Con Murphy's

While Irish pubs are great drinking destinations, their food's so likely to use Guinness as a crutch it might as well be Colin Farrell, or so disappointingly bland, it might as well be Colin Farrell. For non-Irish dishes in a traditional Irish pub, check out Con Murphy's

Now open in the former Peacock on the Parkway and connected to the Windsor Hotel, Murphy's is serving boiled-cabbage-free, gastropub-ish breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a 115-seat bi-level affair with dark oak & beech wood bars custom-built in Ireland and installed throughout the emerald & kelly green first floor and the larger, pastel-schemed upstairs dining area complete w/ a family-style table tucked into a remote corner, much like the one your own family occupies in your mind. Starters include fried tiger prawn cocktail and crab frites w/ cheese fondue, while sandwiches run from grilled hanger steak on ciabattini w/ truffle chive aioli, aged white cheddar & wild mushrooms to a brick-pressed pork belly Cubano topped w/ Manchego cheese & shaved onions -- which, now need to be shaved constantly, or they'll only become hairier. On the entrée side, there's pan roasted salmon w/ black beluga lentils & Kalamata olives; cavatelli arrabbiata w/ baby spinach, blistered tomatoes & ricotta cheese; and lamb frites, anchored by a petite rack that's sea salt rubbed, pan roasted, and currently dating A-Rod

Drinkwise, 12 taps at both bars pour brews both imported (Franziskaner, Smithwick's, Peroni) and local (Yards Philly Pale, Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA), while signature cocktails include the Goslings/Malibu-fueled Painkiller and the sweet tea vodka & lemonade Daly Buzz -- like there's any other kind, right C-Dog?