Wondering what to eat in Dublin? So were we.
As is ritual, the first thing I do in a new city is find a food tour. After checking numerous reviews on the internet, I chose Secret Food Tours.
Such a great choice! We spent a good three and a half hours walking around downtown Dublin, sampling traditional Irish food and drink. We met up with our guide Klaire at 10am in front of Trinity College Dublin. It was a small group – just 8 of us. As we walked around at the peak of the morning – dodging pedestrians heading to work, or buses shuttling the office crowds, or cyclists zipping by in every direction – Klaire shared with us her passion for the city she grew up in. She had so many tales of the city and how it got to where it is today, and she also shared lots of tips and recommendations throughout the tour.
If you would like to try traditional Irish food and drink while visiting Dublin, the Secret Food Tour is a good one to do. The guys there were kind enough to give us a discount code to share with you, I’ve included it at the bottom of this post.
Our tour included six stops – 5 food and 1 whiskey tasting. While we weren’t bursting to the brim at the end of the tour, it gave us a good insight into the culinary and historic landscape of Ireland, Dublin in particular.
BREAKFAST
We headed to a famous design store in the heart of the city. Its been open for over 55 years and is very popular with locals, having seen generations of families go there for a meal. We browsed through the shop on the ground floor, celebrating Irish craftsmanship with jewellery, art work, cookware, clothing, pottery etc. Namrata bought a book (can’t have enough of those!) and we headed upstairs to the café.
We started with White pudding. No black pudding luckily; there were sighs around the table as no one seemed too keen to eat blood anything at 10am! White pudding is made with pork, oats, spices, is rolled into a cellulose casing, baked and fried.
It’s not an Irish meal without the humble potato. We tried a traditional Irish potato cake, made with day old mashed potato, flour, eggs, and herbs. It is a little dry and so is served with a tomato and red pepper relish, with a hint of jalapeno – the perfect accompaniment!
Gur cake is part of the fabric of Dublin, and you won’t find it anywhere else in the country. It is made with apples, cinnamon, sultanas, ginger and Earl Gray black tea. It was moreish, dense and filling – much like a Christmas mince pie. The story goes that it was created in the early 1900s when Dublin was poor, with large families and not much work to go around. Gur cake was born out of necessity, as it was cheap and raised energy levels quickly. Considered peasant food, it went out of fashion and is not available in many places these days. A few artisan delis however and now bringing it back, using quality ingredients.
WHISKEY
“Whiskey drinkers are not born, they are made”
Up until the early 20th century, there were approx. 250 working distilleries in Ireland. Then the prohibition happened, leaving maybe just three working distilleries into the 1990’s.
Things have since changed. Irish whiskey has become the fastest growing spirit in the world, set to soon overtake Scotland and the US. As of 2017, there are 19 working distilleries in Ireland, and growing. In fact, the EU also recently bestowed the same honour on Irish whiskey as that of champagne. It means that it must be distilled, matured, bottled – everything must be done in Ireland to call it an “Irish Whiskey”. Fascinating to learn that many people have also started investing in whiskeys now instead of stocks and shares – it has become quite the collector’s item!
We tried two exclusive Irish whiskeys during the tour: Irish man Founder Reserve which is a single malt and Knappogue Castle 12 Year Old which is a pot still. The latter can only be found in Ireland.
Our guide asked us “What do you smell?”
Everyone thought real hard. Our guide prompted, “Is it sweet? Is it spicy? Do you get vanilla or fruit…?”
Our reply was “It smells like whiskey!” Haha!
I suspect there’s lots of truth in what Klaire said, that “Whiskey drinkers are not born, they are made.” You need to put your work into it to become an expert. Until that happens, we’re happy to continue with mini tastings 🙂
CHEESE
As we continued to the next stop, we passed by the statue of Molly Malone. If like us, you’re not familiar with her, she is a fictional fishmonger from Dublin, who died young from a fever. Klaire and her new soon-to-be colleague Noel who accompanied us on the tour sang us the song as we walked down the street – it’s apparently the unofficial anthem of the city! Who knew! Click play below to listen.
