Here's another one then; a very pleasant Irish pub called The Olde Blind Dog, in a town just a couple of miles away from home. The interior is all wood, and I take a guess and say much of this woodwork was imported from Ireland or the UK. The pub is divided into cubicles, each more eclectic than the other; stained glass windows predominate all around. Very picturesque indeed! I'll try and remember to take some pictures net time we're there, because I think we're going to watch some football on Saturday. Anyway - a vast menu, just for a change. We had the ale & cheddar dip to start, then fish & chips, chicken tenders ( for the baby), chilli, burger & sausage & mash, plus 4 pints of guiness and an old-fashioned:
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Now that’s a place I could go back to a few times. First visit, I’d have the Scotch eggs, the Guinness soup, the bangers and mash, and the bread pudding, and two beers, and an Irish coffee with the pudding.
On the next visit, I’d have a proper big meal.
Speaking of the imported wood and all that…about 20 years ago, upscale pub culture was a huge thing here in the US (along with upscale French cafe culture, upscale Mexican cantina culture, upscale Italian trattoria culture…but I digress). Just within an hour’s drive of my house, I can remember:
1. The British Pub (two locations)
2. Nicholson’s Pub
3. Claddagh’s Pub (three locations)
4. The Dublin Pub
5. The Fox & Hound (two locations)
6. Brazenhead’s Pub (two locations)
These were mostly chain restaurants, behemoths with room after room after room, multiple bars, etc.
Brazenhead was the last to build, and their first pub was an event, covered on the local news stations and everything, because it was the size of a city block, and because every last thing in the pub was from Ireland. The bar was designed and built in Ireland. The floorboards were from Ireland. The paneling, the chairs and tables, the plates and glasses and knives and forks and spoons…all from Ireland and the whole inside was built out by Irish work crews. It was a big deal.
Also, most of the Irish pubs would bring over musicians from Ireland for pub music.
Guess how many of those places are left? Out of the 11 locations I listed above, three remain. Those three, coincidentally, are local places that were established before the craze took off.
no wimps there!