Monday, October 25th, 2010—Bar 288
Day 288—Sunday, October 24th, 2010
Bua
Okay, I have to go to the doctor’s to get my bloodwork done early tomorrow morning to check my cholesterol and to see if my liver is starting to quiver, so I’m heading out early. I’m going to a bar on St. Marks Place called Bua that was suggested by Megan from La Flaca where I went last Thursday. She used to work there and recommended it for the bar crawl, so it’s off to Bua we go!
Here it is, Bua bar, let's check it out.
Wow, this is one dark bar, the only lighting in the place is candles. Nice!
Shane's the bartender for the evening and he's quick with a beer.
Cheers, everybody!
The walls are brick and the bottles are illuminated by flickering candles.
Nice quote behind the bar.
Victoria's a former New Yorker who now lives in San Francisco.
A shot of the bar in all it's darkened glory!
The candle=lit brick walls in the bar give it an earthy atmosphere.
There's wooden communal tables and a nice window view of the street in the back room.
A wooden railing lines the walls.
These two ladies are seated next to me at the bar, let's go and say hi.
It turns out they're both from Amsterdam. Felicia on the left lives here now and Hanneka is visiting. Cheers, ladies!
A long shot of the bar.
Okay, time for Sunday dinner. Shane recommended the pulled pork sliders, so that's what I'm having.
And here they are.
They're served with pickles and homemade country mustard.
Delicious!
Burp.
And Shane continues the one finger bartender salute. Goodnight, everybody! (Thanks to Fat Al over at the Half Empty Glass for a shout out about the new tradition here.)
Review
As I stated above in the introduction, I have to go get my bloodwork done early today (it’ll probably come out as foam!) so I have no time to write the review. Here’s a review from New York magazine (it’s one of their critics’ picks). Good luck getting through Monday!
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Long before Bua called it home, 122 St. Marks Place was the original locale of musical hub Sin-é, where a scrappy Jeff Buckley used to play for tips. Now a comfy bar full of Tisch and Cooper Union students, the joint’s Irish in name (Bua is Gaelic for “victory”) but not in practice, forgoing the usual pub hodgepodge for more capricious comforts: cauldrons of sangria and a sprightly cocktail menu instead of an extensive whiskey library, Berkshire pulled-pork sliders in place of bangers and mash or shepherd’s pie. The space itself is divided into two big rooms, each as large as your typical Manhattan dive, with long oak benches ensuring room for dozens. (The outdoor patio’s wicker furniture, however, is a slightly deceiving touch—drinks aren’t allowed outside.) And with shows long a thing of the past, the bar’s patrons are now the main attraction: In the space’s flickering candlelight, the chatty twentysomethings all look lovely. — Tom Blunt
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BUA
122-126 St. Marks Pl. (Near 1st St.)
212-979-6276
15 References
Reader Comments (25)
Love the cave-like atmosphere in this place! Dark, brick and woody! And the one-finger bartender tradition continues! Love it!
Place looks awesome sort of like "Silence of the lambs" where Jody Foster is walking in the dungeon prison.. Those walls and the candles gives off a great atmosphere. Great looking pulled pork,,,,I hope your Doctor says you are fit as a fiddle.
Kinda has an old british kind of vibe to it
love it!
love the one fingered bartender tradition
and i hope the doc says you are in perfect health and do another year of crawling!
HA!
Love the looks of this place and I'm impressed that they feature a pickle plate - something you don't see every day! Seems like a happy crowd, too. I haven't been to San Francisco in years, but Victoria makes me want to go back. If your 365 calendar has a "nicest smile" award, she should win! Anyhoo, glad you had a good din-din. Have fun at the doctor's. TO YOUR LIVER!!
Another great place!
With a "Pickle Plate" and "Pulled Pork" they should name a sandwich after Brett Farve.
@everyone: A good report from the doctor, blood pressure is good, cholesterol is fine and the liver hasn't started to quiver! Onwards and crawlwards!
Oops.
