While our nights are generally spent in search of good food, a good drink to start is usually an important part of the experience. Cocktails in this town don't come cheap, so when you do treat yourself to a pre or post-prandial sip you want it to be worth the extra expenditure. Here's our latest list of where to go when you want only the best cocktails, to start or end your night off right...
THE SWANKY ONES
The Collins Club, Mount Street
Celebrity restaurant Jean-Georges might have stolen all the limelight in the recently opened Leinster Hotel on Mount Street in Dublin 2, but the crimson-covered, Georgian glam-themed cocktail bar on the ground floor also deserves your attention. Named after Irish-born restaurant architect David Collins, The Collins Club would be just as at home in New York as in Dublin, has live music from Thursday - Friday, and a cocktail menu that takes a very different riff on classics - like the "kumquat" - their version of a martini with gin, vodka, vermouth, kumquat brine, and frozen pickled grapes instead of olives.
The Terrace @ The Shelbourne Hotel, St. Stephen's Green
The Shelbourne Hotel's top-shelf 1824 bar may only be open to residents these days, but The Terrace next door is open from Wednesday - Sunday until the end of September. This year it's sponsored by Laurent Perrier Champagne, so you can drink it by the glass (with serves of caviar if your pockets are that kind of deep), or work your way through their Champagne cocktails - we loved the French 1824 with Angostura bitters, pomegranate liqueur, lemon juice, sugar, and that all important Champagne.
9 Below, St. Stephen’s Green
From the group behind House, 37 Dawson Street and The Gables in Foxrock, 9 Below is the sophisticated sibling of the Nolaclan group, hidden in the former basement of the Hibernian Club off Stephen’s Green. Bunker down in one of four rooms, all with a dimly-lit speakeasy vibe, and sip on drinks with less common additions like bergamot liquor, Champagne bitters and tarragon vinegar.
The Sidecar @ The Westbury, Dublin 2
It's glamour all the way at The Sidecar in The Westbury Hotel, the Art Deco-style bar which feels miles away from the hustle and bustle of Grafton Street (and the Gallery lobby space outside). They have a dizzying array of G&Ts, a martini trolley, and a cocktail menu worth studying up on in advance. They also give you a little glass of bubbles while you wait for your chosen drink, and between this and the nuts and olives they provide, it's relatively good bang for your buck.
The Curious Mister, Wellington Quay
The Clarence Hotel has several bars and restaurants, so it might take you a minute to find The Curious Mister. The former 'Octagon Bar' is now a luxurious, quirkily shaped cocktail lounge, with drinks designed to hit all five tastes - sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. The "curious" theme extends to cocktails like the "mushroom", the "red pepper", and the "Guinness/Hibiscus" - plenty for the more adventurous drinkers, but they'll make you the classics too.
The Mint Bar, College Green
Located in an underground bank vault, The Mint Bar in The College Green Hotel has an old world feel, and while we'd love to see it get a bit of a facelift to bring it into 2024, a drink in here is definitely a more sophisticated start or end to your evening than most of the options across the road in Temple Bar. Cocktails include signatures like their pumpkin spiced martini and blood shot margarita, as well as all the classics, and they have a very good N/A selection too. There's live music from 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays if you're looking for somewhere to settle in after a meal.
The Rooftop @ The Marker
Easily the city’s best view, The Marker Hotel's rooftop is a pre-dinner drink worth getting into a lift for. Their Irish G&T menu is robust if expensive, and the cocktail list ranges from classics to seasonal sips to new creations. A seat up here for those rare sunny summer sundowners feels like hitting the jackpot.
Peruke & Periwig, Dawson Street
Once the coolest cocktail spot in town, Peruke & Periwig is still a great choice for a pre-dinner drink, especially if you like a bit of theatre with service. The cocktail list is huge, with sections on signature, classic, modern and unknown cocktails, and there's a decent sized food menu for sharing plates to pick over. Reservations are a must.
THE UBER COOL ONES
Bar 1661, Smithfield
We will use any excuse to visit the talent-filled Bar 1661, just off Capel Street. Voted 'Bar Of The Year' in 2022, their tagline is "staunchly independent", with a menu that's uniquely Irish. You'll find Poitín as well as an impressive range of Irish-made gin, whiskey, vermouth and apple ice-wine, and because they're not tied in with a spirits conglomerate, their bartenders have carte blanche when it comes to getting creative. The bar to beat.
The Sitting Room, Camden Street
This aptly named bar above Delahunt restaurant was the ‘good room’ for the family who used to live here, and the team have worked hard to keep the mid-century feel, with vaulted ceilings, wood-panelling, and a bay window overlooking Camden Street. It's a small space and walk in only, but anytime we’ve visited we’ve been able to get a seat, and the cocktails are masterfully made.
