Guinness: aka A Meal In A Glass
After the first night of all the Guinness, we were starving. Our walk back to the airbnb took us through Temple Bar area. Normally (and especially after such wonderful recommendations from our friends), I would avoid stopping in such a high tourist area to eat, but we were both happy where we ended up: Elephant & Castle. We each had a bowl of the prawn, coconut milk and lemongrass soup, and we shared some spare ribs with a molasses ginger glaze and the herb frites with sage and rosemary.
I also got weirdly excited about the presence of this sign hanging in the restaurant (incidentally, while they were trying to clean up and close):
After a morning of walking, Trinity College and the Book of Kells, we were ravenous, and happened to not be far from one of the pubs on our list of recommendations: the Gingerman. We warmed up with coffees while we waited for our food, and then I gobbled down some super tasty bangers and mash, which Saj tucked into a beef and Guinness stew a little quickly and proceeded to get a third degree on his tongue. Everything he ate after the stew reminded him of his scorched tongue.
At one point in the meal, Saj pointed out that from his angle, my remaining bangers and mash looked like some pretty key boy parts. Interestingly, this is not the first (or second!) time, this particular anatomical feature has made it onto the blog.
That evening, we ended up at a pre-wedding dinner where we enjoyed a variety of salads and some tasty pulled pork… and of course, loads of wine. I have no photos of this as I was enjoying myself far too much!
The next day was our trip to Giant’s Causeway. I think we ate something while we scurried to the pick-up point at 7:00 am. I barely remember, it was so early!
My lack of foresight meant I did not get snacks at the one pitstop we had before embarking on the rest of the drive. By the time we got to Giant’s Causeway, my stomach was practically inside out with hunger. I gobbled down some Irish stew, and some Tayto chips (a brand the girls turned me on to at the hen weekend).
After this LONG day of running around, seeing everything, being cold, being warm, having my hair blown about by the intense wind, it was time for a meal in a glass:
Back in Dublin, we were completely zonked… but desperately hungry. We dragged ourselves down to try another one of the recommended pubs, but the kitchen was closed. *sad face* SO, we wandered back through Temple Bar and stopped at the restaurant next to Elephant & Castle, a cozy little spot called Boxty. We opted for a menu; for a set price, one could have a starter and a main. I had a salad of Irish-grown tomatoes and mozzarella and a shepherd’s pie to follow. Accompanied by a Beamish, YUM.
The next day, being our day at the Guinness Storehouse, was a bit silly food-wise… meaning, many meals-in-a-glass. The fine people of Guinness are clever; the storehouse is designed into a multi-level building, and the visitor is to work her way up. By the time she reaches the middle of the building, she is famished, and lo and behold, the floor with all the options for nibbles is the 5th, right on cue to quell any hanger. I have to say the options aren’t great or cheap, but they do fill the hole.
In looking through my pictures, I see that what I ate was too ugly to even photograph. Instead, here are some other highlights.
Our day continued on Grafton Street, where we had another completely freak run-in with our friends. Needless to say, to pub we went! Guinness, Irish stew, giggles! This time, we went to Sinnott’s.
The next day being our last day in Dublin before heading to Connemara for the wedding was spent in a mad flurry of running around. We buzzed back to Grafton Street for a quick peek in a shop, ran to the General Post Office to send postcards, we grabbed a takeaway lunch and finally dashed back to the airbnb to pack up. No pics of lunch here because I schnarfed it down so quickly!
We caught a bus to a suburb of Dublin where my friend Dee collected us, and we proceeded to embark on the nearly 4 hour journey to the other side of the country.
Dinner that night was superb. I’m still thinking about this crab:
“Fresh West Coast crabmeat, spring onion, apples, orange and ginger, mayonnaise”
And this:
“Baked fillet of cod, pea risotto, citrus butter sauce”
I was on the west coast of Ireland. I was eating all the seafood I could get my hands on.
The next day was the wedding. After a glorious breakfast spread at the hotel, we went down to the church for the ceremony and followed that with a real cultural experience at the pub across the street. Back at the hotel for the reception, the food only got better, slurp!
Yep, more crab.
Saj ate this:
And you guessed it, I had more fish!
Unfortunately, there is no photo of the amazing dessert that I (we all) inhaled, wolfed down, devoured. I think I was too drunk and ugly crying from the beautiful speeches to think of food photography.
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