Killarney's Restaurant and Irish Pub
Recently, I had cause to go to an Irish restaurant in Temecula, which is near where I live in California. The approach was promising, with genuine bits of Irish things attached to the walls, stools arranged around a bar, genuine aged wood seats and so on. The whole thing fell apart soon afterwards. Now there is a strong case for saying that it is unfair of me, as an Irish person, to criticise an attempt by some enterprising individual to capitalise on the goodwill associated with the Irish nation. It could even be said that this sort of thing is just a cheap joke. So here we go. Before we even start, there is apparent confusion about whether Killarney is a person (who might, say, own a restaurant), or a town in Kerry (which it actually is). Then there's the menu, which I have clipped bits out of and pasted below in the traditional fashion. Exhibit 1
Nothing from Lisdoonvarna has "Provolone Cheese" - that's just a fact. After some investigations, it turns out that the probability of anything from Lisdoonvarna involving "Spicy Creme Sauce" also tends towards zero. Exhibit 2
I'm not sure I'm following the logic here. They seem to be suggesting that a dish primarily made from potatoes was developed during the one time there were no potatoes in the country. This would be bad enough, but the use of 'when' seems to indicate that a lack of potatoes would, counterintuitively, lead to potatoes becoming the 'primary food source'. Either there is a word missing, or someone doesn't understand what the word 'famine' means. Exhibit 3
Wonderful. Now some of the less travelled citizens of Temecula will be under the impression that curry forms part of Irish cuisine. Exhibit 4
Things to not do in an Irish restaurant: Exhibit 5
Conversely, conflating the idea sets of 'Killarney' and 'balls' is entirely acceptable, as will be immediately understood by anyone who's ever been there. |
