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25th April 2018
04:21pm BST
Bored of your local? Swing by Aungier Street this weekend then to Dublin's newest (and dare we say, easily one of the most stylish) bars as The Lucky Duck opens its doors.
Located on 43 Aungier St, The Lucky Duck is a protected structure of architectural, historical and archaeological significance.
The building has been vacant for over 20 years and has been painstakingly renovated by the Press Up group (y'know, of Sophie's and Roberta's) for the last year.
Opening this Friday at 5pm, we popped into The Lucky Duck for a sneak peek this morning for a wander around and it's a real beaut.
Entering the ground floor, through the original entrance columns, you will be welcomed into a traditional Victorian style pub, complete with a large and bright snug to the front with a long copper-topped bar and a terrace area to the rear.
The Lucky Duck boasts they'll have one of the best pints of Guinness in town, with a super short line to the keg delivering fresh AF pints of the black stuff.
A mahogany back bar was restored from its original home in Belfast and is over 100 years old while downstairs toilets feature 200-year-old urinals (thankfully restored and looking like something out of Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets).
From 12pm in the lower bar you can grab one of The Lucky Duck’s golden, melty toasties for €6.50. Choose from the classic Honey Glazed Ham & Cheese, the veggie Grilled Mediterranean Vegetables & Brie, or the hearty Roast Beef & Red Onion Jam.
The Reilly Room, on the first floor, is an intimate room at the front of the building, complete with a small cocktail bar and an open fire, perfect for those cool winter nights.
Head up the original restored staircase to The Digges Room, which will play host to a cocktail bar and seating for up to 25.
Up just a few more steps and you’ll enter Clarke’s Bar. The large cosy snug in this room surrounds the original fireplace, and comes complete with a hatch into the adjoining bar. No need to move from your spot!
Views through large sash windows of Aungier Street on a sunny day like today are fantastic – seeing the city from a new vantage point never fails to impress.
The three rooms upstairs will open from 5pm-late seven days a week and serve up dinner and drinks.
What's the suss with the closed loop movement? Basically, it's using local ingredients to create cocktails that have zero waste and no carbon footprint, repurposing any fresh ingredients into sherberts or syrups that can be used to make yet more cocktails.
We've our eye on sampling the Low Down (€11), made with Gunpowder Irish Gin, Ban Poitin, Mezcal, Vanilla and Celery.
Food is traditional Irish fare with a modern twist and includes bar snacks as well as bigger plates.
Dishes include Curried Crab with Cucumber, Apple and Poppadom (€14), Kerry Hill Lamb Shoulder with Sprouting Broccoli, Black Olive and Salsa Verde (€27) and Roast Golden Beetroot with a Gubbeen Croquette, Watercress and Walnut (€11).
The Lucky Duck has a more lived-in, neighbourhood vibe than any of the other bars currently ran by Press Up, and we can see it fast becoming the sort of spot you enter straight after work at 5.30pm, making your way up through the different rooms until it's 2am before you realise it.
A local bar that's this slick? Looks like its Dubliners who are the lucky ducks, after all.
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