NOTE: SINCE THE NEGATIVE EXPERIENCE DESCRIBED BELOW, I HAVE RETURNED TO THE LIR ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE POOR SERVICE I EXPERIENCED WAS AN EXCEPTION BASED ON THE PUB BEING EXTREMELY FULL. WHILST MY PREVIOUS REVIEW STANDS AS AN HONEST REFLECTION OF ONE UNFORTUNATE EVENING, I HAVE ADJUSTED MY OVERALL RATING TO FOUR STARS: IT WOULD SEEM THAT IT IS USUALLY A PERFECTLY PLEASANT IRISH PUB WITH GOOD FOOD AND FRIENDLY SERVICE***
My colleagues and I were looking for a place to watch a Champions League football match (Manchester City Real Madrid), and called in advance to check that they were showing the match we were hoping to see. They confirmed that they were, but upon arriving we found that they were not despite the presence of three television screens. I politely asked if the screen showing the Schalke Olympiakos match could possibly be switched over to show City Real a reasonable request since a) We had been informed via telephone that they would be showing it b) the Schalke match was being shown on the national broadcaster ARD and was also available as a free online stream and c) no civilized football fan would want to watch Schalke Olympiakos over City Real! (ok, the last point is a bit tongue-in-cheek - no offence to fans of either club!)
My request was rudely brushed off by the waitress, and we were left to stand behind a crowd of disinterested non-football fans, craning our necks for a partial view of a match we didn't want to see in the first place. To add insult to injury, we were disrespectfully shunted about the room like cattle by the waitress, since apparently we were in the way wherever we stood. Despite the unfriendly treatment, it must be said that the waitress was serving an extremely busy room all by herself, so it is understandable that she was rather stressed having worked in a pub myself, I can sympathise with her. This reflects badly on the management, as it suggests that they are greedy and treat their staff poorly. If a waitress does not have 5 seconds to help a customer or at least show a modicum of politeness then to me this is a sign that she is being overworked.
Needless to say, we left at half time and moved to a place where we were shown respect and could enjoy the second half in peace. I have been to pubs in Ireland, and they are characterised by warmth and hospitality. Unfortunately, The Lir is not an Irish Pub it is a soulless, bourgeois restaurant masquerading as one. I imagine that a certain middle class West Berlin clientele may somehow find the quasi-Celtic kitsch vibe to be quaint or exotic, but in reality this place has as much to do with a real pub as Schalke do with decent football! (just kidding again, Schalke fans!) Actually, the only thing this has in common with an actual pub in Ireland are the inflated prices far above what you would normally expect to pay in Berlin.
To conclude: we were lured here under false pretences (lied to, to put it bluntly), treated with utter contempt, and charged a premium. If, like me, you find the institution of the Irish Pub outside of Ireland to be generally pretty naff, but are tempted by the prospect of watching football and drinking a pint of Guinness, then I would recommend Blarney's near Mehringdamm or Oscar Wilde in Mitte. read more