This edition of Excited about Eating takes us to the Plaza-Midwood area of Charlotte and to The Workman’s Friend, an Irish pub offering a variety of pub fare with a Southern influence.
Dora here. Plaza Midwood came through for us again! Originally, we'd picked out a restaurant in downtown Charlotte, but Panther fans snagged all the on-street parking. Plaza Midwood is a fabulous alternative to eating in downtown proper, and I appreciated the ample parking in the back of The Workman's Friend. :)
For an appetizer, we chose the Bag of Chips, hand cut fries with salt and malt vinegar aioli. Not chips in the American sense, nor the typical thick and potato-y pub chips. They were almost a blend of the two, crispy on the outside and firm on the inside. I ate mine with extra malt vinegar. Perfect!
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| Bag of Chips |
Dora here. You should have seen Ernie's face when the server set the chips down on the table. I knew he expected homemade American chips. lol.
The Irish Breakfast was the brunch special of the day. Eggs, a Banger (sausage), Black and White Pudding (also sausage), Irish Bacon, Baked Beans, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, and sourdough toast. Black pudding is sausage made from blood, meat, fat, oatmeal, and bread or potato fillers. White pudding (the same minus the blood), and Irish bacon is from the back of the pig instead of the belly and is like ham. The highlights of this great dish were the three different types of sausage and the sourdough bread.
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| Irish Breakfast - a Brunch Special |
Dora here. I'm a big fan of Irish pubs. Well, pubs of all kinds, actually. I'd heard about Black and White pudding but never tried it until now. (See those two round patties next to the baked beans. And how did they ever come up with that name??). Considering the ingredients and the name, I was surprised at how tasty they were.
The Sausage Roll, a blend of ground sausage and mustard and sour cream inside a puff pastry, fit my mood. Something light, not too heavy, and I enjoyed the mild sausage flavor.
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| Sausage Roll ~ An appetizer |
We rate this restaurant 4 forks out of 5 for a family friendly restaurant serving great food.
What about you? Do you enjoy pubs? What's your favorite pub food?
Labels: Charlotte, Ernie Hiers, Excited about Eating, foodie, Irish pub, North Carolina, pub, restaurant, review, The Workman's Friend, TripAdvisor, Yelp, Zomato
