Top things to do in Dublin — week of 6 April

Early April in Dublin and the city is grand again. The terraces on Camden Street are open by 6, Whelan's has a Saturday booking that has no business being in a room that size, and the International basement is back to its old tricks on a Wednesday.

If you would rather just read the calendar, the Dublin this-week page has every one of these listed already.

Monday: a slow pint in Stoneybatter

Stoneybatter has a few pubs — L. Mulligan Grocer, Walsh's, the Glimmer Man — that are quietly the best Monday in the city. €5.50 a pint, the kitchen at L. Mulligan is doing a Monday night roast for €18, and you are home by 10. Deadly start to the week.

Tuesday: free reading at Hodges Figgis

Hodges Figgis on Dawson Street is doing a Tuesday evening reading from a writer whose new novel got a long FT review last month. Free, the room holds about forty, the Q&A is always the better half. Show up at 6.30 to get a seat.

Wednesday: International Bar comedy

The basement at the International is the right kind of sticky on a Wednesday night. €6, six new comics, the MC has been the same for a month and she has the room locked in within five minutes. The drinks are honestly priced, the seats are tight, and you will leave with at least one comic's name to remember.

Thursday: a long dinner at Etto

Thursday at Etto is a Dublin classic — small plates, a glass of something honest, the room is the right side of busy. €40 a head if you are sensible. After, walk to Bow Lane for one more drink and call it a night.

Friday: Dollard & Co late

Dollard on Wellington Quay is now doing a Friday late opening — kitchen until 11, bar until midnight, the wine list is the best in the city under €40. Free entry, walk-up only, and the room is the right size for a Friday that you do not want to turn into a club night.

Saturday: Whelan's

The headline. €18 advance, doors at 8, a line-up that is the strongest the room has had since the New Year run. The cloakroom is now €3. The bar on the small balcony upstairs is quieter if you want a chat between sets.

If you cannot get into Whelan's, the Workman's Club is doing a Saturday for €14 with a smaller line-up that has been quietly grand for two months.

Sunday: a long roast at the Old Spot

The Old Spot in Bath Avenue is doing its full Sunday roast menu, which has been a moving target through the winter. Lamb is the call, the booking opens at 12, and the walk along the canal after is the right kind of slow. A grand way to use a Sunday.

A reminder that the free Dublin meetups list has a Tuesday lunch I keep forgetting to mention. Free pizza, free coffee, alot of decent people.

Saturday at Whelan's and Wednesday at the International are the two I would book first. Friday at Dollard if you want a slow one. Sunday at the Old Spot is non-negotiable if the weather plays. Mental that we are already past the Easter run, the rest of April is going to fly.