Tag: Dublin

The Long Hall, Dublin – Oct ’15 (2/4)

Not Guinness time, not here anyway.

No doubt about it, this is a cosy pub. The carpet on the floor, the friendly staff, the lively banter; it has all the right attributes. This is what was going through my mind as I ordered my first pint so I was feeling warm, fuzzy and generally happy with my lot. The pint, a fiver on the head, was expensive but I was expecting great things so didn’t let the price get me down. It looked great, really creamy looking head, the stage was set for this to be right up there.

Long Hall 10.10.15 small

The creamy head obviously provided a great lip-flop & I took a good long gulp. I tasted long & hard, I wanted it to be a success but unfortunately it just wasn’t up to it. It gave me that feeling that I may have been misled. Having a few more good slurps confirmed my initial thoughts. There was an inkling of that sharpishness that can ultimately lead to a squinty-wince face of a finisher & this one, though not by any means in the absolutely brutal category, turned out as expected. I had another to be safe but the result was the same. This is a lovely spot, they just need to make an effort with their Guinness to be able to justify charging €5 a pint in here. 2/4; Guinneslovers, avoid it.

Becky Morgan’s, Dublin – Oct ’15 (3/4)

Guinness Time

If I haven’t had a pint in a particular establishment, it is with trepidation that I make the order as you never really know if you’re going to get dealt a bum-hand. Thankfully, this was not the case in Becky Morgans; a few excellent pours landed in front of us, ready for the drinking. Look at these beauties.

Becky Morgans 8.10.15 smaller

They settled perfectly, nice bit o’the cream & the taste was good. The pints here are solid, as they should be, worth going back for more. Unfortunately, the clock was against us & they wouldn’t budge on a sneaky after-hours pint so we had to leave it there. A nice spot with good pints of Guinness; will definitely be back here for a Black one.

Slattery’s, Beggars Bush, Dublin – Oct ’15 (3/4)

Guinness Time

As previously mentioned, this is the pre/ post -match watering hole on match days, but considering it was a positively balmy October evening, the cans were out so Slats had to wait until after the game. They reason I’m mentioning this is due to the fact that, seeing as how we’d just beaten world-champs Germany 1-0, there is the distinct possibility that I could have drank from an old-shoe & enjoyed it so take from this report what you will.

The pints this time round were served in plastic glasses but, as before, this didn’t detract from them in any way. There was a good bit o’the cream, the taste was excellent, very tasty; I really enjoyed the pint. You can see from the pic that the creaminess lasted really well right down the glass, providing a gulpulicious finisher. Was gagging for the next one once the first was polished off. This place is really consistent & serves good Guinness. Another high 3.

Slats 8.10.15 small

The Celt, Dublin – Sept ’15 (1/4)

My goodness! Is that Guinness?

Bloody hell, another massive let-down. This place would have been my most regular haunt back in my 20’s & I have had many a great night on the perfect creamy pints in this place so I come to the table with the utmost of respect for the pintability here. Having had an absolutely brutal pint here when I was practically the only person in the pub back in April before the league final, I wanted to give them another chance in the hope that the experience was a one-off: how wrong I was.

Lets start with the basics; the pint of Guinness is €4.90: total blaydin rip! A bad start, but if the pint is going to be up-to-standard then I can let it slide. Sadly, & it genuinely breaks my heart to have to admit it, the pints in here are far from up-to-standard. As you can see from the pint-pic, the head has already flattened out before I’ve even had my first sup. A good quality creamy head should be blubbering over, ready to burst into your gob at the sniff-o-the-lip. This pint was saying to me “I’m going to let you down” & a Guinness head tells no lies.

150925 Celt Before After

When the black stuff hit my palette it was like chewing on a gone-off lemon: full on squinty-wince-face. Gutted I was. As you can see from above, we had hit pencil-tache territory after a few gulps &, though I’m not sure if it’s that obvious from the pic, the tache-head was foamy, rather than creamy; an absolute disgrace when it comes to a pint of the good stuff. Like any good food critic, I soldiered on through but there was no pleasure in the final gulp, nor redemption in the next pint.

The Celt: why have you forsaken us so? It could be the curse of the Tripadvisor, as seems to be happening down at The Cobblestone, or maybe publicans just don’t care about punters any more but this place has a long way to go if it ever wants to get back the lofty heights of those heady days when certified 4/4’s were rolling out night after night.

The Cobblestone, Dublin – Sept ’15 (2/4)

Not Guinness time, not here anyway.

Disappointed does not describe how I feel about the rating I’m giving this establishment’s efforts. I am gutted. This place was once amongst the top-dogs when it came to a tasty pint of the black stuff & as a result I had well talked it up to some mates I was taking here. Jayz, did I overpromise & underdeliver, it was actually embarrassing. Here’s me telling them about how I know good Guinness & how this place has always delivered a 4/4 pint & then bang; brutal pints. The head was a bit of a fluffy one which by halfway through was akin to that scruffy brown foam you see atop water. The taste was definitely not right but for the sake of The Cobblestone, a place that has given me many great nights & quality pints, I soldiered on through to the end. Sadly, the pint ended on a forcing-it-down squinty-wince-face that speaks volumes for the quality of the pint.

