February date night

At least once a month my fiancé and I do a date night. We try to pick restaurants we haven't been to before and the list is growing!!!! This month we chose Camden Kitchen on Grantham Street, Dublin 8.

Before we went for dinner we visited The Liquor Rooms on Wellington Quay (entrance we used is beside The Clarence Hotel and you could easily miss the little sign on the door. 

Walk down the stairs and it's like stepping back in time...

Had two bloody good drinks here. I had Doc's Gigglewater (Martell VS, Rosemary & lemon cordial, grapefruit bitters & soda water) and a French Martini (Vodka, Chambord & pineapple juice) 

Fiancé had a bottle of Williams Bros Birds and Bees beer and also their Roisin beer (made from Tayberries)

Left here for the 1.5km walk to Camden Kitchen. Town seemed to be hopping last night. Lots of tourists around, Great to see! 

Camden Kitchen is pretty small, the tables are close together but there's a really nice feel to it so I'm not complaining. The couple beside us were almost finishing up and when they saw what we'd ordered they told us it was excellent! :) 

For starters I chose chicken liver parfait with brioche toast and plum chutney. The parfait was melt in the mouth. Fiancé chose haddock croquettes with salmon sashimi, a beetroot purée and celeriac sauce. 

For main course I went with the Hake served with clams, risotto and braised scallions. He chose the special - Wicklow pheasant which came with cauliflower purée and Jerusalem artichoke. Both dishes were cooked perfectly! 

Two bottles of red wine but now to my favourite part... Dessert.  

I had chocolate brownie which came with chocolate brownie ice-cream. OMG - food heaven! Fiancé got the orange Madeleines which came with Cointreau ice-cream. I got coffee with mine and he got a glass of Muscat.

Just writing about the food is making me want to go back even though the cleaver on the wall above the kitchen is a tad unnerving!

Next stop on date night. A new bar on Camden Street - Camden Exchange which opened on Thursday. The building is an old bank and was the filming location for RAW (an RTE tellybox show) 

They've a decent selection of cocktails, craft beers and cider. I didn't look at the cocktail menu for too long.. I asked for 
craft cider and the barman let me try some before I got a glass of Falling Apple. They serve the cocktails in those mason jars with handles. The interior is pretty quirky with industrial lighting...

There's metal mesh on the wall, some kind of Citroen truck that looked like it was embedded in a wall but actually it's their food truck!!! In the middle of the floor there's an old Chubb safe... According to the doorman it would've cost too much to have it removed. It's good that they didn't. Pretty sure it was a conversation topic at every table last night. 

Strolled back down towards Temple Bar. Tried to get into VCC but they were booked out for almost 3 hours! So we ended up back at The Liquor Rooms. Had another French Martini.. 

Last stop of the night was Bison bar. I finally got to try their apricot sour whiskey cocktail (Jameson whiskey, apricot brandy, apple juice, lemon juice and apricot jam) It was served in a jar but minus the jam as they were out. A great ending to date night. 

Coffee at The Fumbally

So pretty sure I had coffee at Hipster Central this morning... 

Visited The Fumbally located on Fumbally Lane (funnily enough) Dublin 8. 

This is their food menu but was only really interested in a quick coffee and pastry. 

Really good choice, their rasbperry cheesecake looked so good! I found it hard to choose but ended up choosing a pear popover (Another US import) and fiancé chose a really healthy flapjack...

They give you a wooden block with a letter on it (like a toy you had as a child? and deliver your coffee to the table when it's ready. 

Yes that is a lost balloon :(

You can also buy coffee here. Today we chose 3FE Ethiopia Kebel Kercha Guji. 

High ceilings, a complete mismatch of seats and the plates wouldn't look out of place in my nanna's cupboard. The cups on the otherhand are a total modern grey and tie in far better with the building. So yes it is full of hipsters but families were there too. They've a great contrast of old and new and that makes me think we'll be making the trip back there again. If for nothing else than to pick up more coffee beans to bring home! 

I shall leave you with this signage... Pretty wise words if you ask me! 

Valentine's food

After leaving San Lorenzo's we had to pick up some food for dinner after the rugby.

We decided on a cheese and charcuterie board. We already had the cheese from Sheridans but we went to the food hall at Fallon and Byrne and some of their house chicken liver pate, chilli salami and 

Culatello.

Of course I had to visit to The Cupcake Bloke for treats. By the time we got there there wasn't much left! 

Last weekend I tried most of their Valentine cupcakes but missed the raspberry one. Managed to get that yesterday along with a vanilla cupcake for me and fiancé got more of his new favourite - coffee and amaretto! 

Of course I got my loyalty card stamped and they added a little present of a heart shaped biscuit... It went v V nicely with the Marsuret Prosecco and Chambord we drank during the rugby... 

We paired the cheese and charcuterie board with red wine - San Valentin Grenache (Seemed a good choice for the day that was in it!!) 

