Beijing Boyce

No mud at The Volunteer (photo: torontoist.com)

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After that heartbreaking “too many men on the field” penalty against Saskatchewan in last year’s Grey Cup, this year’s rematch between the Roughriders and Montreal Alouettes for the Canadian Football League championship should be a good one. You can catch the 98th Grey Cup at The Irish Volunteer from 7 AM on Monday. As usual, the “big breakfast” will be available for RMB35. And co-owner / honorary Canuck George Smith will have Canadian barley pop a.k.a. Moosehead at RMB15 a bottle.

The Irish Volunteer (map) became the unofficial hockey home for a good swath of the city’s Vancouver Canucks* fans  as well as a few Chicago Black Hawks and Washington Capitals followers during this year’s NHL playoffs. Unfortunately for them, all three teams have been knocked out, and we know have a Steel Town-Motor City showdown, with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings facing off in the Stanley Cup finals. You can catch the first game on  Sunday at 8 AM at The Irish Volunteer – the usual breakfast deals apply. Note: The Goose and Duck (map) is also showing the games, though the slingbox feed can get choppy at times.

* Given that next year marks four decades since the Canucks started and the team has yet to win a cup, I will now refer to them as the Vancouver 40-year-old Virgins.

See also:
Service in Beijing: A horde of hockey fans versus The Irish Volunteer
NHL playoffs in Beijing: Canucks versus Black Hawks at The Irish Volunteer
NHL Playoffs: Catch Canucks games at The Irish Volunteer

People love to complain about service in Beijing, with some comments fair and some comments whiny, but there are times when it is hard to find a bone to pick. Such was the case on Sunday morning as more than two dozen hockey fans showed up to watch  an NHL playoff game at The Irish Volunteer (map). This is what they experienced:

• Mugs, whether for beer or coffee, filled in reasonable time.
• Breakfasts coming out at a steady pace.
• Orders for food and drink competently filled whether given in English or Mandarin.
• Bills calculated accurately for each patron.
• Polite service throughout the morning.

Number of patrons: 30.

Number of waitresses: 1.

Yes, a single waitress handled all those sports fans as they inhaled breakfasts and guzzled beer, cocktails, and coffee for three hours. Places such as The Rickshaw would do well to discover the secret of this service success, as I have found myself outnumbered by employees yet, in comparison to The Irish Volunteer, have waited longer for meals or drinks (and at times received the wrong order), found errors in the bills or my bill included with those of people I am not even there with (or both), and found employees who have trouble dealing with simple tasks. Sometimes less is more, and when it comes to service staff, having one competent employee can be worth more than a half-dozen who struggle to do the job.

Twenty Vancouver Canucks fans – and one Chicago Black Hawks fan – got their NHL playoff fix at The Irish Canadian Volunteer (map) yesterday morning. Along with an excellent game – Vancouver won after Chicago came back with a trio of goals to tie it at three – patrons enjoyed plenty of banter, RMB30 breakfasts, beer, coffee, and that Great White North specialty poutine (see photo below). Catch the next game tomorrow, Sunday, at 9 AM.

The Irish bar contingent has a new member: Backed by Frank’s Place investors Graham Forbes and George Smith, among others, The Irish Volunteer is a cozy spot near a couple of massage parlors and a nail salon on the north side of the Lido Holiday Inn (map). Decked out in woods, greens, and off-whites, the pub can fit about 30 in a narrow front area populated by stools, a larger space with chairs, tables, and bar, and a private room. Smith says The Irish Volunteer is “a place for conversation” and complements Frank’s Place, which has a strong sports focus.

Put together in a few weeks, the pub includes a bar built by Guinness, the old Hard Rock Cafe chairs, and tables from a closed restaurant, a mishmash that creates an unpretentious space to enjoy a few beers with friends. The initial food menu will include Irish breakfast, daily stews and soups, and an array of sandwiches, with plans to add fare such as burgers and fish n’ chips. Drink pieces will be similar to those at Frank’s Place, with an obvious focus – based on signage  and bar theme – on Guinness.

The pub’s name is a reference to The Rising in Ireland, a 1916 insurrection led by a volunteer army against British rule. One investor said the name “is a little bit political, but mostly historical.”

The Irish Volunteer officially opens on April 3.