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Dublin City’s Slick New Addition – The Grafton Hotel and Bartley’s Bar & Restaurant Review

Location, location, location!!!  Situated, you guessed it, just off Grafton Street, The Grafton Hotel and Bartley’s Bar & Restaurant is one of Dublin’s slick new city centre establishments. We love Dublin City so much and are always eager to spend a night or two in town. The absolute joy of not needing a car or taxi’s when based in such an ideal location is nothing short of blissful.

A luxurious, retro, roaring twenties theme with striking Art Deco clad interiors greets you once you step through the shiny doors of The Grafton Hotel. Plush, inviting armchairs along with a New York style coffee dock complete a very cool yet cosy lobby. Reception is located just at the back of the ground floor, directly infront of the lifts that lead to both the guest rooms upstairs and downstairs to the ultra cool late bar, The Scaredy Cat.

Our Room was located on the 4th floor. We stayed in one of the Executive Rooms which was very spacious and elegantly decorated. The floor to ceiling window filling the room with daylight. Deep navy and hip grey colouring all pulled together beautifully by a collection of eceltic soft furnishing and decorative artefacts. A very slick and stylish ensuite with all of the essentials.

Bartley’s Bar & Restaurant occupy the first floor. Our reservation in Bartley’s was for 8pm so we seized the opportunity to order a couple of Old Fashioned’s in the very stylish bar, settle in and soak up the vibrant atmosphere. For a venue that was only open a mere month when we stayed, it certainly seems to have garnered the attention of the bright and beautiful locals and tourists alike.

Our first starter saw us indulge in the classic combination that is Grilled Scallop With crispy black pudding, apple and smoked cauliflower puree €13.50. Juicy scallops, crisp and crumbly black pudding and enhanced by a light and flavoursome apple and smoked cauliflower puree.

Across the table, Baked Ardsallagh Goats Cheese & Aubergine Tartlet Served with Mixed Leaves €9.00. Really good, crisp pastry shell with a generous filling of baked Ardsallagh Goats Cheese and layers of nicely seasoned aubergine.

We wanted to try both ends of the menu so our first main was the Grilled Supreme of Irish Corn Chicken – Potato croquettes, roast jus, smoked bacon with Chicken is always better when it is on the bone, this was tender and juicy and really flavoursome. Sitting on top of a tasty bed of savoy cabbage with smoked bacon lardons, some grilled asparagus on the side as well as potato croquettes, this is a very safe but satisfying main.

The Bowling Menu in Bartley’s offers a healthy range of bowls designed for the more health conscious diner. We opted for the Grafton’s Rainbowl €13.50 – Simply charcoal roasted beetroot mix marinated in Balsamic vinegar, watercress, golden and red beetroot, white cherry tomatoes,sunflower seeds, walnuts, lemon zest, mixed leaves with the addition of 6oz of Irish Beef (€9.00). Bursting with fresh flavours, the beef blushing nicely, this is not the usual dinner offering that we see on menus but we throughly enjoyed it and will certainly be back to try more of the interesting combinations from the Bartley’s Bowling menu.

A real Autumn/Winter favourite, we could not resist the comforting call of the Vanilla Creme Brûlée with Shortbread Biscuit €9.00. A glorious caramelised top housing warm vanilla custard beneath. Crumbly, Shortbread biscuits on the side, delicious for dunking.

Bartley’s restaurant is so cosy that we were in absolutely no rush to leave. When we eventually moved ourselves out of our cosy booth we made our way back to the bar for a nightcap before retiring to the comfort of our lovely room. Despite being in a busy city centre hotel, noise levels very at an all time low and we have an incredibly refreshing sleep.

Breakfast is served buffet style. A super selection of fresh breads, pastries, little jars of yoghurt and fruit compote, meats, cheeses and the obligatory hot food counter containing everything you need for a full Irish.

A stay in The Grafton Hotel is a real treat. Exceptional location and staff that are extremely welcoming and courteous. Bartley’s Bar & Restaurant are such cosy and welcoming spaces that you may well decide to spend your entire night just within the hotel itself, especially now that the newly opened Scaredy Cat late bar is open downstairs. The Grafton Hotel has it all and we strong suggest you put it on your list of must stay places in Dublin City.

 

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