Molly's Shebeen

Driven away by the 45+ minute lineup at Shake Shack we strolled a few blocks away to our backup: Molly's Shebeen. Molly's makes the believable claim that it's the most traditional Irish bar in New York. The selection of beer, although limited, is certainly very Irish and very delicious.

It's a dark, cavernous bar, you need to go down a few steps to enter. The few lights there are are orange. The floor is covered sawdust. This is strange. Regulars perch on the bar swilling back pints of Kilkenny's, Guinness, Harp and Smithwick's.

The service was very prompt, and the food delivered quickly. The burger was quite large, I suspect bigger than the 10 oz. they describe on the menu. It took a few bites to overcome my fears of an overcooked burger, but it was quite juicy and pink in the center (although hard to tell through what little orange lighting there was). The burger did have quite a well-done crust though, a bit peculiar, but it did lock in the beefiness, the juices and the flavor. The burger did not stay together well, an attribute that gets more and more important with each burger I attempt to stuff in my gullet. It was a surprisingly beefy tasting burger, not overwhelmed by the cheese, onions, lettuce (lettuce can't overwhelm very well, maybe only air?), tomato, and the obligatory ketchup and mustard. The bun was not memorable, the fries decent and plentiful. Overall this was a tasty burger, certainly better than average, but nothing special.

One of my fellow adventurers was horribly ill the next day. I felt great. It was a large burger and a lot of food, with a few pints I felt quite full and not quite right for a little while after, but experienced nothing resembeling food poisoning. My burger was also medium rare, because I like meat, not medium well like his because he's an idiot.

It's a good bar with decent, but not great food. The Waterfront Alehouse is only a few blocks away.