The next stop was an award-winning fine foods shop, with a beautiful display of fresh fruit and veg, local meats, seafood, homemade bread, a food hall, and a deli with the finest collection of cheeses, charcuterie, and more.
Ireland is winning lots of awards across Europe these days for its cheese. The Dutch and French are still considered the kings of cheese however, they don’t tend to deviate too much on flavour. The Irish are more experimental, much like their whiskey. And because they have some of the best dairy in the world, they’ve been producing some fantastic results.
We tried a sheep’s cheese called Cratloe Hills from County Clare which was sour, musky, and tasted similar to a parmesan. Also tasted a smoked Knockanore from County Waterford which is made from pasteurized cows milk, and is smoked for 8 or 9 months before it is released. It had a strong smoky aroma, but the taste was not as strong. Loved it! The third one we tried was a Killeen fenugreek unpasteurized goat cheese from County Galway. It was light, delicate but nutty with the fenugreek seeds. We loved it so much that we went back to the shop the next day and bought some to bring back home.
OYSTERS
Oysters have been part of the Irish diet for over 5,000 years! I was super delighted to see Kelly’s Oysters from County Galway – I’ve tried it a few times in Dubai and we had the opportunity to visit their farm in Galway just the day before. It was such a wonderful day trip, will hopefully share more details with you on this soon.
As part of the Secret Food Tour, we got to try Kelly Oysters and Lisadelle Oysters from County Waterford. Both were divine, being brought to the restaurant a mere hour before our visit. If you don’t eat oysters, you should definitely give it a try on this tour (you’re guaranteed you’ll only get top quality). Namrata is not a fan but she tried these, and we may have a convert!
LUNCH IN A PUB
Having a pie and a pint of Guinness in a local pub is what we’ve always imagined Ireland to be about. And we weren’t let down. Klaire took us to a very famous pub for lunch. The choices were: Beef and Guinness pie served with Irish soda bread, Irish Lamb stew with root vegetables, a vegetable pie, or a Coddle – something that’s unique to Dublin. And that’s the one we picked!
Dublin Coddle is a pork stew made with sausages, rashers, potato and veg, cooked in a slow cooker for 8 hours. It is a household staple in Dublin, and you won’t find it anywhere else in the country. It was super hearty and flavourful, we wished we had more soda bread to mop up the last of the sauce.
ICE CREAM
Our final stop on the Secret Food Tour was an ice cream shop which originated in Dingle, apparently one of the most beautiful places in Ireland, down in county Kerry. Two friends started the shop in their hometown and it’s taken off since, with stores all around Kerry and now Dublin too. A real homegrown success story.
Everything in this ice cream shop is handmade in Dingle, using milk from cows indigenous to that area. They had some very interesting Irish flavours like Dingle seat salt, apple balsamic, buttermilk, and Irish coffee (with Jameson whiskey). My favourite was the Irish brown bread, which is caramelized in muscovado sugar for 8 hours so it becomes crunchy and chewy.
WHY WE THINK YOU SHOULD DO THIS TOUR?
- You get to hang with a local who’ll give you all the foodie info and recommendations you need for your stay in Dublin. Its not just limited to food though; Klaire pointed us to some cool spots in town for live music, shopping, and even a record store where Namrata found some classic vinyls.
- The tour takes place in the creative quarter of Dublin, which is full of history and culture. The area was the commercial hub of the city for over 200 years, and it is interesting to hear all the stories behind various buildings, pubs, churches, streets – which you may not know without a guide.
- It’s also a good chance to meet new people from different parts of the world.
DETAILS
The tour costs 59€. Use the discount code SHESAID10 for 10 percent off.
Have you been to Dublin, Ireland? If not, its definitely one to add to your bucket list!
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