What I Ate in Ireland

Plus a little trip recap!

I recently returned from my first trip to Ireland — 7 days long! My travel companions were two natives so I was mainly in their hands when it came to what we did and where we went. They had me on a rigorous schedule and readied a list of foods which I simply could not leave without trying. If you followed along on my Instagram Stories, you may have seen some of these as well as nearly everything else we did, but I’m going into more detail below.

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Galway

This lively, artsy town on the Atlantic featured a rotating lineup of musicians and other street performers, plus lots of great pubs with live music and some excellent snugs (little rooms to burrow into with friends). We only spent a night there, so we didn’t have time for lots of sightseeing, but boy did we eat.

I really couldn’t have asked for a better first-day meal and right off a 6-hour flight from New York and 2.5-hour drive from Dublin. Rúibín was listed on every Reddit thread I could find on Galway restaurants, and my Ireland sherpas Páraic and Sean had been previously. This was my first experience with brown bread, which would accompany many of our meals over there. I tucked into a very good cauliflower and halloumi pie with buttery, flakey pastry — and light but creamy fish chowder.

At Murphy’s Ice Cream, I got the honeycomb and salted caramel (didn’t really taste like either), and the sea salt (perfectly salty!). I regret not ordering the chocolate whiskey flavor, which was incredible: rich with a surprise flash of alcohol on the tail end.

At McSwiggan’s: a giant, fabulous tumble of cote de boeuf with peppercorn sauce, herby butter, and chimichurri.

Inis More, Aran Islands

On our first day on Inis More, the largest of the Aran Islands, we rode our bikes about five miles along the coast to the other side of the island to hike up to Dún Aonghasa, an over-3000-year-old fort. At its base sits a cluster of shops and restaurants including the quaint cafe Teach Nan Phaidi. That’s where I got this intensely flavored, thick beef stew and mash as well as Guinness chocolate cake. I’ve been thinking about the stew a lot.

On Day 2, we hiked to another cliff-side site, this time a naturally formed rectangular swimming pool called Poll na bPéist, or as it’s also known “The Wormhole” or “The Serpent’s Lair”. Very cool; pretty dangerous to climb down to and swim in. So we just looked.

Miscellaneous: I was told I should try a Twister ice cream bar (pear and vanilla ice cream swirled around a strawberry core — good!) and Rancheros snack puffs (these were bacon flavored).

Sligo

In Sligo, where we were staying with Sean’s family, we dined at the new restaurant Otto and had some excellent, excellent pizza. (And I live in the best square mile for pizza in NYC, according to some.) Pie flavors like burrata, pepperoni and hot honey as well as pea and pesto — plus dreamy arancini, and croquettes.

We took a day trip to Sliabh Liag, Ireland's tallest sea cliffs, which were unfortunately covered in mist. Then we drove to Mullaghmore, took in some views of Classiebawn Castle and more gorgeous cliffs, and took a dip in the harbor. Well, I didn’t. Too cold!

I don’t love stouts, so the Guinness I’m holding was the only one I drank on the trip. But of course I had to have one in their country of origin. I did, however, thoroughly enjoy a “baby Guiness,” a shooter of coffee liqueur underneath a layer of Bailey’s.

Dublin

I’ve never had Flake — the bar comprised of crumbly, flaky milk chocolate layers — let alone Flake covered in chocolate (Twirls), let alone Flake stuck into some ice cream. Teddy’s Ice Cream (also with a few locations, but we went to the original in Dún Laoghaire overlooking the gorgeous Scotsman's Bay) is the place for a 99, the soft serve pictured above.

This trip was also my first foray into the world of spice bags, where pieces of fried chicken and chips are tossed around in salt and spices such as chili flakes, Chinese five spice, white pepper, and dried chili powder. Sometimes they come with peppers and onions mixed in — we weren’t so lucky. Spice bags can typically be found at Chinese takeaway restaurants, and Páraic and Sean ordered ours with lots of curry sauce, an order of 3-in-1 (chips, curry sauce and rice) and fried chicken balls. We had the exact same spread in Dublin from another spot, Charlies’s, which I thought was better. (I didn’t take a picture. It was 1 a.m.).

Sean and Páraic showed me all over Trinity College, where they attended, including stops at the Book of Kells (a 1,200-year-old manuscript containing the four Gospels of the New Testament) and the Long Room (iconic library), as well as the National Gallery.

Bread 41, the much-hyped bakery hugging the school’s border, was the food destination I was most excited about visiting. What can I say, I like bakeries! The line slightly trickled out the door and proved so worth it. Standouts were the blackberry and cream cruffin (shatteringly crisp and flakey on the outside but yielded to a soft, tender middle) and the ultra-bouncy focaccia, which on that day featured romesco and zucchini but would have been just as good plain.

We made our way to the North Indian restaurant Pickle for our last meal in Dublin: Chicken wings coated in roasted tomato and curry chutney, pork belly ribs with pineapple and chili, chicken biryani, choley bhature (chickpea curry, which we all agreed was the star). There were some odd rules about sharing entrees, which caused us to way over-order, but it was still some of my favorite food from the whole trip.

Okay, did I miss anything? Where should I go when I go back? I know I don’t typically do travel stuff on here because … I don’t travel very much, so don’t expect more — at least for now! Still, I hope you liked this little tour of my big tour.