I spelled Favre wrong.
Damn you non-editable posts!
@"Boris:" I can edit the posts, just let me know next time and I'll fix it right up!
Judging by your pictures, Bua looks like the perfect place to take a date, but the name suggests a bunch of liquored up Army Rangers getting ready to break their collective foot off in some Al Qaeda's ass. BUYA!!! @ Boris; Good one! Lately, that's all they talk about here in Minnesota, Brett Favre and his inability to keep his fabled pork sword in his pants!
Oh by the way Marty...I'm glad they didn't find anything going on inside you worthy of a soap opera...'In Search of My 365 Tomorrows' perhaps.....
Wow! I think this is certainly a favourite of mine so far. I really love the dark cave-like ambiance with the candles. It looks very old and antique-ey. Those pulled pork sliders look sooo good! I love the term sliders, lol. I'm hungry now.
"NUCLEAR ENERGY MAY BE ONE THING THAT WILL FINALLY PROVE TO US THAT ALL MEN ARE CREMATED EQUAL"
-Alfred E. Neuman.
@365: Ya bloods worth bottling!
@Jaws, has Favre's sponsors pulled the pin on him yet????when i was in SD last year thats all the ads you'd see on tv was fukin' Favre prancing round in Wrangler jeans & driving chevy utes...
@marty, remember "The Liver is Evil & Must Punished!!!"....naa good onya mate, good result from ya quack....
& that joint looked pretty cool, Victoria gets my fav' smile on her dial award, very cute....
@clacky, talkin' on the liver front, you'd be able to cook up a mean Lambs Fry & Bacon for breaky would'nt ya mate??.....& how long til ya on tha piss with marty? Melbourne Cup is not far away, & no doubt ya would have heard bout Staphi Katstidis (i cant spell) kickin' the bucket the poor littl' bugger...i'll put it down to heart failure, when you get a bloke walking around at 63kilo & has to go to work at 51kg it mite be putting a bit of a strain on the littl' bloke's heart loosing that weight all the time...i'll miss him, he won me a few $$$'s following him over the years....
@Tim Clack: Love the Alfred E. Neuman quote! If any blood is spilled while you're here, it's all yours!
@fitzy: Thanks mate and I agree with you and Biff about Victoria's smile, dazzling!
@Fitzy: Unfortunately I can do a mean lams fry and bacon but it will co$t you. I've seen too many cowboy cooks destroy it....personally, I can't stand it but you've given me a new menu idea for when I start my new job in November....I reckon this time next week we'll be boozing it up with Marty. I'd never heard of that Jockey before he died...apparently he had a taste for ecstasy and other assorted amphetamines....so yes, I'd put it down to heart failure (I based my comment on the reliable source that is channel 9 news. Reliable?). I think we'll miss the cup. Calculating......the U.S is a day behind Oz....which will mean that the cup will be sometime on the Monday and dare say we'll be too fucked from the travelling to care. Brett Favre is the Shane Warne of American Football.
@365: If thats the case I'd better up my travel insurance. I've got a whole book of Neuman quotes. He's like Ghandi in this house.
@Jaws: Brett Favre and his 3 intercepted passes yesterday?...thats what I call Pulled Pork!
@Tim Clack: What him Ghandi?
tim you fuck...kissing up to 365 'cause he traded his mads for an ounce of pot...bringing up alferd e quires after traded those classics for fuckin' pot ...would've held out for sweet cousin cocaine...damn ...a bar comment ...forgot i was at bua...thought maybe save the last bar for "victory"...KOC
rr
@raginrr: Goddamn, you know my life better than me!
the rest....don't know what it's like...to say "see motherfucker"...KOC
rr
damn...the kinks are in the air waves...and i'm a couple rooms away....KOC
I'll have what he's having.
Love the new tradition of the two fingered salute!
@Stick it up your ass: Glad you're enjoying it, nice passive aggressive handle you've got there!
Bua is a very cool bar indeed. Great choice Marty and I do love that quote!!