If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you probably know that last Friday Mr. FFID and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary. On that day we registered our intention to marry at the registry office. They really don't make it a romanic thing there with their depressing waiting room but we were very excited anyway. Roll on July!
We had a dinner booked in a place we wanted to try for a while (review to follow) and of course we felt like we had to have a little celebratory drink beforehand, so I suggested the newish bar on South Great Georges Street: The Chelsea Drugstore. It had caught my eye a few weeks before with its sleek, illuminated facade.
It was a Friday night but the place wasn't too packed, many tables were reserved and we were lucky to find two stools to sit on. We stayed on the ground floor but they also have a basement level. Their interiors is pretty cool: bricked walls, black and white tiled floors and a funky looking bar.
The Chelsea Drugstore is a sister bar of the Market Bar and we could see the staff coming and going between a door linking the two.
On the drink side, they have the usual on tap but also craft beers (Wicklow Wolf, Brooklyn Brewery...). They mainly focus on cocktails though, with an interesting menu which doesn't feature any of the common mojitos or margaritas you find in most places, but rather interesting crafty concoctions. The menu looks cool but isn't the easiest to navigate through. Cocktail prices range from €11.50 to €12.50 but let's face it, you can't find a decent cocktail in Dublin under €11.
I went for a 'For Rita' (€11.50) which was a flaming cocktail of Havana rum, Wray and Nephew rum, Luxardo maraschino liqueur and pomegranate fruit. Quite a boozy beverage but so delicious that I had two of them! It also deserved a GIF...
Mr. FFID went for the 'Mirror Ball' (€11.50) which was described on the menu as being 'tall,crispy and sparkly". It contained Absolut vodka, Martell VS cognac, Pernod, Mint, cardamom, Angostura bitters and prosecco. A nice one but you wouldn't go for too many of them as the taste of Pernod was quite strong.
I'm not sure how the place is later in the evening but I quite liked the vibes when we were there, though Mr. FFID wasn't too sure, but I intend to go back again. They definitely got brownie points when they brought us delicious popcorn to snack on with our drinks.
The Chelsea Drugstore makes a nice addition to this buzzing area of Dublin city centre.
The Chelsea Drugstore
25 South Great Georges Street
Dublin 2
This is an independent review, I paid for my cocktails.
