A Non-Tacky Irish Bar

Last night, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day (a bit early), we went with eight of our closest friends to the Morrissey Irish House, for the drinking of the Irish elixirs. Much Strongbow, Guinness and Jameson’s was consumed. The usual pick-up band of celtic musicians swelled to double-digits, creating a veritable Irish symphony orchestra, with multiple bodhrans! They played all of the classics–The Foggy Dew, Haste to the Wedding, Lukey’s Boat (in truth, a song from Cape Breton, not Ireland) as well as a version of Van Morrison’s Moondance that hopped more than it swung. There were even drunken attempts at Irish dancing (hands at your sides!).

The Morrissey is that rarest of establishments–an Irish bar outside of Ireland that isn’t brutally tacky and ingenuine. They achieve this effect by not trying too hard. There’s a minimum of vintage Guinness ads, hurleys on the wall and leprechauns. In fact, it’s a happy convergence of Vancouver modernism and Irish traditionalism. They do, apparently, have all the right things behind the bar.

Speaking of Guinness, apparently demand for the creamy black stout has exploded in Africa. In response, they’ve had to open a brewery outside of their traditional site in Dublin.