I think it’s great to see businesses taking these kind of initiatives and not being held back by the banks’ reluctance to give out loans.  What do you think – would you invest in a restaurant like this?

The post Camile Thai using crowdfunding to set up new restaurant appeared first on CheapEats.ie.

My friend, Jemma, got in touch to ask:

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good quality Chinese restaurant that deliver to the Portobello area?

I suggested Zen in Rathmines but whispers on the web suggest it has disimproved of late. Unfortunately, it’s been a while since I’ve had a takeaway so I’m not up to speed on what’s good and what’s bad. I know that there is delicious Chinese food to be had around Parnell St and Capel St, but I don’t think any deliver to Dublin 8. If anyone knows of anywhere please let us know. There seems to be a dearth of good Chinese food on Dublin’s south side.

What’s your favourite Chinese takeout, wherever you are in Ireland?

The post Query: Best Chinese takeouts in Dublin appeared first on CheapEats.ie.

Spiced beef blaa, Hatch and Sons, 15 Stephen’s Green

Check out this gorgeous little nibblehole in the basement of the Little Museum of Dublin on Stephen’s Green, offering very reasonably priced all-day breakfasts and lunches.

Immediately, you’ll notice the aesthetics, and observe that a lot of thought went into the look, feel and design of Hatch and Sons. It’s good to have a cafe option on Stephen’s Green. So how’s the food?

Well, it’s good enough for me to be planning a third visit. The menu consists of breakfast/ all-day staples such as granola with yoghurt and seasonal fruit (€3.50), fry-ups (€7.50). There’s also a “Baker’s Basket” to frighten all the coeliac Atkins-diet types: a scone, soda bread, and a slice of brack (€4.90).

Throughout the day, you can get a Waterford blaa with various fillings – a simple sausage blaa costs €4.50, and comes with nothing more than a little butter and sausage in bread. In one way, I liked that the sausage blaa wasn’t crowded out with lettuce and sauce and superfluous stuffings but, although it was tasty, I’m not sure that the sausages themselves packed enough flavour to carry it off. The spiced beef blaa with coolea, onion relish, and rapeseed mayo (€5,70), was an unparalleled success: so damn good.

Salads, in and around €10-12, feature alongside tried and tested favourites such as fishcakes (€10.80) and Beef and Guinness stew (€9.90), as well as daily soups and specials. There’s also a very visually tempting selection of cakes, but my co-diner’s lemon-raspberry coconut slice (€3.80) was a real letdown: far too cold and hard, and I’ve yet to branch out to try something else.

The big problem with Hatch & Sons is the service. It’s very friendly and nice but, on two separate occasions, I found it really, really slow. That said, it should hopefully improve with time, and it’s certainly not enough to put me off a return visit – as long as I wasn’t in a rush.

The post Review: Hatch and Sons, Stephen’s Green appeared first on CheapEats.ie.

Photo: Yamamori Izakaya, Facebook

I’ve put off writing about the Izakaya for a long time. It is, and has long been, one of my favourite places to eat and drink in Dublin. And I really don’t want you going there.

During a rather intoxicating dream last year, where I spent a month falling in love with everything about Japan, I  drank sake and ate nearly-still-alive sashimi from beautiful baskets in the izakayas – basically, Japanese pubs that are easily identified by the pretty red lanterns inside.

The Yamamori Izakaya is just across the road from the Yamamori restaurant on George’s Street. The downstairs section, which quite faithfully recreates a Japanese  drinking house, is really special; I haven’t even been bothered setting foot upstairs.

The Yamamori Izakaya serves what we’ve come to call “tapas-style” food as a lazy shorthand (even more irksome is that they’re calling them “Japas”). Spain doesn’t have a monopoly on small courses served with drink; Japanese izakayas have always served a succession of small or medium sized courses, which are enjoyed with beers over the course of an evening.

Tapas are meant to be an option with drinks, whereas there are tonnes of “tapas restaurants” in Ireland where you’d be booted out if you didn’t order food. Not so in the izakaya – go there for a few drinks, have a few (excellent) cocktails or some Japanese whiskies, and get a few small or big dishes if you want. There’s a cracking atmosphere and always a few good tunes, but no pressure to get food if you don’t want it.

