In June of this year, thousands of coffee professionals from all over the world will descend on Dublin for the World Barista Championships and the many spin off events associated with it. Many of those thousands have recently emailed me requesting things to see and do and so I thought I’d post a list of same to save myself some time.
As well as WBC, The World Coffee Throwing Championships are obviously the big draw, but World of Coffee, The World Aeropress Championships, ReCo and the World Tea Brewers Competition will all add to whats going to be an awesome week.
Dublin is a friendly and multicultural city but like any capital, it has its sketchy areas and downsides. Traditionally the streets of Temple Bar and Harcourt street are for heavy partying if that’s your thing but there's also a lot of quiet pockets in and around the city.
Tipping is expected but not demanded in most restaurants (about 10% is normal) but after that its not required. Uber works here but in my experience the Hailo app is a lot more reliable in Dublin and works the same way.
Dublin Bikes is a pay-as-you-go bike scheme with hundreds of handy locations around the city. If you plan to commute by train, bus or tram then get yourself a LEAP card to save on payments.
The list below is by no means a definitive list, just a list of my current favourites, and at the end you’ll see a few links for other resources for Dublin City and beyond. Dublin is a great city and I'm sure you’ll enjoy your visit but my first and most important bit of advice is to book your accommodation early, its never cheap.
The show is on in the RDS so places in Dublin 2 and Dublin 4 are most convenient but anywhere on the DART line or in Dublin 1 will be pretty good too. If you’re looking for a non-city stay I’d recommend Sandymount, Dalkey and Monkstown which are all commutable to the RDS.
The food and drink scene is really great right now and there are a lot of excellent choices, many of which are outlined below. Like many major cities, restaurants have a big problem with no-shows here so if you do book a table please do turn up or at the very least give good cancelation notice. Many of the proprietors are friends and I’d hate to see them inconvenienced and out of pocket.
I have stepped away from the minefield of recommending coffee spots but I don’t think there’ll be any shortage of lists published that week. I’d also remind everyone that the Dublin Flea Market is on the Sunday of WBC in Newmarket Square (Near the Fumbally) and that’s always great fun.
I’ve not linked all these places to their websites but you have the same Google I do, so knock yourself out.
Food: My favourites… book early and show up!
- Forest Avenue
- Etto
- Bastible
- Delahunt
- Chapter One
- Luna
Fine Dining
- Greenhouse
- Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud
- Thorntons
- Amuse
- l'Ecrivain
Other Favourites
- Pichet
- Pigs Ear
- Hot Stove
- 777
- The Old Spot
- Fade Street Social
- Super Miss Sue
- Dax
- l’Gueuleton
- Locks
- Winding Stair
- Restaurant 41
- Mulberry Garden
Things to eat…
- Sheridan’s Cheese on Sth Anne Street (conveniently close to Coffee Angel!)
