Writer Antonia Hart, who grew up in Dublin’s city centre, explains why there’s more to the ‘new Dublin’ than meets the eye – or stomach

YOU COULD BE FORGIVEN for thinking that Dublin’s character has been diluted lately, by the same high street shops and restaurant chains that threaten to make the UK’s cities blandly uniform. Local government attempts at creating cool districts by design, like SoHo (South of Heuston Station), the Village Quarter and the Digital Hub have fallen flat. For pessimists, all of this is cause for nostalgia about the Dublin that used to be.

But, in fact, much of what’s new to Dublin has brought modernity and a more international feel, and many of us have embraced the changes. Take Parnell Street, north of the Liffey, for example: true, you can look west to where a 17-screen cinema and shopping centre sit on the ruins of Georgian architecture, but why not look east instead, to the blossoming ‘Chinatown’ where you can eat almost any kind of Asian food, in restaurants run by people, not corporations.

Try Kim-Chi at the Hop-House (160 Parnell Street), where in modest surroundings charming staff serve authentic, tasty Korean and Japanese food, and afterwards you can slip through to the bar for a karaoke session or a big-screen football match, depending on the night. A couple of minutes’ walk away, Zagloba [98 Parnell Street, +353 (0)1 814 8648] is one of a fresh crop of Polish bars; it serves 40 different kinds of vodka to the unexpected soundtrack of darts matches, passionately played.

Of course Dublin is Guinness country, but there’s more choice on the drinks lists these days, which feature not just the ubiquitous cocktails, but lots of microbrewed and organic beers, like the Carlow stout O’Hara’s. The latest pub gimmick is tap tables, which you can reserve at the Baggot Inn [143 Lower Baggot Street, +353 (0)1 661 8758; www.thebaggotinn.ie]. It has finally reopened after an eight-year closure and you can now pull your own pints in the new incarnation of the legendary venue where U2, David Bowie and Bob Geldof have all played.

Despite whispers of an economic downturn, restaurateurs continue to develop the foodie scene for hungry Dubs. Marco Pierre White will open a Frankie’s Italian Bar and Grill here next month. Reasonably-priced and family-friendly, the location has yet to be announced, though locals are fairly sure it won’t be on St Stephen’s Green, because that’s where Irish star chef Richard Corrigan is setting up shop with a new Dublin branch of Bentley’s Oyster Bar & Grill [22 St Stephen’s Green, +353 (0)1 638 3939; www.bentleys.org].

To Dubliners, it’s not only reinventing the city that excites us however. Our roots lie in savouring the packet of Tayto (Ireland’s tastiest potato crisps) and the pint of plain, and that’s why traditional spots like The Lord Edward [23 Christchurch Place, +353 (0)1 454 2420], Mulligan’s [Poolbeg Street, +353 (0)1 677 5582; www.mulligans.ie], and The Stag’s Head [1 Dame Court, +353 (0)1 671 3701: www.thestagshead.ie] will survive, boom or bust. They’re the fuggy old places which still maintain the distinction between bar and lounge, even if it’s signified only by the change from lino to carpet. As any Dub will tell you, we like to know where we stand.
Antonia Hart is a columnist and contributing editor at Irish magazine The Gloss