Valentines Day Brunch of Champions

Usually never bother trying to go out for food on Valentines Day. Particularly for dinner, the quality usually drops and there's a rushed feeling so restaurants can get the tables back for their next sitting. Much prefer going out on the 13th or 15th! This year, however, we decided to go out for brunch. Venue of choice - San Lorenzo's (Modern Italian. New York style) on Georges St, Dublin 2. 

Been following them on twitter for a while and ever since they tweeted about Coco Pops French toast it's been on the list. 

Table booked for 12:15 through opentable.co.uk. San Lorenzo's called the evening before to confirm and advised they'd need the table back for 1:30. No issue with that. I assumed just over an hour would be more than sufficient for brunch :)

Arrived just before the time and the table was ready. The tables are close together (like you wouldn't be able to walk between them close) but they're not uncomfortably close so you don't feel like you're eating communally and the tables are more spaced along the side. 

Having checked the menu online I already knew what I wanted to order but fiancé needed a couple of minutes to decide... He eventually settled on the crab cakes. I ordered a Mimosa and he chose a morello cherry Bellini. 

The Coco Pops French toast did not disappoint so was well worth the wait!!

Coco Pops, Belgian chocolate sauce, peanut butter, salt caramel bananas, cream and bread. These are most certainly some of my favourite things...

Fiancé's crab cakes came with house fries, eggs, asparagus and hollandaise sauce. I'm afraid my picture doesn't do it justice. He refused to take the picture of his because the couple at the table beside us kept eying up the food!!

Second round of drinks I ordered a Rossini (prosecco with strawberry purée)

When our plates were cleared away we were asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu. It never arrived but I already knew I wanted to try the Nutella cheesecake but I was stuffed so I chose the Nutella cheesecake martini instead... What a great way to finish off!!! 

I know we were told we had the table for just over an hour (it is actually on their website) and I can honestly say I didn't feel a bit rushed. If you decide to visit here for brunch you can see why it's known as Brunch of Champions!! 

Saturday tour of Dublin

Woke up pretty early this morning so decided to go for breakfast rather than lunch... 

Chose Hatch & Sons at The Little Museum of Dublin on St. Stephen's Green. 

Walk down the external steps into the basement of 15 St. Stephen's Green into a v cute little courtyard. 

Really old fashioned fireplace takes centre stage as you walk in the door (you can just about make it out in the above photo!) and an entrance that's looks like it should be the front of someone's house leads you to another seating area.  It looks like a house drawn by a child as they imagine a house with windows on either side of the door.. Afraid my fiancé refused to take a photo to share as I couldn't get a good angle from my seat but if you decide to visit you'll see what I mean.

The all day menu... 

We got a pot of filter coffee. I ordered the bakers basket (brown soda bread, scone & half a blaa - all toasted & served with butter and jam or marmalade).Fiancé ordered porridge and we (rather boldly) decided to have dessert at breakfast and ordered an apple streusel cake! 

Left there & visited Sheridan's cheesemongers on South Anne Street to pick up some cheddar for a cheese & charcuterie board we'll be trying next Saturday evening. This place is amazing. They have a wonderful selection of cheeses (obv!) along with chutneys, relishes, wine, crackers and a small butchers / charcuterie place. The smells are unbelievable and if you like cheese you can't miss a visit here!

Onto Arnotts on Henry St then for a quick visit to Wines Direct for a bottle of bubbles. Lovely spot in the basement of Arnotts (Abbey St side) 

Walked across the Ha'penny bridge then into Temple Bar for a stop into Roasted Brown (Curved Street where Filmbase is and not too far from the Wall of Fame) to pick up some new beans for the (space age) bean to cupcoffee machine..

I love the space here!! Think it's how Temple Bar should be seen this morning - rather than the sights of many business owners having to clean the streets after another messy Friday night...!

From Roasted Brown we walked to Fallon & Byrne on Exchequer Street so I could pick up some bread to go with Italian Meatballs I got in James Whelan Butchers at Avoca Kilmacanogue last week. This is what you now see when you walk in the door and I think it's impressive. Bread induced drool may be a possibility!! (I chose a Ciabatta in case you're wondering) 

And as I may have mentioned I am a massive fan of The Cupcake Bloke!!! Even though I had two yesterday thanks to my fiancé picking some up while he was in town I couldn't resist another visit to try out more of the Valentine's Day 

Here are the ones we had yesterday...

Red Velvet

Chocolate / last Rolo

Coffee and Amaretto

 

Today's view 

As much as I enjoyed the red velvet and chocolate ones yesterday I decided I'd attempt as many flavours as possible so today we've picked up vanilla, raspberry, blueberry (gluten free), cookies and cream and another coffee and amaretto one! 

Last stop was Blackrock cellar to pick up some beer for the IRE v ITA six nations game this afternoon. Picked up a bottle of Founders Big Lushious (Rasbperry &Chocolate  stout) to share when we're munching chipsticks ☺️

🍀💚 !!!!COYBIG!!!! 💚🍀