I’ve been living in Asia for just over 17 years now, and in all that time, I don’t think I’ve ever even thought about it being St. Patrick’s Day  when March 17 rolled around.  This year, thanks to my holiday-loving, red-headed friends, I did remember, and we went together for lunch at O’Malley’s at 42 Taojiang Lu, all decked out in green.  I even took my video camera, and got some pretty nice clips of our outing.  Unfortunately, I left my firewire cable in Singapore, and haven’t downloaded the video yet.  I’ll see if I can’t pick up a new cable tomorrow.

Anyway… O’Malley’s.  I really liked the way the place was set up, with a nice little garden area and an interior that made you want to look for leprechauns in every corner and under every table.  The food was good (lamb stew for me!), and the music was lots of fun.  My friend even got up to dance with his baby girl before the food came, being as we were all settled into a nice little quiet room that we had all to ourselves.

Perhaps the nicest thing was the kids party going on outside.  Shanghai isn’t the most kid-friendly place on earth, as I learned bringing my nephews here.  Even though I don’t have kids with me most of the time, I do enjoy noticing the spots in the city that are good for bringing the little ones.  O’Malley’s has to be one of the places to get mention here, with its playground out front.  They even had a kids’ party for St. Patrick’s Day, which was well-attended and looked like lots of fun.

Basically, the whole area around O’Malley’s is flooded with pubs and restaurants to appeal to the foreign crowd in Shanghai.  It isn’t where I hang out most of the time, but it is nice to pop by once in a while to see what all is going on.  It was fun to see everyone gathering for St. Patrick’s Day, the food was good, and the atmosphere of the place was just right.