I have yet ANOTHER question!! Do the pubs in Ireland serve traditional Irish food or things like burgers, fries, etc. I got a taste of a traditional Shepards Pie in New York City at an Irish restaurant and have been dying for more since. My goal on our March trip is to eat as much Shepards Pie as possible!! I guess my question is where do we go to eat traditional Irish foods? We can eat burgers, fries, Italian, etc. at home! Any ideas or suggestions???

In my experience, all the Irish pubs have traditional Irish foods, and very few have expanded into American type fast food. If you can't get shepherd's pie in at least 90 percent of them, I'd be surprised. Good eating.

Tia, hope you don't mind me adding an additional quarry onto yours -- it's a pub question as well. Do British pubs serve mixed drinks like US bars do? I don't like beer or wine, but I do enjoy mixed drinks.

Oh, so you enjoy mixed drinks? Well, if you order a vodka-tonic, you pay one price for the vodka, and you pay for the tonic separately. Usually the tonic will come in a mini bottle that can be used for 2 drinks.

Same for drinks with coke, cramberry, 7-up, etc.

Not many pubs have cramberry, so we bought some of those little fruit boxes in a grocery store, and the pub let my wife use it with her vodka.

What if you want a martini? I think I read that in England they refer to it as gin 'n it. How do you order beer? On TV shows from England they say things like, "best bitter."

You need to order beer by the kind you want and then by the size - pint or 1/2 pint. As to what types you will like I have no idea - suggest you do some research to see if you like bitter, some sort of ale or stout or want to stick with lager (most American beers from the German tradition are lagers). Also note that while the beer will not be warm (as in heated) it is likely to be not far off room temperature - they don't drink their beer ice cold as most of us do. I'm not an expert on this by any means - I'm sure there's a beer link from the Irish tourist web site if you look.

Yes, Tia, that's where you go.

Dallas, yes they do, but if the drink has a "fancy name", just let the bartender know what goes in it. I'm sure most of us have seen the Fawlty Towers episode with the American asking the waiter for a "screwdriver" and the confusion that ensued. Ask them for a "vodka orange" or vodka and orange juice.

Budman, next time you take your wife, forget the cranberry juice and ask the bartender for a "vodka black".

Thanks, Budman and Surfergirl, that's what I needed to know. I like sweet drinks like "Tom Collins," "Margarita," or Seagrams & Seven" -- is "vodka black" a sweet drink?

I have had shepards pie in the states covered in cheddar cheese (over the mashed potatoes) It is served that way traditionally in Ireland?

Well, the shepherd's pie with cheese should traditionally be served in the Lake District. That version is called Cumberland Pie. Strictly speaking, the version with minced beef should be called Cottage Pie. I'm always amused when people treat those sorts of pies as "dishes". Basically, they are a way of using up the last leftovers of the Sunday joint, mince up the last remains of the meat, pop in any surviving vegetables, add some leftover gravy and top with the leftover potatoes mashed.
At a slight tangent, an second generation Italian American friend of mine says that when she was young and the family was eating dinner, he dad would sometimes joke, "I wonder what the rich people are having?"
Of course, the answer is that now the rich people are eating the the sort of thing that her poor family was eating then ;-)

Yes, Dallas, it is. The "black" is black currant and very tasty mixed with vodka. Kind of cherry tasting.

I wouldn't want Tia to abandon her trip, but it really isn't difficult to make shepherd's pie....

While you're eating some, why not ask for the recipe? I would guess everyone's got their own twist.

Just a note of warning. Depending on where you are going in Ireland, ordering lager is like asking the pub patrons to make fun of you. If you're going to go all the way to Ireland experiment a bit. They have great beer there without drinking something as wimpy and tasteless as lager.

I was there a few weeks ago and actually saw people drinking bottles of Budweiser! It's advertised heavily all over the place and I guess the billboards work. Coors Light ads are also plastered all over.

Well I guess that Bud is an import in Europe.

Ahhhh, pubs .... my favorite topic.

Shepherd's pie: You'll find it at quite a few places and it will probably be different everywhere. It seems no two are alike. Burgers are not at all unusual in pubs. Beef and Guinness stew and Irish stew are popular. The beef and Guinness is fantastic even if you don't like Guinness.

Beer in Ireland: A major subset of my favorite topic in Ireland.

Lagers vs Stouts. Yes, Budweiser is quite popular in Ireland as are a few beers like Heinekin. Lagers are usually more expensive, so believe it or not, you'll pay more for Bud than Guinness. In Co Cork particularly you will find Murphy's to be pretty popular. I found that it tasted better there too, but it may have been a fluke. I thought Beamish came in a poor 3rd to the big two. Overall, Guinness seemed more consistant than the Murphy's.

The two other Irish beers that you will find a lot of are Smithwicks (don't pronounce the "w&quot and Kilkenny, both brewed by Guinness. The are both very good though it is harder to find Kilkenny, especially in the west. Smithwicks is an amber and Kilkenny is probably closest to something like Caffrey's "Irish" Ale (brewed in the UK). It's substantially better than Caffrey's. I suggest the Smithwicks for those who have a tough time with stouts.

BTW, I believe that I heard that the Bud that is consumed in Ireland is produced at the Murphy's brewery under license from Bud. Not sure on that though.

Bill

Just a slight correction to Bill's post:

"Anheuser-Busch has had a license brewing agreement in the Republic of Ireland with Guinness Ireland since 1986. Budweiser is brewed locally at Guinness? Kilkenny brewery, where an Anheuser-Busch brewmaster oversees every step of the brewing process. In 2002, August Busch III presented the Kilkenny brewery with an Anheuser-Busch Eagle in recognition of the facility brewing more than one million hectoliters (852,193 U.S. barrels) of Budweiser in a year.

The Republic of Ireland is Anheuser-Busch?s fourth-largest market outside the United States, and Budweiser is the country?s best-selling lager beer and second-best-selling beer, overall. The brand has benefited from strong support from Guinness, popular advertising, sponsorships and promotional programs that have kept it at the front of consumers? minds."

Thanks for the info Irrover. I wasn't sure at all about the accuracy of the Murphy's story. I don't care who brews it, I wouldn't drink it if they use anything close to the recipe they use in the States.

I forgot about the other brews in Ireland. There are a few micro breweries. The ones I know of are The Porterhouse and McGuires in Dublin. Both brew excellent beers and I believe that McGuires stout is superior to Guinness. Haven't had a stout at the Porterhouse.

Then there is the Biddy Early brewery in Inagh about 15 miles west of Ennis. Now this is good stuff. Their lager is fantastic as are the red and the stout. If you like beer and are anywhere near the Cliffs of Moher, this is a good choice. There is a great old legend that is part of the story surrounding the brewery's name.

Bill