Glencullen, Dublin Mountains, Co. Dublin.
I can’t count the amount of times I have been to Johnnie Fox’s pub. I have dropped in for sandwiches after golf and walks, we have brought visitors from abroad there for dinner down the years and each year there is a mountain walk from Marley Park to Fox’s on St. Stephen’s Day and back when sandwiches and coffee taste better than anything else after three hours in the winter cold.
Johnnie Fox’s is one of Ireland's oldest and most famous traditional Irish pubs. Situated in Glencullen on top of the Dublin Mountains it is also famed as the highest pub in the country and is located approx 25-35 minutes drive from Dublin City centre and is well signposted on all approach roads.
It has been a bit of an institution for many years now. In recent years its reputation has grown beyond the borders of South Dublin and Wicklow and now attracts visitors from around the world. We have brought plenty of visiting friends form everywhere from England to Australia there over the years. The outdoor seating is fabulous on a good summer’s day, with views over the hills and valley’s. In winter the turf fires and old furniture make it an especially cosy spot for a drink or a bite to eat after a brisk walk in the mountains.
The pub has grown from a small local spot that dates back to 1798, to become one of the most famous tourist destinations. The kitchen serves an extensive menu, with about eight to ten hot and cold starters including fresh and cooked oysters, prawn cocktail, mussels, crab claws and even some frog’s legs if you are feeling adventurous.
Main courses include a choice of seafood platters, ranging from the modest Aran priced at €16.95 with smoked salmon, crab meat and prawns up to the really serious Giant seafood platter which offers everything including a half dozen oysters, Dublin bay prawns on the shell and assorted seasonal shellfish. There is also a catch of the day, a choice of steaks. Irish lamb stew and a Champagne duck breast.
On a fine autumn evening the place was busy, with a couple of groups of tourists, a family up from Dublin for dinner and a large company party. We shared a very good prawn cocktail to start; plenty of big prawns, tangy Marie Rose sauce, with crisp lettuce and lots of brown bread. Main courses were a very good sirloin steak for Deirdre while I had the pan scallops, which are lightly fried and served on top of puff pastry with a lemon and dill sauce. This was a lovely dish, with great flavour and very light. The steak came with a choice of sauces, from which she picked black pepper, and we shared some champ mash and a bowl of vegetables. We couldn’t handle dessert, and finished with two coffees with the smell of the turf fire in the air.
Traditional music sessions are as much alive today as they were in the past. Johnnie Fox's has been famous for sessions popping up ad hoc. Live entertainment has been a trade mark at Johnnie Fox's and it continues to this day, be it in a more structured way now with nightly entertainment from one of many house bands or singers or with the famous Hooley Nights, which includes dinner, starts with live music and finishes with the Irish dance troupe. Phone for details.
