The Dubliner Irish Pub

Been to Dubliner twice. First was fine but my second visit on 30th April scarred my experience with the service.

We were there for snacks and drinks and was thirsty for water upon reaching the pub. The waitress in charge of the area was not at her busiest moment, yet she was walking to and fro without being alert of patrons waiting for menu. You do know that when one is thirsty, patience is of a greater virtue when practiced. I maintained my composure when waitress passed the menu after 10 minutes of waiting. We asked for fries and samosa with stout and beer, not forgetting glasses of water to quench my dry throat.

After an agonizing wait for another 10 minutes, she served two stouts instead. Corrected her and she changed to beer without any apologies - not only that, I had to remind her of the water. She went to another table and served two foreigners with water, went back to the bar, chatted with the floor manager and finally served us water. I gulped down quickly and still needing more, asked for another glass. She replied that Dubliner only serves one round of water to customers, nothing more than that and we have to buy mineral water at $6.95. Disappointed, I had to drink my beer and eat my snacks with dry throat. After finishing the food, I saw her serving martini, beer AND GLASSES OF WATER to the same foreigners across our table, Feeling a lack of proper service, I asked the waitress and this is what she replied, "There are people who come here only for water. So the management decides to serve water to customers who order more drinks. If you order another round of beer and stout, I'll give two glasses of water. If you order 4, I will give 4 glasses of water." When prompted further, she admitted those are tap water. I told her that tap water is free and should not be restricted to customers who ordered drinks and food irregardless of the quantity. To that she said, "I'm sorry, you would have to buy the mineral water. You know lah, this is Singapore". She started to move away and I had to slighly up my voice for her to hear, "Huh, what do you mean by that? Please elaborate". She ignored me and went into the bar.

I was really upset at how their service has degraded to limit tap water to customers. To-date this is the only pub that has this rule and seriously, do you think a small glass of water is enough for customers who have beer and deep-fried snacks?!

Had one of the worst burgers I’ve ever eaten. Had it at the Dubliner.  Chunk after chunk of hard gristle / fat / bone / cartilage / whatever. It's not uncommon to get one in chop meat. There were literaly 6 or 7 of these in this one burger. Disgusting.

 

For sides were a measly handful of soggy fries and some paltry cole slaw, overly seasoned with pepper no less.  Listen up pepper-happy Singapore!: Pepper is for the customer to add – if it’s in there and the customer doesn’t like it, there’s no way to take it out. It tasted awful as a result.

 

Sad too, as years ago I had burgers at the Dubliner every few weeks or so, and I remember them being pretty good.

 

For $18 I expect better. McDonalds tastes better and is cheaper.

 

I go to the Dubliner for the cider mainly - not many pubs in Singapore sell cider and I prefer it to lager so when I'm in Orchard I often head there for a quick pint (or 6!)

The food is OK, just pub food really.  Last night I shared a few dishes with friends - the wedges which were good, the salsa and chips (it said home-made salsa and I believe it was too as it was very nice) and the Thai chicken sticks which were a bit rubbish - vaguely tasting of lemongrass and although cooked in the middle it was as if they'd been cooked earlier and reheated as they weren't very hot - very disappointing for $14.

I'll be back for the cider but probably not the Thai chicken!

Had a burger from the Irish watering hole Dubliner and it pretty much looks like another of the other burgers that they serve here. The main differences are the cheeses and whether if there's bacon or not. I'd say that the burgers here are pretty decent with a nice firm patty that isn't too crumbly. Decent if not spectacular. The main gripe was that it could've been a little bigger since the patty was noticeably smaller than the regular sized bun. This was in no way a match for the one at Molly Malone's which had better toasted buns and a heartier patty to boot.

The pleasant surprise here was actually the salad. It's a mix of romaine lettuces, rocket, diced tomatoes and bits of onions tossed with some mayo like dressing. What's good is that this guys really tossed the salad instead of giving you your token dressing drizzled over the top. So the dress coats the greens nicely and the raw onions added a much appreciated layer of flavors. So despite appearances, this is actually pretty good.

I had a blue cheese burger and as I've mentioned, was pretty decent but lacked a certain satisfaction in volume. I recall something similar which I prefer.

pics right here