Last night in Dublin

After two weeks on the road in Ireland, we were just about spent as a team.  We spent our last night in Clontarf Castle Hotel, there was a graduation at the castle and waits to eat there were way longer then what we could tolerate.  So we asked concierge for a recommendation, and helped us make some reservations at Hemmingways which was a 5 minute walk from the castle.

 We got there pretty early by Dublin standards as we were road weary and hungry, plus wanted to get a good night's rest before travels back to the USA.

 I sampled the wings, very unique flavor, but also very tasty, I could have used a little more of the sweet chili sauce that came on the side, but they hit the spot.

 A twist on your traditional caprese salad was enjoyed by the ladies. Was called Capri Salad, grilled tomato & mozzarella slices topped with seasoned olive oil and basil peso jus.

I had this spicy shrimp dish (Pil Pil Prawns) that was extremely flavorful (chili, win & garlic sauce) to the point I tried to sop up as much of the sauce with my toasted bread as I could.  Pictured below a similar shrimp dish that my wife enjoyed with a more traditional garlic/cream type sauce.

Probably one of the best meals we had in Dublin area, if you are in Clontarf area, this is a restaurant to check out!  





In near future I intend to catch up on my domestic dining, but I am also taking a trip to Puerto Rico in January, so keep an eye out for those upcoming posts!

Ultimate Guinness Experience

On our last day in Ireland, we returned to Dublin where our trip began.  As part of the last day's activities we toured the Guinness Storehouse.  All in all it is a pretty cool tour and very informational, being a packaging engineer, the info about early barrel making was the most intriguing.

The Perfect Pint!

 Don't be lured into using your free pint coupon any of the other tasting bars on the way the top, not worth it unless you are afraid of heights!

One of the many great views from Gravity bar

But the free pint and the views you can get at the top of the Gravity Bar are worth the tour.  The Gravity Bar is a 360 degree fully round bar lined with glass windows that gives amazing views of Dublin and the surrounding areas, plus you can sample the finest and freshest pint of Guinness you'll ever taste!
Cheers & Merry Christmas!

Limerick Lunch Spot

On our travels from Dingle to Galway, we needed a lunch spot, so we stopped in the town of Limerick.  If you make this same journey, it makes a great stopping point, it is a nice little town with a very nice visitor center, a fair amount of shops and places to eat.

We actually thought is was a nice looking town that we wish we had more time to explore, maybe next time.

On a recommendation from the visitor area, we made a short walk to Delish Cafe for lunch.  I believe we all had sandwiches for lunch.  I had a warm toasted Panini style sandwich, filled with Italian style salami and meats, with some peppers and cheese.  It was quite good and the pasta salad was just right to go with it.

They had some great looking baked goods that we could not find room for in our stomachs.  All in all, a solid place to stop for lunch, dessert or a coffee.

An Canteen is On Point!

My turn to pick a dinner spot came around again, I spent some time on my phone doing some research on Dingle restaurants.  Based on what I read, An Canteen fit the bill for type of food and a little easier on our budget.

 The actual restaurant is pretty small, so either go early or make a reservation!

Our two selected local Micro Brews!

  We started off with a couple micro-brews, the only brews you can get here, very good bears, nice change of pace.  As usual I cannot remember, what my vegetarian sister-in-law had for dinner, but it was seafood and she liked it.  My wife raved about here starter salad and I had a great Seafood chowder, best of the trip and I had it like 5 different times.

Best Seafood Chowder of my Trip!

I do recall, they were out of one thing I wanted to eat, so been gone from home so long I got the wings, they did an awesome job knocking off an American Classic!  Chips/fries were done well and the side salad was very tasty.

Great Buffalo Wings

The two others got a chicken dish that they both devoured and raved about it afterwards.

Chicken Dish

We did not spend a ton of time hanging out, as we went to a local folk music at a nearby church.  I would for sure be back to this restaurant if I ever return to Dingle!

Fresh Seafood - Dingle's Best Catch!

Based on our B&B's recommendation, we made reservations at Out of the Blue for my wife's birthday dinner.  It is a pretty small place and their menu is limited to what is brought in that day by the fishermen.  So if it is a stormy day and the boats don't go out, they don't open their doors for dining.  The menu has not meat on it, it is written on black boards daily. 

Don't let the outside fool you

The decor is nothing fancy, but they had some nice touches, like seashells for butter dishes.

Potato Crusted Pollack - Menu Mainstay when they catch'em!

They had a smoked mackerel pate that came with the complimentary bread that was really delightful.  We skipped any appetizers for this meal as we had a late snack at another pub earlier.  The other three in my group all got a Potato Crusted Pollack dinner, they all seemed to really enjoy it.  One interesting thing, is that most of our plates came with different sides, even people that ordered the same entree.

My great Tuna meal!

I had a grilled tuna that was cooked perfectly.  All our dishes came with a multitude of small and well prepared side dishes, a little something for everybody.  We also has some desserts, they were out of what we wanted and what we ended up with was just okay, but you come here for the seafood!  It was a little pricey, but portions were large and in the end, only a few Euros more then some of our other dinners elsewhere.

Fenton's Of Dingle

 Our first night in Dingle we dined at Fenton's based on the recommendation of our B&B (Milestone).  We had the option to eat inside or in the outdoor seating area in back which was like a little outdoor garden patio, nice but there were a few bugs.

Overall the food was pretty good, my favorite part was a smoked mackerel pate that they brought out to our table as a starter.  I believe our group has one fish entree, two chicken and I got the Chargrilled Kerry striploin of (Beef) Steak.  Others very much liked their chicken, my steak was just okay, flavor was okay, but definitely overcooked as I requested Medium Rare and got Medium Well, I am kind of picky when it comes to over cooking steaks.  There was no pink left in this steak :(

Steak overcooked and not overly large portion

Coffee Ice Cream

The sides came family style, they were quite good.  My wife enjoyed her coffe ice cream, but the highlight of the meal was the rhubarb crumble for dessert, we almost returned just to have that again!

Overall, food was pretty good, little pricey for the portion sizes, I'd go again for the crumble.

The White House - Kinsale

Night two in Kinsale was my choice for dinner, so after checking a handful of reviews on TripAdvisor and a few other sites, and reading some menus on the faces of the restaurants, I elected for us to dine at The White House.

They had a nice variety of food on their menu and some multi-course early bird options.  As a bonus they had Coors Light on tap, I very much enjoyed the Irish beers on my trip, but it was nice to have US "Domestic" lager with this meal.

Seafood Chowder

My meal consisted of a very nice seafood chowder and the Half Lobster.  The chowder was very delicious, probably my favorite of the trip, nice large pieces of clam and seafood.  The side salad was well done and the lobster was prepared perfectly.  A very filling meal that did not weigh me down.

Half Lobster & Side Salad

I don't recall what everyone else ate, but all were pleased with their meals and feeling good enough to take in the Kinsale Ghost Walk, which was comedic and entertaining, while allowing us to walk off our meals and then go out for drinks and music afterwards.