Brooklyn’s 7 Most Delicious Irish Dishes
As opposed to, say, Italian or Mexican or Chinese, few of us think to add Irish fare to our regular dining rotation. But considering some of the major cornerstones of the cuisine are sausages, fried potatoes and crocks of slow-braised meat, simmered in Guinness-spiked gravy or sauced in melted cheese or both, why the heck are we limiting our consumption to St. Patrick’s Day alone? Here are just a few Brooklyn dishes bound to make you rethink that restrictive ritual, from Rocky Sullivan’s bangers and mash, to Black Horse Pub’s meat on a roll.
Black Horse Pub: Shepherds Pie
This South Slope saloon is a favorite for footie—that’s soccer to you—which means they have plenty of British drafts and greasy pub grub to keep expatriates appeased, such as curry chips, beans on toast, mashed potato-crowned shepherds pie, and meat on a roll—quite literally a butter-slathered roll, filled with Irish bangers or bacon. Erin go Bragh indeed!
568 5th Avenue, Park Slope
Mill Basin Deli: Corned Beef and Cabbage
This old-school Jewish deli adds (non-stuffed) cabbage to its repertoire right around St. Patrick’s Day, but you can certainly enjoy the house-brined corned beef year round—either solo with mustard and sauerkraut, or folded into epically proportioned sandwiches such as the “Super Human” alongside pastrami, turkey, salami, bologna, coleslaw and sweet peppers.
5823 Avenue T, Mill Basin
Rocky Sullivan’s: Bangers and Mash
Rocky Sullivan’s is a beloved Red Hook mainstay for all things Irish, from music, lectures and film to (naturally) food and drink. So while we adore the pub even more for its “Think Global Eat Local” menu on Fridays—featuring items from their neighbors at Added Value, Sixpoint, and Red Hook Lobster Pound—it’s hard to look past the trio of fantastically-priced Old Favorites: rib-sticking beef and Guinness stew, sturdy shepherds pie, and snappy bangers (sausages) and mash (potatoes), augmented with a pool of saucy baked beans.
34 Van Dyke Street, Red Hook
OddFellows: Guinness Ice Cream
Granted, Guinness-infused ice cream is considerably less strange than other archival OddFellows flavors, such as caramelized onion, tobacco-smoked chili, and chorizo-caramel swirl. But we admire the scoop shop’s restraint when it comes to this tangy, malty treat, which perfectly showcases the creamy stout against rich Battenkill Valley milk.
175 Kent Avenue, Williamsburg
Leske’s: Soda Bread
While this Bay Ridge bakery is largely Scandinavian, it also defers to the neighborhood’s sizable Irish community. Meaning that Leske’s excels at making blessedly sweet and reliably moist soda bread—which, if you’ve ever choked down a dusty, musty loaf, you’ll know is no small feat. And be sure to pick up a bakers dozen of the bonkers Bailey’s Irish Cream donuts as well, available every weekend throughout March.
7612 5th Avenue, Bay Ridge
Ovenly: Black Caraway Shortbread
Essentially butter, barely held together with flour and sugar, shortbread just might be the world’s greatest cookie. And at Ovenly, owners Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin have managed to make an already incredible thing all the better, by adding dark chocolate, smoked sea salt, and peppery needles of caraway (also commonly used to flavor soda bread).
31 Greenpoint Avenue, Greenpoint
Dram Shop: Irish Nachos
So admittedly, “Irish” nachos—featuring hand-cut fries topped with cheese, bacon, sour cream and green onions, with pickled jalapeno salsa verde on the side—are a tad less traditional than corned beef and cabbage. But we’re sure they’d be a welcome menu addition at any one of the pubs dotting Ireland, from Derry to Donegal to Dublin.
339 9th Street, Park Slope
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