Mattie & Eddie’s In Arlington Offers A Fresh Take On Classic Irish Pub Fare

Irish-born chef Cathal Armstrong earned accolades for celebrating the food of his homeland at the modern-minded, upper crust Restaurant Eve and the cheerily traditionalist fish and chips shop Eamonn’s. Both Alexandria eateries are closed, but he continues to highlight his native fare at the newly opened Mattie & Eddie’s in Arlington, a farm-to-table take on a classic pub that utilizes lots of local ingredients and incorporates a sense of seasonality.

“You go to pubs in Ireland, even little dive pubs, and you get great home-cooked food,” says Armstrong. “I wanted to represent some of that, and what we ate as kids.”

The 7,000 square foot space, with seating for 200 patrons inside and another 150 outside on the two patios, was home to another Irish bar, Siné, for nearly two decades. Armstrong remembers visiting it several times. “It wasn’t very Irish, except for the name,” he says.

Even that wasn’t exactly right. On the menu it was translated as “This is it.” The correct translation: “That is it.”

Adding insult to injury was a menu of mostly non-Irish fare, such as quesadillas, tacos, and even Irish nachos (fried potatoes dressed up with cheese, bacon, and jalapeños).

When Siné closed in January, the landlord reached out to Armstrong to see if he would be interested in taking over the space. They signed a deal in February and, after some cosmetic changes and a deep clean of the tap system, Mattie & Eddie’s opened at the end of March. “We did an eight month project in seven weeks,” says the chef.

The restaurant is named after Armstrong’s paternal grandparents, Martha and Edward, better known to those who loved them as Mattie and Eddie. Every week at their home in the Liberties section of Dublin, they hosted boisterous Sunday suppers for their children and all the relatives they could jam into their cramped dining room. “There was a big sense of family, and food was a part of it,” remembers Armstrong.

Though Armstrong is putting a lot of hours in the kitchen, the operation will be helmed full-time by chef de cuisine Casey Bauer, a veteran of Kaliwa, Armstrong’s Southeast Asian restaurant at The Wharf. The menu opens with plenty of shareable options, including chicken liver pâté, deviled eggs, and sardines on toast, a dish Armstrong used to eat with his father when they watched rugby.

Larger dishes include the requisite fish ‘n’ chips, the restaurant’s biggest seller. Made with haddock whenever possible, the fillets are battered in a mixture that uses soda water rather than beer to inspire more crunch factor. “I think beer in the batter is more English,” says Armstrong. “We Irish don’t put our beer in food, we drink it.”

The golden chips with a crackly crisp exterior and a creamy core come with seven dips – Old Bay-accented mayonnaise; curry; hot chili; Marie Rose (ketchup, Tabasco, and lemon juice); tartar; dijonnaise-esque French; and Kitty O’Shea, a mixture of capers, sundried tomatoes, and olives. The fries undergo a surprisingly lengthy and scientific process before they reach the plate. Potatoes are aged for two weeks at room temperature, which helps decrease their sugar content and increase their starches. After they’re peeled, cut, and washed, Armstrong’s team soaks them overnight to degrade the surface of the tuber, which promotes frying. They’re patted dry and fried until they’re fully cooked. For the last stage, they’re refrigerated and then fried a second time at a higher temperature.

Another “labor of love,” as Armstrong calls it, is the corned beef, which takes two weeks to make, and is served with braised cabbage and Irish Cobbler potatoes lavished with parsley-rich bechamel. Other entrees include shepherd’s pie, the whipped potatoes on top hiding lamb braised with a flurry of herbs – marjoram, thyme, and rosemary.

Restaurant Eve fans will recognize the seared pork belly served with colcannon, mashed potatoes laced with kale and onion, traditionally served on Halloween. A traditional Irish breakfast is available all day: a massive platter featuring eggs-as-you-like-them, baked beans, mushrooms, country ham, sausages, and tomatoes. The latter will only appear when they’re in season, says Armstrong, who lists the local producers he sources from on his menu.

The bar has all the Irish accompaniments you’d expect. There’s Guinness – of course – alongside taps dedicated to Harp, Kilkenny, Smithwick’s, and Magners cider. The beer list is filled out with plenty of local brews, as well as mainstream mainstays. There are some on-trend hard seltzers, a wine list that includes Old World and New World options, and a full bar with an emphasis on whiskey, scotch, and brandy.

A small store behind the host stand is stocked with imported chips and candy bars, so guests can take home one last taste of the Emerald Isle.