Sometimes we see the end of things like a bitter end but this is not the case. Since baby boy was born I decided to not take orders to Sweet for a few months to dedicate myself 100% to him and I was happy about that. And then life gave me a few surprises which took me to a decision: it is the end of Sweet in Dublin.
I'm not saying I won't bake sweet treats anymore but I have no idea about when I'll be able to get back on taking orders and making other vegans happier. Sweet last 3 years and I'm very happy about all the cakes and cupcakes I've baked but life now has other plans to me and my family.
I'd like to say THANK YOU to everyone who ordered from me, enjoyed my cakes and spread the world about Sweet all this time. It was a pleasure and I'm happy that I could find in vegan baking something great and inspiring to do here in Ireland.
I have to say that I'm not a big fan of going to places that also sell meat products or meals but sometimes we have to face reality. Dublin has no vegan restaurants. Really. And just a few vegetarian places. And because me and Matteo cook at home every day sometimes all we want is to go out and have a good time outside. The only place we used to go that is not at least vegetarian is Rotana Cafe (and they have the best falafel in town). But yesterday things changed and we found out a new option.
I've heard about Nando's many times before. First cause a lot of my friends from the UK use to go there and second because a lot of my friends from Dublin use to go there too. But I always thought they wouldn't have anything suitable for vegans (they're a Portuguese chain specialized in spiced chicken) until a few weeks ago, when I read Hannah saying something about the place. So I decided to check the website and in their FAQ's they have a question related to options for vegans (just type "vegan" in the question box and search). So yesterday me and Matteo decided to go to the Dundrum Town Centre unit to see how things were for real.
Before we got a table Matteo asked if any of their burgers were suitable for vegans and the waitress said yes and told us they had a list of ingredients too. She brought us the menu and also a kind of brochure which has all the meals' ingredients and also marks for "suitable for vegetarians" and "suitable for vegans". I've seen in the website before that the veggie burger is suitable for vegans if you ask without mayonnaise and this was confirmed too. So we asked for a hummus starter to share and two veggie burgers with no mayonnaise and plus fries. They are also very clear about they way they prepare veggie food:
"Please note that Nando’s are not vegetarian restaurants and do not imply in any literature that we are. However we do take specific steps to segregate our vegetarian product from chicken products as follows: A separate area of the grill is defined for the exclusive cooking of vegetarian and bean burgers; Separate utensils are always used with vegetable products; Separate bottles of the Nando’s bastes are used exclusively for basting the vegetarian products." (from their FAQ's)
The food was really good and also the atmosphere of the place. Staff was also very friendly. One other positive aspect is that they've opened a new location in town and they're open until late (23:00), which is rare in Dublin too.
I'm not sure why I haven't written about vegetarian restaurant Cafe Fresh here before... When I was working in town last year (exactly at this time) I used to go there basically every day for lunch. They have soups, hot meals and sandwiches and also added a salad bar to the options this summer. Prices are fair, staff is great (and the owner is lovely) and it's located inside The Powerscourt Townhouse Centre and I really like enjoy the building.
Me and Matteo are going there more often lately and we really enjoy the food. Also, since last year, they've increased their vegan options (this is something that's happening at Cornucopia too and it's great news). The only think I still don't love are the desserts. I usually have one cause I love sweets as you know and also cause it's a way to support the vegan options. I can't explain why I don't consider them amazing (something about the texture maybe?) but usually they have more than one vegan option, including a chocolate cake and some fruit pie.
Anyway, if you're in Dublin, go to Cafe Fresh. It's really a good option for vegans.
PS.: Talking about places for vegetarians and vegans in Dublin, it seems that Juice is closed. We tried to go there twice in the last weeks and it was closed. Considering that Dublin doesn't have that many veg restaurants this is really bad news. Let's see if someone will keep it as a vegetarian restaurant at least.
In February 2010 I wrote this post about we leaving Dublin 1 (after living in two apartments there) to move to the house we're living now, in Dublin 12. And now, surprise... surprise... Here I am again writing about moving house. It will be our fourth place in 2 years and 4 months in Dublin. Too much for me, have to admit, but I'm excited.
It was amazing to live in a house for one year. If I could I'd take the house with me! But we're having some issues with the area and I'm sure it was the best decision. Time will tell. As you all can see, 2011 started to surprise me soon. This week I saw myself and my vegan cupcakes in an article in the Irish Independent (article here and pic of the print version here), baked a lot of other cupcakes for a student event, had my last day of work for MUZU.TV and now, saying good bye to the house.
We had great moments here, amazing food too, a lot shared with old and new friends and family.
Life goes one. Even more full of good memories.
It's unbelievable that Dublin has basically five vegetarian restaurants and I still didn't write about all them here. If I had to choose one or two words now to define Blazing Salads it would be "life-saver". During these busy days, it's being the best place to eat or to go to grab some food to take away.
