Corned Beef Central: Magee's at Farmers Market

The wonder, and the problem, with a small, knobby, well-cooked potato is that it is so easily speared by a fork.

This makes is rather marvelous for the eater facing a full plate of corned beef, a hunk of cabbage, and a couple of boiled potatoes backed by a side of mustard and a side of horseradish. The problem arises when the forks of the eater's friends easily spear the potatoes in question, because they've run out of potatoes on their own corned beef plates.

Mavens of Magee's Kitchen know this issue all too well. The cheerful meats-plus counter, which holds the proud title of being the original restaurant at the Original Farmers Market, is famous for its corned beef plate, which boasts all of the ingredients listed above.

It's a plate that sees a lot of play throughout the year, but on St. Patrick's Day most of all, when queues around the quaint Market meatery get deep and very, very green (green in dress, that is). 

People don't mind waiting for the classic dish, though; there's jig-sweet music to enjoy in the landmark public market, and usually some shiny emerald decorations hither and yon, too.

And all of that corned beefy goodness. Which leads to the question: Do you need a bite of potato for every bite of corned beef? And if your friends run out of potatoes first, will they, and their forks, come looking for yours?

It's a distinct possibility, though some horseradish fans would claim you need to make your mustard, and horseradish, last as long as the piece of meat on your plate.

Oh, portions. It's one of the not-to-challenging challenges of St. Patrick's Day, a holiday famous for green beer but also achieving that perfect bite of corned beef, stacked with a sliver of cabbage, bit of potato, and classic condiments.

Can you time out your bites just so? Find out at Magee's Kitchen any day of the year, though St. Patrick's Day is the traditional day of corned beef + potato perfect-portioning.