Ireland's Four Provinces, Cleveland Park

After a rough day, sometimes the best thing in the world comes in the form of comfort food, regardless of whether that food derives from your own ethnic background or not. This was the case as LocalJurisdiction stopped by to pick me up for mid-week-night dinner. Monkey, just back (earlier than we thought) from trying family requirements, was in no mood to leave the house again, so we toddled off on our own to Ireland’s Four Provinces.

(This tidbit is a result of experience and syllogism, rather than knowledge, so please correct me if you know otherwise.) I4P has a cover after 8pm, and not a chance at all to sit and eat on Friday and Saturday nights (which is why we chose to go on Wednesday.) We got in fine but noticed that after a little while, someone started manning the door, checking IDs and taking monies. This may only be the case on nights when there are live performers, but it is also my experience that I4P strives to have live performers most nights.

The thing I particularly like about I4P is the affordable beer. At first, you may shirk at the thought of $5.25 for a beer, BUT! Oh, but, my friend. First of all, I4P serves Imperial Pints. For those unfamiliar with the unit of measure, an imperial is 20 oz of goodness and bells out at the top, different from a straight-sided pint. In some ways, similar to a CocaCola fountain glass, but at the same time, much less benign-looking. It’s basically the glass you always see the Guinness served in on old BBC reruns, though I have to say, Crate and Barrel makes a rather elegant, lightweight hand-friendly one for home use. Right, so now that I’m done fantasizing about glassware, I should mention the beer you can get in such comely glasses. I4P serves Smithwick’s and Boddington’s, but why bother when you can get a perfectpint* of Guinness (and besides, Smithwick nor Boddington neither make particularly good versions of their signature brews, so even if you don’t like Guinness, you should go for it anyway.)

So, $5.25 for 20 oz of Guinness… sounds a lot better than $5 for your regular 11.5oz American brew, right? *Wink*

The first time Monkey and I went to I4P, I decided I would get the Cottage Pie and Monkey settled on the Beef and Guinness Stew.

Monkey won that night.

Mine was good, but Monkey won.

So, when LocalJurisdiction and I settled in, I didn’t even need to check the menu to know I was getting the Beef and Guinness Stew. LJ decided on the Cottage Pie, and I told him he was losing, and he didn’t believe me. We decided to split a plate of potato skins, too. I forgot that skins are always slow out of the kitchen, and you’ve barely got them down before dinner arrives, and when you pair that with two ipints of Guinness, you’re beyond full for the night. Skins were good though.

When dinner finally arrived, I insisted LJ taste my dinner. He admitted I won, and declared that next time he would get the Stew.

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*A perfect pint keeps a smiley-face all the way to the bottom of the glass. There are certifications given out for this. I4P has one, I believe.