Bloomsday 2004: WWJD?

[indy]

I'm new to town and to egullet, so I hope this isn't too off topic or too literary: does anyone have suggestions for a good Irish pub in the DC area (i.e. standard Irish beers on tap and an excellent selection of whiskeys?). I'm not looking for Barney Kiernan's, just a place with good alcohol, and maybe even some decent grub to celebrate Bloomsday. (June 16th is the 100th anniversary of Leopold Bloom's famous walk through Dublin, as written in James Joyce's Ulysses). Thanks a lot.

[Suzanne F]

Is The Dubliner still around?

[iamthestretch]

That it is. The food is OK if you have a couple of pints in you already. The Irish Times next door is undoubtedly the place to finish Bloomsday in if you're planning a real pissup, though. I've never even managed to get near being the drunkest person in there, and I've occasionally tried hard. They've a portrait of the great man behind the bar, too, if memory serves.

[otello]

The Four P's in cleveland park.

[mighty quinn]

The Four P's in cleveland park.

and the place across the street from 4 p's. Nanny O'Brien's? Way too drunk to remember. if in old town-murphy's on king street, pat troy's (formerly ireland's own) on pitt st. also there's a murphy's in woodley park right near the metro station. guiness is good.

[FunJohnny]

That it is. The food is OK if you have a couple of pints in you already. The Irish Times next door is undoubtedly the place to finish Bloomsday in if you're planning a real pissup, though. I've never even managed to get near being the drunkest person in there, and I've occasionally tried hard. They've a portrait of the great man behind the bar, too, if memory serves.

Definitely the Irish Times!

[Al_Dente]

It's been a couple of years since I was last at the Dubliner (near Union Station), but I remember having the best Guinness I've had in the US. Tasted fresh, and was poured correctly.

[mnebergall]

In Old Town Alexandria: Murphys, on King Street west of Washington (I think Irland's own has closed).

[Behemoth]

I've always felt it would be far more appropriate to fry up a couple of sausages, drink a lot of absinthe and end up in a brothel...but so far I've never found any takers.

[hannnah]

Ireland's Four Courts by Clarendon metro has authentic pub food (honest to god boiled bacon, proper chips and curry sauce, plus mushy peas), and pours a reasonable pint. Can't speak to the whiskey list, unfortunately.

[WoodleyGrrl]

Is The Dubliner still around?

It is most definitely still around.

I eat lunch there a couple of times a month, as it is down the street from the office.

Make sure you have the chicken pot pie. Just like me ol ma used to make.

[FunJohnny]

OK -- Having reflected on Joyce, and his love/hate relationship with Ireland -- would he really want to go to an Irish bar, even in DC???

Soooo I'm thinking Zola

[frogprince]

try as they might (and boy do they try) these faux-irish disneyesque pubs wouldnt know joyce or yeats or wilde or swift if any of those artists walked in and quoted their own works (in irish mind); i consider them the chi-chi's of pubs (nightmares from which iam still trying to wake). nanny o'brien's does, however, have the feel of an (pardon my uk/eire-ism) an old man boozer, the establishments where a core group of aging men drink and smoke in the exact same stools, having the exact same conversations, confined in a routine they will still be doing 10 years after they die. in short, a place where a stranger is not warmly welcomed.

alas alack, ive not found a watering hole that apes the boozers across the water in this city of ours; tis simply not something we have. or do we? have i dismissed something? i was thinking yes and maybe i have yes and then yes yes there must be one yes and i asked yes and they said:

[pork]

I'll be at the old irish brogue in great falls for bloomsday. good food, good company, good times.

[hillvalley]

nanny o'brien's does, however, have the feel of an (pardon my uk/eire-ism) an old man boozer, the establishments where a core group of aging men drink and smoke in the exact same stools, having the exact same conversations, confined in a routine they will still be doing 10 years after they die. in short, a place where a stranger is not warmly welcomed.

I have a friend who calls it the geezer bar.

