So, this is not my review of Ceili Cottage. This is a post about attending a CASK! social (http://casktoronto.wordpress.com/) at Ceili Cottage, which is entirely different. Though it will contain some very positive commentary on the bar in question. Like this:
I love this bar. Here is the skinny: Irish-style bar in Leslieville (Queen St East around Leslie). Run by a world-champion/world-record osyter-schucker, Paddy, who also owns the venerable Starfish, also in Toronto. Ceili Cottage is one of the most “authentic” Irish bars I’ve been to (outside of Ireland). Did I mention I love this bar?
I brought the whole family out (okay, no dogs; the bar is not that authentic), for the CASK! Social.
Quick note: CASK! Social is a monthly(ish) event held by a group of like-minded (if your mind is on cask beer) Torontonians. The deal is, a bar hosts the event, providing seating and some lovely local cask ale. They take place at different bars each month, with the intent being to encourage people to drink at places they might otherwise have missed.
So after a long Saturday morning as a single-father, and a week of neglecting my familial duties, I decided all of us should go out for a bit of cask (okay, Ben only got juice). I was pretty confident Ceili Cottage would be cool with Bentley (remember, they’re the most authentic Irish bar outside of Ireland), but just in case, I dressed him in his Ulster Rugby top.
Sure enough, Ben was welcomed by the CASK! social folks, as well as the bar staff and patrons. Durham was the beer on tap (and pump) that day, with their ESB on hand-pump and their XX IPA on tapped cask. We settled down with the crew, introduced Ben, and got into some lovely pints. Nobody cared when Ben got bored and spent 20 minutes waving to people outside by the fire, or greeted people at the bar. The talk was the usual mix of a bit of sport, a bit of politics, and a lot of beer. The air was filled with happy voices and the aroma of peat smoke (I told you they were Irish). I don’t know if I could have asked for more.
I didn’t have any food, and didn’t spend much time in conversation with the bar staff, but plan to go back (that’s an understatement) and do a proper review. I might go back a few times before the “proper” visit, so my apologies if I keep banging on about them. They seem like the kind of bar I wish was at the top of my street. It’s probably best they’re not, or I would constantly smell like peat smoke, and Erika would catch on……
All-in-all, it was a great afternoon, at a great bar, with some great people. Okay, my teeth are sore from all the sugar I just slung around, I’ve got to go brush.
Go drink at Ceili Cottage, and get some oysters, and let me know how it goes, okay?
http://www.ceilicottage.com/
http://casktoronto.wordpress.com/
