Special: O’Hara’s Irish Pub | Split (Croatia)

Pozdrav i dobrodošli u O’Haras Pub u Splitu, Hrvatska!

Today’s special review was not only written outside Berlin, but also outside Germany. Nico has been visiting the Balkans regularly for several years, preferably in the Split area. This beautiful Croatian city is also home to a number of Irish pubs, including Harat’s and The Harp. For our current visit, we opted for O’Haras Irish Pub, which had the best Google rating.

O’Haras is named after the Irish beer of the same name, which is almost exclusively served there. It is very centrally located, just a few meters from the beautiful beach promenade in a small side street.

The pub itself is relatively small, with seating for around 30 people at the tables and bar. It is relatively unassuming from the outside, with the interior dominated by the dark furnishings typical of a pub with a few Irish decorative elements. The flags of Ireland, Scotland and Wales hang from the ceiling (interestingly, England is missing), and additional flags and bunting have been hung to mark the upcoming European Football Championship. The city’s obligatory Hajduk Split flag hangs above the bar. Speaking of sport: the British Premiere League was broadcast on a TV (silent), while another screen showed a slideshow of various views of European cities. The music in the pub consisted of punk rock, indie and grunge, which was quite appealing for Nico’s taste, but almost a little too loud to have a conversation. During our visit, there were only two small groups of people present, despite the pub’s usual time of around 8pm. It should also be noted that Split’s city center naturally has a very high number of bars and restaurants, so the competition here is quite high.

A karaoke event has been announced for later in the evening, and other small events take place here from time to time.

The guest room is air-conditioned, which can be very important in Croatia. The toilets are easily accessible and appeared quite new and clean.

Drinks

O’Hara’s was the first pub we visited that didn’t have Guinness on the menu. On tap was the eponymous O’Hara’s Stout and O’Hara’s IPA 51, as well as the Irish Falling Apple Cider. At the next table, people were drinking light German beer. Behind the bar there were various Irish and Scottish whiskeys, American Jack Daniel’s as well as classic spirits such as Bacardi. You can also get a shot of Baby Stout (similar to Baby Guinness) on request. There is no drinks menu at the table, so you have to ask the bartender what’s on offer. The O’Hara’s Stout itself is somewhat lighter in taste than Guinness, but also has a pleasant bitter note typical of stout.

As the pub is located in the tourist center of Split, you unfortunately pay €7 for a 0.5 glass of O’Hara’s, which is very high, but doesn’t top the Berlin Irish Pub in the Europa Center at €7.90. However, there is an Irish pub in the small town of Omiš (approx. 30km south of Split) with an even higher Guinness price of 8€ / 0.5l.

Food / Snacks

The food on offer is limited to sausages and two types of sandwich, so it’s not particularly sophisticated.