Food filled Saturday

Sean's little brother came to stay with us this weekend. Sean and I done some wandering while he was getting his hair cut at The Butcher Barber. 

First stop was Fallon & Byrne. We got some venison haunch steaks, sweet potato and Irish rainbow carrots for our dinner on Sunday evening. We also picked up some Llewellyn's Apple cider vinegar. We had to because the bottle we got at the People's Park market met an unfortunate end :(? 

Then we had our usual stop at The Cupcake Bloke. 

Picked up some cupcakes for us - Oreo, Caramel Macchiato & a gluten free Banoffee.

Also got some lemon and carrot cake cupcakes and one of the Earl Grey, cranberry & orange tea bracks for Sean's parents.

After he was finished getting his hair did I brought him to try out Ugly Duckling in the Epicurean Food Hall. He ordered the Pittsburgh (BBQ pulled pork, coleslaw, tomato and fries on a bun) and I ordered my usual no tomato Prawn Po'Boy... Delicious as always. Sean's little brother had considered keeping some for Sean but he enjoyed it so much there was no left!! I think he was a fan :) 

Got home. Spent some time with the dog then got ready to head out for the evening.

First stop of the night was Oktoberfest Dublin. We got there early enough so thankfully we didn't have to queue too long to get in - about a 20 minute wait. 

The place was pretty busy. Queued about 10 minutes for drinks. Got 2L of erdinger and a German white wine. 

Total cost including the deposits for the glass steins was something like €40. As long as you keep hold of your token and the stein though you get your €5 per stein deposit back.

Not a bad atmosphere but am not entirely sure how traditional Love is in the air as music goes??? 

Like I say we got there early enough but it was already starting to get a bit messy. We didn't stay long and then headed to Brew Dock.  The signs that are upstairs gave me a giggle. 

Here I had a Founders Breakfast stout. Lovely strong coffee flavour. 

By the way to the lads playing Jenga near us I think we've only just recovered from the fright ;)

We had a table booked for Bull & Castle and, as it was a nice October evening, we decided to walk it. Certainly walked up an appetite!! Have been here before but didn't enjoy the experience. What a transformation since our last visit. 

The last time we we're here was on a cold & miserably wet evening. I found the restaurant to be very cold and the seats were hard. I'm so so glad we decided to come back. The restaurant has had a make over. We were seated in a booth. It felt so so cosy and the leather covered seats were so comfortable!! 

 

Here's the food menu... 

I ordered a half bottle of Sangiovese / Merlot red wine. 

We shared the breads n dips and the charcuterie board for starters. That hummus is immense!!! The pesto was really nice but for me the star was the white soda bread. 

For my main course I ordered the steak and seafood - a 6oz fillet steak cooked medium rare with some prawns. Lovely char on the steak from the type oven they use. Perfectly cooked and the prawns were delicious too. Fab Bearnaise sauce to dip them all in too! 

I am not a potato fan and I asked if I could swap the spring onion mash for the Mac n cheese. This was done without issue although the waiter wasn't sure it could be done. Very impressed! 

Sean and his brother ordered the porterhouse for two. This is a double cut t bone steak served up with chips, mashed potato, sautéed onions, sautéed mushrooms, maple roasted carrots and a selection of sauces. 

The Mac n cheese was creamy and had a lovely crust on top. Am sure it was calorific but so so worth it.

For dessert I ordered a French Martini cocktail. Lovely way to finish. 

Brilliant choice of whiskey, craft beer and cocktails. They're serving up great food that is well worth the price tag. Really loved the feel of the place this time. 

After there we walked to Beer Market as Sean was in search of a particular sour beer - Gods Speed. To my delight they had Founders' Rubaeus on tap but not the beer he was after so we only stayed for one and then headed to our last stop of the evening, Against the Grain. 

They had the beer Sean was looking for so they had two glasses of that each while I finished off my evening with a Macivors cider :) 

Weekend treats

Sean and his little brother went to London for the 2015 Great British Beer Festival and to do some touristy things. 

That included a trip to Choccywoccydoodah on Foubert's Place... 

The windows are something you should definitely experience - the cakes are incredible! 

But what's best of all is the bars of chocolate he brought me home - chunky monkey (milk chocolate with peanuts, peanut butter and honeyed banana) and a bacon chunky bar (milk chocolate and bacon flavouring)

Only tried the chunky monkey and OMG! Just wow - it tastes as good as it looks :)

We went went out for dinner on Saturday evening and had decided on a return visit to Platform Pizza Bar, Strand Road Bray. 

First stop was Brew Dock on Amiens Street.

I had a bottle of Savanna Dry Cider here. 

Thanks to a delay in finishing our drinks at Brew Dock on Amiens Street (that sign makes me giggle everytime!) we missed a DART and ended up being 15 minutes late but there was no issue raised which I find really impressive. 

