The Church Cafe, Late Bar & Restaurant

Written By: Gail Clifford | Published By: Weekend Notes | July 25, 2022

https://www.weekendnotes.com/the-church-cafe-late-bar-restaurant-dublin/

In all the years I’ve lived or visited Dublin, I’d never made the time to eat at the Church Pub, though I used to pass it almost daily. A gloriously restored 17th-century de-sanctified church, Even more popular now, it’s a great idea to make reservations for dinner, whether in person, by email, or by telephone. They serve pastries starting at 11 am with a special for pastry and coffee or tea and both a lunch and dinner menu. If you’re fortunate to be there for dinner, plan your reservation for 7 pm. That’s when the live musicians start and possibly some Irish dancers throughout the evening, Sundays through Thursday.

Walking in, the bar commands your view, shiny and twinkly brass with gleaming bottles and great lighting, but the pipe organ in the back is a close second. The unparalleled ambience made me think of the abandoned churches in the United States. If only I wanted to run a restaurant, this would be a great idea board for other locations.

The musicians sit under the large stained-glass window along Jervis Street. If you’d like to be up close and personal and sit near them, don’t plan to have an intimate conversation with your dining partners. But it is good craic, after all, and isn’t that what you’re in Dublin for?

I was seated at a two-top in the balcony facing the musicians about halfway up the church. I had a great view of the musicians and bar. There must have been a lot of martinis being shaken not stirred as hard as those bartenders were working. Research for this article taught me (I’m a non-drinker) that if a cocktail contains citrus, cream, or any opaque ingredient, you shake it to mix with alcohol.

The servers were swamped but cheerful. My server, Florencia from Argentina, greeted me promptly and interrupted me rarely. It seems they expect diners to stay a couple of hours and enjoy the show. The food and drinks are brought by other servers… I kept re-directing things I hadn’t ordered to the next table down. It was an interesting way to see what everyone was enjoying.

It’s easy to see people seated on the same level and the same side as you with open viewing obviously coordinated to favour the musicians. The acoustics are as great as you would expect in a church with a pipe organ. It’s difficult to see anyone on the lower level because the bar is so large.

While their lunch menu is similar to the evening menu, I noticed that the steak and oyster options were amplified. I’d eaten a rather late lunch based on my tour schedule of the day, so skipped their offered appetisers of soup of the day, deep-fried crispy calamari, the church chicken wings, roaring water Bay mussels, Dublin Bay prawns, Guinness and plum glazed baby back pork rib, fully loaded nachos or vegetarian nachos, roasted crookneck pumpkin and goat cheese salad, feta and orange salad or grilled courgette and fried chickpea salad.

I really appreciated that they save the servers from several questions right on the menu. They have multiple vegan options and list the 20 most common allergens on the bottom of the menu so you can make your choice accordingly.

I was particularly impressed that the fish and chips were gluten-free, as was the chocolate and peanut butter brownie. My choices made, I sat back and enjoyed the fiddle and guitar combo as I reviewed options for the next time I visit.

Several family members will appreciate their oysters offered by the half dozen or the dozen served with a housemaid green apple mignonette and traditional mignonette with spicy Tabasco sauce which can be added as you please and lemon, grilled filet of fresh Irish cod (my choice next trip or the roast beef if we’re there for lunch).