Eamonn’s A Dublin Chipper

This place is not my cup of tea. We were in search of a gastropub nearby about a month ago and we found this place. This place has TWO names but shares ONE space. One side is TNT Bar and the other side is Eamonn’s.
We walked in, it’s our first time, we didn’t know whether to seat ourselves or wait to be seated. We just went ahead and sat at on open table. Waited for a few minutes to see what our next move was. We were able to flag down someone who worked there and asked for a menu. No greeting whatsoever and told us that this was a self-​serve place and pointed to where we should go to order food and drinks — food at the counter, alcoholic drinks at the bar.
I went ahead to order food for us and my bf went to grab us beers by the bar. Ordering food went swiftly. Ordered the One and One for me (Classic Large Cod & Small Chips with Tartar) and Wurly Burger for the bf (deep fried meat patty). I sat back down at our table and waited for the food. The place wasn’t busy at all and my bf was having a hard time trying to get two beers. The bartender said he was backed up and would bring it to our table. It took longer than it should have to get our beer. We’ve gotten drinks faster at an extremely packed club IN Vegas! Anyway, food finally came. It honestly was just ordinary to me. Nothing special but didn’t taste horrible. The Wurley Burger was interesting but may be a bit too much for those health conscious people.
This place has so much potential. The ambience is nice, décor is decent, but customer service is really lacking. I really miss the gastropubs back home (The Local Peasant and Laurel Tavern in Studio City CA). My bf passed by it recently and apparently it’s a different shop now. Oh well, not really a loss for me!

Worst tasting food that I’ve ever tasted in my life!!! I ordered the fish and chips and It was very very bland, undercooked, and gave me the runs for the rest of the night. Thanks a lot Eamonn’s! You ruined a perfectly good night. What a waste of a good location!

Eamonn’s, it was a quick and good run. Your only downfall is the fact that it is freaking impossible to ingest that much fried food on a weekly basis. I don’t know how you Irish lads and lassie do it: across the pond there is a chipper on every block. But here on Columbia Pike, it was just too much FRIED.
Let me tell you you though, they do fried food right. The boy and I recently stopped in for a farewell meal of fish and chips. The cod was flaky and light with a perfectly crispy coating. The thick cut fries were perfect for dipping into my condiments of choice: vinegar or curry sauce. I would eat this forever if it weren’t for the food coma it put me into afterwards.
I am looking forward to Society Fare, a gourmet food market when it takes over in the next coming months. I think it will definitely fit in a lot better with our neighborhood scape.
However, I will miss those fish and chips.

Eamonn’s does a great fish and chips, as they should, because that’s what they are known to do well. The fish has always been perfectly cooked and battered and their fries are great. Always crisp and I love them with the spicy curry sauce. Their fried chicken (Monday nights only) is also tasty. The fried candy bars are delicious – who knew? I thought it was going to be awful. I also had a grilled cheese sandwich here recently, but it didn’t wow me. It was perfectly fine, just nothing to get excited over. I’d stick with the fish and chips or fried chicken.
However, in case you hadn’t noticed… everything here is fried. So, I rarely eat here. And if I do, I’m usually at TNT. The service is not particularly friendly, either, so there nothing that drives me here. But if you like fish and chips, this is your place.

I’ve been a long time fan of the Eamonn’s in Old Town Alexandria and was super excited while I was walking around Arlington and saw this one just begging me to come in. (Evidently this location has been open for some time, and I live in a box and knew nothing about it.)
This location is MUCH bigger than my beloved Alexandria store. There were numerous open tables and high top bars lining the place, this is also a really nice change to the cramped quarters of the flagship store.
I love fish and chips. I’m pretty sure there is a piece of my slowed clogging heart that has turned into a piece of cod… it’s a risk I am willing to battle on the treadmill another day.
I tried something new this time in… mushy peas. Who knew I would love something the color of baby vomit. Granted, they look like something out of a horror movie special effect basket, but trust me when I say that they are delicious.
I would have loved to see a larger piece of cod in my lovely newspaper basket — I noticed a significant change in the size of the fish portion, there was a huge amount of sauce and a little bitty chunk of fish. Is it the season or is that the new standard? I’ll have to check it out again and double check.
Marie Rose… oh how I love you. Adorned on the top of my yummy forkful of fish! This has always been my «go to» sauce. Not to be confused with the Spicy Curry sauce that MUST be used with the chips! Chips and Curry — an Ireland staple, and they are doing it up right at Eammon’s!

