Irish Pubs in Paris - how authentic?
 

In the two weeks we toured Ireland we missed out on the pub scene in the evenings - We will be in Paris in August and I have viewed at least 17 Irish Pubs online. They all describe the beers and sometimes the pub food they serve. Some tell you the have live rock music on certain days.
I was wondering if any ever had an evening of Irish folk music?

I am not sure of the answer to your question, but you missed a very good time by not getting to the Irish Pubs at night. I hope you can find something close. If you get back to Ireland, go on a pub crawl. Totally fun and hilarious

French “Irish” pubs are truly horrid. Imagine the worst aspects of the French combined with stupidly expensive booze and filled up with pissed Brits.

"Irish" pubs anywhere but Ireland are horrible. Exactly as C_W describes them.

Dicey Rileys in Paris is not Authentic and is the same as any Irish pub not on home soil, the dearest pub in town. I did not realise that there were 17 in Paris, but its even hard to find an Irish barman. You missed your chance when in Ireland

Out of curiosity, how did you manage to miss the pub scene during your two weeks in Ireland? What else is there to do in the evenings?

Nukesafe - Have a peep at my trip report - it explains a lot, but for the immediate answer: we were in a large motorhome!
We are sure to return and see Ireland maybe in a different way now that we know the ropes. It certainly has a 'return again' appeal!

Thanks everyone for putting me right off going for a Guiness in one of those pseudo Irish Pubs.

what is an 'authentic irish pub'?

if you want a break from french stuff in france then go for it. it will be filled with expat, tourist and business travelling aussies, wee britons, south africans, irishmen, japanese, kiwis, canadians, americans and yes, frenchmen. not much different from many 'irish' pubs in dublin. it is just what it is...not at all sure what is the measure of 'authentic' when it comes to irish pubs.

walkinaround wrote: "not at all sure what is the measure of 'authentic' when it comes to irish pubs."

First criterion is being able to pull a pint of Guinness properly. In one pub in a smaller town I went behind the bar and showed the lassie working there how to do it.

I have seen several Irish pubs in my time including one in San Francisco. However, these are pubs where Irish people tend to go rather than theme pubs. They are not "Irish pubs" as in Grotty O'Nasty's

I'd say that, in a way, the Irish Bars is France are very authentic. Nothing like a pub in Ireland - but authentic in a way.

In some parts of the world that don't have a pub culture (i.e. Continental Europe and the USA) the <i>Irish Bar</i> fills a niche, it's almost like someone's franchised the concept. So, in that sense, the bars in France are prime examples of the genre.

Thanks again all for your comments -
I was just hoping in that wonderful city called Paris, with it's piano bars, dancing shows, stand-up comedy haunts and sing-a-long old French song cafe`s, there may just have been one teeny little Irish Pub that had an Irish band every now and then.
Oh well..............back to Cushendall, Ballymena, County Antrim for an Irish band & singsong held Friday & Saturday nights. This place is known to locals only so when we get there one day we are sure to have the most wonderful Irish experience ever!

You could have an authentic Irish Experience in a pub in Paris. When you order your dinner the English could nick all your spuds.

There is a small chain of English Pubs in Paris that are quite authentic (mainly because they are full of Brits). They’re called the Frog and Rosbif.

If you go to the one in Chatelet there is an “Irish” pub just up the Rue St Denis that isn’t too bad. There’s a half decent one in Pigalle too (just by the Moulin Rouge). Both of these areas are full of hookers and sex shops. Coincidence? You tell me.

There's an Irish pub just on the river in the Latin Quarter called The Galway (if it's still there). Because it is Irish owned, it is more Irish than many themed Irish pubs you will find in America or other parts of the world. It is usually full of Irish and English expats. I think this is about as close as you will get to authentic. Even in Ireland, most irish people don't go out to see live traditional Irish music reguarly. It's mostly for tourists these days.

