The Last Jar

WELL BLESS MY PIG'S EAR, it's Saint Patrick's Day this Sunday. Pig's ear, yum: crispy, crunchy deep-fried curls to dunk in a mayo-style sauce laced with tarragon. They've got some - white pudding and Dublin coddle, too - at The Last Jar, a proper Irish pub that's giving unsung Irish cuisine some love.

It's run by publican Siobhan Dooley and chef Tim Sweeney (the pair who started The Drunken Poet), with sous chefs Tom Van Haandel (formerly Gill's Diner) and Jimmy Parker (formerly MoVida Next Door).

Dooley is good at pubs, creating an easy, comfortable vibe where you want to settle in. She knows her craft - clean lines, superb Guinness - and has assembled a strong, switched-on team.

It's in the former Arthouse building - gone is what was surely Melbourne's stickiest carpet, replaced by bare boards. Dark-timber panels cosy up the three snug rooms, along with deco features and homely vases of fresh flowers.

Gaelic terms divide the menu into ''Sneaic'' (snack), ''Iasc'' (fish), ''Feoil'' (meat) and ''Milseog'' (dessert). Almost everything is made from scratch, from the house-churned salted butter to smear on treacle-rich soda bread to the awesome hand-cut, triple-cooked chips.

The lemony mackerel pate - made from fresh fish that's been brined and hickory-smoked - is gutsy, smooth and smoky, delicious on char-striped bread hot off the grill.

Salt ling potato cake is a double-fried doozie with a battered egg that leaks deliciously over the preserved-fish patty, the fish poached in milk and mixed with potato, fennel and herbs - simple stuff but done beautifully.

If you like sausages, try the Dublin coddle, a traditional brothy stew, with streaky thick bacon, onions, baby carrots, and potatoes that soak up the salty juices. The sausages, made with Western Plains pork and a dash of cider, are the stars of the dish: so tasty and a beautiful soft consistency.

Steaks are a feature - from 150 grams to 400 grams - all with hand-cut chips, a well-dressed salad, and sauce on the side: green peppercorn and whiskey cream sauce or hot Guinness mustard. Ralph's Goulburn Valley porterhouse was cooked just so, but for some reason the meat itself was a bit tough; big flavours, though.

A full Irish breakfast - complete with white pudding, black pudding, sausage, bacon, tomato, fried egg and house-made ''brown sauce'' - kicks off at 10am this Sunday. But don't expect green Guinness. I loved this place. It could well be my new favourite pub. Now, who's up for a jar?

Do … Wander upstairs for the small, rooftop beer garden.
Don't … Miss the Irish film nights (last Thursday of month).
Dish … Dublin coddle.
Vibe … Cool, relaxed and with a great craic.

nrousseau@fairfaxmedia.com.au