I’m a longtime fan of the Eamonn’s in Old Town Alexandria, but this spacious new location on Columbia Pike was a let down. The fish was about half the size of what I usually get in the Old Town location, and the portion of chips was skimpy as well. In Old Town, the cod in the codwich is usually handing off the bread, but here, it was the size of a nugget. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t like the idea of spending $ 25 on a lunch that isn’t even filling. On the plus side, the menu at this location is far more varied than at the Old Town location, and they also have spicy Blenheim’s ginger ale.

I LOVE HANGOVER CHIPS! They are a weekly indulgence for me. Delicious fries smothered in curry sauce with two sunny-​side up eggs on top. Don’t have to be hung over to enjoy! Great comfort food on a cold or stressful day. Fills me up enough to be lunch.
The bar is really fun and the drinks are great. A bit too pricey for frequent visits, but some good happy hour specials make it enjoyable.

I love pretty much anything deep fried, so I was excited to come here. The place is a good sized, casual plastic-​fork-​type-​of-​place with the TNT bar on the far side (you can order fish from there too) and not crowded during weekdays. The food itself was not bad, but nothing too special.
First the fish. You definitely come here for the fried fish, so you should be expecting the greasiness. I’ve tried the catfish and the cod before. Although the fish wasn’t very fresh, it was cooked perfectly and ended up tender and soft. The cod was practically melting in my mouth. The fish is not salted but you get to choose one of their many sauces (tartar, oldbay-​type, curry, and more) for dipping. The portions are a bit smaller, but that’s what the rest of the menu is for. The prawns were salty unlike the fish. It tasted fresh with that crispy shrimp taste, but with only six pieces, it’s kind of pricey.
The deep fried burger was a disappointing greasy shell over a dry, crumbly and tasteless burger. The hangover eggs are a hearty version of the chips, slathered in curry. It’s quite spicy if your tongue is weak like mine, especially near the bottom where there’s a pool of curry. It’s topped with with sunny side eggs oozing all over. Del-​icious. The deep fried snickers bar is extremely sweet. They top it with a cinnamon sugar to make it even sweeter. I’ll have to pass on this next time. As a side note, if you come here often, don’t forget the punch card.

I like Eamonn’s. The cod is good (not amazing but good) and the price is pretty good as well. One thing to note is the fish doesn’t come in multiple pieces. If you order the regular cod, it is one huge piece of cod. The small cod is one slightly larger than average piece of cod.
I’ve also had the shepherd’s pie here (it’s a great price at $ 8), but it’s pretty eh. Normally I love shepherd’s pie and it’s my go-​to at Irish places, but I wouldn’t order it again here. Just stick to a burger or fish.
The service is really fabulous. I have never walked in here and not been greeted very warmly.

A really nice deep fried slab of cod and good fries and slaw. The curry sauce has just the right amount of kick. And there’s a full bar (TNT) on premises. Guinness stout just seems most appropriate but there are a wide variety of cocktails — We weren’t inclined to mix with fish and chips.
There are a small number of picnic tables and stools along a bar by the window — it’s cafeteria style seating. In some ways this may be better for take-​out but I think fish and chips are meant to be eaten fresh and hot.

