ith an address like 7 Gaoler’s Mews - a location overlooking Blood Alley, past the police stables, and a capacity of only forty - the Shebeen could well be Vancouver’s best noir bar. And now it’s ready to spoil your reputation right from Tuesday to Sunday!

The décor is simple: brick walls, wooden tables, and a wall of whiskey, twelve feet high. Downstairs features a long granite bar and traditional wooden snug for you and ten of your closest buds to argue the merits of Shaw vs. Wilde. While upstairs you can choose between wooden church pews or the kind of red velvet banquette Jean Harlow would have gotten into trouble on.

There’s attentive, attractively-accented table service, and the food comes from the award-winning kitchen of the Irish Heather. What the Shebeen does not have: a disco ball, ESPN, underage kids doing Jager shots, or a snotty DJ.

The Shebeen is the third venture for Sean and Erin Heather, who seem to be building a small empire at Carrall and Water. The Irish Heather gastropub is the flagship, and the Salty Tongue Irish deli next door also does a brisk business. The Shebeen (Irish for “place you can get hooch”) originally opened for private parties only, but as demand has increased, so have the hours. It’s still available for special events, by arrangement. Two years ago it opened to the public on weekends, and the Heathers have just extended opening from Tuesday through Sunday, five to eleven, giving you plenty of opportunities to get into trouble. The good kind.

Directions: for any normal bar, this wouldn’t take a separate paragraph. But we’ve already established that, whatever the Shebeen may be, “normal” ain’t it. I mean, they don’t even have a margarita slurpee machine! So here we go…