Some days I wake up so hung over that I can't decide whether to stumble to work still drunk and get fired or throw myself in front of a train. On those such mornings, when it feels like an ice pick is slowly being shoved through your skull, and normal noises like a dog's bark turn into insufferable screeching pains, the only logical course of action is to suck it up and start drinking again. The Plough and the Stars does one of the best Hangover Brunches around - after a couple of their perfect Mimosas I was back to my normal, chipper self, able to form intelligible sentences and walk a straight line.
The beautiful high-ceilinged building was formerly the Corn Exchange, so it resembles an old-fashioned bank, complete with ornate Corinthian columns and a long bar where the bank tellers' booths once stood.
Restaurant by day and Irish pub by night, The Plough and the Stars serves up some of the best New Continental food in Old City. My goat cheese and vegetable omelet ($7) was delicious, while a friend's rib-eye steak special was tender and juicy. The fruit-topped Belgian waffle ($7.50) was decadently sugary, and the perfect antidote to a rough night. The service is speedy and amiable and the prices reasonable, making the Plough and the Stars a great alternative to the crowded, hip, but pricey restaurants in the neighborhood.
With bartenders hailing directly from the Emerald Isle itself and a good selection of beers on tap, the bar is a pub-lover's paradise. While the clientele is varied, most patrons seem to be thirtysomethings seeking an upscale watering hole where the food is decent and the atmosphere relaxing. Although not exactly trendy, The Plough and the Stars is ideal for a quiet dinner date, a few rounds after work, or, of course, for a pitcher of Bloody Mary to make those awful Sunday mornings a little more bearable.
