Dublin – The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai

July 18, 2026August 5, 2026

Vintage Cocktail Club: Dublin’s Best Cocktails

We’d heard that Vintage Cocktail Club had great cocktails including a tiki section, so we planned to visit during our trip to Dublin Ireland. We made time during our first day in Dublin to check it out, having some difficulty finding the location thanks to a true speakeasy entrance and sleep deprivation from our red-eye.

Longtime VCC employee Ann Marie was our server and helped us through the menu options and offering recommendations when requested. We were so impressed by our cocktails we returned and saw Ann Marie again the next day and went again during our third day in town to revisit some of our favorites.

VCC has three floors, the middle of which has a bar and lounge seating. Upstairs there’s an outdoor patio with an additional bar if it gets busy, plus a downstairs bar and lounge open during certain hours (downstairs is the only place where you can sit at the bar). It’s a fun and elegant venue with appropriately relaxing jazz music and vintage touches.

In terms of the tiki menu, I ordered the Mai Tai and Fog Cutter on our first visit. The Mai Tai uses Havana Club 7, Goslings, and Wray & Nephew rums, plus Giffard Orgeat. I usually don’t like the Giffard but maybe it’s different in Europe because I loved the almond flavors in the rich Mai Tai served over a large cube. On another visit I asked for it over crushed ice and Appleton Signature replacing the Goslings and the Mai Tai was even better and one of the best this year. The Fog Cutter was not too citrusy and had plenty of booze hidden in the balanced blend. I prefer cream sherry rather than Manzanilla but this was a really fine Fog Cutter.

In fact, all of the drinks we had were really good with some including the Wee Dram, Dirty Wizard, Single Elix, Tequila Mockingbird, and Falls Road Flip being excellent. We adored Absinthe Minded, one of Ann Marie’s recipes that includes smokey Irish whiskey, Sloe Gin, and Absinthe.

Needless to say, we absolutely loved Vintage Cocktail Club for its great cocktails, amazing service, and relaxing vibe. We at meals in pubs, but for cocktails Vintage Cocktail Club would be hard to beat.

July 15, 2026

Hole in the Wall Pub: Europe’s Longest Pub

We ventured out of the downtown area of Dublin to check out Hole in the Wall, the ironically named pub that’s the longest in Europe. Tightly nestled between a suburban road and Phoenix Park, the pub owners acquired a series of buildings which now seemingly go on and on and on. The venue dates from 1651 and there are so many little nooks and treasured contained within.

We arrived at lunchtime and were seated in the front room, as the venue was not particularly crowded. We enjoyed lunch, beer, and cider. When our meal was done we wandered through to some o of the other rooms, seeing that each room had its own character.

July 15, 2026

The Temple Bar Dublin: Far from a Tourist Trap

The brightly colored Temple Bar is named after the Dublin neighborhood where it resides. The place has something of a reputation as a tourist trap, in fact our taxi driver warned us that it wasn’t worth it. We arrived at around 10:00 am with an opening time listed as 10:30. We did see that some of doors were open with people inside so took a look to check out the venue.

Inside, we saw that one of the bars was already open and so it seemed like an opportune time for a Guinness. People told us that Guinness tastes different here compared to the states, though I couldn’t ascertain the difference myself. The venue has all kinds of little rooms that are fun to wander within and hang out in, and the people watching is so good a group of four lads asked me to take their picture. The myriad historical details are interesting to check out and it is wall to wall stickers on the way down to the toilets that may have had a recent addition.

By the time we left there was traditional Irish music being played by a trio and the space was starting to fill up. The visit was anything but a tourist trap, though it wouldn’t have been worth it later when you have to wait for an hour to get a drink. Like a lot of things, being early has its advantages.