My wife and I got carry out from Eamonns the other day. We both had the fish and chips and my wife got a sausage roll. We both agreed that the fried cod was pretty tasty although, it could have used a bit of salt. It was fried to a crispy golden brown. It was very much like what we’ve had in ye olde emerald isle. The main difference is that it cost about twice as much. The chips were ok but, not great. They needed some salt as well. The sausage roll was good but, not worth $ 5. Our total bill was $ 28 which I thought was pretty steep for fish and chips.
The restaurant itself was clean and service was friendly. The restaurant and attached bar (TNT) were both empty.
Fish ****
Chips **
Sausage roll ***

This review is for Eamonns and the attached TNT bar. Overall, I would say the food is great if you’re in the mood for something fried, greasy, and fresh. The drinks are supposed to be the main event, but I thought they were tiny and either overly sweet or overpowered by a single taste. At up to $ 15 per drink, they are definitely not worth it in my book.
The massive disappointment in the drinks drinks was made up for by a great server who accommodated a big group without missing a step. He remained patient and polite throughout the entire night, and also took our drink orders for TNT, even though I got the sense that wasn’t usually something they did. Everything came out right with the exception of one drink, and all our food came out almost at the same time.
As for the food, the hangover chips are wonderful and the shepherd’s pie was ok. I will definitely come back for the food – I’d really like to try a burger or some fried fish – but I’ll probably skip the cocktails and stick with a beer or two.

I reviewed this place already in my review of TNT Bar. But I’ll paraphrase here in bullet format for those of you interested in dining at Eamonns:
–Food: Average. The falafel (which was advertised in DC Eaters as a favorite craving) was delicious. The cod (which should be the star of the gastropub) was average because it was overbattered. The chips (fries) were inconsistent and either soggy or overcooked. However, the hangover chips (chips with curry sauce and 2 fried eggs on top) was actually pretty good. Overall, the food was ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ which doesn’t earn a recommendation from me.
–Alcohol: Eamonns shares its business with TNT bar which is supposedly a reknown mixologist bar. All I got from that was an expensive drink that never truly satisfied because of some of the unusual flavor profiles.
Final verdict: Eamonns and TNT aren’t great, but they aren’t terrible either. Just kind of «meh» in the middle. Probably not a place (s) that I’ll come visit again, but that’s only because I’m a foodie and would rather try other new places like I did with these guys.

A friend and I split the falafel sandwich ($ 6.50), regular sized cod fish ($ 8), and hangover chips ($ 5.50) from Eamons.
The food was good, but not amazing. Its not anything I would ever crave (as the Eater DC list claimed its readers do with the falafel). The cod fish was very crunchy and not the slightest bit soggy, and the fish itself was good, but over battered and a bit bland in my opinion. The falafel was good, but the wrap it came with made it a bit hard to eat because it was so stiff. The hangover chips were the most note worthy part of the meal. The hangover chips are basically thick-​cut fries served in a slightly spicy curry sauce with two sunny side eggs on top. You can’t go wrong ordering these.
Overall, the food was OK, but I would not make another trip to go get it.

The bar deserves 4-​stars: delicious cocktails, although a little pricey. The Shock & Awe is delicious — great maple flavor! The Fall Old Fashioned was also a big hit. If you’re getting wine, stick with the chenin blanc at the food order counter — it’s very good and is about half the price of the wine at the bar.
The fries are crunchy and hot, but pretty salty. I like the selection of dips. The Chesapeake with mayo & Old Bay was very good. You get a pretty decent size order of fish for a regular, so I’d recommend a small if you’re not crazy hungry. I wish the dipping sauces were a little bit bigger for fish since it’s a pain to dip. Great crunch and flavor though.

