A Late Lunch: Annie Bailey's

1:07:00 PM

What with the recent closure of my favorite restaurant and hangout, Joe's Famous Burgers, I was forced to revisit some of my old favorites. Annie Bailey's is one of them. AB's is an Irish Pub/Restaurant that has a special place in my heart for being so great at comfort food. I first fell in love with this place when I ordered their chicken pot pie while sitting on their outdoor bar/terrace on a hot summer's day. Not your ideal combination, but it was so good I didn't even care.

A friend asked to get a late lunch to catch up before he left town for an internship in Chicago. Since I actually had some money for once -collegetroubles- I got to name the place. Annie Bailey's holds tidbits of nostalgia. It was always a little out of my price range in high school but I loved the rustic feel of the place and ever since the chicken pot pie love story it always held a special place in my heart.

Unfortunately, the chicken pot pie is only on the dinner menu and rather than cause the trouble of asking for it, I decided to try something else... Shepherds Pie! Yeah, I know, it's not that different but it was my first time having lamb and it was basically a combination of all of my favorite things, a pot pie and mashed potatoes! Ah, it was lovely. My first bite was like being wrapped in a fluffy blanket next to the fireplace with hot soup and a cold beer? I think they put some sort of stout or ale in the filling.

Will went for the house burger, it got the good-food nod. I stole some fries and was pretty impressed. They tasted like someone actually took a potato, cut it up, and fried it to perfection. Two thumbs up.

Uh, as you can see from the pictures, I dug into the shepherd's pie before I remembered to take the pictures. It's okay though it was worth it.

After shamelessly talking around our food about college life, swing dancing, and the injustice of guys not being allowed to drink fruity cocktails. We decided to try a dessert even though we were both stuffed, he chose the Warm Apple Crumble. We were discussing the merits of it coming with ice cream, something I think is a bare necessity for crumble but it got bonus points for coming with whipped cream as well! They sure know the way to a girl's heart...

In the end, I feel like Annie Bailey's is a place where you inevitably end up sitting back in contentment (as long as you don't order the Bangers and Mash, it's significantly less satisfying than everything else on the menu). But I love a place that can let me enjoy the environment as much as the food. The outdoor terrace is beautiful but it was a windy day, so we opted for indoor seating which is filled with warm lighting, slightly mismatched chairs, and worn floorboards. My kind of place.