Guinness Tavern, Paris

I discovered this place almost by accident one day years back while I was living in Paris. It was one of those completely unexpected discoveries, especially since we had already come to the conclusion that a good Guinness is tough in London. And Paris? One word: the Guinness was unexpectedly amazing.

I've been to the Tavern on multiple occasions. There was a darker period over the years when the Guinness wasn't so good, but my last visit proved this is definitely the place to go for a proper pint (or two, or...). Service is very friendly, and they have live music in the evenings. Inside, a real tavern experience, which spills out way into the street in the summer. Even at 6 Euro a pint, it is well worth it.

Score:

Guinness (/10): 9
Atmosphere (/5): 5
Service (/5): 5

Base Score: 19

Bonus:
Kilkenny (/4): 2 - good, but not as great

Bonus Score:3

Final Score: 19/20 + 2 Bonus

The Rating System

We've thought long and hard about the rating system to use. We went through a number of iterations, many of them ruled out for either being too complicated or not being representative of our goal. We though of giving points for supplementary things, such as a good Kilkenny (which we find easier to find vs. a good Guinness). However, what if a pub doesn't have a Kilkenny on tap?

As such, we split the rating system into two parts: the base and the bonus. The base is the same for all places: up to 10 points for a Guinness (to date, no pub gathered a full 10); up to 5 for service; and up to 5 for atmosphere (which encompasses decor, mood, and the visitors, amongst other things). We've discovered getting above 15 points is quite hard, mostly due to it being so hard to arrive at more than 5-6 points on the Guinness scale. Any pub that can do that will land in the Top Pubs tag. Most can't.

The bonus is more of a guideline rather than a rule. We give up to 4 points for a Kilkenny, if present, and then between up to 1 and 3 points for other items, such as food (if really worth it), billiards (if good), Boddington's, or a great whiskey selection. The bonus points are more made to support places that have something there but don't quite make it on the Guinness scale. A good bonus score is meant to showcase a place is worthwhile, but mileage may vary depending on what you're looking for.

We may continue to adjust the system to better reflect the goal of this blog: to find the best Guinness in Toronto (though we've already branched out to other cities). Any comments or suggestions are always welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Guinness Quest. Having traveled a bit, and tasted some great Guinness, and some not so great, we searched high and low for a great Guinness in Toronto. In the beginning, we had no idea it would be such a challenge. It’s one of those drinks that doesn’t take well to transportation, and it’s not the most popular stuff here.

The idea to create a blog came about somewhere unexpectedly, some time ago. We toyed with it a little bit, and then went about to create a rating. It’s all still in a state of flux. But we’ve agreed to a bare minimum, that in order to pass the test, at least two pints need to be consumed.

We also reluctantly agreed to let in other beers as raters: Kilkenny tends to be a safer back-up option, so it’s also given some weight. We also permit “other beers”, and look at atmosphere and service. But the ratings are weighted.

As we go along, we’ll post places we visit and our notes. And we welcome your comments, hints and suggestions. As it’s hard to find a good bar review out there (yes, there are a bunch of sites reviewing restaurants, bars, etc, but none of them really give an easy way to find the best drink), we wanted to make it easier for all locals and visitors to find a great place to get a great drink.

Cheers!