I, however, always want it. The izakaya’s sushi is rather exceptional by virtue of the  unusual lightness of the rice and the freshness of the fish. I’m fond of sushi, but the Izakaya’s offering is turning me into one of those annoying sushi nuts. I’ve also had the duck spring rolls, the yasai veg gyoza and the pork gyoza (grilled dumplings), sweet potato wedges, and the norimaki sushi – all of which made me very happy. Less appealing was the rather unpleasant, cold, sour, monkfish option – since replaced with a newer citrus fried monkfish dish accompanied by seasonal veg – and the soya burger, which I found rather plain and ordinary.

Another tempting menu option is the delicious Izakaya burger (pork and beef patty with a distinctive Japanese sauce) and a beer for €9.95.

Prices: €30 for five dishes, €25 for four, €19 for three. Five dishes is more than enough for two people to share. Not bad value at all and a lovely way to spend an evening.

So far, the Izakaya is rarely too jammed, so punters can usually get a seat. So, if you wouldn’t mind, please forget you read this review and don’t visit the Izakaya – if I find you in my seat, on my recommendation, I promise to ruin your dinner.

Have you tried the izakaya? Will you please leave, now? Thanks.

The post Review: Yamamori Izakaya, Dublin appeared first on CheapEats.ie.

The raw tasting menu at Rustic Stone. Photo from: www.facebook.com/RusticStone.ie

We got a query via Twitter recently about tasting menus in Dublin – do we know any websites that list them?  We didn’t know of any websites, but as helpful chaps who jump on any chance to think and talk about food, we decided to get a list together ourselves.  Many helpful Twitterers gave their tips, so here’s a list along with prices where we could find them. We can discuss whether they’re a good idea or a huuuuuge rip-off at the end!

• Chapter One has a renowned tasting menu for €80; you need to book a full table to avail of it.  What constitues a full table? No idea! They also have a ‘kitchen table tasting menu‘ for €85.
• New and widely praised Dawson St restaurant The Greenhouse has a ‘surprise five course menu’ on Saturday evenings for €75.

• L’Ecrivain does a six course tasting menu for €65.
• Indian restaurant Ananda in Dundrum has a special tasting menu. It’s not clear on the website how many courses or how much.
• Bang do a seven course one that’s apparently often discounted on Groupon and other coupon sites. There’s currently a deal for them on Menupages. Our pal Maria Crispy tried it once and reported that the food was nice but the portions a little miserable and they left still hungry.
• Haven of poshness Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud has two tasting menus; four courses for €80 or eight for €165.
• Restaurant Forty One, in the Residence private member’s club on Stephen’s Green, does a six course tasting menu for €75.
• Bon Appetit in Malahide does seven courses for €70.
• Brioche on Aungier St do a ‘Ce Soir Tasting Plate’. I can’t see the menu and price; their website has one of the oddest navigation menus I’ve seen in a while so it’s possible I’m missing it. I’ve heard good things about this place.
• Thornton’s do a five course taster for €90.
• Sabor Brazil do a Brazilian tasting menu for €100.
• Finally, the lunchtime raw tasting board at Rustic Stone is really interesting. It’s usually €15 but they just said on Twitter that anyone quoting ‘CheapEats’ in May can get it for €10.  Score (Make sure you quote this offer when ordering).

Phew! So as you can see, there’s lots of options in Dublin, and they nearly all come with fairly hefty price tags. If you know of any more (Dublin or elsewhere), please leave details and links in the comments below.

What do you think of tasting menus?  Are they a fantastic way to taste a million billion different things, or are they a stupid way to spend loads of money on Barbie-sized portions that leave you ravenous?  Tell us what you think.

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It’s still a good offer though, and it’s on again this weekend. The menu for the deal is on the M&S website – the Irish version is priced at €13.50.

The post M&S Dine in For Two, 2-7 May 2013 appeared first on CheapEats.ie.

The combination of salty and sweet is long established; and works beautifully with things like salted caramel.  The combination of chocolate, cheese and onion is slightly less delicate than salt and caramel, however, and isn’t often seen outside birthday parties with over excited five year olds.

We were sent a few bars to try, and our reactions ranged from ‘OFFENSIVE!’ to ‘meh?’  Peter absolutely hated it. I was a little surprised at how mild tasting it is; the chocolate is just slightly below bog standard milk chocolate and the crisps don’t even register until the aftertaste.  Then I experienced a minor but persistent onrush of stale crisps.  I ate one square and had no desire to try any more.

