This week the Date Night Diaries presents you with a more unusual, quirky and fun location. Don’t eat dinner before, as this bar offers a free 6-inch stone baked pizza with every drink ordered as well as multiple discounts.
What is this place may you ask? This is the Mean Eyed Cat Bar on Merrion Street.
It was my boyfriend’s turn to plan date night so anything was on the cards when we left home and walked towards the city centre. But, as always, he surprised me. Hidden away down a quiet lane, with outdoor seating and a quirky inside, this American-themed bar offers a creative date night of cocktails and food. With 6 different mini pizzas to try, it was obvious to me that 6 cocktails were necessary to try all of the pizzas. These pizzas, small in size and stone baked, were the perfect mix of flavours, from Texas barbecue chicken to chorizo and guacamole. The flavours are not your regular flavours – butternut squash with sun blushed tomatoes being one – which is why they were surprisingly fun to try. The cocktails were also American themed, including Long Island Iced Tea and Sweet Home ‘Applebama’.
When we went to get our drinks from the bar however, the bartender handed me some dice. Clearly the confusion was written all over my face, and he explained that if you rolled an even number, you could get 25% off, or even, if you rolled a 6, your drinks were completely free. Me, being the competitive person I am, had to roll the dice first and was unsuccessful as I rolled an odd number. No discount for me. My boyfriend, confident as ever, went on to roll a 6 straight away. Typical. This meant that our round of drinks (and pizza) was free. For our second round, he rolled us another 25% off and by the third the bartender felt so sorry for me as I kept trying and failing that he let me roll the dice again… and again… until I went and rolled us another round of free drinks. Much credit to that guy.
Overall, The Mean Eyed Cat was quiet on the Tuesday night when we went, but I was told that it gets busier on Friday and Saturday nights if you want a livelier atmosphere. As for the cocktails, free pizza and the opportunity for some discounts, I would rate this bar highly as a cheap date night for students – and the Texas BBQ chicken pizza I would highly recommend.
Written by: Madeleine Brooks
Edited by: Izzy Bailey