I can't remember if it is Irish Times or Dubliner that is in the hotel. I've never left sober so I can't remember. Anyway, I prefer the one in the hotel. It is the preffered bar of Irish congressional staffers on St. Patrick's Day. The other is big with the college crowd.

[morela]

I'll be at the old irish brogue in great falls for bloomsday. good food, good company, good times.

I second this motion.

That place is great!

I could never do it, though, I'd die driving home on those dark winding roads...

it's not like there's Metro out there.

Good news:

I don't have a car nor do I drink and drive

What about the Irish Inn at Glen Echo? I know nothing about that place now...

I knew it better when it was "Travs" or whatever it was called. I was like four or so when they closed, but I remember that pirates and sailors seemed to go there. I'll stop deviating from the topic now.

I'm Irish, so I can just talk to myself and run around a field or something...

[hillvalley]

I keep forgetting to ask.....what is Bloomsday?

[liamdc]

I'm not sure Joyce would drink at any "Irish" establishment in DC. He'd probably jump the shuttle to NYC or Boston. That said, the voices of my ancestors are telling me that if Joyce were a bit short of the fare, he would probably wind up at Nanny's or the Dubliner.

If heard some good things about Murphy's in Alexandria, but I've never been. And if I'm in the Dupont area, in a pinch, the bar at Jury's Hotel pours a nice stout.

[Mark Sommelier]

The Guards in Georgetown has the look and feel, minus the dart board. You might even sit next to an English professor from Georgetown University and actually discuss Joyce.

[Behemoth]

I keep forgetting to ask.....what is Bloomsday?

James Joyce's famous book, Ulysses, follows one Leopold Bloom around Dublin for the entire day of June 16, 1904.

If you feel like doing something really fun, take a train up to Philadelphia for Rosenbach Library's 100th Bloomsday celebration. They have the original manuscript, and celebrate in style: link

Edited June 14, 2004 by Behemoth (log)

[Al_Dente]

I keep forgetting to ask.....what is Bloomsday?

James Joyce's famous book, Ulysses, follows one Leopold Bloom around Dublin for the entire day of June 16, 1904.

The book itself can easily be read in one day. Try it!

[Raul]

Irish Times, as I recall, used to do a Ulysses reading each year, but I called yesterday and was informed that there would be none tomorrow.

Anyone heard of any other Bloomsday events?

If not, anyone care to develop one based on wherever we think we can grab the best Irish meal? (I understand the authenticity-based gorgonzola sandwich thing, but where do they serve them?) My vote is for Murphy's in Old Town. They have good bar food and daily specials of the cornbeef and cabbage variety.

[hannnah]

daily specials of the cornbeef and cabbage variety.

Those two words (well, three, actually - corned beef and cabbage) are your number one indicator that the food served in a given Irish pub is NOT EFFING AUTHENTIC.

Ahem.

Nowhere in Ireland was corned beef and cabbage served together. Beef was expensive. They couldn't afford corned beef until they got to the States. The authentic dish is boiled bacon and cabbage, which is very good, and tastes nothing like corned beef. Ireland's Four Courts at Court House/Clarendon is the only place I've run across around here that goes to the trouble to get proper boiling bacon.

And, while Murphy's does have decent pub grub, it ain't authentic. Neither is the Old Brogue's, although they do pour a good pint.

(Note, this is not a rant. If you want a rant, mention the three offending words in the presence of my esteemed spouse. )

[Raul]

Hannah, if you'll read my post more carefully, and if you're at all familiar with Ulysses, you'll realize my use of "authenticity" referred to the gorgonzola sandwich, which is what Leopold Bloom eats for lunch. I was not referring to anything about Murphy's.

Incidentally, that was my first post on eGullet and I hope other forum participants are a bit more careful and a bit less caustic when responding to well-intentioned recommendations.

[indy]

Of course, as Raul suggests, if one were trying to be 'authentic' we couldn't forget those gorgonzola sandwiches. Neither could we ignore:

"Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liver slices fried with breadcrumbs, fried hencod's roe. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of scented urine."

I, for one, am content with using Bloomsday as an excuse to drink, minus the urine-tinged vittles.