- Cocoa Atelier Chocolate
- Temple Bar Market (Saturday)
- Anything by Gubbeen, cheese and meat
- Durrus Cheese
- Battered Sausages and chips (be drunk in a chipper)
- Native Oysters are out of season but farmed Pacific are pretty decent too
- Black Pudding, McCarthy’s of Kanturk is a favourite
- Steak, The dexter breed is native to Ireland and is excellent but hard to find (Butcher Grill usually have some)
- Connemara Hill Lamb
- Oldfarm Pork
- Friendly Farmer Chicken
- Murphy’s Ice Cream
Things to drink
- Cockagee cider
- Porterhouse Plain Porter on draught
- Kinnegar Rustbucket
- Galway Bay, Of Foam and Fury
- Powers John’s Lane Single Pot Still whiskey
- Glendalough Gin
- White Hag Barrel Aged Black Boar (HT @thebeernut)
- Green Spot Whiskey
- Wicklow Wolf American Amber
- Esterre, Stonewells (HT @beoirfinder)
- Bo Bristle (HT @UmamiDublin)
- Teeling 24 y/o (HT @whiskeyireland)
- Redbreast 12
- Brown Paper Bag, any and all of them
Brunch
- Whitefriar Grill
- Sister Sadie
- San Lorenzos
- Juniors
- Brother Hubbard
- Meet me in the morning
Cheap and Cheerful
- Fowlplay (in the back of The Square Ball Pub)
- Bunsen
- Crackbird
- Super Miss Sue Cervi
- Leo Burdock’s Fish & Chips
- Izakaya
- Lemon Crepe
- Fish Shop
- Cake Cafe
- Pickle
Delivery
- Base Pizza
- Bombay Pantry
- Deliveroo (Multiple options and an excellent service)
Wine
- Forest and Marcy
- Fallon and Byrne (basement)
- Ely
- Cavern, Baggot Street
- Stanley’s
- Greenman Wines
Traditional Bars
- Kehoes, South Anne Street
- O'Briens, Leeson Street
- Grogans, South William Street
- Stags Head
- Mulligan’s Poolbeg Street
- Fallon’s, the Coombe
- Nearys, Chatham Street
- Gravedigger’s, Glasnevin
- Toners Baggot Street
- Becky Morgan’s (Across the road from 3fe GCS)
Craft Beer/Whiskey
- L Mulligan Grocer
- 57 The Headline
- Against the grain
- Porterhouse
- Square Ball (near 3fe)
Bars to watch the football in
- The Square Ball (by 3fe)
- Sinnott’s (Stephen’s Green)
- The Back Page
Cocktails
- Peruke & Periwig
- MVP
- Vintage Cocktail Club
Comp Supplies
- Fallon and Byrne (ingredients)
- Lotts and Co (ingredients)
- Meadows and Byrne (Supplies)
- Muji
Milk
- All Irish milk is incredible and you should know better than to ask. Its never UHT, usually fresh and is to my mind some of the best in the world. We use an organic milk from Dairyland at 3fe and we’re pretty fond of it. Glenisk, Avonmore, Organic for Us and Village Dairy are all very good too and are all available at the show floor from their stands.
Clothes
- Indigo and Cloth
- Nowhere
- Tamp & Stitch
- Brown Thomas
Nail Bars
Hairdressers
Tours
Music
- Cobblestone, Traditional Irish Music
- O'Donohue’s, Tradition Irish Music
- Vicar Street, my favourite venue in the city, take a look if there’s anything you like on
- Three Arena, supposedly Europe’s largest purpose build music venue
- Bernard Shaw, always something happening…
- Whelan’s
Sport
- Gaelic Football and Hurling, both at GAA.ie
- Mountain Biking, various rentals available
- Surfing (West Coast is best, for those with extra time)
Galleries/Museums
- Hugh Lane Gallery (go just for the Francis Bacon studio)
- Chester Beattie Library
- IMMA
Running
- Phoenix Park
- Sandymount strand
- Stephen’s Green
- Great South Wall
Walks
- South Wall Walk
- Bray to Greystones (Lunch at the Happy Pear)
- North Bull Island
Other resources
Leaving Dublin
- Newgrange neolithic tombs
- Sugarloaf Mountain
- Sligo to Donegal, anywhere therein really…
- Wild Atlantic Way, for those who have a few days to spare.
- Ring of Kerry, probably the most beautiful place on the planet. probably.
- Galway! Home to awesome food in the shape of Kai, Loam, Aniar, Moran’s Oyster Cottage, Ard Bia, Sheridan’s Wine Bar
Awesome Restaurants outside of Dublin
- Kai, Galway
- Gregan’s, Clare
- Tannery, Waterford
- Ox, Belfast
- Harry’s Shack, Derry
- An Port Mor, Mayo
- Out of the Blue, Dingle Kerry
- MacNean House and Restaurant, Cavan
I’ll continue to add and edit this list so do revisit it and most of all enjoy your trip to Dublin and Ireland!
Col