Ri Ra Irish Pub

Critic's Review

Staying at the Mandalay, we were looking for a casual, not too expensive restaurant and Ri Ra came up on the radar. It turned out to be a big mistake.

The place was pretty dead at 7pm. We were seated at a high top next to the stage. No biggie, there wouldn''t be a band during dinner hour, right? Wrong.

When in an Irish Pub, I order Guinness. It's just the way it is.

This was perfect. Cold. Just enough head. The way Guinness has to be.

The "band", which was 2 redneck dudes with instruments and amplifiers, started before our food arrived. And they were BAD. Really bad, and really loud. What a disaster.

I ordered bangers and mash, a traditional irish dish while my companion ordered a spicy chicken special. The bangers and mash was wholly pedestrian, with very mild sausages and a gravy that didn't measure up to what it should be in this dish. This dish should have a rich onion gray. Carrots and peas don't belong.

The "spicy chicken" was a breaded cutlet marinated in tabasco. It got a big thumbs down but was devoured before I could get a photo. We'd had a long and arduous travel day today.

The music continued throughout the meal, ruining the evening in it's entirety.

Conclusion

Combine bad food with ridiculously loud music that starts at the heart of the dinner hour and you have a restaurant you want to avoid for dinner. There's nothing else to say about it.