I'm reading through some of these reviews and people point out two major flaws of this restaurant: bad service and mediocre food. I'm my opinion that makes a restaurant 2 stars maximum. How can a restaurant still be considered good with crappy service and food? That is exactly why I give this place 2 stars.
I'm new to the Avenue/Dupont area and I thought this might be a nice pub to try. When you enter the place it has traditional Irish decor; church-pew-type-wood furnishings, stain glass windows, and Guinness beer accents throughout. I helped myself to a seat as no staff were in sight. I waited 10 minutes or so for service but grew tired and stole a menu from the bar, at which point the bartender must have alerted the waitress. The restaurant is fairly small, so for no one to hear a customer come in must mean no one is really paying attention.
I ordered a favorite traditional dish, Shepherd's pie. When the dish arrived it had no appeal whatsoever. It was literally a liter of gravy drowning anything within the dish. I couldn't manage to get to the pie without having it slathered in a sea of salty, murky brown gravy. Traditionally the gravy is supposed to be blended with the meat and veg, then covered in potatoes. However this restaurant thought gravy was the main attraction.
I was sold on Avenue and Dupont having amazing restaurants, but this first time experience was nothing to be desired.