While we are patiently waiting for a new, independent-beer-focused pub to open in the near future (no pressure, lads!) here in Dublin, we did something unusual for us, and headed not just south of the Liffey, but even further down the Luas into the leafy environs of Ranelagh. But it was, as it turns out, a pleasant experience.
Our destination pub, Taphouse, is one last visited pre-Covid, possibly for a work event, and so the memory was a bit hazy. There were faint recollections of a reasonably-interesting beer selection, but not much more than that. We also had not made it back as it we are usually in the company of offspring when heading in this general direction, and had been given to understand that it was not especially welcoming to the youth. On the contrary, though – it was very laid-back indeed, at least of a weekend afternoon. And, happily, the beer selection was more than respectable for Dublin. We are always excited to see Rascals Sidekick on, but there were also options from Hope, Wicklow Wolf, Whiplash, Hopfully and Kinnegar, along with the usual Guinness and Beamish. By local standards at the moment, this is pretty exciting.
There was a strong cocktail game as well, and while we didn’t have time to sample the food, it did look rather more interesting than many other pub options…perhaps something we’ll revisit to consider adding to the Best Pubs for Food list in future. The décor is ‘fancy pub’ – dark wood, decorative ceilings and lots of un-sorted books that one presumes have come from house clear-outs, though that said, there are a few shelves worth digging into more deeply (and we are very much in favour of ‘more books’ as a pub feature, even if the initial impulse was purely window-dressing).
Upstairs there is a glorious sun deck, so rather than Pavement Pints, it’s a literally more elevated experience.
And yet, while some may shout ‘notions!’ at Taphouse for being a bit design-led, the food and drink options hold their own, and it still feels very much like a neighbourhood pub. There was a good mix of punters of all ages on our visit, from solo pint-with-a-book enthusiasts to groups getting a bit of sun with their Sunday roasts.
We won’t wait so long before our next visit.
Where: 60 Ranelagh, Dublin 6, D06 C9C6
Access from the city centre: Luas Green Line, buses 11,14, 15, 15B, 80, E1, E2; 30ish minute walk
Food: Small plates, Sunday roast, a cheese board (something not enough restaurants, much less pubs, do here)
Sport: The usual suspects
TVs: All over the place, though some areas are quieter than others
Music: Indie tunes, sport commentary
Family-friendliness: A fair few well-behaved kids at Sunday lunchtime, but likely more of a grown-up vibe
Pub-crawl-ability: Low-medium: Smyth’s Pub, The Hill or a walk to Kodiak in Rathmines
Local sites of note: Richard Crosbie monument, Stella Cinema
Haunted: Perhaps some haunted books? The Taphouse Middoth?
Other notes: Very dog-friendly; karaoke can happen
Socials: Instagram, Facebook
It’s finally happened.
And 
The cask offering is also a point of contention here – as cask nerds, we’ve noted before the very small number of pubs in Dublin that have 
Which, of course, leads us to the other reason we tend to not go there very much – it would be horrifying to the Young Adult member of the household to run into us at a place that is very much a usual haunt of His People; best to leave it to the Youth most of the time, but it is handy for a cheap pint before a gig nearby, and you can always make paper airplanes from the Wetherspoons magazine if you are so inclined. Just consider 
Broadly speaking, it’s more common to find food (beyond crisps) in Irish pubs, compared to their counterparts in the UK. This is, of course, a huge generalisation – 
This is a ‘best’ post, so we’ll focus on a few favourites for each of those broad categories mentioned above. For more-than-just-reliable pub grub – especially with kids – we love 
Moving on to pizza, it’s a shorter list, but there are a few pubs that are flying under the radar for their pizza. 
Finally, we move on to the pubs that we go to for special occasions, because the food is just that good, but that you can equally go to for simply a pint or some nibbles – airs and graces are not required. We love 
Yes, it’s yet another new pub this week, replacing one more short-lived but much-loved Dublin spot – we venture back to 
Indeed, it seems to have hit the sweet spot between newly-opened 
And while we couldn’t find any direct connection between Phil Lynott and pubs in this part of town – it would be a bit of a walk to 
It must be New Pub Season – everything around Dublin seems to be 
What is it with certain parts of Dublin and lovely places Going On Fire?
The ‘bumblebee’ yellow-and-black paint job outside has been replaced with a more plain black exterior, though still with yellow lettering, but it looks ever-so-slightly more sombre (or, perhaps, sophisticated?). Inside, it’s still got a bit of an under-construction feel, with the sense that more decoration is coming, but what’s there now is a mix of darker hues of blue, black and red, and to good effect. The stage area toward the rear looks like it will soon be back in action, and there is a comfortable mix of different seating options.
Where: 18/19 Francis St, The Liberties, Dublin, D08 EK06
It’s time for another pub re-brand, but this one does seem to be purely a name swap and a bit of a paint job, rather than anything more drastic. We speak, of course, of 
The Read family did run their business from what is now 
In truth, beyond some more sober colour choices and nods to both the Read family and a portrait of Michael Collins, little has changed – but this is no bad thing. The more recent trend around Dublin has been for pubs to remove their independent beer taps when they renovate, but happily, Thomas Read’s remains a Galway Bay Brewing pub, so there is the usual range of their beers and a few guests, although there are, perhaps, a few more Guinness and Heineken taps than there used to be. 
And it’s a change that makes sense from a tourism point of view: if we’re being honest, 
We are back in action this week, now that the Paddy’s Day crowds have moved on, and, as so often, we find ourselves in 
With one recent glorious afternoon of sun, however, making the most of it was a moral imperative – and so, we repaired to Lucky’s. The main pull was their large and well-appointed 
As a sister bar to 
Beer-wise, there’s a nice, rotating mix of local independent options from Whiplash, Rascals and Hopfully (among others recently on tap), along with the usual Guinness; bottles of flavoured cider seemed to be the thing the Young People were going for. Rather unusually, there’s also Hoegaarden, plus a range of cocktails and non-alcoholic options.
Regular readers know that we tend to keep 
However, our midweek daytime visit was quite a different affair, and all to the good. Both the interior and the large beer garden were calm, though not empty – as we write this, it is 
That said, we are more likely to take ourselves to
It’s March, and while we wouldn’t dream of taking on the subject of ‘what’s the best pub in Dublin for Paddy’s Day?’ we are, nonetheless, aware that there are many additional out-of-town guests here over that weekend/bank holiday, and that most of them are looking for Guinness…as well as other stouts, given how synonymous the holiday and the beer style have become in the global public consciousness.
Although much – if not most – independently-brewed Irish stout ends up on tap in France or Italy, there are a number of places in Dublin to give some a try. Sister pubs 
Other local stouts to keep an eye out for include Four Provinces Dublin Dubh – definitely available at their own pub in Kimmage, but frequently on tap at pubs such as 
And for the stout completist, there are a number of pubs that will allow you to try the big-brewery trinity of Guinness, Beamish and Murphy’s side-by-side; you can even set yourself up for a blind tasting if you’re feeling adventurous, and at some, you can add an independent option for good measure. For this type of experiment, we are fans of 
Finally, it’s worth noting that a pint of Guinness is only €6.30 at