Bloggers Recommend: Bell & Alex of Wanderlust Marriage

Our sporadic but helpful Bloggers Recommend series has a new entry today, from the lovely Bell & Alex, co-writers of the charming Wanderlust Marriage blog.

About Wanderlust Marriage

Bell & Alex say: Alex is American and Bell is Australian, we met over a decade ago in a dingy hostel in Brugge, Belgium. After living in Europe for over four years we started Wanderlust Marriage as we wanted to share our experiences of being expats and write about how travel doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. We also do this by sharing our mistakes (so our readers don’t have to make them) and our tips on how to save!

Blog: wanderlustmarriage.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/WanderlustMarriage

Twitter: @WndlustMarriage

Bell & Alex’s Favourite Cheap Eats

One of our favourite places to eat cheap in Dublin is a place called Lee’s Charning Noodles (105 Parnell St). The food is cheap and delicious and the name of restaurant amuses us. We have been there with a number of friends and everyone wonders if the Charning was meant to be Charming! Alex’s favourite dish here is spicy lamb noodles and Bell’s is the Duck curry. The menu is huge, though we highly recommend going for a noodle dish. The noodles are always perfectly cooked and high quality, but there is something for everyone here. Prices range from around 9 – 15 euro and they also do take away. The service isn’t spectacular, and the drink menu is limited, but it is a great place to catch up with friends over some great food.

Another place we enjoy on the cheap is Green 19 (19 Camden St, Phone (01) 478 9626). If you want to eat here you should book a table or be prepared to wait awhile. It is small and very popular, which makes sense as most of the high quality mains are 10 euro. They also serve great homemade lemonade and ginger beer. We were there recently and Bell enjoyed the pork belly, which was served with dijon mash (we’re stealing that idea!), peas and carrot puree. It was just the right amount of food and it was presented beautifully. Alex had the burger. The bun was great, as were the house cut chips, but the burger patty itself could have been better. The service was excellent. Our server was an Aussie, though didn’t recognize Bell as a fellow countrywomen (damn Alex and his American accent!).

Finally, we are recommending a place that isn’t so cheap. It’s a place to go after you’ve indulged in a cheap eat to have a treat! It is the Exchequer bar (3-5 Exchequer Street) and they have the most exquisite cocktails and for the work that goes into making them, the 9 euro price tag is totally worth it. Bell enjoyed the Key Lime pie cocktail, which was topped with meringue foam and flambeed, fancy and delicious. Alex enjoyed an Old Fashioned. The whiskey was smoked by the bartender and poured in a little jug, the glass had a giant, perfectly circular ice ball (see picture!) to pour the drink over.

Wish List:

We feel that Dublin offers a good diversity of dining options for good prices if you know where to go. In general, we wish there were a few more cheap and healthy take out options to enjoy on one of those rare sunny days we experience here in Dublin.

Also, Alex is of Greek descent and wishes there were more Greek restaurants in Dublin aside from just Corfu in Temple Bar