"Call me Ishmael." is one of the most famous opening lines in any book. And Herman Mellville's…read moregenius book of 1851 has a strong link with the town of Youghal, or Eochail, (pronounced YAWL), albeit through the magic of cinema. Now I'm a huge lover of movies, and love to go to favourite film locations, and this is what brought me, and doubtless millions of other tourists here to Youghal in the years that have elapsed since 1954. In the 1950's John Huston, my all time favourite film director, found a home for himself in Ireland with his wife and newborn daughter Anjelica, and chose Youghal, which is a now a popular seaside resort in East Cork, as a likely stand in for the 1840's Massachusetts' whaling center: New Bedford of the novel. Filming took place along the quayside just beyond the Market Square. An old ship that Huston had found in England had been rebuilt to match Melville's description of the "Pequod" and the cast that included Gregory Peck as the whale-obsessed Captain Ahab & Richard Basehart as the books hero Ishmael, (and lots of other well known English character actors too), assembled. Apparently John Huston kind of set up base at Paddy Linehan's, as this pub was originally known, and planned the days shooting whilst sat in the bar of a morning. After the film makers had gone Paddy renamed the pub. It wasn't as characterful inside as I'd hoped it would be, despite it's very traditional looking & colourful exterior it's a little too modernized inside. I think anyone expecting it to look like it was when Huston & the crew enoyed a drink here will be disappointed. But there are loads of rare photographs on the walls taken during the filming of Moby Dick. Including a great one of a tweed capped Huston looking positively diminutive next to the tall, broad-chested bulk of Gregory Peck in costume as Ahab. The bars OK, but nothing special & they do basic food, but I suppose I've been spoilt, having been in so many wonderfully atmospheric pubs by the sea, and one thing this pub lacked was that atmosphere, but it's nice to have a drink & enjoy the photos. You need a bit of imagination today to recreate in your mind Youghal as the New Bedford of the movie with the Pequod moored taking on a crew of harpoonists, but it's worth coming.

Staying in Youghal for a few days and saw this place from our apartment, so we tried it. It was a…read morebank holiday weekend and all the tables were full, however the very friendly staff set us up at the bar for dinner for two. My son and I each had the sirloin steak and they were cooked perfectly medium-rare. The peppercorn sauce that came with the steak was outstanding and the chips(fries) were very good. The interior is very nice and the place is right near the water on the docks. Very good experience and would recommend to anyone.

This is a small town bar, was very nice. I had an Irish coffee which was great.read more

Nice bar, staff helpful and friendly. Prices are reasonable, in my top 3 for the town, if you're…read moreplanning a night out, it's worth a visit, gets busy at weekends.

The front of the bar seems rather pleasant. But, the back of the bar is revolting. The pub seems to…read morebe well known throughout the town for drug use and I witnessed this first hand. In the smoking area at the very back of the pub you can clearly see through the toilet window the repulsive action involving the drugs. My husband even told me that there were 4 men inside one cubicle at the same and my husband could hear snort after snort. It looks like the workers turn a blind eye to the illegal going ons. I would strongly suggest to avoid this disgusting pub. There are two lovely pubs we visited after this disappointment, Berties bar and The Nook. I'm amazed an establishment like this is still open and possibly thriving. This pubs reputation certainly does not match that of Youghal's, Youghal is a quaint, scenic and historic town. This pub is a mere blemish on this very nice town.

You ruined my night. I was there as part of a night where I was saying goodbye to loved ones as I…read morewas emigrating. We were a party of 15 people who had planned to stay there for the night as we had a table. Some friends decided to go for it an get the cocktails on your menu. The girl who was serving us hadn't a clue what she was doing, took 30 minutes and they were the worst I had ever tasted, forgot ice and no word of a lie took 30 minutes to make 3 cocktails. My problem is she should not be making them if she doesn't know what she is doing. Management is the problem because my dad complained and the manager said he the place was busy and if we didn't like it we could leave. Now the place was maybe half full, an having worked in bars and restaurants for most of my life he is obviously doesn't know what he is doing either as he had plenty of staff but didn't know how to be a manager. He was such a bad manager that either this poor girl couldn't ask for help and or he was so stupid he didn't notice she needed the help. Each of the 15 people finished their drinks, cocktails were left half drank, and we left and none of us will ever return. It's a shame because nearly all of us really like the porter houses in bray and Dublin.

Out of everything, the Seafood Chowder was the best. Stopped in with a large tour bus group, so…read morethey offered us a limited menu. Because of that, the service was VERY quick. Cozy, pub-like atmosphere. Nice meal.

Great food, great ambience, very nice servers, wide variety of drinks offered and they got us a…read moretable without a reservation which we wholly appreciated