L. Mulligan. Grocer – The Perfect Irish Gastro Pub

The next time I go to L. Mulligan, I will go hungry. Sure, I knew it was going to be stick-to-your-ribs, inventive pub fare with an interesting beer selection, but I wasn’t prepared for how immensely filling it would actually be. And with all the other great food options in Dublin, I didn’t appropriately prepare to fully enjoy L. Mulligan’s carb-intensive attributes.

A 5-minute taxi ride from Christ Church to Stoneybatter, and we entered L. Mulligan for our Saturday night reservation — 8pm and its large front bar was full-steam buzzy.

We were escorted to the back room where it was charming, but a bit more sedate from the din of the bar.

The long narrow, ambient room was filled with wood tables set against exposed brick and fireplace. The service was friendly and the menu was laid out before us, cleverly ensconced inside a vintage book.

The creative menu made it difficult to choose, but was at least devised to recommend a beer pairing with each menu item.

L. Mulligan is renowned for its Scotch Eggs and since I don’t eat them, I was hoping to nudge my dinner companion in their direction, but she didn’t take the bait. Instead she started with featured Breads & Olive Oil. I went for the special of Cheddar Soup – who can resist a menu item that features “bread for mopping.” While not very colorful, it was one of the most deliciously memorable soups I’ve ever had.

Time to move on to mains and my friend gravitated to the interesting-sounding Wild Boar Burger with house-made Parmesan Bap, spiced Pumpkin Pesto and Fivemiletown Goats Cheese with a side of Celeriac Chips. Given the leanness of the meet, she found the burger a bit dry.

And we agreed that my twice cooked Chips were better. They came along with my multi-dimensional Vegetarian Boxty Burger featuring Sesame Seed, Carrot & Beetroot patty with Fivemiletown Goats Cheese resting on a Potato & Red Onion Boxty on one side and topped with a fried Mushroom “bun” on the other. Very clever. Very satiating.

L. Mulligan considers all the little touch such as Scrabble pieces to reserve tables, menus set in vintage books, and a scoop of gummy candies accompanying your bill. 

Next time I would request to sit in the lively front room. You can easily hang out in the front of the pub for a beer after dinner, but we headed a few blocks over to the tightly packed and friendly Cobblestone to listen to live Trad music.

But I’m not sure whether I prefer, L. Mulligan in the evening when it’s jam-packed and lively – or in the late afternoon when it’s just opened and it’s calm, and I practically have the pub all to myself.

It’s so pleasant to relax in a cozy banquette with a craft beer and write or connect in to wifi.

The next time I’m in Dublin, I need to pop over to L. Mulligan’s weekend grocery and pick up something interesting like Irish farm house Cheese, Bacon Jam, or Arun Bakery Stoneybatter Bread. Of course it would be difficult not to stick around for weekend brunch.

It’s easy to get to Stoneybatter by taxi or a brisk walk from the Smithfield Luas stop. Even if just visiting for a few days, I highly recommend getting out of the Temple Bar center and seeing other neighborhoods. If you walk from the center you’ll run across some great street art. And at the end of your journey, you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful pub with great craft beer and tasty comfort food.