Thanks CW - I see English Pubs are also referred to as the Frog & Princess.

Heres an Irish Pub that sounds tantalizing:
TIGH JHONNY (Irish pub)
(16::~00:300)
Address: 55, rue Montmartre, 75002, Paris
Tel.: (33)(1)42339133
Typical Irish pub with excellent draught Guinness. Very reasonable. So authentic that you have the impression of beiing back in Dublin or Cork!

As we are staying in the 11th arr. this may be worthy of a quick pint, but I am yet to figure out what "Irish Classes" are? Dancing? Language?
(THE) WILD GEESE (Irish)
Address: 140, Moulevrd Richard Lenoir, 75011, paris.
Tel.: (33)(1)48061436
Open daily 11:00 a.m.~02:00 a.m.
Happy hours all day.
Darts, table quizzes, Irish classes, live sports shown. Sunday brunch.

I see English Pubs are also referred to as the Frog & Princess>>

That's the same chain - they're all the frog and xxxx

Irish classes would be the language which makes welsh look easy.

I'd like to make a correction to my previous count on Irish Pubs in Paris -that there were 17 .....not true - there are at least 43!

tod according to the Irish France website there are 45 Irish pubs in and around Paris. Thats amazed me. Several of them are franchises like Kitty Osheas and the like but some definitly have names that are not familiar. They might be the ones to plump for if you do plan to visit a couple. Guiness travels well these days, but its all down to how it is pulled.

I know, I know, "If you have to ask, you don't deserve to know", but how do you "pull" a glass of Guiness "properly"? Perhaps improper pulling has ruined every glass I have ever bitten. Each of them have been nasty.

O'Brien's in the 7th on St. Dominique, 10 years ago, had an Irish bar man. I don't remember music. Not a big place

Diagio spent several million a couple of years ago teaching bar staff how to pull a pint of the black stuff.It has to be pulled with the glass slightly tillted and filled about two thirds full and left to stand for maybe 2 to 3 minutes untill the head has completly settled. It is then filled slowly until full and again best left to stand for a few seconds. A good friend of mine works at guiness and he would just walk into a pub and by looking at the empty glasses that had guiness in them he could tell if they were serving a good pint. The method is that you should be able to count the number of sups a person has taken to drink the pint. The white froth should gather where the beer has stood in the glass. When the next sup is taken, a rim of the froth would stay in position. Thus allowing you to count the number of sups the drinker has taken

the whole mystique of pouring guinness is overblown marketing hype that is long past its prime. diagio has changed the 'traditional' way to pour guinness anyway so any idea of 'tradition' here is misplaced.

i don't know the sales figures but at least here in london guinness 'extra cold' seems to have just about replaced regular guinness in pubs (perhaps an exaggeration but it's heading that way). 'extra cold' is less about the temp and more about the fact that it can be poured like a regular beer (i.e. in a single go with no 'ritual'/fuss).

guinness *was* a master at marketing but they let their brand seriously slip....death in the fickle and trendy alcohol market (and don't think guinness is above this). 'extra cold' is marketed to give young people a cooler and more contemporary choice but all this has done is confused the brand as the strategy was not well executed.

sales of guinness are falling hard. it's certainly not the drink of youth (at least in europe) and i don't see 'extra cold' changing that. guinness is just not cool any more and this means very hard times for the brand. events like the recent 'arthur day' was well attended by young people (at least in dublin when i was there) but these kind of very expensive marketing events are not going to make enough of a difference in building the brand back up. guinness is a confused and dying brand unless the marketers can work magic to turn it around.

I wouldn't go into any Irish pub in Paris or a city other than Ireland and expecting it to be like the experience you'd have in Ireland. There are certainly bars in Paris as well as many cities run by Irish people and where Irish ex-pats hang out, however.

