Rockfield Lounge

Unwelcoming, soulless place offering watery pints for nearly a fiver. The pub has really nothing going for it. It neither has the attraction of an old skool pub with character or a new modern, swanky bar. It’s stuck in a horrible place in the middle.
Myself and my friends used to go there quite regularly until about a year ago.
Around 10 of us were enjoying a quick pint before we headed into town. Besides us, the place was practically empty. At least 6 of us had drinks, the others (for various reasons) decided not to order one. The barman came down, shouted at us and told us that he wasn’t ‘running a youth club’ and we better ‘all a buy a drink or get the hell out’.
We left and haven’t been back since.

Until recently this was only known to me as the Balally Luas pub even though I’ve been here lots of times. I used to work in Sandyford and this pub was the easiest to get to when I was in a hurry to watch the Rugby.
I’ve always found the staff to be very friendly and welcoming, the chairs are comfortable and with 3 big screens to chose from you’re sure to see all the important bits of the match. The pints are good and not more expensive than in other places in Dublin, in other words around a fiver depening on your beverage of choice. The one thing Rockfield lacks though is a bit of an atmosphere, so at the moment the biggest draw is the fact that it’s easy to get to.

I have been in this pub a good few times and I quite like it! Yes, there is a regular crowd in there who are not a clientele that most people would imagine as typical in Dundrum but they do not affect the experience you have in the pub. I usually go down to watch football on one of their three screens, there is always a great atmosphere when there is a big game on. The food is typical pub fare and they will usually let you change about ingredients in their dishes (which I am always doing!). I find the bar staff to be friendly in here and they are always up for a chat if you are too. They do some good table quizzes in this pub if you are looking for something to do mid week and there is usually live music on weekends, unfortunately though it’s not very well advertised and not a lot of people know about it. Rockfield is not a pub that you would bring someone to to impress them but it is good for a drink now and again.

I was only in the actual ‘lounge’ part of Rockfield Lounge once before, for lunch, and I remember not being all that bowled over by the place. I had a chicken burger that tasted like it came straight out of a chipper van (not always a bad thing, but chipper vans don’t charge 8.95 for a chicken burger) and a pint of watery Heineken.
While the Food and drink were below average, the off license sends this place plummeting to one star. I’d usually hit the off license before I went out for the night on the LUAS for a few cans or a cheeky naggin, as I lived nearby. I was a regular customer, went in there at least once a week and always found the staff rude and unhelpful. Not to mention that I was I. D’d every single time. They probably knew me by name, yet still I. D’d me. Fair enough, it’s the law, but they made little effort to try and build repeat business.
Sometimes I’d just make the trek over to the Tesco in the Dundrum center just to take my business elsewhere. Plus Tesco have those self service checkout things, which are the closest things to robots that will ever sell me a can of Dutch.

The Rockfield Lounge is a pub/​off license just beside the Balally Luas Stop, across from The Dundrum Town Centre.
I used to go here the odd time for food during the day and the pub grub is grand. They do a mean portion of wedges — nice and big with garlic dip on the side. My favourite! I’ve also had the nachos and onion rings (all very healthy choices, I know) and they’re good too. Not sure how good the main courses will be, but the side portions are good.
Wouldn’t be a big fan of the pub itself, it sometimes tends to have a little bit of a rough crowd.