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 :) 

Super Supper Club

A few weeks ago Ugly Duckling tweeted about a Supper Club in their George's Street Arcade - €39.95 for a five course tasting menu with drinks and I managed to get two tickets and last night we went along. 

Started off with a Wimbledon cocktail - Gin, Pimms, cucumber, lemon and lime. Soo good :)

First course was a crispy hen's egg with asparagus and Hollandaise sauce. The egg was so good. When you cut into it the yolk just oozed. I think it was the nicest Hollandaise I've tried. This was paired with a glass of white wine. 

Second course was scallops with grapefruit and a pea and avocado purée. The scallops were really well cooked and v moreish :) They paired this with a Brooklyn Sorachi Ace beer.

Next up was a passion fruit, mango and gin sorbet. Seriously refreshing! 

Main course was pork three ways - a pork chop, crispy pork belly and a  ham hock croquette served with mash, carrot purée and cabbage with apple and vanilla. This was paired with a delicious Floris apple beer.

Last course was chocolate heaven!!! Chocolate macaroon, chocolate sauce, chocolate brownie and a warm chocolate soup. Absolutely amazing and I wanted to lift the bowl and finish it off but managed to behave :-) 

This was the first time they've done the supper club and it was mainly the guys' families that were there but I'm chuffed to have been part of it - huge thanks guys!!! 

If you've been to either Ugly Duckling spots then this is is not what you'd expect to be eating but OMG the guys are incredibly talented. The supper club definitely needs to become a regular thing. Brilliant night 

Nothing Ugly about this Duckling

You may have noticed from recent blog posts that I'm a bit of a fan of the prawn po'boys at Ugly Duckling in the Epicurean Food Hall so you can imagine my delight when they invited us along to a preview evening at their George's Street Arcade branch.

The menu... 

The sega mega drive and Nintendo 64 on their counter... Total childhood throwback - I love it!

The preview included wine, craft beers from 8 degrees brewing company, Sam Adams, Galway Hooker & Little Creature. I think the cocktail was a fancier G & T - the nicest one I've tried!

As good as the alcohol was the main event was obviously the food! Sample platter included mini (not very!) versions of  the Brisket, Pittsburgh, Po'Boy, Shredded Chicken & the new addition - Grilled Halloumi!

The crispy onion strings on the brisket were sooo moreish! The gravy on the brisket was finger licking good.

I loved the BBQ pulled pork and coleslaw. I actually don't like potato but their fries are fast becoming a new addiction! 

Of course my favourite was still the Po'Boy and this little slider version was the perfect introduction if you've never had it before! 

I really REALLY want to bring home the Cajun Mayo that they use on the Po'Boy and same goes for the BBQ sauce!!! Derek might've mentioned something about them bottling and selling this - I hope that's true! Will definitely be picking that up.

When Derek asked about more food I prob v cheekily asked for another Po'Boy (don't ask, don't get!) but when they brought out this tray I was v reluctant to share! :)

Great hosts, brilliant food, the drinks flowed and good chats in a really fab setting.

I'm so so glad these sort of sandwiches are available in Dublin. I can't criticise anything about my Ugly Duckling experiences so far. Darragh & Derek should be v v proud. Keep reaching you guys! 

You can get a PoBoy in Dublin

For quite a few weeks I've walked by this sign on Abbey Street...

I first discovered Po'boys watching shows like Diners, Drive-ine & Dives ( http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/diners-drive-ins-and-dives.html) or Man v Food (http://www.travelchannel.com/shows/man-v-food) Since then I've eaten them in Pat O'Briens at Universal City Walk (www.patobriens.com) and Lola's Louisiana Kitchen in Las Vegas (www.lolaslasvegas.com) Both places were amazing and I was so so chuffed to discover somewhere in Dublin was doing them. So with that in mind I dragged my fiancé to Ugly Duckling (www.uglyduckingdublin.com) in the Epicurean Hall on Middle Abbey Street (across from Arnotts) I think they're also open in George's Street Arcade. 

Here's the menu

Looks good right? I wanted to change to chicken and waffles but I went there for the po'boy so that's what I got. I did order it without tomato but there it is on my bread. It was easily picked off so no biggie.

It's a big sandwich. I had to eat some of the prawns (or shrimp?)  off before cutting it in half getting "the hunch" on :) 

The sandwich is made up of Cajun Creole Tiger Prawns, lettuce and a sauce with a serious kick on Ciabatta. 

In my view this is a great attempt at a Po'boy!!! 

It's v v nice to see it on this side of the pond... Give it a go :)