Dublin Ireland- What We Ate
While Ireland is not typically known for their food we ate WELL in Dublin, see more below!
What We Ate in Dublin
Dublin is full of good, unique food – Irish favorites, new trendy picks, and good farm-fresh comforts ready to be discovered. From British-style takes on Indian food, standard pub fare, and plentiful chip shops to trendy sweets and fusion fare there is so much food to discover in Dublin!
As we were staying in the quite rowdy Temple Bar area of Dublin, we didn't get to experience the best Dublin had to offer, because it was a bit awkward with our young kids (ages 6 &4.) So many tourists flock to Temple Bar for rowdy, drunk antics (which isn't unappealing to us on a whole, but with our kids it was a bit much) so we ended up eating more than our fair share of take-out and fast-casual in Dublin.
If you aren't touring with kids (who were also intensely exhausted after we schlepped them all over the city each day), you might be able to take in more of Dublin's gorgeous farm-to-table upscale cuisine and uniquely rowdy pubs full of good food.
Next time we are headed to Dublin we'd love to book a big flat close to St. Stephen's Green, away from the drunken crowds and closer to the unique trendy restaurants, and definitely have a babysitter on hand for the entire time!
Despite ordering up many of our meals to-go and enjoying them from our rented apartment, we had amazingly good food in Dublin.
See our picks for What to Do In Dublin here!
37 Dawson
The King Prawn and Black Mussel Linguine at @37dawsonstreet was divine- incredibly fresh, tangy, a touch spicy. The rest of the family hit up the brunch menu for their meals: Luke loved his Breakfast platter, and the kids flipped for their American Hotcakes! The decor was fun without being tacky, and the couch seating was what we needed before heading out for some afternoon sun in St Stephens Green! If you're in Dublin and looking for something fun and quirky, but less cheesy touristy, definitely head to 37 Dawson!!! We wish we could head back for more….? #Avdaye #Ireland #lovedublin #dublin #eats #food #foodie #foodgram #foodblogger #instagood #foodporn #seafood #travel #travelblogger #traveleats #wanderlust #explore #wander #discover @tourismireland @visitdublin #yum #getinmybelly
A photo posted by | Food & Travel? (@sweetcsdesigns) on Jul 16, 2016 at 10:04am PDT
When tea comes with a disco ball unicorn…. Loved 37 Dawson Street, one of the best meals we've had in Ireland! #Avdaye #trip #travel #tourism #instagood #vacation #dublin #ireland #travelblog #travelblogger #wanderlust #lovedublin #discoverireland #pretty #discoball #unicorn
A photo posted by | Food & Travel? (@sweetcsdesigns) on Jul 16, 2016 at 5:39am PDT
Auniger Danger Doughnuts
Doughnuts might not be what you think of eating in Dublin- but you should! Aungier Danger, on Dublin's trendy Aungier street- a food destination in it's own right- has incredibly unique and fun doughnuts and a legendary doughnut soft serve cone (The Danger Cone, which was sadly not available the day we stopped in).
A photo posted by | Food & Travel? (@sweetcsdesigns) on Jul 16, 2016 at 6:59am PDT
Of all the places we visited in Dublin, we were the most excited to visit Aungier Danger.
We had heard a ton of buzz about a quirky doughnut shop on Aungier Street (where we need to spend more time next time we are in Dublin).
Since our kids were happily playing at the park at St. Stephen's Green, we decided we'd pop over to Aungier Danger and bring back a surprise feast of doughnuts we'd all picturesquely munch from the stately park surroundings.
We ordered up a ton of doughnuts, and happily strolled back to the park until tragedy struck – and we went flying through the air – through a wedding party's photo (no joke, we are sure they are giggling looking through their portrait session proofs seeing an American and her doughnuts flying through the air- their photographer came to our rescue and the groom helped us pick up all our stuff that flew out of our purse)- and came crashing down on the asphalt on top of all the doughnuts we were bringing the kids.
We're not going to lie- we've been known for breaking phones, and our iPhone (which flew the furthest of anything) was the least of our worries- we were solely focused on these bad boys: (the phone was thankfully unscathed)
Thankfully, it didn't matter much – we still got a good doughnut feast after our lovely taxi driver swept us back home and we got all cleaned up.
Next time we're in Dublin, we're heading straight to Auinger Danger in our sturdiest pair of shoes and ordering up as many doughnuts as we can (safely) carry.