I don’t know if it’s the Tripadvisor certificate of excellence & the guaranteed tourist money or the fact that maybe less & less punters go for the pint o’G these days but something has gone seriously wrong here. To go from a 4/4 to a 2/4: seriously gutted for the place; biggest let-down so far on Guinnesslove.com.

Mulligan’s, Dublin – Sept ’15 (4/4)

My goodness! Now that’s Guinness!

Ah yes, this place again. My favourite Guinnessing-hole. If you haven’t already seen them, check out my previous pint-reviews for Mulligans which show top pintability on both occasions. As expected, it was no different time time. A head with perfect consistency that’s pure creamy heaven & that 4/4 for taste right to the final, beautiful gulp. Superb head retention, as evidenced on the glass in the pic below. Excellence in every way; a Guinnesslovers dream.

G-tip: For your final gulp, turn the glass around & get more of that creamy residue. Mmmmmm

Mulligans 12.9.15 3

As I was trying to be good on account of having to go for dinner with company, & having already had a couple in the Gravity bar,  I decided to try a Guinness Mid-strength for my next one. I really, really wanted for this to work, & the pint looked ok, but 2 sups in & I knew I had a G-saster on my hands. It tastes bloody awful. I soldiered on but couldn’t take it any more & so grabbed myself a quick glass of the good stuff &, of course, it was top-quality as ever. Here’s the beauty (that’s my attempt to tackle the pint of mid-strength in the background):

Mulligans 12.9.15 Glass

So, a word of advice; if yer tryin te take it easy, just get a glass of Guinness instead of a pint of Guinness Mid-strength & drink it slower so that you finish up at the same time everyone else finishes their pint. Take it from a Guinnesslover, you will not regret taking course this action.

Gravity Bar, Guinness Storehouse – Sept ’15 (3/4)

Guinness Time

Time for the annual pilgrimage down to the Storehouse. The wander around the factory is interesting enough-ish first time round but I’ve been here a few times now so, now that you have to queue for the taster, which I’m not arsed with, it’s all about the Gravity bar. Straight to the top for the best view with a pint of Guinness in Dublin, maybe even Ireland, maybe even the world. Havin a pint while looking out across the bay & from Meath to the Wicklow mountains is such a wonderful experience but the real question for Guinnesslovers is, of course, what’s the pint like?

This place must serve the most pints of Guinness anywhere in the world. There’s always a rake o’good looking settlers at the bar & the staff fly though them, churning out pints like a Guinness machine gun. The head on my first had decent texture but, being honest, was just a little too big. Nothing to be alarmed at though as the taste was true & the head averagely creamy: worth going again, which I did. You might have expected the home of Guinness to be a nailed on 4/4 but the fact is that it’s just another bar serving nice pints. In fairness, you could sit up here all day enjoying pints with that view but when it comes to the honest assessment, this establishments effort gets a 3/4.

Yes, that's mine on the right! Note the manky lookin pint in the background; there's a rake of them up here from the tourists that realise after 1 sup that they hate the black stuff.
Yes, that’s mine on the right! Note the manky lookin pint in the background; there’s a rake of them up here from the tourists that realise after 1 sup that they hate the Black Stuff.

The Stags Head, Dublin – Aug ’15 (3/4)

Guinness time

The weather was good & it was still warm, even when we arrived at around half ten, so we drank with Al Fresco. Havin a pint out in the laneway makes you feel either European or 15 again. Either way, I love it. Have to say, whenever we’ve been drinking here, the weather has been great (the chicken or the egg?). I would love if this place scored a 4/4 but you can’t just throw top-marks around willy-nilly. The pints here are grand; tasty, bit o’the cream, as they should be. Never a problem drinking a few here here, as always happens.

The Galway Hooker, Heuston Station, Dublin – July 2015 (3/4)

Guinness time

This place is just a stones-throw from Guinnesses (you can see the gates from the outside bar area) so on the right day, at the right time (the time I was here included) you will get the amazing aroma of the roasting hops from across in the brewery on your way in, which will really get the mouth watering for a cool, tasty G. Being a train station you might think they mightn’t give a shite what slop they serve the passing trade but this is not the case. My pint was served by a friendly foreign chap who poured a grand pint from the temporary outside-bar in the main train-station concourse. The pint was all you would expect; bit o’the cream, lovely taste, would deffo go again. Unfortunately our train was due so I could only stay to enjoy the one but would have no qualms about having another here in future.

Heuston July 15

Mulligan’s, Dublin – August 2015 (4/4)

My goodness! Now that’s Guinness!

Followers of this blog will come to see that this is where a Guinnesslover goes to get what they want. The cream rises to the top & Mulligans is the cream when it comes to the best pints around. Hoping for more of the same on this occasion I was joined by a fellow Guinnesslover &, seeing as I was delayed by literally 2 minutes, he went ahead & ordered. This is what awaited me upon arrival:

Mulligans end Aug 2015 small

Mmmmm, creamy. Just look at that little cream-leak dribbling down the side of the cold glass. And there’s such solidity to that head you just know it’s going to give the perfect lip-flop when you make that first move towards your mouth. Watch out though, it’s so good you might over do it. Just a couple of large gulps, put it down & savour that taste. This is why you work hard. This pint had everything what I want from my pints, as did the many that followed. Great work as always Mulligans.