There was an Irish pub just a block or so away on the same street where I rented an apt. a few years ago -- Connolly's Corner on rue de Mirbel near Censier metro (Latin Qtr near rue Mouffetard). They have live music in there at times, but I couldn't tell you the schedule. It's nothing fancy.

here's an article on the supposed best Irish pubs in Paris, it is mentioned, good descriptions
http://www.internationalliving.com/P.../theeuropean14

Carr's, on Mont Thabor in the 1st, is OK. A fun, late night place after a decent dinner somewhere else.

Guiness is just lager with a sun tan. It's shit.

Walkinabout. I bow to your knowledge. You are a font of undoubted genius. You obviously know more about the pouring technique than all the barmen in Ireland, who dont have your wonderful insight into the market. Because you have visited Dublin you are an expert on all things Guinness. When i order my pint this evening from the barman who has served me for several years i will tell him not to tilt the Glass, not to let it settle and not to double pull it. He will look at me in a strange sort of way. But i will reasure him that its OK to pull it that way because someone on a travel forum told me so. I will also tell him that you have been to Dublin

eyelids, don't forget to tell the barman to rinse the glass first, and not dry it.

Yeah, but what about C-W's slur??? Admittedly, Guinness in London doesn't taste like Guinness in Dublin, but still...

i'm confused eyelids. where did i say anything about how a guinness should be poured? all i said was that guinness 'extra cold' is poured in one go...like all beer. i'm not saying that's how it should be poured, i'm saying that's how it IS poured. it's not pulled...it's dispensed from a pressurised tap.

as for saying that the 'mystique' around how to pour a guinness is marketing...crikey they made a series of commercials on it!!! so it's hard to argue that it has nothing to do with marketing.

and i was referring to being in dublin during aurthur day guinness event as i was commenting on the age of the crowd. i don't think i was giving my credentials as 'having been to dublin once'. i've been there probably 50 times (not that it really matters).

nice try though.

i don't think CW's comment is all that unusual. many people who drink real beer don't like guinness. and most irish people i know under about 40 don't touch it...they don't like it as a beer but more importantly, they don't like the idea of it...it's just not cool.

Coming back to look at this 'Irish Pub Scene' I have to admit I threw my Guiness down the plughole after trying to persuade myself it's not too bad! Now, having said that, I have had Guiness mixed with Champagne and that was tolerable ( don't say it was a waste of good champagne!!) I also think Guiness is excellent added to steak pie ingredients and cooked long and slowly.

I just long to hear a little Irish band of three or so instruments being played live! As I said....back to Ireland it is!

Guinness is shit. People who drink it are fools.

De gustibus non est disputandum.

Men who don't like stout can't be trusted.

I've been in Irish pubs in Paris with only Irish employees who couldn't even speak French. They certainly knew how to draw a pint of Guinness, for those who like it.

I would say that clientele of such places is basically 75% British Isles & assimilated Commonwealth, and 25% French renegades. You would not believe how many French people have a passion for all things Irish. It is almost as impressive as the passion of their disdain for all things British.

I don't agree with CW on some things, like Scotch Eggs, but I totally agree that Guinness is liquid crap. I get the feeling it was discovered when some Irish brewer with the black plague fell into a vat of beer when he died, and the brewmaster was too cheap to dump the stuff.

:-(

Well, it does give a new meaning to the word "acquired taste" but I have heard so many people claim the same thing about pastis that I will not contest what other people think is good.

Men who don't like stout are evil.
Honestly, I doubt that they are men after all.
If you don't like Guinness you can still drink Murphys or Beamish.

Stout is shite; drunk by nobbers in rugby shirts with the collars turned up.

It should be called "bell ends" as that's who drinks it. The big wendies.

CW - If Guiness is just a Lager with a suntan & think its shite, does that mean you don't drink lager either? If so,please tell us what DO you like when ordering a pint?

Kerouac - Are you serious? Irish? (Spring starts on 1st Feb....)

I like proper beer. The brown stuff.

The rest is cobblers. Guinness is cobblers on toast.