This is, or at least was, an early house and the only (or last, if it has ceased to be) one trading outside the city itself. Come Here To Me's 2019 early house listing still states that it opens at 8am, but I was there a bit later than that.
There's multiple sections to this premises - two bars and a restaurant. I opted for the Fishermans Bar, expecting it to be somewhat like the pubs back on Arranmore Island, and it didn't fail in that regard. It felt quite specifically like Phil Ban's - which has very few photos on their Facebook, so you'll just have to believe me.
Like anywhere on the seafront in Howth, the bar was busy with tourists considering the abnormally good weather for the time of year. Its quite an old-fashioned bar, but I suspect that is part of the selling point for the tourists and may also be what it needs to get the actual harbour trade customers in the off-season - these will be who the early house licence is for, at least nominally.
Heineken's sales reps have been busy getting Beamish in to pubs across Howth (and well, everywhere) so that is what I picked here. May as well try to keep the costs down, as this is quite an expensive endeavour! The rest of the standard expected macros are also available.
Tuesday, 2 April 2019
Monday, 1 April 2019
S0105 Kavanaghs (New Street)
This is diagonally opposite Peader Browns of the previous post, however as far as I know it is still the original building - the only one along this section of road which was significantly widened in the 1980s and 1990s.
This is quite a traditional inner suburban pub, relatively similar to Peadar Browns in that regard. However, its a larger premises and was slightly quieter as a result. Its a bit hard to figure out how to write something even semi-unique about pubs which are fundamentally quite similar; something I hadn't really thought of as an issue ~250 pubs ago when I decided to write up each one.
It was here that I found out that the "Samsung" phone charger I'd bought in a shop down the road was a complete dud - there were no obvious sockets available in other pubs. Probably expecting too much for a fiver!
This is quite a traditional inner suburban pub, relatively similar to Peadar Browns in that regard. However, its a larger premises and was slightly quieter as a result. Its a bit hard to figure out how to write something even semi-unique about pubs which are fundamentally quite similar; something I hadn't really thought of as an issue ~250 pubs ago when I decided to write up each one.
It was here that I found out that the "Samsung" phone charger I'd bought in a shop down the road was a complete dud - there were no obvious sockets available in other pubs. Probably expecting too much for a fiver!
Saturday, 30 March 2019
S2517 Peadar Browns
In the various Dublin Corporation road widening and general development schemes that defined much of 1980s to early 1990s Dublin, there were promises that the destroyed pubs would be replaced by new ones in the replacement buildings. As far as I can tell, it virtually never happened - with one exception. Well, one that's still open - I think there was another in the North city centre that was itself redeveloped again out of existence.
That one is Peadar Browns, formerly Kate McAuleys and The Weavers. Sited on the ground floor corner unit of a late 1980s apartment block built back to the expected new line of Clanbrassil Street, it is actually slightly further back than the new building line due to the scaling back of Dublin Corportation's plans.
The pub is a mix of an inner suburban pub, and something more central, with quite a lot of tourists coming in due to short term lets and nearby attractions like the Teelings tour. A similar synposis of the atmosphere and crowd by Publin.ie is quoted on the pubs own website, so they clearly don't disagree. Trad music is on offer many nights of the week.
Personally I'd prefer some of the premises slightly closer to the city, but this is still quite a decent pub.
That one is Peadar Browns, formerly Kate McAuleys and The Weavers. Sited on the ground floor corner unit of a late 1980s apartment block built back to the expected new line of Clanbrassil Street, it is actually slightly further back than the new building line due to the scaling back of Dublin Corportation's plans.
The pub is a mix of an inner suburban pub, and something more central, with quite a lot of tourists coming in due to short term lets and nearby attractions like the Teelings tour. A similar synposis of the atmosphere and crowd by Publin.ie is quoted on the pubs own website, so they clearly don't disagree. Trad music is on offer many nights of the week.
Personally I'd prefer some of the premises slightly closer to the city, but this is still quite a decent pub.
Friday, 29 March 2019
S1438 MVP
I was still seeking out food, and MVPs website has a Thursday-Saturday menu on it, so surely I'd get my dinner here?
