Wilde Rover Irish Pub & Restaurant
Kirkland, WA 98033
Phone: (425) 822-8940
12/04/2007 Posted by cpt_coyote
I've been there twice. I know restaurants have their second string cooks on these days, so my expectation were moderated. My first visit was a Monday night, and I had the lamb stew. What I got was a huge bowl filled mostly with gravy, that had obviously been sitting in the window for some time, judging from the film that had formed on the surface. It tasted ok, but I would guess it was left over from thursday or friday and it had been reheated a few times. The meat and vegies were broken up into shreds, and were hard to eat without getting big spoons full of the gravy. Late that night I suffered a bit of GI "inflation". Nothing too serious, but something set me off. On the second trip, I had my heart set on the ruben, which is made with what they claim is house made (or is it house "carved"?) corned beef. The moment I walked in the door at 8:00, a surly looking fellow, with no distinguishing markings on this clothing, came up to me and demanded $5 with no explanation. I looked at him and asked him who the hell he was, and why I should give him money. He said it was a cover charge, but there was no band to be seen. In fact, the Sunday night football game was playing on a big projector screen. "We always charge cover from 8 on Sundays". So I gave him his money and sat down in a mostly empty pub. After having a decent but unremarkable ruben, I was ready to leave at 8:45. Still no band, so I found the surly fellow and demanded my $5 back. He acted like no one had ever dared do such a thing. When he refused, dispite my pointing out that there was still no band for which they could justify charging a cover, I insisted on seeing the manager (this was simply a matter of principle at this point). So he goes off to get the manager, but the manager won't talk to me. Instead, he has the surly fellow give me back my "cover" charge, which he does with obvious hostility. The food might be good on peak nights. But I won't go back.
Pros: Nice decor
Cons: mediocre food, neglectful service, bogus cover charges
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