Thursday is the new Friday!
Well, at least if you live in Sacramento and visit de Vere’s, they sure are. And unless you live under a rock and have never been to de Vere’s Irish Pub, not even for one St. Patrick’s Day!
de Vere’s Irish Pub // 1521 L Street – Sacramento, CA 95814
Last year I brought you Chef Wes Nilssen’s Lighter Side of Ireland and apparently it wasn’t a one-summer wonder, because he’s back at it AGAIN! And thankfully for all the Sacramentans! Most people think of this as the place for beer + footy (soccer for you Americans), but Chef Wes has been consistently working his magic in the back, creating dishes on dishes of goodness that seem to be under ordered, in my humble opinion.
A group of Sacramento’s best and most active food photographers and myself (not one of those said cool photogs) were invited to de Vere’s to try the newest Lighter Side of Ireland menu, the Thursday burger of the month special, and the Thursday Moscow Mule specials. Seriously, ALL three of those things were graciously provided for our group to try, salivate over, and snap some serious food porn.
Of course I want to start with the food, then the booze. The Lighter Side of Ireland had the following options:
Kumamoto Oysters – So, I know for regular oyster enjoyers these are the hype. But since I am not really into them, I didn’t have one. The table slurped them up and the oyster eaters were sitting there wishing for a few more. They are plated with watercress chimichurri and are $2.50 each.
Kumamoto Oysters
Grilled Prawn Salad – I can’t even type this without reminiscing of the perfectly cooked prawns lightly tossed in pesto. Seriously, so good on their own, but an even better accompaniment to the salad. Like Chef Wes put it, Green Goddess is an underrated buttermilk dressing. I wholeheartedly agree, it was the perfect dressing for a very light and simple summer salad. The croutons are homemade from the focaccia they have brought in from Napa. Seriously?! Gotta love the small touches like that! I sat by non-seafood-eating people, so I literally ate almost an entire salad to myself and I was the happiest girl at the table!
Grilled Prawn Salad
PLT – Okay, so I thought I was happiest with the Grilled Prawn Salad, but then came the PLT. The House Pancetta was fried crispy and full of salty flavor, sandwiched with lettuce, the best vine ripened tomato, and mayonnaise between the Napa (or heaven) sent Rosemary Focaccia! Seriously, don’t sleep on this sando for lunch or dinner (or whatever), it’s really good and the serving size is generous with a side of perfectly cooked pub fries (or chips)!
PLT
S’mores Tart – I don’t even like s’mores usually, but the less than sweet chocolate tart made this decadent dessert less sugary sweet than you’d imagine from its beauty. If you remotely like s’mores, then you’ll be obsessed with this new dessert item.
S’mores Tart
Even after all of that, we got down on their burger of the month special – Oxtail Burger. So I finally found an IG reference for the contents of this amazing burger, but I will tell you this – I ate my entire tasting, even though the Habanero mayonnaise had created a ring of fire around my mouth. The flavor combo is insane, minus the heat — which I would just order off for the next go around! If you like heat and goodness, then this damn burger is your jam! This burger comes stacked with fried leeks, Stout cheddar, oxtail, burger patty, arugula, slathered in the habanero mayo and chimichurri, sandwiched between a perfect pretzel bun!
Me and my Oxtail Burger!
Of course we washed all of this down with adult beverages. Also, they are the best to make silly boomerangs or videos with too! Just like their Thursday burger special, they offer Moscow Mule Pitchers for $14 from 3PM to midnight. You can have it with a variety of vodka flavors and we tried them all – Tito’s, Absolut Lime, Stoli – any flavor, and Russian Standard. I like to stick with Tito’s and NOT because that’s my man’s name, but because I enjoy their vodka. However, they did serve us a Peach Stoli Mule that was pretty refreshing for the summer. I think playing with the different Stoli options would be a great Thursday evening out with friends, so many options, so much fun!
Food tastings are ALWAYS awesome. But there’s something really awesome about doing it at de Vere’s! Chef Wes always brings out the plates. He stays and answers questions or will just chat with us about food, life, booze, or whatever we want to. He even will sit down and eat, and talk about how he went about creating each special item. You don’t generally get that one-on-one time with a chef, which is a really cool experience. Then Henry, the owner, will saunter in and hang out with us for a bit. If you know him, you know his personality is as big as his business! He’s enthusiastic, very real, generous, and loves hosting us. Everyone was having a great time, even when an 8 year old mocked us for taking 1,000 pics of the food instead of eating it. It would be one thing if the food was good and that was it, but it’s NOT. Everything about our experience at de Vere’s is genuine, fun, and delicious!
I don’t think I can say it enough. If you underestimate de Vere’s as just Sacramento’s local footy pub, then you’re wrong — it is so much more than just that! The food speaks for itself, without the awesome endless footy and full bar! They care about Sacramento and the quality they serve, so don’t sleep on them, especially on a Thursday! Get your Friday-eve on the proper way!
de Vere’s Thursdays really are the equivalent to Taco Tuesday for others!
