Search icon

Explore Dublin

25th Oct 2019

This Unsuspecting Oldschool Dublin Pub Serves Shockingly Tasty Tapas

Éadaoin Fitzmaurice

If there’s one thing I love about Dublin it’s that you’ll find the best things in the most unexpected places.

That is exactly what happened to me when I went for a few scoops with my friends a while back.

We were on the northside, spending the day at the Botanic Gardens, taking all of those cringy Instagrams and after a long day of being *productive* my tummy started to rumble.

Where could we possibly go for food?

My friend led us to this random pub tucked away behind the gardens. It was dark, grey and a little… unappealing if I’m honest. Before too long I found out that this was The Gravediggers.

John Kavanagh’s The Gravediggers has been a part of Dublin since 1833.

I had heard many a tale about this pub – that it was a hotspot with Glasnevin locals and the best craic for a few scoops. It’s a place I had been meaning to visit since I had moved up here and I was so excited to find out what all of the fuss was about.

As much as I adore pub grub on the correct occasion, on this day I was not feeling it.

To my delight, when we sat down we were presented with an interesting tapas menu.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ciaran Kavanagh (@kavanaghciaran) on

 

If there’s one thing I adore about Dublin it’s finding random hidden gems that have you almost forcing your mates to check out after being there – The Gravediggers is exactly that.

The tapas menu had a little bit of everything, which is my favourite way to eat. It’s also super reasonable costing between €3-€7 for each well-proportioned option.

You’ll find everything from meatballs, fish cakes, chorizo, mac’n’cheese, flatbread and dips, prawns and crispy pork belly.

(The mac’n’cheese is the dream!)

Every dish was almost better than the last, I was on cloud nine nibbling away with a pint by my side.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Ciaran Kavanagh (@kavanaghciaran) on

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Peter O’Doherty (@irishphotographer1) on

 

The bar is super chill and still has an old fashioned charm.

There’s no fuss, no mad neon signs or quirky modern art. There’s no music, no TV, no wifi and it’s cash only – literally no frills, you can just disconnect from reality here.

There’s an amazing atmosphere inside and it’s always buzzing with chatter, having no music means you can actually have a proper conversation with your friends.

Best of all, it’s dog friendly so there’s almost always a doggo looking for a rub.

It’s just a good-old Irish pub that serves up delicious food.

The Tapas menu is available from Tuesday -Saturday 6pm -8.30pm and it changes daily.

I will definitely be going back again.

Header Image: The Gravediggers

 

Topics: