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The Quays Bar

Temple Bar Square

One of several pubs in the city owned and operated by Louis Fitzgerald, The Quays knows its Temple Bar tourist market well, unashamedly recreating the "Irish Pub" experience that has so successfully been exported to almost every city in the world.

Which is not to say that the place should be avoided; it's just that if a pub has shamrocks on the blackboard outside don't expect to find many locals within.

That said, The Quays gets its product right. They extended the pub a few years back into an empty plot that used to be a beer garden. While they may have regretted that decision in the light of the smoking ban, the care taken in the restoration is typical of the detail Fitzgerald invests in all his pubs. The new building fits into the surrounding streetscape with such ease that it's hard to believe it wasn't always there.

Inside you'll find the same attention to detail. Distressed mahogany, plastered walls and tiled floors pay more than a passing homage to the pub's namesake in Galway (one of the best authentic Irish pubs), together with the banners of the counties draped around the bar. There's music three times daily: the last time I dropped in the pair on guitar and bodhran were steering the fine line between republican come-all-yas and the best of modern Irish folk, veering without a blush from "The town I loved so well" to Bagatelle's "Summer in Dublin", Mick Hanly and Jimmy McCarthy. They even did a Janis Joplin number.

If The Quays is clearly designed for the tour coach crowd, to criticise it for that would be churlish. It's generally full and the crows are lively and enjoying themselves. Having gone in for one pint, I stayed for several, because the music was good. If you're on a whistle-stop tour of the capital there may be no chance to seek out ethnic authenticity, and The Quays can be guaranteed for a good night out. If you want the real thing, check out Brogan's or Grogan's Castle Lounge , but you won't get the music. For that, try O'Donoghues. For something similar, compare The Temple Bar or Oliver St John Gogerty's.

June 05