Monthly Archive for June, 2005

Page 2 of 2

Tropical Cafe

Published on June 16, 2005 in Outside Ireland. 0 Comments

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The pub that we frequented most on our holiday was the ‘Tropical Cafe’. The first night we were there we saw an ad for Karaoke and we headed in. There are two bars available, one outside and one inside. On a normal night a band or a Bulgarian Elvis impersonator could be seen playing the outside venue. The Tropical Cafe is open 24 hours a day. You can order hot food and alcohol all night long. The inside bar is where the karaoke takes place and the main band perform in between. The big pints of beer cost 3 lev which equates to 1 euro fifty. Imagine that would be classed as expensive there. Amazingly they had Murphy’s on tap but i didn’t actually end up trying it. Only in Cork is the motto! Both the inside and the outside bars had plenty of comfortable seating and there was normally space available. Our Karaoke compere for our nights there was a girl named Goldy. She informed me that she was a famous television star in Bulgaria when not working here. She told me she is a comedian but delivered no jokes! There was songs galore sung and the usual Irish craic was had. On our last night I got to sing ‘Delaneys Donkey’ which was fun and all of our table sang late into the night including a bad version of ‘The Langer’ We met a nice couple from Cork, Brendan and Claire and they were very easy going and fun. We also met a guy called Craig and some girls from Scotland that were nice too. The bar staff were all very friendly and the pub certainly had the best atmosphere of any we visited while there.

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The toilets are a bit of a laugh. In most places in Bulgaria there is a charge to use public toilets. The people sitting outside are making a fortune for themselves. Half the time you do not get any change and they are assured of making plenty of money. The toilets were small but were well kept. I really enjoyed my nights in the Tropical Cafe and if i head back i will head there again. We left there at 07:00 on out last night after getting pizza at about 06:00! It seemed a good idea at the time. If you ever visit Albena pay these bars a visit and sing a few songs. A really fun spot.

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Toilet rating: 6/10
Pint rating: 8/10
Overall rating: 8/10

Final comment: The Tropical Cafe is one of if not the best bars in Albena. All are welcome which is more than can be said for everywhere.

The Ralitsa Hotel

Published on June 16, 2005 in Outside Ireland. 0 Comments

I have just returned from an excellent trip to Bulgaria in Eastern Europe. We stayed in the costal resort of Albena and it was great. It is an up and coming holiday destination. Our accomodation was at the all inclusive ‘Ralitsa Hotel’. This is a fine complex consisting of 2 hotels, 2 swimming pools and a variety of bars and restaurants. The food isn’t great there to be honest but the local beer they have is great. There are many bars to choose from, including a pool bar and snack bar. The idea of going all inclusive is strange to say the least. You stand at the bar and get your drinks only to realise they are already paid for, great! All i drank in the hotel in terms of the alcohol is beer. We met very nice people from Ireland in the hotel. Their names were Martin, Julie and their little boy, Adam. The pints of beer were very good even though i am not accostomed to beer tasting!

Their toilet facilities were in fact very good it has to be said. There were many dotted around the hotels. The mixture of people were mainly German and English with the odd few of us Irish. Overall the hotel was a grand spot to have a few drinks. The bars close at 12 so it is then time to head into town at this stage. Fine for a quiet few drinks.

Toilet rating: 7/10
Pint rating: 7/10
Overall rating: 7/10

Final comment: The Ralitsa Hotel is a very clean and modern hotel about 10 minutes walk from Albena.

200 PUB REVIEWS

Published on June 1, 2005 in Announcements. 1 Comment

We are proud to announce that we at Munster Pubs have now reviewed 200 pubs in the region and beyond. Some counties have no reviews as of yet but will be reviewed in the future. We are based in Cork and most of the reviews will continue to be around the city and county. We are really enjoying visiting different places and pubs. There are only two of us directly involved and we review pubs in our own free time. All expenses are our own but that leaves us free to travel and review as we please. We are in the process of producing cards and t-shirts at present. Please leave comments on the pubs you read whether good or bad. We like to receive feedback and suggestions. Thank you to everyone who has visited us, we update at least every week so there will always be a new pub reviewed. Again, if you know of a pub that should be reviewed for any reason then let us know.

Thanks,

Eoin and Ryan

Counihans Bar

Published on June 1, 2005 in Cork. 1 Comment

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To find Counihans Bar head to Pembroke Street in the city center. This is another of those pubs that i have passed loads of times but never went in. I was there for a 21st birthday party the other night. The party was in their function room upstairs. I passed through the downstairs and it looked decent enough. I was immediately impressed with the function room as i walked in. It appeared to be bright and spacious. I spotted the small bar straight ahead and quickly ordered my pint of Murphy’s. I spotted the people i knew and joined them at their table. It was quite hot and stuffy in the room and it was a relief when some guy opened the window to ventilate the room. The only problem i had with the room was we were sitting in a very narrow area that was difficult to get out of when it got busy. The pints of stout weren’t great but as with most upstairs rooms this is the case.

I used the toilets before i left the pub and they are relatively small but appeared to be in fairly good condition. Counihans appears to be a decent spot to have a party and it is very central, less than a minute from Patrick Street. The smokers congregated outside the front of the pub as i was leaving.

Toilet rating: 6/10
Pint rating: 6/10
Room rating: 8/10
Overall rating: 7/10

Final comment: I didn’t get to check out the pub downstairs in Counihans. Their function room is quite decent.