The Irish Times

A good friend of mine recently celebrated her birthday, so a small gaggle of us went out to eat at The Irish Times (http://www.irishtimesknoxville.com/) for dinner last night. I really enjoyed it! The atmosphere was great, and it almost made me want to order a Guiness. Almost.
My friends ordered an appetizer for us to share: Baked Brie. It was really good. Who wouldn't like cheese baked in a puff pastry and served with strawberries and crackers? For my meal, I ordered an appetizer. It was Irish sausages baked in a flaky roll (think pigs in a blanket), served with spicy mustard. I was hesistant to order this because I often find that some dishes have 'too much meat.' That was sort of the case with this. I like a little bit of sausage, but I don't like huge pieces of sausage like kielbasa and the like. Actually, I am great with chicken breast, hamburgers, and steaks, but have a really difficult time with mixed meats: bologna, sausage, hot dogs.... But my hubby would not let me order nachos at an Irish pub, so I decided to order the wrapped sausages. They were good, but alas, it was too much mixed meat for me. Hubby helped me eat them, though (2 sausages), and in exchange I got to help him eat his entree: pasta with chicken. Now, it was silly that he wouldn't let me order Nachos ("Not authentic!") while he was allowed to get pasta, but whatever. It was really good! The chicken was heavily seasoned and a little on the spicy side. Served over penne pasta in a cream sauce with pine nuts. It was good. We shared our meals and even had some leftover (dinner tonight!).
I would definitely go back to the Irish Times, but next time I would order something different. They have some sandwiches that look good, and some good lunch items, so next time I'd like to try lunch there. I recommend it. Oh, and our total before tip was ~$29. That was one full priced entree ($13ish), one appetizer ($8ish), and 2 sodas ($2.50 each). So take that for what it's worth.

Next up I hope to try Sullivan's. The Birthday Girl from last night told me that Sullivan's (located where the Italian Market and Grille used to be) has a blue plate special on Tuesday nights. There are a few choices for your blue plate-- a meat and 2 sides, and the blue plates are BOGO free Tuesday! She said they are in the $12-13 range, so that works out to a pretty good deal. I think when she was there this week that the blue plate choices were pot roast, meatloaf, chicken fingers, and catfish. So if/when I make it to Sullivan's I'll be sure to post about it! :)