An Tua Nua

I guess you can call them club sandwiches

by Chris Wright

ON THE CHEAP

By night, the Irish bar An Tua Nua -- formerly Rí Rá -- is elbow-to-rib with the baggy-jeaned, girly-T'd set getting down to platter-spinning DJs. By day, the more sedate among us can get down to a platter of cheap and plentiful pub grub.

One recent afternoon, we got finger-foody for starters with the asparagus rolls ($4.75) -- crispy tortillas stuffed with provolone and ham, set in a puddle of tomato sauce. The sauce was fairly drab, but we loved the wild-mushroom ravioli ($5.95), an archipelago of pasta, pine nuts, and grilled bread in an ocean of creamy garlic sauce.

Our entrées were a standard -- read: to die for -- shepherd's pie ($6.95), which had not only crispy cheese on top (absolutely vital) and lashings of minced beef, but a side of buttery mashed potatoes. (Double mash: where are those baggy jeans when you need them?) We also tried the "Pizza Rí Rá" ($6.25, but shouldn't it now be Pizza An Tua Nua?), with tomato, basil, goat cheese, mushroom, and caramelized onion -- served crispy, cheesy, and surprisingly grease-free. And there's an entire spectrum of sandwiches in the $6 range.

Wash it all down with a Newcastle Brown Ale ($3.50), and it's settled: we won't be doing any dancing tonight.

An Tua Nua, located at 835 Beacon Street (outside Kenmore Square), in Boston, serves lunch daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and dinner from 4 to 10 p.m. Call (617) 262-2121.

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