The Blarney Stone Pub+Elephant&Castle: Seattle

Okay here we are again mixing it up, you guys are getting a two for one here, we hit two spots right in the heart of downtown Seattle. I’m looking at this like the first step in training towards our eventual goal of organizing a half marathon loop around Seattle with stops at 4-5 bars along the way with a bigger group of people. So, look out for that the beer half will be happening eventually. This wasn’t necessarily that though because we just hit the bars back-to-back and they were only about a block away from each other. If I were to analyze it further, perhaps this was just more progress on the way to finding the best pint of Guinness in Seattle. Spoiler alert, don’t think we found it at either of these.

The Run

The run was really fun. A friend and I started it in Fremont and ran a little under a mile to a bar there to meet up with a friend that we haven’t seen in a while. (Planning on doing another run to this unnamed bar in the future so that’s why its not included here). We had a pint of Guinness there though so we were 1 in for the bulk of the run. Our official run took us over the Fremont bridge and along Westlake, so got the usual views of the Lake Union loop. When we got to the end of lake union we continued straight right towards downtown. It was pretty cool to run right into downtown cause its like entering a different world than the lake views. The downside of any city running is having to wait at the occasional light. Also, would not recommend running through Belltown because for a couple blocks, we hit a stretch of the air we were breathing smelling only like human pee and weed. Not a good combo. And the streets were lined with homeless people laying across the sidewalks to avoid for that same stretch. The final few blocks coming down pike place was cool because of all the scenery as it’s probably the most popular tourist spot in Seattle. Crowded though. All in the run was a total of 4.25 miles, and we rocked an average pace of 9:18 miles. My heart rate was around 170 the whole time, so the goal would be to get that down while improving the pacing, but that comes with more running.

Running Route Downtown

The Pub (1)

Pub number 1 of the day was The Blarney Stone, right across the street from Pike Place. This place was very underwhelming. I probably could’ve said that from looking at the outside as it doesn’t look like a good Irish bar, or even a good bar in general. But we had to give it a go nonetheless. The inside was almost like it was just a dive bar but they threw up a couple of Irish decorations on the wall, the place felt very empty and lazy. As for the Guinness, my friend and I agreed that it tasted sour. I would say that it’s a top two worst pint of Guinness I’ve ever had and definitely the worst that I’ve had in Seattle. (the other one was a place in Savannah, Georgia). Still finished my pint regardless as no man left behind. I would however leave this place behind, no need to return.

Inside The Blarney Stone

The Pub (2)

Next, we went a couple of blocks up to a place called Elephant & Castle, which was an English style pub. I found this place to actually be very nice and well decorated. The walls inside were built to look like the outside of one of those classic English cottage homes, and the entryway was very well decorated. Had to get another Guinness, and the difference in quality between this place and the last was night and day. Was actually quite nice here. For appetizer, I got the mini sausage rolls which were pretty good and exactly what they sound like. I thought having them like pigs in a blanket on the appetizer list was clever as they aren’t that popular here. I feel like people would be more inclined to order them as that in Seattle. Then, we got a steak and mushroom meat pie, which had the breading separate and we were meant to combine the two together, which I had not experienced before. I thought the meat pie was very good as well. I really enjoyed this place and would like to go back to it next time I happen to be in the very heart of downtown. It’s also going to be a bit unfair that this place is rated on the same trip as Blarney Stone because they are very different ends of the spectrum, but that’s just the way it goes with PubsontheRun.

All in, the run was very enjoyable for the most part and the two-part bar series was a big hit and an even bigger miss. There are quite a few spots downtown that are begging to be ran to in the future as well.

RATING: 6.6

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *