Review
A better combination of food, drink and surroundings you are unlikely to find. The Quiet Man in Dover is my new favorite Irish pub.
Roast Beef Sandwich
Distinctively-decorated on the outside, the squat building at the corner of East McFarlan and Hudson has no visible windows. You might hesitate before entering. Don’t. Inside, a warm, wood-paneled bar and dining room await. The walls of the “Maureen O’Hara Room” are covered with pen and ink portraits of writers and artists. The narrow bar, with a snug line of booths, features movie memorabilia from the 1952 John Wayne film, “The Quiet Man,” about a retired American boxer returning to the Irish village where he was born. (The film won John Ford a Best Director Oscar.) After eating here, I’m tempted to watch it.
The eclectic menu doesn’t have many Irish standards beyond ‘Dublin Style’ Fish and Chips, Authentic Irish Bangers and the Irish Soda Bread on your table, but the kitchen clearly takes its food seriously. Everything we tasted would hold up well against most gastropub fare. The Potato Pancakes with applesauce and sour cream disappeared quickly – just the right crispy on the outside, cooked through on the inside, for a fritter. The Porchetta Sandwich special – roasted pork shoulder, broccoli rabe and hot cherry peppers – is worth a visit all by itself. Roast beef with caramelized onions is another lunch menu winner. Our son declared the Shrimp Bisque the best he’s had. I look forward to sampling the Roast Lamb, Sausage and White Beans Soup, the Baked Brie, and the Pan-Seared Duck Breast and on another visit.
The “QM” beer list is straightforward, with Guinness, Harp and Smithwick’s on tap, Woodpecker cider, and Lagunitas and Pilsner Urquell among the bottles. The cozy bar looks like a nice perch to try the “second to none” Irish coffee that The Quiet Man has been serving for 31 years.
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