Houricans

I’ve been to Houricans for the odd drink over the years and it serves it’s purpose well. It has your usual run of the mill Irish pub drinks on offer.
On my latest visit though was for a weekday lunch and it was lovely. It harked back to the lunchtimes of old when I first moved to Dublin. Toasted sandwiches and lasagne. And that’s exactly what we had on this occasion.
I went for the Toasted Special with chips, it was perfect. The classic ham, cheese and onion toasted sandwich that only Irish pubs can do. My friend said the lasagne was lovely and while I had the yummy toastie, I did have a bit of food envy. I think I will be ordering the lasagne on my next visit. The chips are those rectangular ones, albeit from frozen, delicious with copious amounts of ketchup.
The deal for a toastie and chips included a can as well, it came to 9.50 EUR. Reasonable enough I think.
The service was great too, efficient and very friendly.
Houricans will be the go to lunchtime spot for me and my friend in the future. I’m glad it will be too.

An easily overlooked spot that is so near Stephens Green and right beside The Sugar Club.
The amount of old alcohol advertisements that they have in there is impressive, the walls are covered with them which are an utter blessing when your company is boring you to death.
«Did you know the GNP of the Ukraine is x amount*.»
«Really… No way…»
«Our country is sham, this is what they should be doing**»
«You are so right,» says I as I stare at the facial hair splendor that is The Dubliners. That advertisement saved me.
The Guinness was good and the bartender brought it down. There are coat hooks on the wall as you come in the door like in your house which is nice. Very clean and bright but cosy at the same time. Quite the civilised crowd was there the day I had my pint and yes I do deem myself civilised once and a while.
* = I tuned out sorry, I’m sure you can Wikipedia the GNP
** = I tuned out again sorry, we could be living in utopia had I not stared in awe at Ronnie Drew’s beard.

This is a hidden gem in Dublin city centre. It is located on the corner of Lower Leeson Street, right beside Stephen’s Green.
It’s essentially «an old man’s pub» which is why I love it! It’s as if you walk in the door and are transported to the midlands in the 1990’s! It’s quite small but that just adds to the cosy feel. It’s a great place for a few drinks and a chat after work on a Friday evening. I’ve never been here on a Saturday night but I don’t think I’d want to either. It’s just not that type of place.
Dresscode: More casual the better.
On the jukebox: There’s none! :)
Snacks: Bacon fries and toasted sandwiches.

I popped in here the other day and absolutely loved it! The walls are full of old street signs and all sorts of drinks advertisements and such. It’s only a wee place, but it has a great atmosphere and the staff were very friendly. They have a couple of TVs dotted about the place as well, which was perfect because we could watch the Rugby. The pints were good and pretty cheap as well considering that Houricans is right next to Stephen’s Green… surprisingly it doesn’t feel like a city centre pub at all but more like a nice local. Only thing is, they only have one cubicle in the bathroom so expect a long wait.

Houricans is a really great pub. While it’s bang in the middle of Dublin 2, it’s got almost a country feel to it — and being from the country originally, I mean that in a good way! It’s shabby without being dirty and it’s great fun always. Friends of mine used to work around the corner from here and this was their company local. Any work event at all that took place they would come here. The staff are absolutely excellent — they give great service and always with that personal touch. When one of my mates was leaving the company she had her leaving bash here and the bartenders let her pull her own and her colleagues’ pints in honour of her departure.