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Tradition, tradition! Fish and chips, bangers and mash, Scotch tastings and Scottish and Irish sessions. The Royal Mile's loyal followers hold all these dear. So when Ian Morrison decided to sell the Celtic pub in Wheaton that his parents opened in 1981, fans worried.
Rest assured, restaurants may be changing in the Wheaton Triangle, but The Royal Mile is not.
"Morrison passed on his secrets," assures Mike Moore, who assumed ownership on Aug. 3. Everything stayed the same, except for a new wooden floor and some sprucing up outside.
"Nothing's really changed Morrison's approach," the Wheaton resident and longtime Royal Mile aficionado says.
The name, by the way, refers to the streets between Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace traveled by Scottish royalty in days of yore.
A recent unseasonably mild evening finds a few customers enjoying their drinks at the outdoor tables. Just inside the door, the 14-seat, L-shaped bar is packed two deep as good cheer rises above a backdrop of Celtic music.
In the forest green and cream colored dining room, a fireplace glows in a rear corner. Two score clan tartans hang from the wooden beams. Servers in black T-shirts emblazoned with the rampant lion, a Scottish symbol, ply the dark wooden tables. The same upright lion graces the pub's windows.
Bryan Ortez has spent 12 years in the Mile's kitchen, the last three as executive chef. His beer-battered codfish and chips, shepherd's pie, seared salmon and bangers and mash (grilled sausage and mashed potatoes) are the pub's top sellers, we are told.
Daily dinner specials listed on a chalkboard at the entrance can, and do, veer from traditional pub fare.
"Bryan comes up with creative dishes the day he prepares them," says his boss.
Tonight's sliders, roast pork and ham with pickle, mustard and Swiss cheese, have a Cuban accent. The soup, chicken and andouille gumbo, is Cajun-inspired.
Entrée specials, ropa vieja and plantain crusted tilapia, also come as surprises. The former, called "old clothes" for the slow-cooked, braised shredded beef, is a Cuban classic. The updated take on tilapia features roasted garlic and sour orange mojo, white rice, fried sweet plantain and wilted spinach. Even dessert, coconut cheesecake, gets a special touch — a mango coulis.
In the mood for more traditional fare, my friends and I begin with the pub's Welsh rarebit. Sharp Irish cheddar laced with beer and mustard provides a zesty topping for pumpernickel toast that hits the spot.
All dishes are made in-house, even the soda bread, Moore says. "Everything is made from scratch, except butter — we don't have a churn in back!"
Ortez's kitchen does the cuisine proud. The corned beef and cabbage (a generous wedge) is among the best around, adorned only with small red-skinned potatoes. The Scotch broth, a hearty lamb and barley stew with turnips, leeks and carrots, and the beef and vegetable Royal Mile stew are pleasers.
Shepherd's pie, seasoned ground beef, onions and peas in an individual crock, wears a mashed potato and Cheddar cheese crown. Puff pastry dotted with poppy seeds tops the beef and Guinness pie, also presented in an individual ramekin. While these are relished, diners note a tad too much salt.
Glass-domed dishes on the bar hold carrot cake and chocolate truffle cake. Bailey's chocolate cake catches our eye on the menu, but the restaurant is out of it. Trifle, a custard confection of ladyfingers, strawberry jam and whipped cream served in a parfait glass, will have to do instead.
A goodly supply of draft and bottled beers supplement 75 single malt Scotches, wines and spirits. This being Thursday, the featured Scotch tasting tonight is Highland Park 12 and Highland Park 15 ($8.95).
Check the Web site for another drawing card, live entertainment. Local star Mary Ann Redmond, winner of 16 Wammies (Washington Area Music Awards), makes her first pub appearance on Nov. 27. The Nov. 30 St. Andrews Day observance promises delectable Scottish fare.
After 28 years under one family, The Royal Mile, with its new ownership, remains a neighborhood gathering place proclaiming "Cead mile failte! A hundred thousand welcomes!"
Royal Mile Pub
2407 Price Ave., Wheaton
301-946-4511
Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 3:30 p.m.–1 a.m., Fri.-Sun. 10:30 a.m.-1 a.m.
Style of cuisine: Scottish-Irish pub
Dinner entrees: $8.95-$15.95
Credit cards: All major cards
Carryout
Accessible
www.royalmilepub.com
