Gin Palace Dublin — Restaurant in Dublin

This place gets five stars because of the bartender who waited on us the two nights we visited.

I like gin. A lot. So I had to try this place, down the street from the somewhat famous green bridge that separates the Temple Bar area from, well, the other side of town that is a touch quieter!

And I was a bit leery too, (this is a repeat of my review of Bruxelles) as this is part of the Louis Fitzgerald Group of places and spaces that are kitted out to be 'traditional' for tourists by and large. Not that that is a bad thing, mind you. But they have an eye on things.

First thing first, if this is "Dublin's Finest Gin Bar" then they need to find another one. This place is a bit worn around the edges, with a touch of that mix-and-match vibe that one gets when the owner is absent. One of the side doors has chairs piled up in front of it, for instance. But it is a typical Irish bar in that the actual bar itself is nice, long, and has ornate wood and glass backing. It just looks like it used to be another type of bar before it was rebranded. Enough about that.

The gin selection didn't actually look like it was composed of "over 200" selections. But I could be wrong, as there might be a hidden cellar with all of the good stuff. There was a good mix of gins however, with many I had tried previously and some of which I had not heard.

Here's where the place gets it stars: the bartender. First night, my friend and I saunter up and he asks, "what are you having?" I respond, "this is my first night in Dublin. Which Irish gin would you recommend?" He proceeds to bring out three bottles and places them in front of us. He provides some tasting notes. And then I ask: "Which would you choose?" He instantly says: "Bertha's Revenge." I say, "Pour us both doubles!" WOW. Not a daily drinker, this one. But unique. The first nose and throat hit is of . . . cumin?!?! Seriously. Coupled with some Schweppes (which tastes better in Europe) this was wonderful drink. It came in a goblet, with slices of orange and lime and a healthy serving of ice, the tonic on the side so as to better balance the drink to your liking. The second night? A double of their well gin, Cork. More of a traditional glass, only lime, and a touch cheaper too. For well, Cork is perfectly fine, with a slightly lower ABV (BR is 42, whereas C is 37.5) and a much more neutral taste. Both nights, the bartender was courteous and attentive. This place, finest or not, palace or not, is lucky to have him keeping customers happy.

If I come back to Dublin, I would stop by. Yes, it is a bit worn around the edges. And, yes, it is a step or two away from the craziness of Temple Bar. The former suggest that the LFG might want to hire a cleaner to spruce the place up a bit. The latter is just...

I used to love the gin palace and all of the amazing cocktails and gins they offered. We went in a few weeks ago, and were so disappointed in the experience that we left. For example, the bar tender came over to clean our table, which wasn’t dirty, taking our menus from us in the process and then walked away without giving them back to us. We had to wait to flag him down to ask for them back. The Gin Palace used to have an amazing gin selection with a gorgeous gin menu that went with it. When I asked to see it, they said they didn’t have it any more. The bar tender didn’t want to give us anymore information than that and was getting irritated with us as we asked more questions, which we were asking because we were confused at why there was no gin menu. Because he didn’t have a menu, and wasn’t giving us anymore information, I asked for a Bramble, as it’s the drink I always order there. He looked at me and said he had never heard of it before and then went to the other bar tenders who all said they hadn’t heard of it either, as though he was trying to prove I was making something up or ordering something crazy. A bramble is a very common gin cocktail. He said we could only order pints and that they didn’t have any cocktails, and I guess no gin either, because he didn’t say we could order gin, just pints?! I was soooo very put off with how he was responding to us that we sadly left and went somewhere else. Honestly, I used to love the Gin Palace and would bring friends there all of the time, and it would be one of the first places i would recommend to people, but unless something changes I don’t see that happening...

Happened to stumble upon the Gin Palace, and at first we were happy enough. Then it all went south. My friends (f20) were denied a pint of Guinness because of their over 21s policy, and so opted for blackcurrant which was given for free, with thanks. We enjoyed the playlist and the ambiance and then we started to make a bit of ruckus, as a large group of girls and one male, it is inevitable that we may be a bit noisy at times, particularly in a bar setting. The waitress approached us and told us to keep the noise down as they “serve food until 9pm and there are other customers”. As far as I can recall in any of my dining experiences, I don’t usually tend to sit in complete silence when having a meal. Do they expect their customers to be totally silent until 9pm? Very confusing logic. Not to mention, we had been relatively quiet for most of our experience, we just received some exciting news thus the slight noise escalation on our part, but that was enough for the waitress to give out to us? Very strange. Probably will not return as we were made to feel very...