RetroReviews: 1000012 The Green Room

 I live in Kildare, not Dublin; which means that for the next two weeks (at least), there'll be no further pub visits for me. I do actually have a few from two weeks ago that are not yet written up, and will appear in the next few days, but I've been intending to do what this post starts for some time now...

At the start of this project, I figured out that I had already drunk in about 130 pubs; which I marked off the now much abused spreadsheet I've used to keep track of where I am with the project. As Revenue updates came in, or pubs reopened - or, in a few cases, I had a sudden remembrance of a long-lost night out - a few further pubs have been marked off as previously visited.

I want to eventually be able to link to every pub's post when mentioned, which means I need to write up these 130 or so reviews. Some are going to be particularly abrupt; and if I ever get around to doing the small number that were closed prior to the Revenue open data era there's going to be at least one "I know I was here, but I can't remember a thing" - for Polly Hops in Newcastle.

I'll be going in the order my spreadsheet has them in, which is number order; so what better place to start than with the lowest numbered pub in Dublin - The Green Room on Sheriff Street.

This pub is part of the Liffey Trust complex of apartments, studios, offices and kitchens; which replaced a former equivalent, destroyed by fire in 2002. As the old building was apparently uninsured, I must assume the rebuild was funded by the apartments which the previous setup didn't have.

This is very near to where I work; and was one of the few places doing lunches when I started working there; so I've been a fairly frequent visitor for that, and also the occasional drinks before going to something in the 3Arena or the Gibson. However, since the opening of 1015426 Rubys, I've rarely been back, the reason for which will become clear.

The pub has its normal sized area, which is what is open regularly for lunchtime trade as well as its locals; some of whom even have customised bar stools; and a significantly larger area and second bar which I have only ever seen open for major gigs in the 3Arena.

Its fine as a drinking pub; but I've never liked the food (excepting for one day there was a BBQ in the smoking area, actually); and Rubys food is both better and cheaper so the majority of my business has moved. It should be fine from its locals and gig trade once this comes back to normal; though.