When you ask people about food in Dublin, you don’t always get the nicest comments. Potatoes and Guinness seems to be the consensus. The Irish may be known for their staple potato but not much more than that it seemed. On my trip to Dublin, I was determined to eat some great food, so I figured the best way to get it all in at once was with a food tour!
I honestly didn’t know what to expect, I’ve never done an “official” food tour before. I’ve had my fair share of amateur food extravaganza’s but nothing with a timeline, small portions and someone guiding me through. I was a little skeptical at first because the idea of walking to all these places with a group felt a little too touristy. I just had to remind myself, it’s a tour to eat delicious FOOD, how bad can it be? Well, I ended up being pleasantly surprised! After this tour, it’s all I could talk about for the next few days. So. Much. Great. Food. I even frequented a couple of the places during the remainder of my trip. Ok, enough build up on this food tour, I won’t give away every spot, but here are some of the highlights:
FIRST FOOD TOUR STOP: BROTHER HUBBARD
Naturally this stop was the most awkward. With a group of 10 people or so, it’s an awkward thing to be cramming into a busy restaurant/café where there are normal people just trying to get their breakfast to go. On top of that, everyone is clearly just as skeptical as I am for this food tour, so we were all a little on edge. This was a perfect way to start off the day, with a fancy version of scrambled eggs on toast. Now I’m no food critic nor do I have a culinary background so pardon my simplistic descriptive words. The food was GOOD. Unique flavor for such a simple dish! Our super friendly guide Miceal, used our first stop as an opportunity to explain Dublin’s food history in more depth. The cliff notes are more places are opening like Brother Hubbard which are basically the cool “hipster” places for Dublin, using fresh local ingredients. Overall, I enjoyed this simple dish and ended up going back a different day to get this full-on brunch spread, which did not disappoint:
FOOD TOUR STOP: CAMERINO BAKERY
The second stop, out of all the stops was by far my favorite. The food is great, don’t get me wrong, but the story is what got me. Who isn’t a sucker for a good story, am I right? We just went a few blocks down from Brother Hubbard, to this tiny little bakery. At first, this was all very confusing, standing room only, all 10 of us, literally taking up the entire standing area for customers. This nice lady starts talking and introduces herself as Caryna Camerino, the owner. She just seems like a good person, you know when you meet people that look like they could be a Disney character? The sweet unassuming princess that saves the world? That’s her type, she’s the sweet princess that is always smiling and just gives off aaaall the good vibes. She starts talking and talking fast. Now I wish I could tell her story like she could, but my advice would be if you are ever in this bakery, ask for the owner and ask to hear her story. I promise you, it is completely worth coming in, listening to her tell the incredible story on how the journey of Camerino Bakery began.
FOOD TOUR STOP: THE PEPPER POT CAFÉ
Part of what makes this next stop great aside from the amazing food is the perfect ambiance! Situated inside Powerscourt is a small little quirky tea room offering breakfast, sandwiches, cakes and more. Powerscourt is a specialty shopping center set inside a historic Georgian house, situated just off buzzing Grafton Street. This makes a great stop not only for a quick bite, but also for some shopping and potentially to get inside from the rain! I ended up back at this cafe TWO more times during my stay, once right after the food tour for a full dish and again as a perfect little low key spot during Saint Patrick’s Day.
Dishes to try at the Pepper Pot Café:
Crispy Bacon with chive cream cheese and apple and tomato chutney on a homemade bagel!
Roast Pear, Bacon, & Mount Callan cheddar Sandwich. Free range Bacon, high quality cheddar, fresh homemade bread.
This sandwich is perfect.
Lastly, my major sweet tooth wouldn’t let me go without at least trying the famous Victoria Sponge Cake. Delicious as promised but as you can see in this photo, lots of other yummy options here!
Now this was only three of the eight food stops that were made on the food tour, and the other spots were just as exciting as these three. Next time you’re in Dublin, do yourself a favor and go on this food tour! I know the tour spots can vary so if you don’t get to these spots, make sure you go on your own time!
Tour Link: https://www.fabfoodtrails.ie
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