During the pandemic last summer, we heard through the local paper that a new restaurant was coming to downtown Fort Worth…the Trinity College Irish Pub! When the website went up, I immediately salivated over the menu, because it had all my tried and true favorite British foods that I grew up with at home. I’m originally from England, and so was my mom, so she made a lot of British foods when I lived at home. We had a nice little British restaurant in Virginia for a while, but I haven’t found one close by in the nearly 4 years we’ve lived in Texas. At least a couple times of year, I scour Google to see if any new British spots have opened up. The only one I’d been to up to this point was The Londoner, but it’s all the way out in Colleyville, which is quite a distance from home and not someplace I’d stop unless I was already out that far from home (which isn’t often).
Because of the pandemic, though, we hadn’t actually tried the new pub yet since it opened…until now! We missed our date night this week, so we decided to go to the antique mall to look around and peek in the record shop inside. No luck there, so we went on to the actual Doc’s Records and Vintage store downtown. I only came out with one 78 rpm treasure for my Victrola (Bing Crosby), so I decided to surprise Steve by stopping at the nearby Steel City Pops to grab a refreshing gourmet popsicle to enjoy on our hot ride home. It’s located in a busy foot traffic yuppy district, so we had to park and walk several blocks to get to it. Sadly, we finally arrived, only to find that they were closed today, despite having posted hours! Big disappointment. But on the way, we passed that new Irish pub! I wasn’t sure exactly where it was located until we literally walked right by it. Since Steel City Pops hadn’t worked out and we’d walked so far to get to it, we decided to go on in and enjoy a late lunch/early dinner!
We sat right by the door away from everyone else, and the door was open to the sidewalk, providing a steady breeze and good ventilation, which made us more comfortable about dining out (we haven’t really done that since the pandemic started). We ordered a platter of fish and chips (cod…yum!), an appetizer of Scottish eggs, and bread pudding for dessert. The fish was enormous! Like a fillet of the whole fish…so thick and moist that I’d actually describe it as juicy, with a perfect, crispy batter that wasn’t greasy at all. It was so huge that we cut it in half and still felt like we each had a large portion. It had fries and a little cup and super fresh coleslaw, as well. So very good! And there was a big bottle of malt vinegar right on the table…perfect!
Photo Credit to Trinity College Irish Pub website
The Scottish eggs were wonderful…soft-boiled wrapped in yummy sausage and breading on a bed of like a country gravy. I asked if they had Coleman’s mustard, which is how I’m used to enjoying Scottish eggs, but they didn’t. Next time, I’ll skip the gravy and take my own little container of hot Coleman’s mustard for dipping! The gravy was good, though…tasted like it had capers in it. It had little dabs of a spicy jalapeno sauce around the edge of the plate to spice it up. It was all very good.
Photo Credit to Trinity College Irish Pub website
Last, we got the generous portion of bread pudding, which was clearly made fresh in the restaurant. It was a giant square piece with a lovely crust, freshly baked and sitting in a pool of custard and drizzled with caramel sauce. The aroma of it filled my sense of smell as soon as the server set it on the table! The cinnamon, the raisins…all of it just right. The custard was wonderful. It’s the first restaurant I’ve ever found that served bread pudding properly. It was baked well and evenly, not wet or soggy, and all the flavors came through the consistent texture. It was just wonderful! It was more than enough to share. Steve said it was so filling that he had to give it up, and I gladly polished off every bite! Such a treat. All I needed was a cup of hot tea. It wasn’t on the menu, but I asked the server for next time, and she said they do indeed have hot tea. *Perfect!* And I love a good, strong Irish breakfast tea…it’s even stronger than a strong British blend black tea.
There were so many wonderful dishes on the menu to choose from…shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash, turkey Reuben, corned beef and cabbage…I’m sure it’s all just as good as this was! I can’t wait to try it all! The whole experience was beyond my expectations, and we officially have a new favorite date night restaurant! I”m tickled pink! Obviously, I highly recommend it for any locals.
Sadly, we ate everything so fast that I didn’t get a single photo of the food or of us enjoying our afternoon together! But rest assured, you won’t be disappointed in the menu, and we’ll show you our happy faces another time.
