It was foggy all day around The Haight. I was itching to get out of the neighborhood so we hatched a plan for dinner and a movie elsewhere. I was in the mood for pub food, and a Guinness sounded perfect – one of the first places to come to mind for good Guinness is The Irish Bank which also happens to be close to The Metreon, one of my favorite places to see a movie. As for the movie selection, we’d let the pace of dinner dictate our film decision.

One quick and easy trip down the 21 Hayes and we started meandering up Kerny St., never quite sure where the bank of ireland (not that one) was. For the record the address is 10 Mark Lane near the corner of Bush and Grant. The outdoor seating area has grown since the last time I was there, and it was nice and quiet in the early evening hours. We enjoyed Guinness and Leffe, Chedder Fries, Beef Stew with Mash, and Fish and Chips. All of it very satisfying if not very fancy; just good pub food.

After consuming way too many potatoes (we might have created a mini-potato-famine) we ambled off to find a movie. Our timing left us looking at a sold out showing of The Bourne Ultimatum, so we settled on Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix in IMAX. Wow! – for several reasons: fifteen dollars a ticket, huge screen, and 20 minutes of 3-D action. The movie tickets were almost as expensive as dinner but the huge screen and big sound system distracted me quickly. The 3-D action was pretty neat and the technology has come a long way since Jaws 3, in 3-D if I remember my first 3-D picture correctly. The glasses were a bit silly, I got handed the large size as I learned when other patrons showed up with slimmer, slightly cooler looking frames. Yellow too. Sadly there were no previews, a small blemish on a otherwise satisfying casual night out in San Francisco.