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| - This pub's owners certainly had some cojones opening shop just down the road from Mill Avenue mainstay Rula Bula -- and it likely won't be long before they're packing up the Jameson barrels and Irish charm and locking the door for the final time, because Robbie Fox's doesn't hold a candle to its nearby competition. It's never a good sign when a restaurant advertises its daily special as swordfish on the sign out front, but the waitress tells you the special is catfish. That's a clear sign of a dining establishment that doesn't have its act together.
First, the good: A strong variety of Irish whiskeys, Scotch whiskeys and Irish/UK beers. Jameson is sold for a very reasonable $5 a glass (and a ridiculously good $2 during happy hour) and the bar portion of the restaurant seems like a great hangout. The restaurant's proximity to Churchill's Cigars and a spacious patio makes for a nice way to relaxing with a Scotch in one hand and a cigar in the other.
However, there is much more (or less, I suppose) to this place than just the bar. The ambiance is nice, though done much better at other local pubs, including Lis Doon Varna in Peoria.
The food, however, is quite disappointing. While I initially gave the proprietors credit for correctly calling one of their menu items "cottage pie," as it was made of ground beef (and shepherd's pie requires ground lamb), upon tasting the dish, it should have its name changed to "exceptionally bland gravy with undercooked veggies and flavorless ground beef, covered in confusingly bland whipped potatoes." Yikes. I have no idea how such a rustic, simple, savory dish can turn out so nearly inedible because of a lack of flavor.
All of the food was not bad. The fish and chips were quite good -- the fish was perfectly fried, seasoned properly and delicious, though I do wish it had been a traditional piece of batter-fried fish, not an entire fish filet. The shape and size of the filet required a knife and fork to eat, which unfortunately means you can't easily dunk the fish into the divinely snappy tartar sauce.
But just when you think they are doing something right, Robbie Fox's once again returns to mediocrity (at best). The mushy peas? They could be tasty, if they were even slightly salted. Outside of chips at a Mexican food restaurant, I shouldn't have to salt my food. The same goes for the shoestring fries that accompanied the fish.
The final straw for me was the service. We dined at about 5:30 on a Saturday. The restaurant was not busy, and there were at least three servers taking care of the dining area, but we rarely saw our waitress.
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