Walking into the Claddagh Irish Pub in Livonia is almost like entering Cheers, where everyone knows your name. The host, servers and entire staff are friendly and hospitable. I can imagine walking up to the bar and hearing, “Hey Dave, the usual?”
The Claddagh boasts an extensive menu of Irish/American favorites, comfort food standbys, as well as an impressive list of premium beer and Michigan craft brews on tap and by the bottle.
The food is top notch, with 90 percent of the dishes made totally from scratch with locally procured ingredients. On a recent visit, we tried several items. Appetizers included tasty meatballs, served atop a traditional ballymaloe relish, which is like a slightly sweet tomato jam. Our favorite was probably the stuffed Bass Ale mushroom caps stuffed with a blend of cream cheese, chopped mushrooms, garlic and shallots, coated in a panko crust.
Next up we were treated to some light and nicely crisped Yuengling beer battered shrimp, tossed in a sweet Asian inspired chili sauce. Another winner was the signature Mac and Cheese—spiral noodles in a velvety rich cheese sauce with a little cayenne pepper to make it interesting.
We also sampled a helping of fall of the bone beef short ribs, slow cooked three hours in a rich tomato sauce with a hint of rosemary, and some chicken pot pie—which was not so much a pie, but rather the filling you’d expect, topped with some cayenne cheese crumbles, turning a common dish into something special.
Moving on to dessert, we sampled the “warm and tipsy bread pudding”, traditionally prepared with apples and raisins, and served atop a whiskey cream sauce with caramel and whipped cream. This reminded me of a fresh warm cinnamon bun. We tried the apple pie—apple filling in wonton wrappers topped with warm cream, and some homemade profiteroles. Finally, we enjoyed some Irish coffee, the perfect ending to an outstanding meal.
The Claddagh is located at 17800 Haggerty Road, Livonia, 48152.
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