Well, no - it wasn't available that specific evening, I didn't ask for details why. I ended up in Pinheads (again) for that.
MVP is a Bodytonic pub, and due to forgetting that they have opened 1006999 The Lighthouse in Dun Laoghaire I had written a bit about having now visited all of them. Well, I haven't yet. I'm not sure if the name is meant to place it in the Bodytonic sports bar range of pubs, or is a reference to something else entirely; but if so its the smallest of them and generally still feels quite like a traditional suburban pub rather than the high sports decoration of S0145 The Square Ball and N0120 The Back Page. This was a bit of rushed visit as I really did need to get food somewhere, and had I not been specifically pub-bagging I would probably have asked about food before buying a pint.
And now for the history bit. There's a relatively high density of pubs in this area, and then fairly large areas beyond without in all directions. Some of this is explained by current or former non-residential land use - army barracks, a hospice, parkland, and a substantial cemetery for instance; and demolition for road widening or redevelopment to apartments.
However, one closed premises remains - the building right next door was also a pub with the fantastically weird name of "The Old Grinding Young" at one point in the past. This is a reference to an abstract concept of renewal/rebirth rather than a reference to a Harcourt Street or Georges Street nightclub dancefloor!
Well, no - it wasn't available that specific evening, I didn't ask for details why. I ended up in Pinheads (again) for that.
MVP is a Bodytonic pub, and due to forgetting that they have opened 1006999 The Lighthouse in Dun Laoghaire I had written a bit about having now visited all of them. Well, I haven't yet. I'm not sure if the name is meant to place it in the Bodytonic sports bar range of pubs, or is a reference to something else entirely; but if so its the smallest of them and generally still feels quite like a traditional suburban pub rather than the high sports decoration of S0145 The Square Ball and N0120 The Back Page. This was a bit of rushed visit as I really did need to get food somewhere, and had I not been specifically pub-bagging I would probably have asked about food before buying a pint.
And now for the history bit. There's a relatively high density of pubs in this area, and then fairly large areas beyond without in all directions. Some of this is explained by current or former non-residential land use - army barracks, a hospice, parkland, and a substantial cemetery for instance; and demolition for road widening or redevelopment to apartments.
However, one closed premises remains - the building right next door was also a pub with the fantastically weird name of "The Old Grinding Young" at one point in the past. This is a reference to an abstract concept of renewal/rebirth rather than a reference to a Harcourt Street or Georges Street nightclub dancefloor!
Thursday, 28 March 2019
S1831 KCR House
I popped in here thinking they might do food. They don't - well, they do lunchtime sandwiches, but it was the early evening. So I had a pint of Beamish to kill the time until the next bus (same reason as my previous moan about the awful service for somewhere so close to the city), and headed on elsewhere to eat afterwards.
This is a very standard suburban locals pub, with traditional decor - those red carpets are presumably on job lot prices, a generic macro drinks lineup and some level of table service.
This is a very standard suburban locals pub, with traditional decor - those red carpets are presumably on job lot prices, a generic macro drinks lineup and some level of table service.
Wednesday, 27 March 2019
1013317 Four Provinces
Both a new brewery pub and a reopened traditional Dublin pub in one, Four Provinces in Kimmage is a resurrection of the Black Horse Inn which closed a few years ago.
Four Provinces Brew Co are based in Kimmage - the brewery behind the pub roughly - and their beers are sold in cans as well as having decent enough draught availability in the craft-centric pubs of the city. I enjoyed some on my visit to S0194 The Hill a few weeks previous.
The Beer Nut covered a visit to the brewery and mentioned plans for a taproom on-site at the time, but they have instead gone for the flexibility of a full pub. The pub itself is a traditional, roughly 1950s suburban premises, in a fairly narrow but quite long building in the middle of a row of shops.
As of now, the original Black Horse branding remains on the windows and mirrors, although I was told of plans to change some of the internal decoration in the short term. The usual signs of an outside-the-canals craft pub are there - Guinness, Heineken and TVs - but the rest of the tap lineup is craft, featuring (on the day of my visit) the Four Provinces core range along with guest taps including a Dungarvan and a White Gypsy.
