Pubs that don’t sell alcohol aren’t completely new to Ireland, but Board, a new opening in Dublin 8, has a new twist on the concept that is seeing its reservations book fill up rapidly. The newcomer is offering a sizeable range of non-alcoholic beers, bottle and draught, and a kombucha on draught too, in addition to interesting wine and cocktail lists. But it’s not just the drinks that are the draw – there is a huge selection of board games that can be used free of charge, and customers are loving it.
From classics such as chess, draughts and checkers, to old favourites like Monopoly, Cludo and the evergreen Snakes & Ladders, the pub’s two games corners, one on each floor, are fully stocked. You can test your intellect with a game of Trivial Pursuits or Scrabble, or bring back childhood memories with an energetic go at Kerplunk or Operation, with no chance that having a drink or two will affect your performance. The absence of alcohol means children are welcome, and family groups have been booking in for a bit of friendly competition, with the house rule being that the losers buy the next round.
Board cafe bar is the latest in a succession of initiatives in the no-alcohol space, which has become particularly prominent during what is known as Dry January. Last October, Amy Kiernan set up an online boutique drinks store, Nolo Premium Beverages, which has a vast choice of non-alcoholic beers, wines, spirit alternatives and cocktail ingredients available for delivery in Ireland.
Kiernan, who is based in Cork and works fulltime in advertising and marketing, says she was inspired to start the online shop when she gave up drinking alcohol last year and was disappointed by the non-alcoholic options available. “I wanted the evening ritual of having a sophisticated grown up drink and I struggled to find something that fit,” she says.
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On a birthday trip to Paris last year, she found the choice available to non-drinkers was much better. “I found some really nice [non-alcoholic] drinks, and realised hundreds of brands were being launched around the world and we weren’t getting access to them.”
She personally tastes every drink that she sources for Nolo, and writes a blog in which she shares her discoveries in the world of no-alcohol drinks, including an extensive list of sober-friendly bars and restaurants with good choices for those who don’t drink alcohol. This year, she hopes to create an active community connected to her initiative, including running tasting sessions and get togethers.
The new emphasis on having a good choice of beverages available to those who are not drinking alcohol has also spread to some of the country’s top hotels, with the Shelbourne in Dublin introducing a new low- and no-alcohol drinks menu this month that will be available throughout the year. The hotel has also launched a partnership with Lucky Saint, the UK brand which makes an unfiltered alcohol free beer.
At Anantara The Marker, in the Dublin Docklands, the choices for non drinkers includes a range of cocktails made with Clean Co, the non-alcoholic spirits brand developed by Spencer Matthews, husband of Irish entrepreneur and media figure Vogue Williams.
Board is the latest launch from BodyTonic, which has seven hospitality businesses in Dublin and Clare, including The Bernard Shaw and Eatyard; The Square Ball; Wigwam, and Pot Duggans in Ennistymon. It is located in the former MVP premises at the southern end of Clanbrassil Street, near Harold’s Cross bridge. Current opening hours are 8am to midnight, Wednesday to Sunday, with seven-day opening to come. Still in its soft launch stage, reservations (which can be made on the Board website), are filling up fast at the moment, especially for Friday and Saturday nights.
The pub will also screen sports events – it remains to be seen if enthusiastic vocal support for a nail-biting match will interfere with the concentration needed by the chess and scrabble players – and plans to run disco bingo and pub quizzes at the weekend. Bi-weekly jazz nights and Sunday chess tournaments are also planned and the premises can also be booked for private events. “We’re going to try and make this place feel like a proper Irish bar, a good place to meet people,” says Charlie Knight, who is the joint-manager, along with Teresa Oliviera.
There are lots of tables downstairs in the pub, a classic old boozer with well worn wooden floors and counters, as well as upstairs in the cafe, to facilitate gaming – in the old fashioned sense of the word – as well as drinking and eating. A brunch menu is available from 8am to 4pm and pizzas from 4pm to 10pm, and food and drinks can be served both spaces.
The drinks menu is extensive, with 24 craft beers and eight cocktails available every day, along with a wine list and a variety of mixed drinks. The drinks are described in terms of the flavours they contain. “With the whole menu the aim is to go by flavour; we’re not saying this is fake whiskey, this is fake gin, this is fake rum,” Knight says.
The selection includes what are described as “functional spirits”, which though they won’t give you the same kick as alcohol, can “soothe or stimulate”, according to the menu. To put it to the test, Knight pours me a shot of Three Spirits Social Elixir, which the menu describes as “buzzing and savoury”, and mixes it with ginger ale. The finished drink is complex and flavoursome, although I don’t drink enough of it to experience any noticeable enlivening effect.
The pub’s answer to the classic vodka and tomato juice cocktail, which they describe as “a Bloody Mary on steroids”, is made with Fire & 5th Chilli and Blood Orange (an Irish-made spirit alternative), along with a gazpacho mix. “We roast the tomatoes in the pizza oven, and we have three different hot sauces so people can add their own spice level.”
As Irish Times drinks columnist John Wilson has pointed out, non-alcoholic spirits can be almost as expensive as those with alcohol, a factor often attributed to the cost of producing them. “Sometimes non alcoholic stuff is just as expensive to get your hands on as the alcohol containing stuff, because it’s still made with care,” Knight says.
A “spirits” measure at Board costs from €5 to €7, with mixers an additional €2/3. Cocktails are €12, a pint of Guinness 00 (the pub’s best seller so far), is €6.50, and bottle and canned beer is €5/6. The wine list, by the glass or bottle, starts at €8 a glass (Hollow Leg albariño or cabernet) and runs to €40 for a bottle of sparkling Alt chardonnay, rosé or Lyres prosecco.
There are some food and drink deals to suit January budgets, with a pint and a pizza for €15, or a cocktail and a pizza for a slightly less good value price of €25. The six Neapolitan style pizzas on the menu are each named after a chess piece, and the short menu also includes sides, dips and a salad.
