We sat down with Ashlie Brennan from The Meeting House on Meeting House Square in Temple Bar.
The Meeting House is still relatively new, so for those who don’t know the place or haven’t been before, can you tell us what you can expect in terms of food and in terms of drinks?
We’re all about being different but approachable. The food is Burmese inspired, with international influences and is sharing orientated. It’s full of flavour without being overly spicy; I would say it’s well balanced. The only freezer we have is a small ice-cream freezer and we do not use microwaves in our cooking process. Our produce is delivered daily as we see this as the only way to cook. Everything is made freshly in-house so you taste our love and passion with every bite. The cocktails are fun and quick to prepare with an easy to navigate menu of 14 drinks, with a very simple intention of giving people a range of choice.
The food side of things seems to be a big part of what you do, tell us about the menu and about the food you serve.
The menu, we think, offers something that every customer will enjoy. It’s full of interesting dishes from our Organic Coconut Curry that has 38 fresh ingredients, to our Yellow-Fin Tuna Sashimi Tacos, and crowd pleasers like Mini Asian Burgers on steamed coconut buns, Burmese Ribs, and what we believe to be the best tempura in town. In everything we do here we emulate the ‘Kaizen’ philosophy of continuous positive change. We change our menus regularly and are always trying to improve, change and stay creative in what we offer our customer in terms of their experience.
Aside from the food and drinks you have bands and DJs playing, what does that do to the atmosphere in the place?
The atmosphere here is really vibrant and bustling, as there’s four spaces that are all open and visible to one another. We have a drinking and dining terrace where we have some great musicians playing live music each night, which creates some sweet vibes with our customers, who are very laid back, cool, and a little bit quirky, which we love! There is also an upstairs bar, and an intimate mezzanine which both overlook the main dining area and bar. Our music policy very much helps to dictate the energy in all the areas here, so it’s played at a level that is loud enough to bop in your seat to some funky disco re-edits while having dinner, but still allows you to have your conversation over the table! Later in the night we amp up the tunes and remove tables so people can have a good boogie.
The location here is obviously bang in the centre of town, but it’s also quite secluded too, how does the location affect the business?
We definitely provide a reason for people to come to our little slice of heaven, and when they come we try our best to give customers the best experience for their hard earned money. We’re a haven in the madness of Temple Bar. We are super proud to be a part of the Cultural Quarter of Temple Bar and we try and involve ourselves in supporting events and teaming up with neighbours by giving a helping hand where needed. There are some very cool people are in this area; we have been very nicely surprised by the creativity and innovation going on and planned all around us. Our ethos is eat, drink, art, music – each one done with love and passion. Our work is our passion and these four things we can’t live without!
Anything special in the works over the next few months in the build-up to Christmas?
Absolut Brunch will be our next big adventure, that’s coming very soon with lots of fresh dishes and loads of interesting twists on the brunch favourites. We’ll have amazing fresh customised cocktails like our Meeting House Bloody Mary and our €5 smoothie. We’ll also make a few changes to our existing menus, and a new cocktail list is in the works. Our Friday and Saturday nights are going from strength to strength as well as our incredibly popular 666 Sunday and Mondays, where all our dishes and cocktails go from €9.99 to €6.66.
The Meeting House, Meeting House Square, Temple Bar, D2 themeetinghousedublin.com
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