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Dundrum gastropub Brickyard reopens after €300,000 refurbishment

Brickyard Refurbishment
/ 21st February 2023 /
George Morahan

Dundrum gastropub Brickyard has reopened following a €300,000 investment and extensive interior and structural works.

Brickyard has been closed for several months while the long-planned renovation has taken place.

Owners Simon Moore and Erwin Pollard have waited to make significant structural, design and workflow changes since taking over the pub from its previous proprietor in 2016.

The hospitality veterans had identified a gap in the market in Dundrum and the surrounding suburbs for a modern bar offering craft beer and pub food before partnering to run Brickyard.

"We think Brickyard is unique in South Dublin because there is nowhere else that does the quality food, craft beer, cocktails, and wine that we do in such a space, one where you can come with the lads to watch rugby and have a few pints, you can bring the girls for brunch and cocktails, or the family for dinner," Moore said.

In Association with

"When coming up with the concept for Brickyard we simply wanted to create a place where we ourselves wanted to go.

"There was nowhere this side of the suburbs with a combination of a wide selection of craft beer, proper cocktails using homemade ingredients, genuinely really great gastropub food, and a comfortable, stylish atmosphere to enjoy it in.

"We're located right above the Balally Luas Stop on the Green Line, which makes us super easy to get to and from."

The pair embarked on a revamp before opening the pub seven years ago, but soon exceeded their budget before they were able to achieve their envisioned design, requiring them to temporarily patch up any interior problems in the ensuing years.

In that time, the pub enjoyed consistently strong business, and Moore and Pollard decided last year that it was time to complete the renovation, which included extensive work to the kitchen and back-of-house areas.

"We engaged the young and ‘think outside the box’ team at Third Mind Design last year to come up with the concept and create something that aligned with our vision," said Pollard.

Brickyard Refurbishment
Brickyard before and after the recent works.

"We wanted to make sure our premises matched the standards that our food, drinks and service deserves. We wanted to create a space that looked beautiful, modern and comfortable, but one that our regular customers will still visit and feel like they are still in Brickyard."

The front raised area of he pub has been lowered and a dividing wall made with reclaimed bricks and roof tiles has been installed to give the area a "spacious yet intimate feel".

The menu will remain mostly the same with some new additions, including starters such as tender stem broccoli pakora with coriander chutney, mint yoghurt and fermented jalapenos and mains like 10-hour braised iberico pork cheek with mustard mash and caramelised onion gravy.

The menu also features best chicken wings, mac-and-cheese bites, and burgers as well as items inspired by Mexican, Indian, Thai, and Italian cuisine. Dinner is available seven days per week, and brunch is served at the weekend.

"We work with some amazing Irish artisan producers and suppliers including Pigs On The Green, McLoughlin's Butchers, Firehouse Bakery and Ocean Marine Seafood to bring the very best of Irish produce to the table," said Moore, who was given his first job by Pollard at the Hamlet Court Hotel when he was 15.

"Erwin and I are extremely hands-on. I spent four years running the kitchen as head chef, and we have since hired Juha Salo, who was most recently with the Winding Stair, to take the helm in the kitchen.

"He has brought his own experience and flair to the food. There's hardly a night where you won't find one of us behind the bar or running the floor, and I think that our customers appreciate that."

The beer menu, as ever, is mostly rotational, with a couple of stalwarts remaining unchanged, and the cocktail menu has been updated while retaining old favourites. There are 25 beers on draught and several more by can and bottle.

Brickyard has a collaborative brewing project called Two Sides Brewing with another Dublin bar, 57 The Headline.

The beer is brewed in the local Ballymount Brewery, brewing modern beer-style variations of lagers, ales and stouts and six of its beers are available on tap currently at Brickyard.

Photo: The newly refurbished Brickyard in Dundrum.

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