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14 May, 2012
Skinflint’s firebee honey
Posted by: peter in: Dinners under €10 | Product Reviews | Restaurants | Reviews
Try Skinflint's honey with grilled bacon and tomato, and buttered toast
See? It still looks like I’m here in Ireland, but I actually wrote this in the past and sent it for publication to the future. Right now, I should be somewhere in Japan.
Anyway… last month, Kat from The Purple Page blog brought a long-overdue review of Skinflint, Joe Macken’s pizza joint, to these pages.
I’m a big fan of Skinflint’s pizza, which is markedly different from the usual fare you get in most “cheap and cheerful” Italian spots, and it’s definitely one of my go-to places in Dublin for a reliable, filling cheap eat, with most of the pizzas priced in and around the €10 mark (making it – rather unsurprisingly – a good spot for dinner under €10).
But I’m not here to talk about the pizza. No, like a badger raiding a bee’s nest, I’m lured to Skinflint by the honey. It lay at the edge of the table and, as an afterthought, I reluctantly squeezed a dollop onto my plate and dipped the last bites of my pizza into it. Regrets, I’ve had a few, but I was instantly pained that I had allowed so much pizza pass my lips without smearing honey all over it.
Right. I’m off to Japan to sample all the delicious cuisine.
Actually, I’m going on a bit of a world trip, taking in three weeks in Japan, a month in Borneo, a few days in Singapore, a month in Australia, six or so weeks in New Zealand, and ten days in Fiji to cap it all off. I’m looking forward to some solo travelling and visiting friends in these scattered places. Any cheap food recommendations are very welcome.
Meanwhile, Jean and Rebecca, as well a mysterious new writer, will keep posting away here, so you won’t even miss me, you bastards.
However, we’re all going to take a couple of weeks off to recharge our batteries, but we’ll be back here posting away for the summer, from the week beginning May 14.
Tourism site GoIreland.com have put together a handy map and guide to Irish food festivals, including this weekend’s Dublin Bay Prawn Festival. Click the image to get the large version with all the details.
The mandatory tip: your views, please. (Photo: sxc.hu)
Last year, my sister and I decided not to endure the bad service at Harvey Nichol’s cafe, Dundrum, and walked out before ordering.
But we were back again recently, partly because Cafe Mimo is closed for renovations, partly because we liked the look of its menu, and partly because we wanted to give it another go.
Barbara’s baby Jamie was with us, and the manager was very accommodating, ensuring we got a decent seat with space for the buggy, and providing hot water to heat Jamie’s bottle.
I wasn’t madly impressed with the food, some of which was served cold, but the manager replaced it without quibble and was apologetic. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t be wildly keen to give Harvey Nichol’s Cafe a fourth try.
The bill arrived with a ten per cent service charge. I don’t object to paying a tip as such – but in a cafe? At lunchtime? Shouldn’t the amount be up to the customer?
24 Apr, 2012
Bloggers Recommend: Kat from The Purple Page on Ireland’s best pizza
Posted by: jean in: Bloggers Recommend | Restaurants
Our Bloggers Recommend series continues with some great tips from Kat, of new food blog The Purple Page, on where to get the best pizzas .
About the Purple Page
Kat says: I started The Purple Page because I love hearing about all the creativity and positivity that is happening in Ireland with so many wonderful foods and food related events on offer and I wanted to share it with others. I also love to cook and bake so there are a few recipes in there which celebrate Irish food. It’s a blog filled with a little cooking, mostly baking and lots of eating!
Blog: thepurplepageireland.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/The-Purple-Page
Twitter: @ThePurplePage1
Kat’s Favourite Cheap Eats
Photo: bistrobianconi.ie
Anyone who knows me well will know that I have a slight obsession with pizza! I fell in love with proper pizza the day I moved to Italy. The thin bases covered with the most amazing toppings were a revelation to a 19 year old who up until then was used to eating the ones that came out of boxes. So on moving back to Dublin I was constantly on the lookout for great pizza places. Recently there has been bad press about pizzas and their calorie, salt and saturated fat content. Yet there is nothing as tasty as a proper thin base pizza cooked in a wood – fired oven and topped with the freshest ingredients a chef can find. I don’t know the calorie content but I’m sure these thin based pizzas are as good for you as anything else you might eat out in a restaurant.
