Two Beers and a Bap

In Kilkenny we asked Liam, our B&B host, for a good place for lunch. He liked a pub in town called the Hole in the Wall. Nice, sounds like our kind of place.

After touring the Kilkenny Castle, we were ready for some grub. I remember Liam telling us that the guy who runs the Hole in the Wall is a bit off-the-wall, is full of CRAIC, and opens at odd hours. It's a short block from the tourist information center.

We wandered around the few blocks near the TI looking for A Hole in the Wall. Nope, couldn't find it. We saw plenty of holes in walls but not this joint. Went to the TI to ask. Tourist Information, CLOSED. What, closed mid-day on a Sunday when the town is full of tourist? Oh well, I'll ask next door at the Celtic shop. The lady in there reaffirmed that The Hole in the Wall is just down the street and the proprietor runs odd hours. She actually pointed to the alleyway we should turn into. So we followed her finger. No  Hole in the Wall down there, must be an odd hour, lunchtime?

A sign in the window of a nearby pub said, a pint and a bap-6 Euro. Wow, sounds like a grand deal! A pint alone is nearly 6 Euro. I look at Hali and ask, "what's a bap?" Impatiently she replied, "I don't know, I'm hungry, let's find out." Inside was an old guy at the end of the bar and an older guy behind the bar. I said to the guy behind the bar, "You've got the best deal in town. A beer and a bap for only 6 Euro. We'll take two".

He poured us each a pint of Smithwick's and laid it on the bar. Then he grabbed a loaf of white bread, some ham, cheese, slices of tomato and sandwiched them all together. He put them in a little toaster and said, "It'll be a minute." From the fridge he pulled out a small bottle of mustard and a small bottle of mayo and neatly laid a knife on each bottle next to our pints.

A minute later, he took them off the toaster, put them between us and said, "There ye' go, the best deal in town." We ate them up and agreed that was the best bap we've ever had.

Out the door we went, satisfied. Tucked into the doorway a few doors down was a sandwich board and written in chalk, The Hole in the Wall.

Maybe it should have read, The CRAIC in the Wall.