The Kiosk

Nice coffee in here. Not the best I’ve ever tasted but the guys behind the counter are just lovely. They remember what you have on your sandwich and have the coffee ready for you in record speed as they know you are running to work. I asked them for a number for one of their suppliers and they gave it without question which was very decent. Good service makes all the difference these days.

It was the vertical red and white stripes that adorn the canopy over the front entrance to The Kiosk that grabbed my attention. It’s alike something an a cappella barbershop quartet would tear down and use to make waistcoats. On first approach I honestly thought it was a classy public toilet because of it’s small yet ornate exterior and the way it stands on a segregated island amid two busy roads that run parallel then onto Leeson Street. On a quick side note — For this reason, if you are driving I can imagine it to be a very difficult task to find an appropriate place to swiftly park up, hop out and purchase your coffee. Back to what I was originally planning to say next — Therefore, unless you have heard of or are familiar with The Kiosk you could easily discard it and drive straight past/​or walk by on the other side of the road without so much as a second thought due to it’s lack of bold public notice.
The kiosk offers an express service to motorists and pedestrians on the go hence next to no seating nor tables on hand. Nick’s Coffee Company — who occupies a booth outside Ranelagh Market Thurs-​Sun of every week, supplies the coffee. ‘Nick’s’ is renowned for it’s delectable offering and sultry hot chocolate. The story is the same here with a tasty regular hot chocolate priced at € 2.20 providing the perfect stimulant on a wintry Dublin evening coming back into the city. Accompany that with a scrumptious muffin and you’re more than set for the remainder of your journey.

Ahh the Kiosk. My dear old friend. This funny looking coffee-​shop was my saviour five days a week when I was a student, running to the 46a bus stop, way too late of course, needing a coffee to wake up before class. They must have seen me coming, as every time I stepped inside they were already preparing my take-​away cup.
I don’t have to make the run to the bus stop anymore, but I sometimes embark on the journey just to chat with the coffee-​makers, the nicest lads you’ll ever find behind a coffee machine, always eager to know about your day and even your 5-​year plan for the future. They make pretty decent sandwiches too.

Simply labelled The Kiosk, this café sits on a traffic island just at the Leeson St Bridge and anyone who travels into town via the N11 dual-​carriage way is sure to recognise it. One can only assume it was dreamed up by some Georgian era architect as a peculiar folly.
Whoever dreamed the funny little place up sure did a good job. The shop front has a large round window facing the street, a permanent colourful awning and it’s current proprietors have extended it’s tiny interior with an outdoor seating area.
The clientele are mostly bicycle and motorcycle couriers, who, if I may digress, have always reminded me of modern day pirates. The parallels are uncanny when you break it down — a cavalier attitude to laws governing transportation, transporting cargo in lieu of sanctioned government organisations, having dreadlocks, having tattoos, carrying a cutlass … see? Exactly the same.
Anyway, more on pirates later, four stars for The Kiosk: mysteriously positioned, mysteriously named and frequented by mysterious cyclist types The Kiosk is really unique and well worth a visit for the altogether ponderous experience that it is.

This place always stirred my imagination since a little kid. I think it’s because it’s an unusual shaped building, and the fact that it is all alone on a concrete island makes it intriguing. Also the red and white outdoor shades made me thing of the Oompa-​Loompas, I think it’s the dungaree strips and the fact that they flick out like an Oompa-​Loompas hair… I never claimed to be a normal child.
So I love this place, great character. It’s got an outdoor seating area, it’s pretty tiny inside but the coffee is good and so are the muffins. So go dodge those shark like cars and chill on the Kiosk island.