Skip the Food, Pass the Guinness

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

I don't make it a practice to venture into Maryland, which will sound hilarious to anyone living outside the D.C. Metro area. For all of you in the know though, you understand the horrors of the words Beltway traffic. Interested in grabbing a bite to eat between two different workshops I attended for my job on the same day and completely adverse to the idea of trying to drive back to Virginia only to have to turn back around immediately, my friend recommended that I try The Irish Inn at Glenn Echo in Maryland.

Perhaps the cutest little Irish place in the world, the outside of the Inn is a large, beautiful, almost shabby chic yellow house that anyone with a right mind would love to live in. The place is so spacious because in actuality, it is two places in one. Once you enter, you can choose either the pub door or the restaurant door. In a rush, I chose the pub.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

My friend had pumped me up for the Kildare Melt, real ham, tomatoes, caramelized onions and Irish Cheddar with Guinness mustard. Unfortunately, that menu was unavailable, so I got to eat off the proper dinner menu. Not wanting to break the bank (especially since it's not my bank, it's my job's), I ordered the Irish hamburger. Also topped with Irish cheddar and Guinness mustard, I figured it was the next best thing.

From Another Cook in the Kitchen

I'm sorry to report that I can't say I was wowed. It was a burger, totally standard. The mustard was good, but difficult to detect among all the different flavors, and I didn't really taste anything all too special about the cheese. The fries were pretty good though, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I love all fries more than all burgers. However, if this place has anything, it's atmosphere. As soon as you walk in the pub, you can forget about that cute little yellow house you just saw outside. This place is full of "My Goodness, My Guiness" posters and is basically only a small bar and a bunch of tables, no pretenses.

The regulars were greeted by name by the staff, and the people watching was great. I sat down next to an old man (I believe English, but I don't have all my accents down) that was sharing a few drinks with an American friend, and perhaps coworker. When the bartender asked them if they wanted a food menu, I got a kick out of them saying, without any sense of humor, "No, we're just drinking today."

The American, a downtrodden middle-aged man, freely called any woman any of his friends were married to "bitches," praised aloud his gratefulness about not being a father and referred to one particularly annoying friend's wife as a "red-headed," I believe stout, woman. Seeing a stranger sitting down at not even close to the end of the day with a friend, sharing a few pints of Guinness and Irish coffee and talking about the dangers of women and money tickled me completely.

I'll depart with a few words of wisdom from the man next to me at the bar. When I asked for my check, the Englishman bent toward me, showing his yellowed bottom teeth has he said, "How was the hamburger?" I replied that it was alright, but that the mustard was interesting at least. It had Guinness in it. "The mustard really has Guinness in it? Interesting. I usually avoid the food at this place." Spoken like a true regular.

The menus for the Irish Inn can be found at its Web site, http://www.irishinnglenecho.com.

I'll be back at some point to review Georgetown's Tackle Box lobster shack and hopefully give you the downlow on how to make a pesto this weekend!