They are so good!
Must try: Banoffee, Crime Scene, Double O, Jam, Dublin Death Trap.
Queen Of Tarts
While we didn't love our apartment in Temple Bar, we did love the location when it came to the proximity to tons of good food!
While walking down to Trinity one morning, we passed by Queen of Tarts, and swore we'd stop back in later. We are so glad we did – it is not only packed to the rafters with adorable tea memorabilia and cozy decor – but they make some of the prettiest and most good sweets and treats ever. We picked up a Victoria Sponge (our husband's all-time favorite), some macaroons for our kids, and some pastries for our cousin and I.
Our dad grabbed some macarons for our mom which they wrapped up in an adorable blue box with red twine – it was a lovely little tea treat! We'd happily accept any gifts from Queen of Tarts- we are sad we didn't buy myself one of their adorable mugs to take home. We loved everything about Queen of Tarts!
We'll take one of everything, please! Treaties and tea at Queen of Tarts, Temple Bar. @queenoftartsdub #Avdaye #travel #trip #food #foodie #foodgram #foodgasm #travelblog #travelblogger #instagood #tea #dessert #bakery #dublin #ireland #visitireland #visitdublin #templebar @tourismireland @visitdublin #tipsgroup #pretty #feedfeed #forkyeah #foodandwine #foodwinewomen
A photo posted by | Food & Travel? (@sweetcsdesigns) on Jul 14, 2016 at 7:16am PDT
Must order: victoria sponge, cookies, macarons, pear and chocolate torte, tea, espresso drinks, pie… basically anything you see.
The Bakery 8 Essex St W, Dublin, Ireland
This Temple Bar spot is unassuming – blink as you walk by, and you'll miss it. An ever-rotating selection of delectable treats is not to be missed – turkey and cheese stuffed croissants or rolls, meat pies, doughnuts, as well as cookies, cakes, and bagels. Great espresso drinks, too. We didn't take any photos from our morning ventures to the Bakery, but don't let that fool you – it was exceptionally good and a must-stop, especially after a long night out in Temple Bar!
Take note – they are strictly cash-only. Must order: meat pastries, cheese and ham croissant, muffins, bagels, doughnuts.
Leo Burdocks
Chippys (take-out fish and chip joints) are fairly synonymous with Irish cuisine – and in Dublin, the oldest chippy is Leo Burdocks.
You can tell why they are still in favor – fresh fish, a solid batter, and good chips make Leo's a must-visit when in Dublin.
Our cousin, our husband, and we let our curiosity get the better of us, and also tried out their fried sausages and fried hamburgers. The former was excellent – a perfectly spiced sausage in a light, flaky crust that would soak up even the booziest nights out on the cobblestones.
The fried hamburger was a bit more complex- we wasn't quite sure whether we should applaud the greasy monstrosity or shudder. It tasted a bit like cheap dumpling meat in fish batter – which we think we needed to be a couple more beers in to fully appreciate.
Must order: Lemon sole, haddock, crispy bits.
Siri (we had takeout)
Our first night in Dublin, we were exhausted from driving up from Cork and stopping at Cashel and Kildare, and wanted good food, fast- and didn't want to jinx our good luck with our kids behavior at a restaurant, even though we were starving.
By chance, we decided on takeout from Siri, up the street from where we stayed, that our husband picked up and brought back to our rented apartment (along with some cider from the Spar next door)- and it was a spectacular hit.
Siri has beautiful Indian food with generous portions and plenty of flavor – and even as takeout, it was marvelous and still beautiful.
If we had stayed in Dublin another day, we would have headed in to Siri for at least one more meal!
Must order: garlic naan, chicken jalfrezi, lamb tikka.
Wagamama (we had take-out)
The first time we had Wagamama was in Brisbane Australia – the fast-casual British-based Japanese spot is a great quick and inexpensive pleaser.
It isn't crazy posh or unique- but it was solid after a looooong day walking cobblestone streets (and us recovering from the Doughnut fall- we had a massively swollen and painful knee and didn't want to have to walk anywhere) when we needed speedy delivery. We used Deliveroo (a bike messenger service in Dublin) as our delivery option- which seriously saved us big time! Wagamama is good and inexpensive, making it a great choice when you need filling food, fast and don't want greasy takeout!
