RESTAURANT REVIEW : Irish Oasis : The Emerald Isle is ably represented by Timmy Nolan’s, whose corned beef and cabbage is worthy of enshrinement.

Ireland may boast the world’s best oatmeal, a glory known as corned beef and cabbage, and an addictive concoction of potato and onion called champ (which you can taste at Gilliland’s in Santa Monica), but Irish cuisine is still widely considered a mirage, a spate of blather with nothing behind it.

Timmy Nolan’s may do little to change people’s minds, but this Toluca Lake pub has an energy that makes it a destination.

The restaurant divides into two distinct parts, a starchy upstairs dining area and a rough downstairs pub--a metaphor, some might even suggest, for the Emerald Isle itself. There isn’t much else about this place to suggest Ireland per se, other than green menus, a green awning over the bar and an air thick with blarney and conviviality.

We were hoping for penny-whistle tunes and maybe a few ballads by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, but there’s precious little that’s Irish on the soundtrack. Blame it all on Toluca Lake’s pub crawlers, who apparently go for English rock from the ‘60s.

Sit in the downstairs bar, and you’re likely to be herded together with a group of Burbank secretaries, hard-drinking studio types and the odd intellectual. ( Psst : He’ll be the one drinking a black and tan--Guinness Stout mixed with Irish ale.) Sit upstairs, and you dine in cramped, almost claustrophobic fashion.

Only the Irish would dream of serving stew as an appetizer, one of the roles played by Irish stew on this menu. (You can also have it as an entree, served in a sourdough bread bowl.) It’s a generic beef stew flavored with a wee bit of Burgundy, chunks of potato, beef, carrot and celery in gravy thick enough to float a paperweight. “Irish nachos” aren’t a whole lot lighter themselves. These deep-fried chunks of potato come with stew poured over them, awash in molten cheese, salsa and sour cream. Begorra, indeed.

The rest of the appetizers have a similarly leaden quality, even when they don’t mean to. Shrimp cocktail here means half a dozen rubbery, half-thawed shrimp in an enormous, bird-bath-sized bowl of ice; the fried zucchini, breaded in sourdough batter, is ponderously oily. Blarney wings are Irish in name only, merely the pub’s take on Buffalo wings. These turn out to be Tabasco-drenched monstrosities.

Happily, things take a distinct turn for the better with the entrees. Angel hair pomodoro (a traditional Irish specialty, one supposes) isn’t bad at all, the pasta (cooked al dente ) topped with fresh tomatoes marinated in olive oil, fresh garlic and basil.

And the French beef dip here is one of the best in town: thinly sliced beef, yielding and flavorful, on a good crunchy roll that you dip in a salty broth.

But the real raison d’etre at Timmy Nolan’s is corned beef and cabbage, a dish that, when good, is worthy of enshrinement. This is as tender a version as you’ll get anywhere in town, a pile of ruddy corned beef glistening with dew, resting on good, firm cabbage and steamed potatoes of perfect texture. Maybe one of the blessed Little People is cooking it.

I doubt that leprechauns get all that involved in the desserts, though. The vaunted Irish cream cheesecake has a filling flavored with Bailey’s and a crumbly chocolate-cookie crust, but ours had a bad case of refrigerator burn, as did the black Irish brownie. The tiramisu tasted freshly made, though, and it’s a good one, creamy with a powerful rum kick. From now on I’ll think of this dessert as trifle, with Italian overtones.

Where and When

Location: Timmy Nolan’s, 10111 Riverside Drive, Toluca Lake.

Suggested Dishes: French beef dip, $6.25; corned beef and cabbage, $8.95; tiramisu, $3.75.

Hours: Lunch and dinner 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

Price: Dinner for two, $25 to $40. Full bar. Valet parking in rear. All major cards.

Call: (818) 985-3359.