The Toucan

The toucan has long been Dublin brewer Guinness’s advertising emblem. Here, the walls are covered with the critters in their various retro advertising permutations. Check out the basement bothy, whose bar is a kitsch, atmospheric squeeze that looks a great deal older than it is. Expect to pay around £4 for a well-kept pint of the ‘black stuff’: take it unadulterated, or in black Maria & black velvet, but be prepared to sup out on the street when the cellar & less interesting ground-floor bar get packed with office evacuees. There’s also a fair range of Irish whiskey, plus tear-jerking tunes, & the sort of food Father Ted’s Mrs Doyle might rustle up. Service can be as surreal as Craggy Island, too.