Refreshment in Blackrock

Tonic is one of a new breed of Irish pubs – sleek, modern, trendy, generally full of good-looking, tanned people and most of all multi-purposed. This new species of pub is not just for drinking in, but a bit of an all-rounder.

Tonic doubles as a boutique, restaurant, yoga and dance studio. Their website described Tonic as "somewhere to drop in for breakfast – somewhere to shop". They regularly hold designer clothes sales; Yoga classes on a Monday; Salsa on a Wednesday – and the odd bit of food and drinking in between. This probably all seems quite strange to the older generation seeking out a good old traditional, quiet pint, but Tonic has become a regular haunt for 20-40-year-old south Dubliners.

Tonic has a sister pub, the IN in Dalkey. The IN has an eclectic mix of décor – leopard skin seats, a white grandfather clock, buddas, dark wood – maybe not to everybody's taste. But Tonic's interior is just right. The pub area is a mixture of dark wood (again) and leather couches. Bright, pink, fluorescent lights hang over the bar. The dark wood and a scatter of Asian cushions give it an Eastern touch.

Upstairs there are large couches that double as beds. This is more of a night-time area where DJs play good funky jazz music on the weekends. This area can also be rented out for private parties. The restaurant section is all white and minimalist. But I will warn you, if you sit too close to the kitchen area you are blasted by a bright white light everytime one of the waiters goes up to collect a dish. This quickly ruins the soft, candle-lit atmosphere.

The restaurant offers the same food menu as the bar – all excellent. It has Mediterranean style antipasti, bruschetta, salads, pizza and pasta. But quite cleverly they also have a good dollop of pub-grub, with the requisite burgers, steak sambos, club sandwiches. The highlight on the menu, even for the non-chip lover is their curly fries. Food is served throughout the day downstairs. It's not particularly cheap, at €10-18 for a main courses, but these are standard Blackrock prices and the food is certainly much better than the pub-grub offered in the rest of the town.

They have all the usual bar drinks, as well as a great wine and cocktail list. But lovers of a pint of Bulmers will be disappointed, as they only have Cashels, nonetheless a good second.

One nice design feature is that they have their own Tonic beer mats. Another unusual great feature, for a pub anyway, are the refreshments of deodorant, lippy, perfume etc available in the bathrooms.

Until the addition of Tonic and another, Sheehan's, across the road, there seemed to be a plenty of pubs for the more mature and the not-even-mature-enough-to-drink in Blackrock. Tonic caters for the in-betweens. It is the kind of place that women like to go, so they can dress up – and the men follow.

Emma browne