52 South William Street, Dublin 2
www.southwilliam.ie
Every so often, Caroline, Aoife and I get together to recreate the old Grenoble spirit of 1994. It’s gotten harder as we get more … mature … as our tolerance for partying has decreased somewhat and we realise we now have to get up in the mornings, and can’t just get notes off someone else if we don’t turn up to work. Still, it’s always a blast to catch up.
I’d been itching to go to South William since discovering it by accident one day on a walk through town. It’s where Viva used to be: this was a very cool bar back at the end of 02, crammed with alternative/ beautiful people, and both soothed and energised by an accomplished DJ. You’d recognise it from the red lights spelling out its name, strung between either side of South William Street, and giving you the impression you were in the Jewish Quarter if you approached from the south and saw “AVIV” beaming away in the night-time. Since South William had been involved in the recent Swedish Festival, it was intriguing me even more, so we decided to act on semi-impulse and arrange to meet there.
South William is best described as a bar that offers food, rather than a bar with a restaurant. It still holds the same interior shape as Viva did, but the tables and chairs are less plush – more like a university canteen, perhaps. Wobbly tables, chairs lacking veneer, but with a large bar down the left-hand side of the room as you walk in. We sat towards the end of the bar, and ordered a couple of glasses of Merlot. The menu is displayed on a huge blackboard behind the bar, but if you don’t like pies, you’re in trouble. Just like London went mad on pies in recent years (Square Pie being a particular favourite of mine, especially down the Spitalfields market), Ireland seems to be rediscovering the homely tastes of pastry-crust delights.
I chose a duck and red cabbage filling. The pie itself was probably about 6 or 7 inches in diameter, and was served with a really flavoursome side salad of dressed lamb’s-leaf lettuce. 
Aoife decided to go vegetarian, for some reason, and chose a pie filled with chilli beans, avocado and cheddar. Sounds like a strange mix, but the melange actually worked. That said, we both agreed that my duck and cabbage one was vastly superior: succulent duck, complemented by a moist yet not soggy cabbage, encased in a robust yet delicately-flavoured pastry. Around this stage, Caroline arrived, already full from dinner elsewhere, so she didn’t get to contribute to this review apart from as a scene-stealer – didn’t get food, but still has her name dropped in!
South William is a good place – by the end of the evening, we were really getting into the music. The staff are a lot of fun, the clientèle is warm and slightly artsy, but most of all, the food is good – and with a standard price of €8.50 per main course (seemingly anything you want so long as it’s a pie!), it won’t break the bank. This place is a definite when you want somewhere chilled, respectful and unpretentious – we will be back.
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The Damage (EUR)
- 8.50 Duck Confit and Red Cabbage Pie
- 8.50 Chilli Bean, Avocado and Cheddar Pie
Drinks
Service to be Loaded
Total to be loaded
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The Score
4.0 Food and Drink
4.0 Service
3.0 Décor
4.0 Ambience
4.5 Value
4.0 Overall Rating
Aoife decided to go vegetarian, for some reason, and chose a pie filled with chilli beans, avocado and cheddar. Sounds like a strange mix, but the melange actually worked. That said, we both agreed that my duck and cabbage one was vastly superior: succulent duck, complemented by a moist yet not soggy cabbage, encased in a robust yet delicately-flavoured pastry. Around this stage, Caroline arrived, already full from dinner elsewhere, so she didn’t get to contribute to this review apart from as a scene-stealer – didn’t get food, but still has her name dropped in!
