Okay, so, here's the thing. For dinner, they are a subtle 4 stars. As a bar, they are great. I'd even go as high as 5 stars, maybe even 5+. Lots of room, lots of good atmosphere and patrons, and even some live music sometimes. Good beer selection, great mixed and blended drinks. My wife highly recommends the Snickers drink. I don't know if they do trivia here, but I'd happily do trivia here.
But, as a restaurant, a very subtle 4. Other places just wallop you with good food and good service but fall just a tiny bit shy in one department for a clear 4 star experience. This place is more like 3 Stars averaged with 5 Stars to get you to an, "Oh, I guess 4 Stars does seem about right."
My family recently went here and ordered drinks, and appetizers, and soups, and salads, and meals, and desserts. In short, we got the better part of the menu.
First, they put us on the restaurant side, which was dead, dead, dead. For most of our time, we were the only table there, which is a shame, because the food and the waitstaff do not deserve those low patronage numbers. I think it's just that it's, "The Rose," that place that everyone's parents frequented. Who wants to go there? Well, you do, and let me tell you why.
They are that restaurant that services the fussy plain eaters and the fussy fancy eaters in your family, and they generally do it well. Further, the chef is clearly brave and tries things outside her safe zones, which is exciting. And she does a decent job of it, at the least. In short, when you don't want to cook, have some disposable income, want something better than a 3 star chain restaurant that thinks fry batter is a seasoning, and you hope for a little surprise in your options, then the Rose is your Emerald in the rough.
The breakdown:
We ordered the following non-drink items (as the fact that the drinks are a 5 is noted above):
Appetizers:
Nachos: Multicolored typical restaurant pub chips. Fresh jalapenos. Sufficiently cheesy. Good guac. Nothing amazing. Solid 3.
Mussels: My 6yo loves mussels. Ordered them as his dinner. He had trouble with these as they were a little heavy handed with the salt. 2.5
Buffalo Tenders: Good. Not huge number, but nicely cooked. Good Buffalo sauce. Good blue cheese. The only fault here was that the celery was clearly cut hours earlier and kept in water to keep it turgid, which makes the celery curl as it overswells. The rest was quite tasty. 3.5
Soft Pretzel Twists and Pub Cheese: 5+. These were flat out awesome. I try to stay pretty low carb, but I couldn't help but halve some of this. The soft pretzel twists were amazing, and then they were served with a cup of soft like pudding pub cheese that was just right up there. The gold standard as a kid was the Kraft Old English pub cheese, and this cheese made cheese that look like a pauper out on the street. 5+. A rockstar app.
Oysters: My wife loves oysters and said these are some of the best she's had in recent memory. Happy wife, happy life. 5+.
Soup:
Sweet Potato Bisque: This was the soup of the day, and I like places that have a du jour option. However, if this were Chopped, this would get knocked by the judges for deceptive labeling. This was thick, like you could probably flip a spoonful of the stuff and it would stay on your spoon in a slow plop down. So, let's get serious, this was a delightfully savory sweet potato mash, and they should change the name and get this creamy, gently salty, subtly sweet mash a place on the permanent menu. 5
Salads:
Emerald Rose Salad: It comes with a balsamic, but my 13yo diva thought balsamic was overplayed, so she had me order it with the zinfandel dressing. The waitress happily obliged. I had some, it was nice. Fresh greens, good flourishes. Solid 3.75.
Greens Salad: I had this with sides and soup for my dinner. It was a fresh salad, a good ranch. Solid 3.
Poached Pear and Arugula Salad: This was a miss. The pears were hard, the arugula was very bitter, my wife said. 2.
Meals:
Burger and Fries: My 14yo ordered this. Egg-brushed bun, sizable patty, fresh lettuce and tomato, a big slab of pickle spear, and some very good steak cut fries. Not going out of the scope of a bland standard and still executing well is kind of a high art. The chef pushed to the edges of the box. 5.
Shepherd's Pie: The mashed potato was extruded through a pastry cone and then baked, giving a nice finish. Angus beef, not lamb, so I think that technically makes it a Cottage Pie, but who cares? The gravy was nice. The vegetables good. It's an Irish pub, the Shepherd's Pie better be good, right? 4.5
Sides:
Grilled Asparagus: Good, only a few. 3.5
Sauteed Spinach: Needs better plating and more respect. 3
Desserts:
Key Lime Cheesecake with Oreo Crust: Cheesecake of the Day too! Fresh, great. 5+
Chocolate Turtle Ice Cream: Another du jour! But maybe a bit burnt caramel? 3
Apple Crisp: Warm fresh over ice cold vanilla. 5+ read more