These days I have a number of favourite places to go in Ireland that fulfill my pizza cravings. They aren’t all wood–fired pizzerias but they all do delicious pizza!
We love food events here at CheapEats but have to admit that there isn’t often a whole lot at the cheap end of the spectrum. The likes of Taste of Dublin can be enjoyable but come with a fairly hefty price tag. So we were pleasantly surprised and impressed to hear about the Yelp Backyard Bazaar – a completely free food event.
Organised by the review site Yelp.ie, the event takes place in the beer garden of the George Bernard Shaw pub in Portobello from 1pm – 3pm on Sunday 6th May. There’ll be stands from a number of Dublin restaurants giving free samples of food and drink. The restaurants include Burritos and Blues, the Brioche Cafe, the Corner Bakery and Brother Hubbard’s, a new spot on Capel St that I’m hearing a lot of great things about. There will also be a full bar – with some sponsored items for free.
All you have to do to go along is to RSVP on the event page on Yelp.ie. If you’re interested, make sure you do so soon, as that outdoor space in the George Bernard Shaw fills up with hipsters pretty damn fast.
19 Apr, 2012
M&S Dine in for Two for €12.50, April 19-24
Posted by: peter in: Bargains & Special Offers
As far as I know, the M&S Dine In for Two makes everybody happy. Most people love the offer, nobody hates it, some might be indifferent.
As usual, the offer consists of a main, a side, a dessert, and a bottle of wine, all for two people, for €12.50. The latest dine in offer runs from Thursday April 19 – Tuesday April 24.
Full details on the M&S website.
Google canteen, Dublin
Over Paddy’s weekend, I was lucky enough to take part in an excellent masterclass in investigative journalism* offered by The Guardian newspaper in London. For a news wonk like me, it was a real thrill to be in the building – and, wow, what a beautiful, modern, state-of-the-art building.
I was equally excited to be in the home of the Observer Food Magazine, which I buy religiously. My lefty leanings perhaps naturally attract me to The Guardian and The Observer, but strip aside the political orientation and you’re left with a publication that excels creatively and leaves its dull rivals in the shade.
The offices are based in King’s Cross, the biggest transport hub in London, so there was plenty of choices for lunch. But, perhaps because I mostly work from home and largely avoid the creepy concept of colleagues, I’m always fascinated by the idea of the work canteen (I also have daydreams about people leaning against water coolers discussing whatever it is people talk about around office water coolers – presumably soaps, sport, and the deliciousness of water).
The Guardian and Observer
Standards vary wildly across work canteens. The Guardian’s is in an impressive space, but the food wasn’t exactly the divinely inspired joy nuggets I expected from the home of the OFM, with most staff appearing to leave the building for lunch. One thing it certainly was: cheap. My lunch was just over £2 (about €2.40-ish).
Not as cheap, of course, as lunch at Google, which costs zero euro and zero cent.
Azteca's Tacos Al Pastor (from the Azteca Facebook page)
We’ve been on a minor Mexican buzz here on CheapEats recently, with Peter’s rave review of 777 and my Mexican scrambled eggs. All this chilli and coriander and whatnot reminded me of Cafe Azteca, a lovely little place I’ve been meaning to tell you all about for ages.
Burrito places are becoming very popular in Dublin now, but Cafe Azteca is one of the few Mexican joints in town that is run by a genuine Mexican, the very friendly and welcoming Hugo. It’s a small cafe that serves a comprehensive menu of burritos (from around €7), sandwiches (from €5) and Mexican favourites such as sopes, enfrijoladas, taquitos and many more (from €9); as well as my beloved Mexican breakfasts.
The food is really good, with combinations that are tricky to find in the more bog-standard burrito places – such as the Tacos al Pastor, which contain marinated roast pork, lime and pineapple. I’ve been by a number of times and have tried a couple of the burritos and their very good huevos rancheros. There are only two things I’d change with this place: speed up the lunch service a bit (it can be quite slow) and maybe put on a few main course plus coffee for a tenner deals – both changes would make it a great destination for an everyday lunch. And if you don’t mind lingering a bit over your lunch, I recommend it. It’s also open for dinner, and they serve beer and wine in the evenings.
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