I had a great lunch at Trinity Hall Irish Pub in Mockingbird Station last Sunday before seeing "Precious" at the Angelika. The movie, by the way, blew me away, but I am glad I ate first. As usual, my meal was communal, shared with my brother and sister-in-law, so I got to try the fish n’ chips — quintessential greatness that my thin sister-in-law swears she could eat every day if it weren’t for the dish’s enormous calorie count. To balance that off, we also shared a turkey/ham wrap, which was fresh, plump and filling — which is about all you can really ask for in a club wrap — and a goat cheese salad (mmmm goat cheese anything is divine). My brother had the Bangers and Mash, and now that I think about it, he didn’t share much, so I’m quite certain that it was top-notch too.
Trinity has what is possibly the best beer selection around — my bro ordered a black and tan, which was delivered with very little of the tan — he said something to the server about it. She offered him an explanation that I couldn’t make out, but she didn’t offer to replace it or fix it. He sat there looking kind-a sad for a few minutes, but soon recovered. She also didn’t refill the water or the tea at the table often or with much enthusiasm — this is only time I’ve been to Trinity when the service was so uninspired. I’m chalking it up to being early. They had just opened and we were one of the first tables. In fact, we were one of two tables there during our meal. She probably just needed to get warmed up.
Early in the day, the atmosphere was far from what you will find there on Trivia Night or during a soccer or rugby game (they are broadcasting 2010 African Cup soccer games this weekend, as well as the Cowboys game on Sunday). My brother, explaining why he loves the place, talked about the first time he and his wife walked in: “It was raining outside and we ducked in here — a soccer match was on TV and people were drinking beer and going nuts,” he said, “and it just felt like we had stepped into another world.” And, to punctuate his affection for the place, he shared this using his best Irish brogue.
