The Shannon Rose

The Shannon Rose is a small group of Irish pubs that are spread across Northern Jersey and celebrate my heritage proudly with Celtic music and plenty of beverage. I’ve been to their Woodbridge location before on several occasions, mostly for steak dinners or Easter Brunch, but never sat down to measure up their wings. So when the opportunity came up to head into the original Shannon Rose in Clifton with some friends, I decided it would be a great time to give the wings a go.

They come in two variations, so I ordered up the classic Buffalo while my buddy Paul got the Guinness BBQ (which allowed me to swap out and test them both). When the wings arrived at the bar, mine looked just like I would have expected: nice color, great smell, and decent size. The reason I say “like I would have expected” is because I use this type of wing as a base in all of my reviews. When I go out to a bar or restaurant, I expect to get a normal sized wing (nothing huge or small) with a nice amount of flavor and good temperature. A wing that will leave me thinking it was a good dish and would most likely get them again if I’m ever in the same place. I wouldn’t seek out these wings nor avoid them, and would never be left disappointed.

Basically, these wings met my expectations. They had an equal amount of wings to drums and were very consistent in size. The sauce had a nice taste, and the only problem that I had with it was that there was not enough. So I ordered another cup of sauce to give the wings the coverage they deserved, had another few pieces, then snuck one of the Guinness wings to see what they were all about. It had a great BBQ flavor that kept each bite nice and sweet, and though it was an excellent dish, it lacked the heat and peppers that I crave, so I moved back to the Buffalo and finished my meal.

When I walk into a pub I have certain expectations about how my wings should turn out. When they don’t meet those expectations, I give a “less than” review. The ones that exceed those expectations get my recommendation. But then there are the times that I get an order of wings that are EXACTLY what I expected. The Shannon Rose is one of those places. I went in with a craving and left happy… nothing more, nothing less.

The Shannon Rose
98 Kingsland Rd., Clifton, NJ 07014
(973) 284-0200