Two weeks ago the Irish Village in Dubai was celebrating its 18th birthday and after hearing a lot about this little corner of Dubai we knew it was the perfect time to go, especially when drinks were AED 18 all day… a bargain for Dubai. The Irish Village is near the airport so pretty far from the marina and it took us about 30 minutes in a taxi to get there.

People claimed the Irish Village was the most pub-like place we would find in Dubai and they weren’t wrong. Usually when we go for drinks it’s in a bar as part of a restaurant or hotel so it was great to experience a pub atmosphere again. When you arrive at the Irish Village you walk through a pathway surrounded by trees and you are transported back to Ireland or the UK. We decided to sit outside as there was live music playing and there were tons of tables to choose from, although we did get the last umbrella to give us a little shade.

There were trees nearly all around, a pond with ducks and a couple of outdoor bars. The main bar itself was behind a facade including a bric a brac shop and craft shop and a pub front and inside it looked like an old pub at home. I’d give it 5 stars for atmosphere and craic but we were disappointed in the food that we tried (chicken burgers). We had a wonderful afternoon with brilliant live music and would happily spend another evening or afternoon there, it was just like being back at home!