The Florida Foodie
The Bull McCabe’s Irish Pub & Tap Room
By Saucy Sarah
There is a new Irish pub in Wellington! It’s definitely worth checking out and you might find, as we did, that you’ll want to stay awhile. Located in the original Wellington Mall, the Bull McCabe’s Irish Pub & Tap Room offers an impressive craft beer list and some very authentic and unique Irish menu items. The restaurant is cozy and inviting with a large and friendly outside patio area. When you add in the gracious wait staff, you can easily spend several hours here without hesitation. My party and I ended up staying for three hours the night we went to investigate. We felt right at home from the moment we arrived until almost the entire staff bade us farewell.
Our first stop was the multi-page craft beer menu featuring something for everyone’s taste. This restaurant is a prime place to stop and tour some great local artisan beers. I discovered the “Monk in the Trunk” brewed by local Due South Brewery, which is now in my top five favorite beers. Also, their Due South Carmel is spectacular on a cool night.
The highlight of our meal at Bull McCabe’s was their Celtic Rock cooking experience. A thick, hot slab of volcanic rock, heated to 800 degrees in a special oven, arrives at your table with the meat you have chosen from the menu. Then, you proceed to cut up and cook each slice of chicken or scallop, or a tender filet of beef on the hot rock. Three dipping sauces come side-car for you to try. You also get creamy mashed potatoes and a choice of Celtic corn or Brussels sprouts. Our table tried the large sea scallop appetizer ($13.00), the 8oz Filet ($28.95), and the flat iron steak ($23.95) to cook on the rock. Bull McCabe’s uses only locally sources beef from the Seminole tribe, which raises naturally grass-fed, hormone-free, choice and prime beef. I am a sucker for proprietors who choose to highlight local and sustainable products. The beef was tender and juicy with deep beefy flavors. The massive sea scallops were sweet and succulent. It was a carnivore’s fantasy. Though none of the entrees needed dipping sauces, I did try them all and found each one to be a nice compliment to the tidbits of rock-cooked beef or scallop. If you want to try out this unique and fun cooking method, please be sure to call ahead and make a reservation to ensure they don’t run out before you get there!
Some other noteworthy selections: the fish and chips ($15.50) arrives to the table looking like a meal made for three. The piece of fish was as long as my arm and was framed by mahogany wedges of deep-fried potatoes. Another impressive entrée was the Shepherd’s Pie ($13.95). Baked in individual casserole dishes, the Shepherd’s pie is enough to feed two or three people. It was piping hot and well-seasoned, something that this dish seems to lack at most restaurants.
Stuffed to the gills, we could only share one dessert between the six of us. The sweets are all made on site—a big plus in my book—and change daily. That night we had the fresh banana pie. I was happy the pie was not too sweet and tasted like fresh bananas. It was just the right thing to end the night with.
So plan a fun night out with friends and cook over a molten-hot, volcanic rock while knocking back a few excellent local brews. There is also some great authentic live Irish music, the “Fire in the Kitchen” band on Friday and Saturday nights. See this month’s “Cultural Corner” for more information about this accomplished band.
I am sure that The Bull McCabe’s will become a regular hangout spot in your repertoire after just one visit. My dinner guests were already planning to bring new friends back with them on another night. I know I can’t wait to go back again too!
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In her previous life, Sarah, a Palm Beach County Native, spent ten years working in various high-end eating establishments around South Florida. She is currently a fiction thesis candidate in the MFA program at Florida International University where she also teaches creative writing and rhetoric. If that is not enough, Sarah is also the owner of Cakes by Sarah, a local custom cake shop. Sarah lives in Lake Worth with her husband and two beautiful boys. “Food, fiction, and family are my life.”
The Bull McCabe’s Irish Pub & Tap Room
12794 West Forest Hill Blvd.
Wellington, FL 33414
(561) 557-1190
Open 7 Days a Week/ 4pm to 2am