The staff on the day were more than willing to indulge in me likely boring them to death, and their card payment facilities were fully working which I wasn't expecting on what was only their second day open! One feature that you may notice from their branding and social media is the extensive use of Irish; and to that end there was at least one fluent Irish speaking staff member so that those who want to use their cúpal focal or more should be able to.
I eventually had to leave to get food, after more pints than I'd usually have on a list-ticking visit. Hopefully the suburban location does not impede the craft-forward nature of the drinks menu and the Four Provinces thrives.
Four Provinces Brew Co are based in Kimmage - the brewery behind the pub roughly - and their beers are sold in cans as well as having decent enough draught availability in the craft-centric pubs of the city. I enjoyed some on my visit to S0194 The Hill a few weeks previous.
The Beer Nut covered a visit to the brewery and mentioned plans for a taproom on-site at the time, but they have instead gone for the flexibility of a full pub. The pub itself is a traditional, roughly 1950s suburban premises, in a fairly narrow but quite long building in the middle of a row of shops.
As of now, the original Black Horse branding remains on the windows and mirrors, although I was told of plans to change some of the internal decoration in the short term. The usual signs of an outside-the-canals craft pub are there - Guinness, Heineken and TVs - but the rest of the tap lineup is craft, featuring (on the day of my visit) the Four Provinces core range along with guest taps including a Dungarvan and a White Gypsy.
The staff on the day were more than willing to indulge in me likely boring them to death, and their card payment facilities were fully working which I wasn't expecting on what was only their second day open! One feature that you may notice from their branding and social media is the extensive use of Irish; and to that end there was at least one fluent Irish speaking staff member so that those who want to use their cúpal focal or more should be able to.
I eventually had to leave to get food, after more pints than I'd usually have on a list-ticking visit. Hopefully the suburban location does not impede the craft-forward nature of the drinks menu and the Four Provinces thrives.
Friday, 22 March 2019
1010288 Berlin D2
Originally a cafe/restaurant known for its music, Berlin was originally on Clarendon Row and then moved to Dame Street (and through to Dame Lane) in 2017, taking over the former premises of the Front Door, which was a fairly generic boomtime bar. Via its music operations, it trades on a theatre licence, furthering the side of my constant internal argument that these should be included - the eventual trudge around the suburban civic theatres to watch comedy gigs may eventually break me from that habit!
Generally, Berlin has been packed any time I've walked past the door, and had security on the door - something that still vaguely puts me off going in if I've even had one pint beforehand. Memories of Tripod doormen in ~2006 hang in my mind obviously!
However, in the late afternoon on a Saturday, it was almost empty. I was heading towards Kimmage (the next post will explain why) and had a substantial amount of time to kill due to its abjectly awful bus service, so dropped in.
The premises is fairly large, albeit maybe not by Dame Street area standards. There's a fairly nice laid-back atmosphere when its quiet, but it'll clearly be vastly different at night - there are notices that the tables and chairs are removed later on.
The music is not quite to my personal tastes, so its unlikely I'll be back to see what it's like at night though. Having been in similar venues that do cater to my tastes, its on the decent end of the scale in terms of space and size although I hope the basement toilets aren't the only ones!
Generally, Berlin has been packed any time I've walked past the door, and had security on the door - something that still vaguely puts me off going in if I've even had one pint beforehand. Memories of Tripod doormen in ~2006 hang in my mind obviously!
However, in the late afternoon on a Saturday, it was almost empty. I was heading towards Kimmage (the next post will explain why) and had a substantial amount of time to kill due to its abjectly awful bus service, so dropped in.
The premises is fairly large, albeit maybe not by Dame Street area standards. There's a fairly nice laid-back atmosphere when its quiet, but it'll clearly be vastly different at night - there are notices that the tables and chairs are removed later on.
The music is not quite to my personal tastes, so its unlikely I'll be back to see what it's like at night though. Having been in similar venues that do cater to my tastes, its on the decent end of the scale in terms of space and size although I hope the basement toilets aren't the only ones!
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