Ladies who dine

After doing my thing with the hosting of the music group and retiring afterwards to the local pub for a pint and a chat, it was time to make my way in to town to meet Carl (a most unusual occurrence, since I'm the one who normally does the spend-time-in-town thing).

We decided during the week to begin with a couple of pints in Mulligan's to celebrate the fact that I'm allowed to drink beer again, and then to let what happened happen. We did that. After Mulligan's we made our way to Chaplin's, across from the Screen cinema. That brought on a reminiscence on my part about the good old days of the Dublin Film Festival when I'd go to several screenings on a single day and pop across to Chaplin's between films. It wasn't coincidence that this year's (much-changed) Festival begins on the 16th. After one drink in Chaplin's we went across to the Screen, where I has two queries: what length would the intervals be between acts during the screening of tomorrow's opera from the MET in New York, and did they have any info about the Film Festival. The second query hit a nerve, since the Screen isn't involved this year despite being a lynchpin of the Festival for fifteen years or more. Anyway, I made all the right noises and left with the info I'd gone across for.

We'd more or less included a meal at some stage during the evening/night, so that's what we went seeking after leaving the Screen. I favoured the new(ish) Rustic Stone, but it was pretty much packed. It was Carl who suggested l'Gueuleton, a place which doesn't accept reservations and usually asks people to wait across the road in the Market Bar. Tonight was the first time I've gone there and been taken straight to a table. I let an American girl at the table beside ours (that's her in the foreground in the blip) persuade me to try Stonebass, a fish I'd never heard of before, while Carl went for the whole baby chicken. I had French Onion soup for starter, while Carl had a large portion of mussels. It was all okay, but not great by any means.

Afterwards we went across to the Market Bar. From there we stopped off at La Maison where I'd had my fabulous meal the other day and booked a table for next Saturday evening. The night ended with drinks in Doyle's pun on College Green, which is the perfect place to wait for the NiteLink, which we got in our separate directions at 1:30 am. A terrific night.