Man your pumps, Wetherspoons are coming

Bigcheeze

Big Nasty wrote: »

Found it a bit odd having to go up and pay in advance for everything but no biggie.

Very much a UK thing. Order at the bar, pay for everything and wait.

Technocentral

Ravelleman wrote: »

Mulligan's of Poolbeg St doesn't do cask beers. They do have a good range of keg craft beers and the prices are actually quite decent. I think a 5am Saint is about €5.80 or less.

:eek: Fcuk, thats a nice surprise, last time I was in their it was a die hard Diageo kip.

Lawrence Murphy

Technocentral wrote: »

:eek: Fcuk, thats a nice surprise, last time I was in their it was a die hard Diageo kip.

They've had a few craft beers on tap for a few years at least

coylemj

Big Nasty wrote: »

Found it a bit odd having to go up and pay in advance for everything but no biggie. Will definitely be visiting again.

Can you elaborate please as to the exact format? I looked into the place last week but haven't yet given them my custom.

Do you have the option to walk in, sit at a table and wait to be served by a waiter/ess or does everyone have to walk up to the counter, order, pay, then sit at a table and wait for the food & beer to arrive?

Creamy Goodness

You go in sit down. Note your table number and then go up and order. You give your table number (if you order food) and you get served your drinks there and then.

coylemj

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

You go in sit down. Note your table number and then go up and order. You give your table number (if you order food) and you get served your drinks there and then.

Thanks, can you sit down and wait to be served by a floor walker if eating food? Reason I ask is because when I wandered in to do a reccie last week, a young lady on the floor said 'hello', I assumed that if I had sat down there and then she would have taken an order - no?

Second question if I may: If I have had a drink and/or food and want another drink, do I have to get up off my lazy arse and walk to the counter to get the drink - are the floor staff only there to deliver food to the tables which has already been paid for? Is there no concept of a tab for each table?

MonkstownHoop

coylemj wrote: »

Thanks, can you sit down and wait to be served by a floor walker if eating food? Reason I ask is because when I wandered in to do a reccie last week, a young lady on the floor said 'hello', I assumed that if I had sat down there and then she would have taken an order - no?

Second question if I may: If I have had a drink and/or food and want another drink, do I have to get up off my lazy arse and walk to the counter to get the drink - are the floor staff only there to deliver food to the tables which has already been paid for? Is there no concept of a tab for each table?

You go to the bar for everything

coylemj

MonkstownHoop wrote: »

You go to the bar for everything

OK, so you go to the bar to pay for everything, you take the drink from the bar to your table and if you've ordered food, it's delivered by a floor walker. Sounds like there's no scope for waiting staff to get tips unless you leave money on the table in which case any of them could pick it up.

cormacjones

coylemj wrote: »

OK, so you go to the bar to pay for everything, you take the drink from the bar to your table and if you've ordered food, it's delivered by a floor walker. Sounds like there's no scope for waiting staff to get tips unless you leave money on the table in which case any of them could pick it up.

Why don't you just go and try it? You'll soon figure out how things are run.

coylemj

cormacjones wrote: »

Why don't you just go and try it? You'll soon figure out how things are run.

I intend to do so, I just prefer to know how it work in advance given that it's clearly a different model to your typical Irish pub.

vicwatson

Said in Sunday Times today that Wetherspoons had send out a 15 page booklet to the local population introducing themselves and giving info about their craft beers etc.

Don't suppose anyone can post a copy of said booklet???

coylemj

vicwatson wrote: »

Said in Sunday Times today that Wetherspoons had send out a 15 page booklet to the local population introducing themselves and giving info about their craft beers etc.

Don't suppose anyone can post a copy of said booklet???

The JDW CEO thanked all of the team 'who have given their utmost to making our debut in Eire a success' :eek:

The online version is unreadable on a smartphone or laptop, why they couldn't put up a downloadable PDF version is beyond me. Try it anyway but you'll need good eyesight ....

http://www.jdwetherspoon.ie/flash/flipping-book/

JohnK

There is a download button on the toolbar which points to http://www.jdwetherspoon.ie/flash/flipping-book/files/assets/common/downloads/publication.pdf - its 5mb though

blueshed

coylemj wrote: »

OK, so you go to the bar to pay for everything, you take the drink from the bar to your table and if you've ordered food, it's delivered by a floor walker. Sounds like there's no scope for waiting staff to get tips unless you leave money on the table in which case any of them could pick it up.

i have being in 2 Spoons in Manchester and staff are not allowed to take tips, found it a bit strange.

