The Reform
Reviewed by Emily on 29 Jun 2014
Having been shut to cars recently, the east part of Merrion Street is under construction and becoming a pedestrian-only thoroughfare. Though bad news for all the folks who used to use it as a short cut to Vicar Lane, this is welcome news to the likes of us who enjoy auto-free zones and potential beer garden spaces.
There’s a trinity of bars on this strip – Mojo, Verve, and The Reform – all with a similar kind of vibe: good music, classy drinks, chilled airy spaces by day and buzzing nightclubs by night. The Reform distinguishes itself by embracing a shabby chic look, offering lots of comfy sofas to lounge on, and giving away a free 6-inch pizza with each drink bought between 5pm and 9pm. We didn’t give it a food tag, because it’s closer to bar snacks than actual food, but it’s definitely a nice perk.
Beer-wise you’ll want to look in the fridge for the good stuff, as the taps just offer Estrella and Kirin. In bottles they have Punk IPA, Sam Adams, Negra Modelo, and a few other decent lagers like Tsingtao and Cusqueña. They’ve got a full cocktail menu as that’s what their selling point seems to be, but there’s definitely enough bog-standard crafts to bring us back. (Punk and Sam Adams are bog-standard these days – how great is that?!)
We’ll keep an eye on Merrion Street through this transition and might find ourselves in this part of town a bit more frequently. Especially if a few more beer gardens pop up – hint hint!