We were sat across from the entrance to Narnia (the toilet!) so got a better photo of it this time :) 

For starters we shared some of the boneless chicken wings. We chose the Bootleg (sweet smoky BBQ sauce) and Caribbean Jerk (Mellow Jamaican Jerk seasoning) wings... They were sweet, tangy and had just a little kick. They went really nice with the Craigie's Ballyhook Flyer cider I drank to start. 

For main I ordered the same pizza as last time - goats cheese, mozzarella, pancetta, walnuts and maple syrup. I should really apologise to them again - I'm so fussy as I don't like tomato sauce based pizza and so I ordered it without. Unfortunately it came out with tomato sauce. They had no problem at all swapping it over - they really were so good about it but I still feel guilty as I hate being one of "those" people that make a fuss.

Sean chose the pizza with anchovies, tomatoes, capers & green olives. 

His brother went with the chorizo, mozzarella and tenderstem broccoli - no photo of that though ha!

We ordered a side of sweet potato fries 

There were three v clean boards when we were done and no fries left either! 

Then it came to dessert. Sean's brother wanted the pecan pie but I suggested ordering the Nutella pizza. I didn't realise it was so big until we were ordering it and Kate (I think that was her name, she was excellent!) advised that it's the size of their pizzas with a slightly different base. We agreed we'd share that between the three of us and if there was any left then we could take the rest home. The pizza is served with strawberries and ice cream...

I am not ashamed to tell you there was none to bring home in the box - another empty board! It was absolutely amazing - chocolate lover's nirvana!!! 

The second visit (its actually my third visit it a quick stop to pick up a takeaway pizza counts) was as good if not better than our first. I can only tell you that the food is delicious, the staff are lovely and it's well worth a visit out of the city to try here! 

How the bill is presented... The damage!!!

So completely stuffed we headed into town. Knowing the city centre would be very busy after the rugby we took a stroll to Alfie Byrne's (a Galway Bay Brewery bar) in the Conrad Hotel. They actually had Founder's Breakfast Stout (my favourite stout!) on tap so I got that. 

Sean and his brother got whiskeys and so I got to try Teeling Whiskey's 21 year old. Smells and tastes v good! 

On Sunday we visited Avoca Kilmacanogue. Had their white soda bread and tea before sharing a slice of deep dish apple pie with Sean... 

The crust was nice (and seeing as it's GBBO season) with no soggy bottom!! The apple filling was sweet and tart and moreish!! 

Last stop then was to pick up stuff for dinner. I got a Honey Roast Ham Sandwich (Honey Roast Ham, butter, mayonnaise, whole grain mustard & salad on sourdough bread) from Poulet Bonne Femme - decided I needed to mix it up from getting their chicken sandwich everytime!!! 

That was washed down with some Craigie's Dalliance cider ;) 

So that pretty much sums up my weekend... How was yours?! 

Thursday night date night

To stave off the post holiday blues we booked a table at AVenue by Nick Munier.

First stop on the way was Beer Market (http://www.galwaybaybrewery.com/beermarket) which is the new Galway Bay Brewery bar in Christchurch where they're "only" serving beer here. 

The tap and bottle selection is bloody impressive!

Anyhow after checking the list I decided on Founders Blushing Monk.

I just want to say that €6.50 a glass might seem steep but I think that's pretty good considering it's just shy of €22 for a 750ml bottle in most off licences in Dublin!! 

Was quite a nice Dublin evening and we strolled down Dame Street to Temple Bar until we got to AVenue (www.avenue.ie) 

This is the new Nick Munier (of Masterchef Ireland and Hell's Kitchen fame) venture... 

Yes this place is in the centre of touristville but there's just something about the place that as soon as you walk through the door you'll forget that's where you are! 

I got a voucher from the taste.ie so it worked out at just under €50 a three course meal for two plus a bottle of wine. A great deal if you ask me but even without that they do a three course set meal for €25 per person. I thought there was a good selection to choose from and that's bloody brilliant value for a restaurant in Temple Bar by any means.

So to the food..

For starters I had the chicken liver parfait with brioche. Sean chose the tartare of salmon...

For main course I had the butternut squash ravioli and Sean went with the hake.

Dessert (most important!) was apple and cinnamon doughnuts with dips. Sean tried their pear shortcake special (I think!) and Americanos to finish. 

So what can I say? I loved everything about it! Awesome service, the food is great (tastes better than it looks - I don't think my photos does it justice) and v well presented, comfy seats and the tables are also nicely spaced out. I can't actually describe it other than to add there's such a nice buzz about the place! 

By the time we were leaving the place was filling up and I think they turned some walk ins away so book in advance because you have just got to try here!!!

So we left Avenue and went to Vintage Cocktail Club VCC Dublin (www.vintagecocktailclub.com) for a drink

If there's no doorman there ring the doorbell and who knows what you'll discover! 

 

There's a huge selection of cocktails to choose from in that book! I went for a Tiki Peeky and Sean chose the Cuban Rum Cake. 

Candlelight cocktails and I like that they served water with the cocktails - we got this in Berlin last weekend and thought it was a great idea!

Left Temple Bar and went back to where the evening began, Beer Market, for another Blushing Monk!