Muldoon’s Offers the Pluck of the Irish

On St. Patrick’s Day last year, about 1,000 people lined up around the block, many of them waiting more than an hour to eat and drink at Muldoon’s Irish Pub & Restaurant. This year, the holiday falls on a Sunday, and the establishment’s owners, Ron and Sindi Schwartz, are planning four days of Irish specialties “so people who just want the food and not the celebration can have a chance to enjoy it,” Sindi Schwartz says.

On the big day itself, two Irish bands, the Fenians and Aisling, will entertain, and low-key security will be on hand to keep the crowd orderly--at least until patrons pass through the etched-glass doors.

Muldoon’s fanciful entrance opens onto a sunken, tree-shaded patio that leads to the restaurant--small, dark and wood-paneled with a working fireplace--or the pub--more wood paneling, with windows opening to the patio, a pair of discreetly placed TVs and two obligatory dart boards in their own alcove. Checkers and backgammon are available all day for bar patrons, but darts are played only in the evening; during lunchtime, tables--and patrons--are placed under the boards, discouraging competition.

But conversation is encouraged at all times. “Irish pubs can get boisterous,” says waitress Sharon Herbert, one of three Irish employees, and “Muldoon’s sometimes approaches this.”

Large, convivial groups frequently descend on the pub from nearby Fashion Island, John Wayne Airport and other Newport Beach enclaves. “It’s just a lot of meeting going on,” says bartender Pier Harrison. Out-of-town visitors also appreciate the bar: “Very few places (in Southern California) have this dark-wood, warm atmosphere,” Harrison adds. “People from the East Coast like it because it reminds them of places back there.”

No Irish pub worth its shillelagh would fail to serve Irish coffee. Muldoon’s tops that tradition by serving flaming Irish coffee, a complicated ritual involving a big wine glass, a lemon slice to slick the glass rim, confectioners sugar to coat the lemon, Bushmills Irish whiskey, a propane flame to rev up the liquor, creme de cacao and whipped cream. Order this at night, when the flame is visible; the effect doesn’t dazzle in daylight.

Muldoon’s also serves Irish tea, made with Jameson Irish whiskey, Grand Marnier orange liqueur, orange pekoe tea and whipped cream.

Both the coffee and tea drinks are quite delicious but can also be lethal. A gentler, plainer drink is the Black & Tan, a large glass of dark Guinness stout poured over pale Harp lager. The pub also boasts a better-than-average selection of wines served by the glass ($3.75 to $8.50) as well as by the bottle.

Happy hour starts at 4 p.m., when appetizers are half-price if eaten in the pub or patio.

And speaking of food: The homemade sweet-potato fries and potato chips taste like real potatoes; Eggs O’Malley is a first-rate scramble of eggs, corned beef, potatoes, onions and peppers, and several kinds of fish are served fresh daily, along with burgers, steaks, pastas and salads. The Irish Manor House Specialties include Irish stew and St. Patty’s Boiled Dinner (known to most of us as corned beef and cabbage), but, surprisingly, these are some of the least impressive items on the menu.

The Irish soda bread, baked at the restaurant, is worth the trip: a crusty dome over a tender and cake-like center studded with sweet raisins and savory caraway. This bread and a big pot of tea could comfort any Scrooge. (Tea is a delight all by itself, served in floral-patterned china on a bamboo tray.)

Muldoon’s Irish Pub & Restaurant, 202 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach. Pub hours: 11 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m to 2 a.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. (714) 640-4110.