Finding a Pub on Friday night

For dinner we wanted to go to a pub, but we had very little idea where to find one. After Dr. O'Boyle's talk, we didn't want to head to the Duke of York, the "ND Pub", or any of the other pubs nearby. We walked down towards Oxford Street looking for a pub, but had a hard time figuring out what establishments were pubs vs normal restaurants. We ended up down at "The Hog in the Pound" just after 8pm, which would normally be serving food, but they had karaoke on Friday nights and stopped serving food at 8. So we ended up walking up a bit more and found a more trendy, "chic" place serving fruity cocktails. We got two party platters and I got a Guinness to go along with it.

We headed back to "The Hog in the Pound" after we ate and watched some fun karaoke. The songs were mostly familiar, and the singers were, on a whole, better than I'd expect from an American karaoke experience, even though I haven't experienced a completely analogous situation in an bar stateside. I ordered what ended up being a pint of Strongbow cider which in my opinion, is a bit too carbonated and too sweet. I've had two ciders since that I've liked better but I don't know their names. All my friends, however, liked the Strongbow better than any other ciders so far.

I've yet to find a drink here I truly enjoy and would purchase again as opposed to trying something new. The lagers, ciders, and ales I drank have been enjoyable for the most part, but nothing stands out as a drink I would prefer over another or over certain beers back in the States.