80) The Leeson Lounge of Upper Leeson Street, D4

Near the Grand Canal. Pretty aquariums offer eye candy and fetching fish. A favourite for jazz nights and suchlike. Currently shut.

UPDATE as of July 2019: it has reopened and is largely unchanged. Mentioned in Ulysses as 'Davy's publichouse,' and indeed there’s a framed collage of sketches of the pub formally known as Thomas Davy’s hanging proudly. Unique to this pub (and, now also the newly reopened Sackville Lounge): there’s no bar - the Leeson is all lounge! A few hidden alcoves at the back offer some relief from the music. And O what joy: they serve a tasty Beamish at €4.40 a pint!

An amiable barmaid answers to the euphonious name of 'Melody' – pint-sized and Asiatic in appearance, yet very Dublin-sounding. We visited Melody on a dark night in November and were stopped in our tracks when she graciously and heavy heartedly informed us that Beamish had ‘sold out’ and pointed to the tap which had been sacked. An unlikely story. One fears the stuff doesn’t sufficiently flow, and judging by the waft of weed at the entrance one wonders if cannabis is not the drug of choice. 

UPDATE as of March 2020: it is now confirmed to be definitively shut and has since been sold. R.I.P.

The waft of weed or the tang of nicotine?

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