I brought one of the bars into work so I could taste test and get as many reactions as possible. Here’s a selection:

(As I approached with the chocolate) “GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!”

“I like it!”

“It’s like an evil Dime Bar.”

“I’m annoyed that I didn’t get to enjoy the three packs of crisps that it feels like I’ve eaten.”

“I would eat that again.”

“Now my mouth feels dirty.”

“Yum yum yum! I’d never buy it though.”

“(Whimpering sound)”

There was a lot of muttering about aftertastes and many hilarious aftertaste faces were pulled.  In fact the word ‘aftertaste’ was still being heard around the office hours after the chocolate was long gone.  Many comparisons were made to Marmite, but I don’t agree – as I said above, I found it surprisingly mild.  Lots of taste testers said it would have worked better if it was Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate, but I’m not convinced that any chocolate marries well with onion.

However you feel about this chocolate, it can’t be denied that Tayto have really got people talking about Taytos a lot. Whether it’s even possible for Irish awareness of Tayto to get any higher (many Irish people grew up thinking all crisps are called Taytos) is another question.  The bar is a limited edition and should be on sale now in Londis, Gala, Costcutter, Topaz, Spar, Mace, Eurospar, Daybreak plus other select retailers.

Have you tried the Tatyo chocolate bar?  What did you use to get rid of the aftertaste?

The post Tayto Chocolate: A Thing That Exists appeared first on CheapEats.ie.

Rachel with teacher, Dreamboat Jacob

Friday night. Milano very kindly brought us in to their Haddington Road branch recently to try out their Pizza Making class. I headed along with my sister Rachel.  For €19.95 per person you get a choice of any small wine/beer or soft drink, an “Intro”, which includes the always delicious Marcona almonds and gorgeous Sicilian green olives. You then choose any pizza from the Classic Pizza list and are taught how to make it yourself. It’s a pretty good deal considering that these items, without the class, would normally cost €23.75 (based on the most expensive items available with the offer).

We relaxed and enjoyed our Intros and drinks while mulling over what pizzas to make. In the end, we plumped for an American Hot (pepperoni with jalapenos) and a Fiorentina (spinach, black olives and a free range egg). Our teacher, Jacob, joined us to instruct on how to make the pizzas. It wasn’t quite from scratch, the dough was pre-made but we got to roll them out ourselves.

And Rebecca, also with Dreamboat Jacob

Rachel and I decided to pay a little extra so we could have our pizzas on their Romana base – a thinner, larger base and, in my opinion, much closer to an authentic Italian pizza. Jacob was really friendly and an excellent teacher. We had a good chuckle when Rachel managed to unwittingly pat flour all over her face and continued to chat away not realising she had “antiqued” herself. Rolling out the dough and getting the toppings just right wasn’t too challenging but it was good fun. Having created them ourselves, the finished product was all the more tasty and satisfying.

It was just the two of us, and while we had a great laugh, I think it would be more fun to partake in as a larger group, which is who the deal is aimed at (Peter was supposed to come but was sick).

That said, it was a really enjoyable evening. I’m definitely going to bring my nephew and some of his pals to do this in the near future. I also think it’s equally fun for adults, and it would make a very reasonably priced office, hen or birthday party.

Would you enjoy an evening like this?

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Special offers at Centra*

Special offers at Dunnes

Special offers at Lidl

Special offers at Londis*

Special offers at Mace

Special offers at Spar

Special offers at Superquinn(click on the “value instore” tab for the latest offers)

Special offers at SuperValu*

Special offers at Tesco

*Offers available in participating stores only

The post Special offers in supermarkets, April 22 appeared first on CheapEats.ie.

The deal is back at a new slightly increased price of €13.50.  This increase was almost definitely applied to account for the €1 duty on wine that was applied in the last Budget. The price for the UK version of the deal remains the same at £10.

You get the same items – a main, a side, and dessert plus bottle of wine for two people for €13.50. Full details of what’s available are on the M&S website.

What do you think of the €1 increase? Does it make the deal less attractive for you?  Do you think M&S should have offered cheaper wine and kept the deal price the same? Or do you reckon it’s fair enough?

The post M&S Dine in for Two is back, at a higher price appeared first on CheapEats.ie.