Note, Fenian Street
Note has quickly become one of our regular haunts, ideal for a last drink before a train home from Pearse Street station. The natural focused wine list is the big draw, as are the creative bistro-style plates, but it’s also the perfect place to pop into for a cocktail loosener before or after dinner. Look out for their seasonal specials, like the strawberry and dill margarita.
Fidelity Bar, Smithfield
Fidelity might be known as one of the city's best place to sink some craft beers, but the cocktails here have been crafted with the same care. Try the "Ready, Aim, Fire" with mezcal, jalapeño & habanero honey syrup, pineapple juice, lime, and habanero bitters; or the "Yuzu Haiboru" with yuzu sake, Malfy gin, lemon, sugar syrup, grapefruit bitters, soda water, and you'll know what we're talking about.
THE ONES WITH SECRET DOORS
The Blind Pig, Suffolk Street
The Blind Pig speakeasy opened with all the hype, helped in part by having to book a table before they'd give you the address. Descending a set of stairs beside Pacino's Italian on Suffolk Street, you've got to pull on a pig's snout, before the bookcase opens letting you in. It hasn't lost the novelty factor, and the drinks are still amongst the best in the city.
Vintage Cocktail Club, Temple Bar
Hidden behind a very discreet door in a very non-descript black building, only the three stickers with VCC on them would alert you to what's inside this three floor space in Temple Bar - complete with roof terrace. Ring the bell outside the Vintage Cocktail Club and step inside a 1920's-style space, with trinkets, antique furniture, an open fire and art everywhere. If you're out for a drink alone, you could spend the whole evening reading the menu complete with a history of cocktails, and it could take hours trying to choose from the mammoth menu, so best to ask the mixologists for a steer.
Pen & Player, Harcourt Street
Ring the doorbell on the Georgian door connected to The Green Hotel on Harcourt Street, and you'll be welcomed into Pen & Player, one of the city's newest places to sip cocktails based on storytelling. Try a 'Cabaret Highlight', with Patron silver tequila, spicy mango, tomato water, saline solution and citric acid; or their signature 'Ink Drop', with Teeling whiskey, honey, angostura and chocolate parfum, and stout beer and banana syrup. They're certainly not playing it safe.
El Silencio, Clarendon Market
What is it about secret doors that get us so giddy, and will we ever grow out of it? We hope not because by the time you enter this little venue hidden inside Pablo Picante on Clarendon Street you're already primed for a great night out. El Silencio is one of the best places in the city to drink Mezcal, if that's your thing (it's ours), and the margaritas are a must. There's tacos too, and when do we ever not want tacos.
THE PUB ONES
Caribou, Stephen Street Lower
The team behind Caribou, Bonobo in Smithfield and Kodiak in Rathmines are some of the best at doing bars in 2024, and the former P Macs site had a major overhaul when they moved in earlier this year. As as well as an interior that looks like something out of an interior design mag, the drinks are reliably A1, with a spicy margarita the group is famous for, and house creations like the 'clarified rhubarb sour' luring drinkers out of their comfort zones.
Kodiak, Rathmines
See also Kodiak for more of the same plus pizza. This huge space is great for meet ups with a gang, and the pizza doesn't play second fiddle to the drinks. We know you're going for cocktails but you'd be doing yourself a disservice to not dip a toe into their epic craft beer selection,
Juno, Dorset Street
Dorset Street pub Juno is the local we all wish we had. Brilliant bar food, an outdoor terrace catching the evening sun, and a very fun cocktail list. Try a blood orange and rosemary margarita, or a melon and jalapeno sour, and don't take it all too seriosuly - it's just cocktails.
Lucky's, The Liberties
The Liberties can be a tricky spot for a pre-dinner/Vicar Street drink over and above your standard boozer, but Lucky's serve great cocktails from friendly faces, seven days a week. Their VERY local whiskey list features Teelings, Pearse Lyons, Powers, Dublin Liberties Whiskey, and Roe & Co all made within 850m of their front door, and it's always welcome to see decent non alcoholic options.
Pawn Shop, Dame Street
Pawn Shop replaced what used to be Berlin Bar, and has proved a hit thanks to DJ sets and spicy margaritas. Their version of an Espresso Martini comes with Teelings small batch, Stillgarden Coffee Amaro and tonka bean (no messing around here), and Doom Slice is just outside if you're hungry (you can bring it in).
The Big Romance, Parnell Street
Located on Parnell Street, The Big Romance is a mecca for music lovers due to their vinyl-only policy, custom sound system and casual vibe. They're known for their outstanding craft beer selection, but their cocktails are also tops, with Danish super splits and marmalade whiskey sours. It's the perfect spot for a pre-dinner drink, or post if you want to catch their guest DJs.
Did we miss your favourite place for cocktails? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie
