Dirty glasses, crazy dancing and old men at O’Sheas Irish Pub

So my friend suggested that I check out the Irish Pub on Lijnbaan, because it’s chill, serves good beer and is, like, really chill. Which is also why you’re free to give this one a miss if you’re so inclined.

If you’re a woman, you may as well stop reading now. You see, O’Shea’s Irish Pub seems to be a guy’s hang-out. A place where men come together in large numbers, watch sport and cheer loudly after a penalty has been taken. Although many of these men do have longer hair than the average male, so there is that.

A friendly bouncer stands in front of the pub. He smiles and actually opens the door for us. Inside we find a variety of high and low tables, a large bar and a little living-room-like nook, replete with rugs and sofas. We like the fruit machines sitting close to the nook. Unfortunately, no one seems willing to gamble away all their hard-earned cash on this particular Friday evening.

As I said, women are few and far between here, if you don’t count the handful of Geordie Shore-like demi-males. The few women who do deign to enter the pub invariably belong to the groups of men who are already inside. The men in those groups surround these members of the opposite sex and perform crazier dances as the evening grows older, without impressing anyone.

O’Shea’s is a man cave. It’s a place where you withdraw from the world with older guys – mostly in their thirties – and drink beer from dirty glasses, so dirty that you can barely see through them. Rumour has it that the toilets are downright disgusting. Your humble reviewer felt no burning need to verify the truth of this rumour.

But yes, it’s a fine place to catch up with friends every once in a while. If you like beer, you’ll find plenty of it here. And I have no doubt that Tuesday evenings, when the pub hosts a pub quiz, are a fun time. No doubt the musicians who play here every now and then are fun, too.

So if you happen to have long hair, a thirsty gob and a bunch of thirty-somethings who don’t know how to move, consider giving this place a shot. You won’t find the love of your life here, if the love of your life is something remotely resembling a female, but that may actually be a good thing.