Dublin Travel Guide
Eating and Drinking in Dublin
How to find the perfect pint, where to hear real traditional music, the Victorian pubs worth crossing town for, and what to eat — from a full Irish breakfast and fish and chips to Dublin Bay seafood and the Creative Quarter's bistros.
In Dublin, the pub is not just a place to drink. It is the city's living room, where people meet, talk, read the paper, watch the match, listen to music and argue about all of it, and an afternoon or evening in a good one is as essential to understanding the city as any museum. Food, meanwhile, has been transformed in recent decades, and the city now eats very well, from humble chippers to celebrated fine dining.
The perfect pint. Guinness is brewed a few kilometres from any pub in the city, and Dubliners are serious about how it is served. A proper pint is poured in two stages, left to settle into its dark body and creamy head, and then topped up; it should be served cool rather than ice-cold, with a tight, smooth head. Pubs that sell a lot of Guinness tend to pour it best, because the lines are always fresh. Mulligan's on Poolbeg Street, beside the old newspaper offices, is famed for its pint and its old-fashioned atmosphere. Kehoe's on South Anne Street, off Grafton Street, has a snug, a Victorian interior and a crowd that spills onto the street in summer. If you want to learn the ritual first, the Guinness Storehouse's Academy teaches you to pour your own.
Victorian pubs worth crossing town for. Dublin's best pubs are often its oldest, with carved mahogany bars, stained glass, mirrors and snugs — small enclosed booths once used by those who wanted to drink discreetly. The Long Hall on South Great George's Street is a gorgeous, red-lit Victorian bar. The Stag's Head, down a lane off Dame Street, has a stained-glass skylight and a grand mahogany counter. The Palace Bar on Fleet Street, at the edge of Temple Bar, is a beautiful old room with a long literary association. Toner's on Baggot Street and O'Donoghue's on Merrion Row, near St Stephen's Green, are classic Georgian-quarter pubs, and O'Donoghue's is famous for music. Visit in the late afternoon, when the light is soft and the rooms are calm, and you will understand why Dubliners love them.
Traditional music, done right. A trad session is an informal gathering of musicians — fiddle, flute, whistle, uilleann pipes, banjo, bodhrán — playing jigs, reels and slow airs, with the occasional song. Many Temple Bar pubs offer live music every day, which is fun, but for the real thing go to the Cobblestone in Smithfield, a musicians' pub with sessions every night, or O'Donoghue's. Arrive early to get a seat near the players, buy a drink, keep conversation down while they play, applaud between sets and never ask for requests. A guided traditional music pub crawl, led by musicians, is a good introduction if you want the background first.
Whiskey. Irish whiskey has had a great revival, and Dublin now has several working distilleries again, many of them in the Liberties, where the city's distilling history began. Start with the guided tasting at Jameson Distillery Bow St. in Smithfield, the old Jameson home, then try a newer distillery in the Liberties or the Irish Whiskey Museum near Trinity. In pubs, ask for a recommendation; bar staff love to talk about whiskey, and many pubs have long lists.
What to eat. Start the day with a full Irish breakfast: sausages, rashers of bacon, eggs, black and white pudding, grilled tomato, mushrooms and brown soda bread with butter — enough to fuel a morning of sightseeing. For lunch, try a bowl of seafood chowder with brown bread, or Irish stew, often cooked with Guinness, both found in pubs across the city. Dublin coddle, a slow-cooked stew of sausages, bacon, potatoes and onions, is the city's traditional dish, though it is more often made at home than found on menus. Fish and chips is a Dublin institution; Leo Burdock's, near Christ Church, has been frying since the early twentieth century. Seafood from Dublin Bay and the Irish coast is excellent, especially oysters, mussels and Dublin Bay prawns; Howth's harbour is the place to eat it by the water.
Where to eat. The Creative Quarter, the grid of streets around South William Street, Drury Street and South Great George's Street, is the best area for good-value restaurants, wine bars and international cooking, from Asian kitchens to Italian trattorias. Stoneybatter on the north side and the Liberties in the west are excellent for neighbourhood bistros. For a special night, Dublin has a strong fine-dining scene, including Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud at the Merrion and several Michelin-starred kitchens; book well ahead. For afternoon tea, the Shelbourne's Lord Mayor's Lounge, the Merrion's Art Afternoon Tea and the Westbury's Gallery are all memorable. For a cheap lunch, the Saturday food market in Temple Bar's Meeting House Square is fun.
A perfect pub evening. Start in the late afternoon with a pint in a Victorian room like the Long Hall or Kehoe's while it is still quiet, then eat in the Creative Quarter. After dinner, walk across the river to Smithfield for the session at the Cobblestone, or stay south for music at O'Donoghue's. If you want the Temple Bar experience, go early in the evening, when the music is on and the crowds are manageable, and then move on. Pace yourself, drink water between rounds, and do not feel obliged to keep up with the locals.
Practicalities. Pubs open from late morning and close around midnight, later at weekends; bars with late licences stay open into the early hours. Under-18s may be in pubs with parents during the day but must leave in the evening. Book dinner for Friday and Saturday nights. Tipping around ten percent is normal in restaurants with table service, but not for drinks at the bar. And remember the round: if you are drinking with Dubliners, buy your share.