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On The Cheap

Review: The Field Pub

'Tis the season for warming up with pub grub

By CASSANDRA LANDRY | September 21, 2011

The down jacket and scarf got pulled out of my closet the other day, which means two things: more sardine-like cramming on the T, and the heralding of pub season. Pubs are not by nature beacons of culinary innovation, it's true. But when icy wind smacks your face no matter which direction you walk, does anything beat a warm room, Guinness on tap, and good old-fashioned pub grub?

Besides the one grizzled blue-collar guy nursing a pint at the bar, the rest of the Field Pub was filled with young families and groups of college kids looking for a neighborhood joint with a little character — something this Prospect Street space offers up in spades. Vintage cigarette tins and beer ads adorn the walls, and the massive wall of trinkets behind the bar provides a touch of hominess. The Field Pub is a pub, plain and simple. No wall of blaring televisions, no fishbowls. The beer list is standard, but strong: Magners and Guinness are both there, but so are Blue Moon and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. For $5.50 a pint, the evening is likely to end up fostering a few session beers and languid conversation.

Contrary to the molecular gastronomy experiments popping up all over town, the Field Pub doesn't seem concerned about making any groundbreaking statements about food and its relation to our lives. This mild, devil-may-care attitude ends up being somewhat refreshing, and lends a little rebellious twinge to the sparse menu. The fare is a little too pricey to call this place a proper dive, but — true to management's promise to keep all costs under $10 — the selection is relatively affordable. The menu sticks to a familiar theme — sandwiches, wraps, and salads all hovering around $8 — and offers a few traditional Irish favorites. Bangers and mash ($8.25) and fish and chips ($9.95) are casual interpretations of the classics, and the potato-skin starter ($7.25, add $.75 for bacon) is straight-up comfort food.

Fair warning: Field Pub is cash-only, though any place that tags their receipts with "May the wind be always at your back and the sun always in your face! Have a grand day!" must mean well.

THE FIELD PUB, located at 20 Prospect St, in Cambridge, is open Sunday–Wednesday, 12 pm–1 am, Thursday–Saturday, 12 pm–2 am. Call 617.354.7345.

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