Technocentral

What ciders on tap do they have?

Geuze

Technocentral wrote: »

What ciders on tap do they have?

Have a read of the menu, posted here several times.

http://fft.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Final-ROI-Menu_Page_1.jpg



http://fft.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Final-ROI-Menu_Page_2.jpg

drumswan

The Symonds is quite good, nice and dry.

Technocentral

Geuze wrote: »

Have a read of the menu, posted here several times.

http://fft.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Final-ROI-Menu_Page_1.jpg



http://fft.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Final-ROI-Menu_Page_2.jpg

Cheers, great prices, havent tasted symonds before but 3.95 is a great price if its half decent.

Big Nasty

Technocentral wrote: »

Cheers, great prices, havent tasted symonds before but 3.95 is a great price if its half decent.

Be aware it's decent cider not the alcopop we know as Bulmers.

Technocentral

Big Nasty wrote: »

Be aware it's decent cider not the alcopop we know as Bulmers.

Believe me I dont drink any industrial ciders or beers!

BeerNut

Cider doesn't come much more industrial than Symond's: Heineken UK makes it at the same factory as Strongbow, Bulmer's and Scrumpy Jack.

Technocentral

BeerNut wrote: »

Cider doesn't come much more industrial than Symond's: Heineken UK makes it at the same factory as Strongbow, Bulmer's and Scrumpy Jack.

Hadnt heard of it, whats the Thatchers Gold like so, any better?

BeerNut

I haven't tasted either of them. Symond's could be lovely for all I know.

Technocentral

BeerNut wrote: »

I haven't tasted either of them. Symond's could be lovely for all I know.

Well maybe i'll go for a cask ale if thay have any.

drumswan

BeerNut wrote: »

Cider doesn't come much more industrial than Symond's: Heineken UK makes it at the same factory as Strongbow, Bulmer's and Scrumpy Jack.

That explains why it tastes almost exactly like Strongbow so. Which is OK because I like Strongbow.

poitinstill

if in city center eg oconnellst or st stephens green ? is it worth a trip out .. not sure on distances in dublin....say for man / wife and 4 and 5 yr old. ? maybe under the guise of a lunch/early dinner where i put a hole in the casks

Mr Simpson

Its a handy trip on the Dart, well worth it if you're in town imo. Its pretty family friendly as well

cloudatlas

4,95 for a Tsingtao Oh my. Still may be worth a trip for the Ghost Ship which seems like the only really decent beer they have on.

vicwatson

Under €20 for 750ml Villa Maria and under €50 for(I assume) 750ml Moet Champagne, good prices for an out of supermarket joint.

TireeTerror

What is the big fascination? I do not think these prices are anything like what I was expecting. In Scotland JD's is cheap, the food and drink is way way cheaper. Im looking at the prices of the daily specials and I am not seeing something that would make me go out of my way to go there, whereas in Scotland I was in them quite frequently, nearly every Friday for a bite to eat and straight out on it after work.

BaZmO*

TireeTerror wrote: »

What is the big fascination? I do not think these prices are anything like what I was expecting. In Scotland JD's is cheap, the food and drink is way way cheaper. Im looking at the prices of the daily specials and I am not seeing something that would make me go out of my way to go there, whereas in Scotland I was in them quite frequently, nearly every Friday for a bite to eat and straight out on it after work.

Is the food and drink in general not way cheaper in Scotland?

Mr Simpson

BaZmO* wrote: »

Is the food and drink in general not way cheaper in Scotland?

Yes, and wages are quite a bit lower.

Geuze

BaZmO* wrote: »

Is the food and drink in general not way cheaper in Scotland?

Anecdotal evidence from Edinburgh this month - pints from 3.50-4.00 sterling.

(not in WS pubs)

Note that Edinburgh is an affluent, touristy city, so no doubt prices are higher than average.

Heroditas

Fancy that. Prices vary from country to country.
Next they'll be saying the weather is different too.

Krusty_Clown

TireeTerror wrote: »

What is the big fascination? I do not think these prices are anything like what I was expecting. In Scotland JD's is cheap, the food and drink is way way cheaper. Im looking at the prices of the daily specials and I am not seeing something that would make me go out of my way to go there, whereas in Scotland I was in them quite frequently, nearly every Friday for a bite to eat and straight out on it after work.

What were you expecting? I paid €3.70 for a pint of Adnams Ghostship on cask there last Sunday, and thought it was really good value. The pub wasn't up to the same standard as my first visit (30 minute wait on food, running out of some meal choices, burnt part of my meal (but was suitably compensated)), but I find it hard to argue that it's not really good value for money when compared to typical Irish pub prices.

