By Daughter Number Two and her friend Millie
In Ireland, there are a lot of Italians. Probably more than there are in Italy. We think it's because there is a special deal to fly between countries that start with the same letter—we're going to look into tickets to Ukraine for our next trip.
When a vegetarian and a vegan go to Ireland together, the most exciting thing to do is play the "what can we eat?" game. We looked up a few vegetarian cafés before we went so that we'd have places to eat lunch (college students don't eat dinner. We just drink beer.)
The first place we went, Cornucopia, on Wicklow Street (off of Grafton), turned out to be our favorite. We ate there shortly after arriving and dropping our things off at our hotel. The food is served kind of cafeteria-style, which is helpful because you can see for yourself what looks good to eat. Millie had a courgette lasagna, with cheese, and came with two salads (~€12.50). DNT had a mushroom and something illegible soup (they write everything on the chalkboard, and DNT has horrible eyesight, so who knows what else was in it--it was vegan, anyway.) The lasagna was filling and delicious, according to Millie, and she recommends trying something other than a garden salad (which doesn't come with a dressing.) DNT's soup, which she ate with a piece of bread and cup of coffee, was equally delicious, and the price was good—about €7.50 for the meal. They have a good selection of vegan spreads, bread, and pastries (as well as main dishes) and they clarify which things are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, containing nuts, etc. They have fresh squeezed juices, which neither of us tried, but they sounded good.
The next restaurant was called Fresh, located on the second floor of the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, which has a lot of soups and sandwiches for a good price. Millie had a mozarella tomato basil sandwich, which came toasted, and a lentil and squash bisque. DNT had a hummous and pita sandwich with an asian salad and fruit salad (apparently in Ireland one salad is not enough, because both restaurants offered two salads with their main courses rather than one.) The mozarella and tomato sandwich was good, as well as the soup. DNT's sandwich was a bit soggy and a little heavy on the hummous side, but the fruit salad came with mint, which was a nice touch. We did try the freshly squeezed juice here—orange—which didn't disappoint. Overall, the vegan options, for sandwiches, at least, weren't too satisfying. The main courses might be more suitable, and there are a lot of vegan desserts and pastries that looked very appetizing.
Here's where we started taking photos of our food. Next on the list was Gruel, on Dame Street, which isn't vegetarian, but still worth a stop if you're hungry and rained on (the latter of which is likely to happen in Ireland.) We stopped in there on a Sunday morning, and they were still serving brunch, so the menu was somewhat sparse, although we both found something good. Millie had a traditional Irish breakfast (the non-sausage option, which has salmon and eggs, and comes with a yummy tomato and caper salad.) DNT had a vegetable soup, which came with three thick slices of bread. The food came in generous, healthy-looking portions, at a good price with friendly service. The restaurant itself is cozy in all senses of the word-- a little crowded, but in a good way.
Our friends pose in front of the tomato soup cans at Gruel, above a pink fireplace.
Vegetable soup and bread from Gruel.
Our last day in Dublin, we scrapped plans to eat at another non-vegetarian cafe, Nude, whose menu wasn't as veggie-friendly as Gruel, and went back to Cornucopia. We arrived around noon, when they switch from breakfast to lunch. This turned out to be the perfect time for us to go—Millie was in the mood for lunch food, and DNT wanted to check out the vegan breakfast options. Also, the restaurant wasn't quite as crowded as it was on Friday afternoon, although it started to fill up after 12. DNT ordered granola with soya yoghurt and fruit (the granola had honey in it) which came with toast and coffee (or tea.) Millie had a gigante bean, potato, and butternut squash soup, again with two salads--one Greek, and one cucumber salad with a light dressing. Both meals were delicious and satisfyingly vegetarian. Cornucopia once again proved itself as an excellent vegetarian restaurant where vegans have freedom in ordering, with friendly (and attractive...) staff and good service.
The fruit and granola... it looks almost as good as it tasted.
Soup (the large size—only one euro more than a small soup, which is not nearly as filling.)
An evening in Dublin is best spent inside of a pub. We visited four pubs our first night, on a literary pub crawl (also recommended). The pub crawl met at The Duke, off of Grafton Street (on Duke Street, appropriately.) During the tour, which was both entertaining and educational, the two of us traded off drinking gin and tonic and pints/glasses of Guinness and cider. The best (and technically most expensive) pint of Guinness, though, is given out at the Gravity Bar on top of the Guinness storehouse, which you can tour and trade in your ticket for the pint. This is where we first encountered the aforementioned Italians--we saw hordes of Italian tourists, some of them wearing matching "Irish Drinking Team" t-shirts. We humoured them and took a few photos (they do seem to like their photo ops...)
Atop the Guinness Storehouse in the Gravity Bar not only has the best pint of Guinness, but also the best view—and we're not talking about the Italian tourists.
The Duke, where the literary pub crawl meets.
We also met up with an Irish friend of ours at a pub nearby our hotel, called Kate's Cottage. Word of advice if you're meeting someone at this pub--be sure to clarify where you are if they have a sister named Kate who lives in a cottage. This bar was apparently "about as Irish as you get" in Dublin, according to a local friend.
If you're lucky, you can find a bartender to make a shamrock or four-leafed clover in your Guinness. This is best tried with a cute and/or talkative bartender...
All in all, we had a successful, vegetarian, Guinness-filled and rain-soaked voyage to the Emerald Isle.
