Bars

Tucked away down the end of a laneway, in the eco-design Daintree Building, it’s safe to say you won’t stumble across this place by chance. Despite – or perhaps because of – this, it is very popular, and the tiny, quirky-cool interior, though charming, can get a bit claustrophobic at lunchtime; so I strongly suggest arriving at off-peak hours.

However, additional seating is available in the cleverly designed courtyard area outside if the weather permits (and they will provide hot water bottles if required!).

Open for breakfast and afternoon tea, there is an all-day menu including Portugese sardines on toast, tapas with “an Irish twist,” or the hot pot of the day. An impressive range of teas, and small selection of wines, are also available. The home-baked cookies and cakes are delicious.

In his classic 1939 novel At-Swim-Two-Birds, Flann O’Brien’s unnamed student protagonist describes how “That same afternoon I was sitting on a bar stool in an intoxicated condition in Grogan’s licensed premises.” Walk into this scruffy, ’70s-style boozer mid-afternoon any day of the week and it can feel (absence of smoke aside) like little has changed since the days when O’Brien, Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh and the like were raising hell around town and drinking themselves into an early grave.

It is still the favourite haunt of what remains of Dublin’s literary, artistic and bohemian set. The artists get to admire their own works – mostly of dubious quality – which are on sale display throughout the pub. On a Friday or Saturday night, the place invariably gets pretty crowded as a younger generation of bohos arrive in.

If you get peckish, the traditional Dublin pub grub choice is on offer – you can have your ham and cheese sandwich either plain or toasted. There is also an outdoor seating area – something of a rarity in Dublin. On a sunny evening, seats here are like gold dust.

Dublin has been slow to embrace the “gastropub” craze that has swept Britain in recent decades. Our pubs have tended to stick to what they do best – serving pints with crisps, although plenty dish out those depressing carvery dinners with soggy vegetables.

I’ve always been rather sceptical of the idea of pubs doubling up effectively as restaurants, so I was pleasantly surprised when I first visited this venture in Stoneybatter.

L. Mulligan Grocer is a converted old man’s pub, so it still has that traditional pub look, and a buzzing atmosphere on weekend nights. You can sample some of the extensive range of craft beers and stouts on offer at the bar, before being seated in an upstairs dining area.

The menu is short, which is usually a good sign, and staple gastropub dishes such as rib-eye steak, pork belly, bangers and mash, and fish and chips are all well executed.

Stoneybatter is a little off the beaten track, but a suggestion would be to combine a meal here with a visit to two of my favourite bars – Frank Ryan’s and the Dice Bar (check the articles Frank Ryan’s and the Dice Bar).

I have long bemoaned the depressingly uniform range of generic beers on offer in Irish pubs. The Guinness is magnificent of course, but beyond that one is faced with the same old dismal choice of Budweiser, Carlsberg, Smithwicks, Coors Light, etc.

The Porterhouse microbrewery in Temple Bar has provided an alternative option for Dublin beer connoisseurs but is a bit of a tourist trap.

Thankfully, however, there has been something of a brewing renaissance in Ireland in recent years, with a number of microbreweries opening throughout the country and making gradual inroads with their products.

Against the Grain offers some of the finest examples of this new range of Irish craft beers on tap – including some from its own microbrewery in Galway, and is a welcome addition to Dublin’s drinking scene. I was particularly pleased to note that they also have on tap one of my favourite beers to be found anywhere – California’s Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The range of bottled beers on offer is extensive and well chosen.

The food menu here (which I have not yet tried), appears to offer a more upmarket take on traditional bar food staples, and the place has a bit a of a gastropub feel up to about 21:00, when the music cranks up and it becomes more a regular boozer. The absence of television screens is welcome.

This space on Wexford Street has been a graveyard for numerous ventures over the years. Hopefully ATG will buck the trend.

Long, dark and narrow inside, with a soundtrack of classic rock n’ roll standards, Frank Ryan’s is the kind of place where it always feels like midnight. Part traditional Dublin pub, part New York dive bar, the place is festooned with old posters, photos, music memorabilia and assorted tat, ranging from the fascinating to the downright bizarre.

Items hanging from the ceiling include pairs of old workmen’s boots stuffed with flowers (as you do), and a washing line full of underwear. Anywhere else, this would seem either hopelessly contrived or just plain bonkers. In Frank Ryan’s, it all seems perfectly natural. The place is the real deal.

The barmen are chatty and friendly, the pint is consistently good and – something of a rarity in the city these days – there’s a pool table down the back. Granted, its so cramped you have to use a child-size cue on many shots, but its all part of the quirky charm. There’s live music also on Thursday nights.

Frank Ryan’s happens to directly across the road from another of my favourite haunts, The Dice Bar (check the Dice Bar article), which I’ve already reviewed on this site. Combining the two on a night out in Smithfield makes a pleasant change from the usual city centre stomping grounds.