I feel the novelty will wear off after a while (particularly if there isn't rotation of their cask beers) as I wouldn't imagine they plan to change the menus too often, but for a family of four, just looking for a quite bite to eat and a pint, it's substantially cheaper than anywhere else.

Ronan|Raven

I really hope the talk of them buying the Sandyford House is true.. It would be nice to have an alternative location for some cask ales nearby.

TireeTerror

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

What were you expecting? I paid €3.70 for a pint of Adnams Ghostship on cask there last Sunday, and thought it was really good value. The pub wasn't up to the same standard as my first visit (30 minute wait on food, running out of some meal choices, burnt part of my meal (but was suitably compensated)), but I find it hard to argue that it's not really good value for money when compared to typical Irish pub prices.

I feel the novelty will wear off after a while (particularly if there isn't rotation of their cask beers) as I wouldn't imagine they plan to change the menus too often, but for a family of four, just looking for a quite bite to eat and a pint, it's substantially cheaper than anywhere else.

I was thinking along the lines of €2.50 for a pint of regular lagers, that kind of thing. Unless its changed in the 3 years I've been here, JD's was almost always the cheapest pub, their beer may have been bought near the end of its life, but that saving was passed on to the customer.

Losty Dublin

TireeTerror wrote: »

I was thinking along the lines of €2.50 for a pint of regular lagers, that kind of thing. Unless its changed in the 3 years I've been here, JD's was almost always the cheapest pub, their beer may have been bought near the end of its life, but that saving was passed on to the customer.

€2.50 a bottle is circa 50% of the norm here in Dublin for a bottle. Are you expecting them to be that cheap?

Geuze

TireeTerror wrote: »

I was thinking alonwouldhe lines of €2.50 forina pint of regular lagers, that kind of thing. Unless its changed in the 3 years I've been here, JD's was almost always the cheapest pub, their beer may have been bought near the end of its life, but that saving was passed on to the customer.

Cask ale is from 1.95 stg in Enniskillen and from 2.40 stg in Belfast. In that context, expecting to pay 2.50 euro for lager in high cost south Dublin is naive.

Guinness is 2.65 in EK and 2.99 in Belfast.

I hoped for maybe 3.50 lager in Dublin.

Geuze

Carlsberg 3.8% is 1.99 stg in EK and Coors Light is 2.65.

VAT is a little bit higher here, but the biggest issues are massive property costs in Dublin, and also higher wholesale beer costs, due to less competition between brewers.

I hoped for stout at 3.50-4.00, it turned out at 3.95. Not too bad for south Dublin.

This means if they open in Athlone or Waterford, for example, stout should be max 3.50.

TireeTerror

Does anyone know the difference for a pub to buy a keg of guinness in the South compared to the North? Same for say Heineken and all the generic lagers?

If there is a big difference, do publicans near the border buy their alcohol in the North?

Mr Simpson

TireeTerror wrote: »

Does anyone know the difference for a pub to buy a keg of guinness in the South compared to the North? Same for say Heineken and all the generic lagers?

If there is a big difference, do publicans near the border buy their alcohol in the North?

I dont have the exact figures, but the sunday business post were saying a while ago, that kegs of guinness are about 33% cheaper than the republic (even after paying Irish duty on it)

munchkin_utd

TireeTerror wrote: »

I was thinking along the lines of €2.50 for a pint of regular lagers, that kind of thing. Unless its changed in the 3 years I've been here, JD's was almost always the cheapest pub, their beer may have been bought near the end of its life, but that saving was passed on to the customer.

If I amnt mistaken the cost to a pub of a barrel of beer from the brewery works out at over a euro a pint in Ireland .
Add VAT overheads and staff costs (oh, and repayments for a pub costing millions to buy, not to mention renovate) and maybe the hope of a few cent of profit, and you arent going to ever see something like €2.50 a pint

Geuze

TireeTerror wrote: »

Does anyone know the difference for a pub to buy a keg of guinness in the South compared to the North? Same for say Heineken and all the generic lagers?

If there is a big difference, do publicans near the border buy their alcohol in the North?

Note that Diageo sell Guinness cheaper into NI than they do into RoI markets, even though it's made in Dublin.

So Extra Stout 440ml cans, for example, are 1.00stg in NI, which is equivalent to 1.44 euro for a 50cl can.

