat and drink half-price special. For the second time I had the bangers and mash--sausages with colcannon. Quite good, although the bangers tasted more English than Irish to my taste. My parents had the fish and chips, and ate every scrap, and my wife had the burger with mushrooms and Kerrygold swiss. The burger was requested medium-rare, and it came medium-rare--a small triumph as it seems increasingly difficult to convince a kitchen that you really mean medium-rare when you order it.

Moher is also quite kid-friendly--my oldest had the mac and cheese (again for the second time) and enjoyed it. They were also happy to give him a special plastic cup with a straw, and a little bowl of ice cream for dessert.

They also serve a nice pint of Guinness, and my wife's shandy was mixed in the proper proportions. All in all (as several other posters have noted) Moher is a nice addition to the neighborhood--the staff is nice, the food is good, and the drinks are reasonable and served properly. It looks like they are doing a nice business, and I hope they will continue to do so.

I can't believe this place has been open 6 years already.

We went yesterday for a last hurrah before returning to work. It was hit and miss.

The joint is very nice, but it was chilly and the service was slow. It took forever to even get our drink order in and then receive said drinks.
I had the Galway Bay mussels for an appetizer/partial meal, and I think they thought we were sharing because they didn't bring anything for Mr. Pie to tide him over. We were waiting and waiting and when I finally asked about the entrees, and our waitress asked if we were ready. I felt terribly guilty. But the dish was incredible.

I had the cobb salad and Mr. Pie had the burger special. He said the burger was a little bland, but very juicy and thus pretty good. The fries, with a side of curry gravy, were delicious. My salad was an unfortunate mess; everything was tossed together in some pale chopped iceberg, I asked for the blue cheese dressing on the side and didn't get any, and there was none tossed in the salad. There was a very mushy, anemic blandness about the entire thing.

I would like to return for the Guinness beef stew and those mussels again. It's a shame they're not open for lunch during the week except for Fridays.

(Mods, if this post isn't appropriate, please remove it; I won't mind, I promise!)

And for those of you who like a little live music while dining at Moher's, may I give a shout-out to the Celtic band 007 plays percussion in? The group will be performing at Moher's this Saturday night, Jan. 7, starting 9ish. They perform there about once a month.

http://www.mulliganstewchicago.com/site/