Dublin Restaurant Tips by MalenaN

The Arlington Hotel

The Arlington Hotel is situated very close to Abbey Court where I stayed so it was very convenient to eat here. It is a large place, it was Saturday evening and it was very busy, but most people seemed to have come for the Celtic Night, a show with traditional music and dance and a 3 course meal to eat.

If you haven’t paid for a ticket to the Celtic Night you can still eat in the bar to the left, which I did. I found a table by the window, where I could see people walking by. From the bar menu I ordered a Monster rib Steak Burger for 12 Euros (March 2013) and it was a good meal. After eating I bought a hot whiskey for my cough. It was 5.10 Euros, and I must say the cough was much better after drinking that whiskey.

It was a convenient place to sit in and after a while could hear the live traditional music played, even though I couldn’t see the stage from where I sat.

Address: 25 Bachelors Walk

Price: US$11-20

Rating: 0

Theme: Other

Website: http://www.arlington.ie

Boathouse Restaurant at Farmleigh House

VT-member annemariebyrne took me to Phoenix Park and Farmleigh House, places I had never visited in Dublin. After we had seen the exhibition The Ros Tapestries in the Gallery and walked around in the Walled Garden we went to the Boathouse Restaurant for some refreshment. I had the soup of the day, which was minestrone soup. It tasted quite good and was served with a piece of bread. Anne Marie had a big muffin with walnuts. It looked delicious and Anne Marie confirmed that it tasted very good.

Outside there is a deck overlooking the small lake and the ducks in it. When we visited it was too cold to sit here but it looks to be a nice place for a warmer day.

Rating: 0

Theme: Other

Website: http://www.farmleigh.ie

Oliver St John Gogarty's: Pub in Temple Bar Oliver St John Gogarty's Review

I thought at least I had to try one of the pubs with live traditional music in Temple Bar. It was not so great! The traditional music was played in a room upstairs, but was heard very loud through speakers in the pub. There was no stairs in the pub but the entrance is separate at the outside if you want to go up for the music.
I ordered a pint and fish and chips. There was a lot of food and it was okay, but overpriced. Food and one beer was 20.30 Euro.
Very full after all the food and tired after a long day of walking I drank the last of the beer slowly (there was no room for one more) and I could see they wanted me to leave and give place to someone else. They even tried to take my glass before it was finished and told someone to sit down next to me to wait. It was a very stressful and unpleasant feeling as I actually had not been there very long, and they had made me pay already before I got my food.
All the customers are tourists and the people working in the pub are also foreigners, so if you want something more Irish go somewhere else.

Address: 58 - 59 Fleet Srtreet

Directions: Temple Bar

Phone: 01 - 671 1822

Price: US$21-30

Rating: 0

Theme: Pub/Brewery

Calzoni Cafe

Calzoni Café is a small and at lunchtime very busy place. I stopped here as it was possible to sit outside (being February with a lot of snow at home I must take the chance). I was not the only person wanting to sit outside and it was very crowded and little space. At the café there were several soups of the day or paninis to chose from. I had a mushroom and pesto soup (3.90 Euro) and orange juice (2.95 Euro). It was all good!

Address: 63 South William Street

Phone: 01 - 677 1546

Price: less than US$10

Rating: 0

Theme: Other

Cafe Cagliostro

After walking around for hours that day I decided it was time for a coffee break when I saw a small nice Italian café. I ordered a coffee and a cake (4 Euro for both) and sat down in a corner where I had a good view over the café and the alley outside. Guess if I was surprised when I looked straight at the artwork the Last Supper, which I had planed to look for later. When the weather is nice you can have coffee by the tables just in front of the Last Supper.

Directions: Quartier Bloom, just north of the Liffey

Rating: 0

Theme: Other

Cafe Leon

In the area west of Grafton Street there are many small cafes where you can get a coffee Americano, latte, cappuccino etc. Café Leon on Wicklow Street is one of them. I saw another branch on Trinity Street where I went another day as the first café had been good.
The fresh fruit juice was finished for the day so I took a coffee Americano (decaf as I can’t drink coffee in the evening if I want to sleep), and it was 2.20 Euro. It was difficult to chose between the cakes and sandwiches, but finally I took a piece of carrot cake. It was huge with a lot of walnuts on top. The cake was 4 Euro. At the other Café Leon I had a hot chocolate (3.10 Euro) and a focaccia with aubergine, mozzarella and red pepper (6.95 Euro).

Opening hours:
Monday - Saturday 7.30 - 19 (Thursday late opening)
Sunday and Bank Holiday 10 - 18

Address: 17 Wicklow Street

Phone: 01 6717331

Rating: 0

Theme: Other