TL: DR: Save your money, eat at Long John Silver’s on Rt 7
So I have two little kids and the husband and I don’t get out very much for dinner. I also always ready the WP dining reviews and long to go to the places they review. So this weekend was a perfect confluence of events, a free babysitter (my parents) and a place reviewed in the WP in my neighborhood! Hooray! Lesson learned, actually READ, not just glance at the review before you leave the house. The review basically said (I read it after I got home) the drinks are good the food is okay.
So we ordered a bunch of food to go (didn’t want to leave the kids alone too long one is just a baby). The chips (fries) are blah, too starchy, no salt. The baked beans are a joke. $ 3 for a salad dressing to go container full of them (seriously). The fish is alright but ours was burnt. The chili was super bland, like they forgot salt that night or something. I was so disappointed. Oh and skip the chip buddy. A fry sandwich appealed to me for some reason but it is seriously bland, like a mouthful of bland with a side of bland and an aftertaste of bland. Blah. Even the deep fried Snickers that I was very excited to eat was just off the mark. I mean we never go out and the one night we did everything tasted sooooo disappointing.
Then here’s the kicker, we checked our bag and they forgot a side of chips we had ordered. So I asked the guy for them. And he started arguing with me. Um, hello, they are obviously not in there, so why the hell are you arguing with me? Do you really think I would wait 20 minutes for takeout and then try to scam free fries from you?
Bad food, bad experience, won’t be going back.

Ah, yes, the Pike continues to get new places to eat, something the fancy city folk in DC call «options».
They’ve had their sign up for sometime, meanwhile, the rest of the neighborhood waited. Finally they opened up and I’ve been there a few times already. Nice service, good food, and Guinness on tap. They have a Chesapeake tartar sauce that has Old Bay in it that I like to get with my Cod. The Cod itself is flaky and the breading on the outside is crisp. Their chips are also nice solid log type fries, nothing wimpy about them.
That said, while good, sometimes the fries are cold and I think the price is just a bit more than it needs to be. If it was a bit cheaper I’d probably eat there a lot more, but nonetheless the place is still pretty good.
TNT bar is at the back, I haven’t checked it out because it’s not my type of bar. The drinks look nice, but it’s a bit to «showy» if that makes any sense. Me? I just like a bar where I can sit down and drink. Heavily.

Five stars for great fish and chips, good prices with generous portions, and having more seating than the original Old Town location. Ate at the new Arlington location for the first time today and the cod was wonderfully crispy and delicious. The chips were a lot better than I remember at the Alexandria location; not as soggy and limp, but rather generally crisp and fresh. There isn’t a ton of seating, but certainly a lot more than in Old Town where finding a place to sit is problematic.
Three stars for the ambiance and nickel and diming on sauces. The space is cold and artificial with no character, as most of the new construction developments in Arlington. Whereas the Old Town location has a the warmth and charm that is reminiscent of a traditional Irish pub, the new location is concrete with Nirvana playing on the radio. Don’t need to hear «Danny Boy» playing, but Kurt Cobain doesn’t necessarily invoke Old World charm to me. I also take issue with $ 0.50 extra for sauces. While I can understand not wanting people to take more than they will use, does it really cost that much to mix some Old Bay with mayonnaise? If Good Stuff Eatery can put all their custom sauces in pumps, why can’t Eamonn’s?
Glad I don’t have to drive to Old Town now to get some good fish and chips. Don’t know if I would go there to hang out for a pint though.

We were so excited to hear about the opening of an Eamonn’s in Arlington, especially with the addition of the TNT bar and some potentially awesome cocktails. We wandered down late on opening night and we were not disappointed.
Not only did the restaurant side have the existing Eamonn’s menu, they had some new items too (try the batter sausage!). We sat at the bar in back (TNT bar) and watched the bartenders make an art form out of making our cocktails. I have attached a few pictures of what we ordered, I love the menu, the drinks were fantastic and the service was wonderful.
Arlington just got a wonderful new addition to the scene! I’m guessing once the reviews are out it will be standing room only for a bit, better get in early!

Fried cod here is excellent! Also had the chips to go with the cod as well. As you would expect, the cod was fried just right and the cod not dry. Service was quick as expected and food comes out fast. I was also able to try the chips & curry, which is basically fries in curry sauce. Loved it and I would opt for the chips & curry next time instead of the basic chips. Cheap as well and much closer to where I am instead of going to Old Town for their other location.
Drinks review for the TNT side here.