"There are better beers than Harp," Gil says. "But it's very appropriate for today. St Patrick's Day. He's the saint special to Ireland and the heraldic symbols of Ireland is a harp so ..."

While he has been speaking he has stroked the Bar and obtained a plate with a good-sized helping of pie with a nice dollop of colcannon at the side. He pushes t across the Bar and adds a knife and fok wrapped in a napkin.

"There you go," he says. "One Beef and Guinness Pie."