Passing by one Sunday night, I saw the sign outside for Irish music night. I'm a sucker for any…read morechance of hearing a fiddle, so I popped in, wandered through the upstairs, and found my way down to the basement bar.
What I found there was better than I'd possibly imagined --- 15 people with fiddles, pipes, Irish Bodhran drums, guitars --- I even saw a bass leaned against a wall, but not in use. Good rollicking jigs, and several hours of them. All instrumentals, which suited me fine.
At one point I figured the only way to tell which country I was in was to listen to the two older guys having a loud conversation instead of listening --- and notice they were speaking German.
Upstairs is fairly standard "Irish pub" look, but the basement decor's a bit odd --- the plaster is painted like huge wood beams and stone walls with "windows" opening out on blacklight-illuminated fantasy scenes. One section of the wall has a sea god who belongs airbrushed on the side of a van. Very odd.
Food, eh? The Guinness was excellent (though a half-liter instead of a pint), and the fish and chips was much better than I'd expected --- I'd rate it as a good but not excellent chippy. I'll have to go try something meat-pie-ish, as that's a better way to judge the kitchen.
The food was good, the beer was good, and the music was amazing --- I know for sure what I'm doing next time I'm in Hamburg on a Sunday.