We suffer from RA, and taking a big fall like that is hard for us to recover from- and we were upset we wouldn't have a chance to hit up any other uniquely Dublin restaurants. We felt so much better after our tasty take-out – which was good, gorgeous, and well plated considering it came via bike messenger in plastic tubs!
The Beef Donburi was colorful and good- we love the cabbage and lettuce adding bright fun colors to the dish.
Pork Ramen was divine with a lovely salty broth and bright veggie flavors.
The Firecracker Prawn is gorgeous and FULL of flavor. We always complain that dishes aren't spicy enough, but this delivered with the heat (without being so hot our husband wouldn't eat it)!
We might have tried to sneak way more than our portion of the greens- we could have eaten a whole giant tub full. So good!
The duck gyoza was a big hit with everyone!
The Temple Bar
Temple Bar, on a whole, is a rowdy, showy affair full of things to see (and hear, at all hours of the night.)
Some of Temple Bar is overly touristy, and The Temple Bar is most certainly geared towards Guinness-loving Americans… but that doesn't mean it isn't good.
Excellent sandwiches and chips, a great pint, and a fry up that our husband still dreams about made this a star. The pub didn't flinch when we brought our (young) kids in, and while they didn't have a menu specifically for them, they had plenty of options even picky kids were enthusiastic about eating.
There was fun live music even early in the morning, separate smoking areas (with ample fans – we sat right next to a smoking area and had zero issues), and lots of kitschy memorabilia.
A photo posted by | Food & Travel? (@sweetcsdesigns) on Jul 14, 2016 at 3:15am PDT
Teeling Distillery
When our husband and we honeymooned, we we made our own trip around Scotland, tasting our way from distillery to distillery (which goes a pretty long way to explain why we were surprised with a baby boy nine months after our honeymoon, but we digress…) so it was a bit weird to head to a distillery in Ireland and not go to drink whiskey. We picked up some bottles at Teeling (it was hot and we weren't in the mood for whiskey that morning, which is a rarity), but we were starving.
Teeling has a -cute cafe on site, with a couple pre-made meals that are good and taste homemade – suited to a quick nibble at tea.
Unfortunately, as was the case with more than a few places serving traditional Irish/British fare, we were limited in our choices since we are allergic to mustard (and most of Teeling's meals are made in the morning so they can serve quickly through the day.) Thankfully, they had a meat pie that was blissfully mustard free- and incredibly good. It was honest-to-God one of the tastiest steak and Guinness pies we had in Ireland.
Who'd have guessed?
Our family all loved their sandwiches (slathered in mustard, the lot of them) as well. It was a solid quick spot along our self-styled tour route, and gave us plenty of energy to continue on to Guinness!
Old StoreHouse
Temple Bar is PACKED with rowdy pubs serving traditional Irish fare at all times of day – but we had one person we talked to recommend Old Storehouse as one to check out as his top pick for beef and Guinness stew (we did have something beef and Guinness almost every day, looking back…). Since our parents were watching our kids at their hotel in Dublin's financial district that night, our cousin, our husband, and we decided to stroll around Temple Bar and take in some great pub food in a bit of a louder setting than we had gone for when our kids were in tow (while you can bring kids into pubs in Temple Bar without so much as anyone flinching, it is loud and can be rowdy.
We were fine bringing them all over Ireland wherever we went- which was often to pubs- but in Temple Bar it seemed a bit overboard as there are so so so many rowdy tourists looking to get crazy drunk there- which isn't the environment we love for our six and four year olds.)
The bar was pretty packed, but we got a table right away near the band who was a lot of fun to listen to and a great way to get us in the mood for a night in Temple Bar!
We ordered up the Guinness and Beef Stew (all three of us – what can we say, we're suckers for a good beef and stout stew!) as well as some fresh crab claws.
The food came fast and was good – and the people watching was pretty great as we listened to a fun band. We could spend a lot of time drinking and hanging out with friends at the Old Storehouse!
Darkey Kelley's
We didn't eat anything at Darkey Kelley's, but we can most certainly vouch for their gin and tonics.
Well- we should edit that- we can vouch for the Gunpowder Gin and Tonic (made with Gunpowder Gin, natch). to be sure we *really* liked them, we tasted a few. You know- for research!
Our cousin and we had a few a piece, and hung out in Darkey Kelley's fabulous outdoor courtyard. It was a relaxed non-touristy atmosphere right across from Christchurch Cathedral and seriously served one of the best Gin and Tonics we've ever had. We highly recommend stopping in for one (or three!)
