Mannion's Irish Pub

(908) 203-0700

150 W Main St
Somerville, NJ 08876

We decided to go out (again) for dinner. Cooking has been, um, not happening so much around here. BAJ said he was sort of in the mood for "fried stuff with cheese" (that's a Friends reference for those not paying attention) and really wanted Broccoli Bites (that's an appetizer from the now defunct Bennigans). He also seemed to be interested in going to Somerville, and asked where in Somerville would be ok for our 2 year old. So, to urban spoon I turned and came across Mannion's. I checked the menu and they had food that looked good, appetizers that were fried and had cheese, and seemed to be kid friendly.

We got there around 6, and he was surprised that it was DEAD EMPTY. I told him that it was Saturday and normal people (that would be both those who are not teachers AND those who are not parents) usually go out to dinner later than that. As a result of their being so empty, we had great service and our food came out very quickly. I very much liked that our server asked if she should bring out The Boy's food when it was ready or with ours, although I also know this is due to the server rather than the establishment.

No appetizers, unless you count a round of Harp. $5 for a pint seems a little on the high side to me, but there are few places in which I've found Harp on tap.

Our meals came with a salad, and it was a good one--romaine lettuce (instead of iceberg), black olives, carrots, grape tomatoes, and cucumbers. I do like a good salad.

I got the Irish stew, and was very pleased. It was so good, and the meat was REALLY tender. Yum; I took what was left home. BAJ got Shrimp Wellington, which was a little bit disappointing... he said it was "fine," and I thought it tasted really fishy.

In short, they are a pretty reasonably priced restaurant (although NJ Monthly's website rated them as inexpensive... I suppose that's true if you stick to the sandwiches, but not for dinner...