I popped into this ‘pub’ with two friends last Thursday afternoon.
We all wish we hadn’t.
The scrawled hand written sign on the corner of the street announcing €3 pints ‘all day every day’ should have probably been the first warning sign.
The interior decoration of the place should have been the second. It looked like a second-rate Chinese takeaway in a small Monaghan town. Freshly painted shiny yellow walls, gawky bright ceiling lights and cheap, tacky paintings (€2 each in Hector Grays [RIP] job) covering the place.
We ordered three pints of Guinness off the energetic Asian woman who seemed to be running the place single-handedly. Our third and final warning sign should have been when we saw the pints that she dropped down to us. We should have left there and then.
I’m only a recent convert to Guinness and don’t claim to be in any way an expert but I can tell you that these were the single worst looking pints I’ve ever seen my life. They tasted even worse.
KBranno remarked that the place was more like a ‘drop in centre’ than a pub. He had a point. The dozen or so people, mostly middle-aged bearded men, in the place were all fixated on a small black TV in the corner that was showing the Afternoon Show (RTÉ). It was a very surreal experience.
We finally decided to leave. Leaving our half-finished pints.
It was well worth paying the extra €1.50 for a decent pint, a nice atmosphere and a friendly bartender down the road in The Long Hall.
I think Hector Greys is gone…
You’re right. Remember getting a shock to see it gone a few weeks ago. The long sign above the shop is still there though. It’s already made the ‘Dublin Ghost Signs’ thread on Boards.ie
Have edited article accordingly.
Cheers Ciara.
Doesn’t mean they weren’t bought in Hectors, probably there years.
Sounds bloody dire.
Shit – Hector Greys gone?? … what a blow for quality shopping and fine art collectors everywhere :-<
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