The One With the Food

I am, no doubt, very predictably, that 20 year old girl who takes a picture of every meal she orders or cooks, so you (my devoted readers) had to know this post was coming.  Here we are: food from Ireland.  Ireland isn’t exactly a country of traditionally and famously good food the way Italy or France or Spain are known for amazing dishes.  That being said, the European city cafe and restaurant scenes are alive and well in Dublin and we found a few gem locations to satisfy our cravings.

Let’s start with dessert because why not.  Within a few days we found our favorite gelato shop, Gelato di Natura, conveniently located on the main drag: O’Connell Street.  Not that Gino’s Gelato or Sun Bear or Scoops had bad ice cream; they were all fantastic.  We did become di Natura regulars pretty fast.  Of course we didn’t limit ourselves to solely ice cream.  A quick walk from our campus was a French Cafe, La Petite Breton, and I bet you’ve already guessed that their crêpes were quite the pièce de résistance.  Sweet desert crêpes topped with caramel, chocolate sauce, powdered sugar, and fruit were the highlight of this small corner cafe’s menu.  Another French cafe that stole our hearts was le chocolat de Frèd in Dún Laoghaire, a coastal town just outside Dublin.  After actually eating crepes in France and more at La Petite Breton, I opted for a waffle from le chocolat de Frèd, and it was to die for.  There were fruit and vanilla options, but being a chocolate lover at a chocolate shop you know I went all out for the cocoa.  I had a waffle with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, chocolate chips, cookies and cream crumbles, and chocolate and caramel drizzle.  Back closer to campus was a “take-away” place (we don’t say take out or to-go here) called Peter’s.  Peter’s has food including fish and chips with great toppings and seasonings, but the important thing about Peter’s is that it’s on the walk home from Ivy House (recall the local pub) and has great shakes.  Pit stops at Peter’s were always a good idea.  Now when it comes to doughnuts, I’m a Krispy Kreme girl over Dunkin Donuts every time…concerning the round dessert; the iced coffee is a whole different argument.  Only the amazing Duck Donuts from the gorgeous Outer Banks could come close to giving Krispy Kreme a run for their money in my mind.  With our shared hometown of Winston-Salem, NC and our sweet irresistible nature, Krispy Kreme doughnuts and I have a lot in common.  I would never betray Krispy Kreme by saying any other confection with a hole in the middle is the best, but Boomerang doughnuts in Dublin have an aesthetic unlike any other.  These giant doughnuts don’t actually have a hole in the middle.  Instead, they’re filled with flavored cream and topped with colorful sprinkles, candy, fruit, or frosting to match the flavor.  I have to admit, their doughnuts and slogan are works of art: I did keep coming back.

I promise I didn’t only eat desserts.  I did a fair amount of cooking during the week and learned a lot about how hard and fun it can be as I tried to mimic some of my mom’s classics.  Nothing I made ever came out close to as good as her food, so I’m glad to be heading home for a while so I can enjoy some true home cooking.  After spending weeknights playing around in the kitchen, we filled our weekends with some great restaurants.  I have to start with Nandos.  This is going to sound like a tangent, but bear with me.  Let’s remember that I was a seventh grade girl in 2011 when One Direction released their first hit song “What Makes You Beautiful.”  A song that defined a generation of ‘Directioners’ who filled stadiums on world tours, created fan accounts, had posters and merch, and were the true epitome of fangirls.  Anyway, the British boyband consisted of one Irish accent named Niall Horan.  The fun fact that the internet and thousands of teenage girls (including myself) latched on to about Niall was that he loved Nandos: a Panera-esque Afro-Portuguese restaurant.  Nandos originated in South Africa and is famous for their peri-peri spiced chicken.  I fulfilled a middle school dream of mine by eating at Nandos in Dublin, and I was thinking about One Direction the whole time.  The best food find in Dublin has to be Eatyard.  The open air, market style, dining experience is reminiscent of the Camden Market food stalls in London, but on a much smaller scale.  Eatyard consists of about ten food trucks and stalls permanently located outdoors by the canal and right next to a very cool bar called The Bernard Shaw.  Eatyard offers burgers, wings, fries, shakes, barbecue, sausages, curry, smoothies, acai, cupcakes, and drinks.  The atmosphere is amazing with colorful flags strung up alongside lights and benches and tables interspersed throughout the gravel walkway.  Eatyard is as trendy as it gets.  Some of our other favorites included Milano, Italian food, and and San Sab, Thai.

Everyone says Americans and college students are caffeine addicts, but even with my Keurig in my room at school I feel like I drink mostly tea and coffee only when I need it.  Dublin cafes and coffee shops have turned me into a coffee addict.  Truly an addict.  My all time favorite coffee shop was on the canal called the Art of Coffee.  It was near my office and a beautiful walk.  Sarah and I settled into a routine of going to Lilly’s Cafe in Parnell Square on O’Connell while we changed buses on our way to work.  All in all, good eats.