The retail price here for 50cl cans is maybe 2.25, 50cl bottles can be got for maybe 2.15 in a 4-pack.

So the same product is 50% dearer here.

(VAT is 3% higher here, excise is very similar)

The higher price is mainly due to the brewer's pricing power and dominance.

Geuze

Mr Simpson wrote: »

I dont have the exact figures, but the sunday business post were saying a while ago, that kegs of guinness are about 33% cheaper than the republic (even after paying Irish duty on it)

"Diageo has agreed to slash the price of Guinness to the company which runs the bars in Dublin’s new Aviva Stadium at Lansdowne Road, after the company threatened to import supplies from Britain.

Irish publicans pay €131.66 for a 50-litre keg of Guinness. The ex-duty price of the same keg to the on-trade in Britain is half that, at £54.15 (€66). Even after payment of Irish duty, the cost of importing Guinness to Ireland would be only €99.33 per keg, a saving of 33 per cent."

Mr Simpson

Geuze wrote: »

"Diageo has agreed to slash the price of Guinness to the company which runs the bars in Dublin’s new Aviva Stadium at Lansdowne Road, after the company threatened to import supplies from Britain.

Irish publicans pay €131.66 for a 50-litre keg of Guinness. The ex-duty price of the same keg to the on-trade in Britain is half that, at £54.15 (€66). Even after payment of Irish duty, the cost of importing Guinness to Ireland would be only €99.33 per keg, a saving of 33 per cent."

Thats the article I was looking for, cheers

dub_skav

Planning to take a spin out to the TTT this evening for the first time.
I'm not expecting a mind blowing experience, but hopefully some interesting beers at a reasonable price - what more can you ask for.

irish_goat

TireeTerror wrote: »

If there is a big difference, do publicans near the border buy their alcohol in the North?

I've not seen it happen and the manager in my old bar would do anything to save a few bob. I always though it would be piss easy to buy a load of UK spirits and decant them into Irish bottles (UK ones have a big UK sticker on them).



Revenue also send do spot checks to see if a pub is trying to sell bottles of beer bought in the UK.

rubadub

Mr Simpson wrote: »

Thats the article I was looking for, cheers

I think that was in 2010

Longer quote

Diageo has agreed to slash the price of Guinness to the company which runs the bars in Dublin’s new Aviva Stadium at Lansdowne Road, after the company threatened to import supplies from Britain.

Irish publicans pay €131.66 for a 50-litre keg of Guinness. The ex-duty price of the same keg to the on-trade in Britain is half that, at £54.15 (€66). Even after payment of Irish duty, the cost of importing Guinness to Ireland would be only €99.33 per keg, a saving of 33 per cent.

It is understood that Compass Catering Group, which has massive purchasing power in Britain, told Diageo that, unless it cut its prices, Compass would import Guinness from Britain.

The catering contract for the 50,000-seater stadium, which last week hosted its first football international when the Republic of Ireland took on Argentina, was awarded to Compass, which is also the official caterer at Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

In Ireland, the Compass group employs more than 2,000 people and provides the catering at sporting venues such as Leopardstown and Fairyhouse.

On match and event days in the Aviva Stadium, the 18 bars on levels one and five will serve up to 70,000 pints, while 11 bars on premium seat levels two and three feature special Guinness and oyster bars. More Guinness is served in the President’s Suite on level four and the 36 private hospitality suites, which can accommodate 800 spectators.

A spokeswoman for Compass said that, ‘‘due to commercial sensitivities, Compass Group UK & Ireland is unable to discuss its supplier relationships’’.

A spokeswoman for Diageo Ireland said: ‘‘Diageo does not comment on confidential agreements between customers and ourselves." Diageo is understood to have informed the Licensed Vintners’ Association that Guinness prices in Ireland will rise again next year.

irish_goat wrote: »

Revenue also send do spot checks to see if a pub is trying to sell bottles of beer bought in the UK.

Well I presume that is them detecting illegal smuggling, I presume the pub could do it the legal way and just pay the duty and still make huge savings, like aviva planned.

Supervalu near me used to have 5% heineken cans intended for the scottish market, it was beside the 4.3% stuff and was cheaper. I presume this was all above board and it was presumably far cheaper wholesale prices in scotland that made it worth their while.

If I owned wetherspoons in blackrock I would start selling cans of draught guinness, just buy a 4 pack and you would be all over the press with nice free marketing. I am not saying they would sell well or anything but it would definitely be talked about.

Mr Simpson

Maybe not then, but the price difference is still pretty similar afaik