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One of my favourite traditions is Robbie Burns Day. Every
Year on January 25, I make sure to eat some haggis, drink some
whiskey and toast the bard.
In the past I have hosted such events at my house and taken personal
responsibility for reading the 'Ode to the Haggis' and various other
poems that are integral to the day. It's not everyday when you get to
get drunk and read bawdy poetry.
This year however, we were feeling a
little burnt out from the holiday party season and decided to invite our
friends out to the Irish Times Pub for their Burns Supper.
Located downtown in Bastion Square in the lavishly renovated building
that used to be the home of the Ralph Lauren shop, the Irish Times tends
to impress visitors with it's spectacular decor. More so than not, most
patrons realise how the construction bills are getting paid - the Irish
Times is not known for value priced food and beer. But hey, Robbie Burns
Day is a special occasion.
We got to the restaurant at about 6pm to
ensure our seats for the 7pm procession of the haggis. We were a little
late apparently as we were reduced to seats on the upper mezzanine. Our
table didn't seam too bad until the evening's events actually began. The
procession of the haggis passed by, but the 'Ode' was recited on the
lower level without amplification. Since they had a band playing later
on that evening it continues to boggle my mind why they didn't use a
microphone so we could all enjoy the poem. That was a serious pisser.
However, there was still fun to be had - we were going to eat our
little haggis friend. The only problem was, we weren't allowed to order
the haggis ($13.99) until after the procession, for some weird,
seemingly bureaucratic reason. As a result, one of our guests had a near
panic attack worrying that they would run out of haggis before getting
to us. Crisis averted, while the silly procedure was a bit upsetting, we
did indeed get the haggis. Having eaten a fair number of haggi in my
day, I was happy to note that our haggis didn't have any of the bitter
taste common to poorly prepared haggi. In fact, while not perfectly
traditional (it was served with gravy and was not doused in whiskey) I
was completely satisfied with their culinary effort. In contrast, we
also ordered the smoked salmon board ($13.99). Hot smoked salmon with
cream cheese, oat cakes, onion relish and chutney, the flavours were
lovely, but it was rather pricey for the portion.
Same goes for the booze - while they have a great selection of import
beers and other libations, you'll easily pay over $6 each for pints of
beer. That adds up pretty fast.
The service was good, but our server was clearly frazzled for the
most part of the evening. For an easily anticipated crowd, I'm guessing
she could have used a little more help.
Reviewed January 25, 2006
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