A word from our sponsor! These beers are on tap at Tadg's Bar for the first time in Kyoto. Hitachino Nest Brewery has won numerous awards at Beer festivals around the world. This Sunday from 2:00 pm we offer you the unique experience of tasting all these extraordinary beers, only at Tadg's Bar. Chill out with great Beer, great Food and live Music! Also (!) coming soon to … [Read more...]
Deep Kyoto & Tadg’s
Right then! I'm off to Bali for a week and will be resolutely offline during the interval so there'll be no more posts for a wee while, but before I go a short word of explanation. The astute among you may have noticed the appearance of a black box on the upper right of this page which proudly bears the name "Tadg's". It looks like this (only smaller): I'm pleased to … [Read more...]
Tadg’s Irish Bar and Restaurant
The Home of Craft Beer in Kyoto Four years since it first opened, the Irish pub formerly known as Mc Loughlin's has been renamed as Tadg's. Not a big change really, as I think everyone was calling it that anyway. I've written previously about this pub; its friendly hospitality and the fantastic views over the river and city. And Tadg's cooking is also justifiably renowned; … [Read more...]
Singing & Dancing Round the Table @ Irish Pub Gnome
I quite like Gnome; it's small and cosy and Yuko is a great cook (I'm particularly partial to her colcannon and soda bread). And the sing-along events are great fun. Felicity and Tomoko Saito play a mix of British and Irish traditional tunes and sometimes even some Japanese too. Here's their version of 知床旅情: You'll notice a couple of chaps at the back. … [Read more...]
Folk Music Workshop @ Irish Pub Gnome
Last weekend's traditional music workshop at Gnome was a great success and so it looks like there will be many more in the future. Felicity Greenland writes: Japanese and foreigners all singing together in a cool atmosphere... It's hard to explain without sounding crass, but really, it's a very special bonding thing to sing together - everyone has had hard times with … [Read more...]
antighseinnse
There's a Scottish pub in north Kyoto named antighseinnse (a.k.a. Horie's Bar). The name (pronounced "an ti shayn jay" I think) is Gaelic and means simply "Inn". The owner Toshiyuki Horie named it after a favored pub on the isle of Islay in Scotland and still proudly wears a T-shirt celebrating "The best pub in Portnahaven". Horie-san, a self-described whisky otaku or geek, … [Read more...]
Sheep’s
Sheep's Public Cafe is a place I have been meaning to check out for a while. I kept seeing it as I cycled home from work and thinking to myself "Sheeps. Why Sheep's?" The signboard outside says "Fish & Chips", "Guinness" and looking at the exterior I imagined just another foreign style pub. Once inside though I was impressed by how bright and cheerful it is. The owners have … [Read more...]
In Search of… the Craic
In December 2008 my friend David Ewen and I (that's us on the left) decided to go on an Irish pub crawl and see exactly what each place had to offer in terms of food, drink, music and the elusive craic. What follows is a list of the five pubs we visited, a summary of what we found there and a map to each location. For a fuller article, more pictures and directions click on … [Read more...]
Gnome
In Search of ... the Craic Part 5 This is the fifth and final part of a series of posts on Kyoto's Irish pubs. Earlier this month my friend David Ewen and I went on a pub crawl of five Irish pubs in Kyoto to see what they had to offer in terms of food, beer, music and the craic. Tonight's post is on... Gnome Gnome opened in October 2007, which makes it the newest Irish pub … [Read more...]
Field
In Search of ... the Craic Part 4 This is the fourth in a series of posts on Kyoto's Irish pubs. Earlier this month my friend David Ewen and I went on a pub crawl of five Irish pubs in Kyoto to see what they had to offer in terms of food, beer, music and the craic. Tonight's post is on... Field Field is the oldest Irish pub in Kyoto having opened in the year 2000. Previously … [Read more...]
Dublin (formerly The Hill of Tara)
Update August 2010: The Hill of Tara is now under new management and named "Dublin". In Search of ... the Craic Part 3 This is the third in a series of posts on Kyoto's Irish pubs. Earlier this month my friend David Ewen and I went on a pub crawl of five Irish pubs in Kyoto to see what they had to offer in terms of food, beer, music and the craic. Tonight's post is on... The … [Read more...]
Mc Loughlin’s
In Search of ... the Craic Part 2 This is the second of a series of posts on Kyoto's Irish pubs. Earlier this month my friend David Ewen and I went on a pub crawl of five Irish pubs in Kyoto to see what they had to offer in terms of food, beer, music and the craic. Tonight's post is on... Mc Loughlin's Unfortunately when David and I arrived here, the kitchen was closed, so … [Read more...]
The Gael – Now Closed
Update: Sadly the Gael closed its doors for the last time in 2017. In Search of ... the Craic Part 1 Earlier this month my friend David Ewen and I went on a pub crawl of Kyoto's Irish pubs to see what they had to offer. Though neither of us are particularly keen on the "gaijin pub" scene, we both occasionally feel a hankering for Irish beer and I especially for traditional … [Read more...]
Baobab at Gnome Irish Pub
Some nice fiddle playing for you today. Here's a short clip from Baobab's performance last night at Gnome. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to stay for the whole gig but what I saw was just lovely. In my next post, a full guide to Kyoto's Irish pubs entitled: In Search of... the Craic. … [Read more...]