Rustic Stone Cocktail Bar

Dylan McGrath has recently expanded his ‘wining and dining’ empire and opened a cocktail bar above his Rustic Stone restaurant.

Interior – Image from Rustic Stone website

The interior is essentially split by the stair case into two areas. The right has a classy luxurious feel with dark wood tables, black leather seats and exposed brick work.  The bar is also on the right towards the back.

The left side, to me, feels a little more cut off from the feel of the cocktail bar and more corridor like. It also has more booth type seating.  My preference would be a table on the right.

Cocktails range in price from €8.50 to €11.00 which by city standards seems very reasonable to me.  I do have to say however some of the ones I tried did seem a little shallow in the glass, but I suppose that is reflective of the price.

Irish Honey

Rhubarb liqueur, Glendalough Poitin, honey syrup, marmalade and lemon juice served over crushed ice (€10).

Blackberry & Apple Crumble

Martin Millers gin shaken with gingerbread liqueur, blackberry jam, lemon juice, apple syrup, with egg white and served in a glass with a gingerbread rim (€10).

Salted Caramel

Grand Mariner, caramel liqueur, lemon juice and egg white with a pinch of rock salt (€9.50).

All of the cocktails were excellent I have to say.  The service did seem a little slow, but I suspect that is down to the staff using good fresh ingredients, which takes longer to produce a quality end result so I can’t complain about that.

The only downside was the smell of the restaurant below was quite strong. Usually that’s not a bad thing but everything smelled of burgers which was less tantalizing and more unpleasant. No doubt it will become a popular place and is of course perfect for a pre or post dinner cocktails.