kingofpain's Qype profile

I hope Icelanders are not out to lynch me now, but I actually think the hot dogs at the stand in front of the Laugardalslaug pool are actually better than the ones here. But don't let that put you off - you still get some of the best hot dogs in the world here. Quick service, a place full of history, and a dog + a Coke will set you back a mere 450 Kronur (around 2 €). Plus, they are open until 7 AM on Fridays and Saturdays.

I really like the Bleeding Horse. Tidy and with loads of nooks and crannies, this is a great place for a quiet pre-concert pint before heading to the Tripod or the Crawdaddy. Does get busy on the weekend, given the proximity of the nearby Camden Street nightlife.

McGowans is your standard-super-pub in the middle of Phibsboro. A quiet local with average grub over days, but come Thursday and the weekend, things are heating up a lot. Taking advantage of it's late license, McGowans offers the pint for 3,50 € on Thursdays (with a 5 € cover charge) and stays open until 3, and on the weekends there's a mixed programme with bands and DJ's. It gets crowded and hot, and many young inebriated Irish ladies have tried their pole-dancing skills on the poles available for everyone in the upstairs area (and to my utter shame many a young inebriated Irishman too). The only place in Phibsboro that has 20 taxis on standby in the early hours of Sunday.

Together with the POD and Crawdaddy, Tripod is one of the venues in the former Harcourt Street Station. It has a capacity for 1000+ visitors, and caters for most musical styles. Excellent sound for almost all live acts I've seen here so far, and the sound from the stage is actually played in the bar so you'll never miss the start of your favourite act whilst queuing for a pint. Can get crowded depending on the performing artist, and on such occasions the security can and will get nervous - but that's the only disadvantage I could think about.

Drink prices are on a standard south Dublin level with 5 € per pint and do not vary with the number of tickets sold as in other Dublin live institutions.

This little shop is the newest addition to the small chain of shops run by Ireland's best ice cream makers, the Murphy brothers from Dingle. Together with another shop on Temple Bar Square, this is where you should buy your ice cream for a stroll through town. All flavours are made using local produce (cream from Kerry cows, for example) and have won multiple awards. Omnomnom.

Dakota is one of the bigger places on South William street, and has the airy interior of an oversized cocktail bar, completely with 2 bars along the whole long side of the room. The staff is quite nice, they do however seem to have high fluctuation of personnel, and you may end up with a young lady on her first shift waiting you. The sound is indifferent background-lounge, so this is more of a place for conversation than dancing. On the weekend it does get crowded, so you may have to raise your voice for any philosophical exchange that you plan to have here.

Part of the multi-purpose event and concert complex that is the former Harcourt Street Station, Crawdaddy is the smallest of the live venues here - the other are POD and Tripod. Situated in one of the arches beneath the former station, this is a very intimate concert room, where loads of famous alternative and electro bands entertained the punters before they moved on to bigger venues. The audience can be a bit on the hipster side, but combined with the attached Chocolate Bar that comes with an outside smoking area, this is one of Dublin's best music venues.

One of the many places that will serve you American-influenced food, mainly full grill, hamburgers of all sorts and fish & chips. Attentive service, and the diner-like interior was not as cheesy as expected from the outside. Me and my companion where hangovered when dining here, so the massive portions of meat and chips were right on the spot. Not really a place for vegetarians, but then it has the word "grill" in it's name.

Well, it's the Temple Bar in - ta-daa - Temple Bar. The outside of this establishment must have been photographed as often as the pints in the Gravity Bar. It's a traditional pub that mostly (only?) caters to tourists. "Traditional" Irish live music every night, and the pint and Irish Coffee prices rival the ones of the nearby 5-star Clarence Hotel. They do pour a decent pint of Guinness, but you'll find public houses with more atmosphere within a radius of 500 metres.

As RedDevilNo.1 puts it, there's not much to add to the reviews here. A surprisingly snug and almost traditional pub, given the location on hip Camden Street. Which does not prevent the hipster crowd to pack the pub on the weekends when spilling over here from Whelan's & co. I prefer a quite after-work-pint here under the week.