Stove

Decent food and service, nothing above average but nothing bad either.  On a recent Saturday night it was busy and very loud.  The place is simple, painted white walls, not much going on.  They do have Guinness and Blue Moon on tap which is good.  Although specials are often the freshest and recommended items on a menu, i'd pass from this place.  Both specials we had were tasty, but they were very expensive, especially for the informal style of the restaurant and when compared to the other items on the menu.  Its a few blocks north of the busy Steinway area, and it has a feel of a real local place, with a few large tables of friends and family. 

The french onion soup was decent, not memorable at all.  They did not serve us bread although I noticed on the way out every other table had a bread basket.  For main courses the Shepherds pie was again decent, but not nearly as good as you can get at Cronin and Phelan.  Great value at $11, it a typical huge portion, however it came out a few minutes after the other entrees and was not quite broiled enough on the top.  One of the specials, Chicken in Whiskey Cream, was under-seasoned and a terrible value at $19, served with boiled vegetables and good mashed potatoes.  I had the fish special, sea bass with olive and sun dried tomatoes and a cream sauce.  The best dish of the night for sure.  The sea bass may have been a touch overcooked, but the sauce and veg topping were very tasty, good dish.  I would not have ordered it if I knew it was $24, more than double most of the items on the regular dinner entree menu. 

Service was ok, she was a touch cold, we waited a bit long for the good and it did not come out at the same time.  Value was mixed, some items well priced (soup, Shepherds Pie) but the specials being way over priced.  I'll give this place one more shot.