Blazing Salads is more like a deli place than a restaurant. It's small, but with a great atmosphere and offer salads, soups, cakes, snacks and desserts. They also have a bakery that offer a selection of organic bread. I first went there in September of 2008, while we were in Dublin for the first time, to decide if we would really move here. I loved the snacks options and my favourite one was the vegan pizza slice. But at that time I got that idea that it was a place for salads lovers and I'm not one of them, or at least I wasn't. Because of that I stayed a long time without going there.
But since I'd started to work one block away from there, I decided to go there more often. And I have to say that it was a great idea! For the last months me and Matteo are eating more salads in general, so it's easier now for me to go there. And they also have one of the best hummus in Dublin! It's hard to find a place to eat there during the lunch time, cause the place it's designed to be a take away option, but it's not being a bad thing these days cause the weather in Dublin is surprisingly sunny and warm. So I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can, having lunch in the roof of the office building.
You can choose between 14 salads option and you pay for the weight. The price is fair enough and they offer quality food. They also have some organic, gluten-free and vegan products to sell there.
If you're in town or if you work around the area, stop there and try it. It's worth it and you can become addicted!
The Blazing Salads Food Company
42 Drury Street
Dublin 2
Couscous + green quinoa salad + hummus
Have to start this post saying that I'm really sorry about my lack of posts here but I have a very good reason to not being around that much: I got a full-time job and I'm working in a place that I love and I'm working in my area (Online Journalism). And the classes of the Master are back this week and I'll have classes during some evenings + 2 afternoons + 1 morning. It's not that hard to figure it out how crazy the next months will be, but I'm happy and excited!
The first consequence of all those changes is that I'm almost never at home during the week, what also means that I'm not cooking at all. Even during the weekends it's being hard to find energy to go to the kitchen to cook, all I want is to relax and to have some ready-to-go (or in this case, to eat) food. But I'm sure I'll be back soon, just have to get used to the new routine.
For now, my lunch time consists basically in soups, salads, snacks, sandwiches, wraps or cakes in one of my three restaurant options: Cornucopia, Blazing Salads and Cafe Fresh. Sometimes I eat in the restaurants, sometimes I ask for the take away option and eat in the office. The food is always delicious in those places but I'm experiencing two different things: not having proper meals for all the lunch times (which I used to have in Brazil and while I was working at home here in Dublin) and having to eat alone most of the days. But it's being great so far.
I will post some pictures of the kind of food I'm eating in my working days, they don't look amazing but the food is great! And I promise I'll have more posts for now on, starting with one about Cafe Fresh that I want to write this week.
Toast with carrot, spinach, beets and olive oil - Cafe Fresh
Broccoli, carrot, onion and peanut wrap (raw) - Cornucopia
Falafel sandwich - Cafe Fresh
Pizza with tofu and vegetables - Blazing Salad
Vegetable soup + brown bread - Cafe Fresh
Potato garlic mayonnaise - Cornucopia
Lemon and almond "cheese cake" with soy cream - Cornucopia
Chocolate cake - Cafe Fresh
Chocolate and raspberry mousse pie - Cornucopia
Since I've became vegan I started to love falafel sandwiches and a lot of other foods of the Midle East (just read that the origin of the falafel is not clear, but it's believed that the first falafel was made in Egypt. What I really know is that falafel is one of the best fast food options to vegetarian or vegan people - being naturally vegan in most of the places - and it's easy to find places that sell it all around the world.
I'm really said that there is no Maoz Vegetarian in Dublin cause they made the best combination of quantity + price when the issue is falafel sandwiches. Maoz had saved me in a lot of places with a great (and cheap) option of food, mainly in the late night.
But recently I went to a very good place here in Dublin, with my good friend and awesome blogger Aoife from Adventures in Veg..., called Rotana Cafe. It's a restaurant specialized on Lebanese cuisine and, as usual, have a lot of vegetarian - and some vegan - options. I had lunch with Aoife there a few weeks ago, before she went to Edinburgh, and it was amazing. We shared three portions: falafel balls, hommus and potato harah (spicy potato). It was delicious but I didn't take any pictures that day.
But last Saturday I came back there with Matteo and took some pictures this time. In Brazil, when someone says that you have the eyes bigger than your stomach it means that you think you can eat more than you really are able to eat. Sometimes it happens to me and last Saturday was one of these occasions. Me and Matteo were so excited about the place and the vegan options that we asked (a way) more than we could eat (or, at least, that I could eat). So we had: one portion of the potato harah + 2 falafel sandwiches with extra hommus + one manakessh satar (a Lebanese Pizza topped with thyme, sesame seed and olive oil that we absolutely love!).
Everything was delicious. The falafel sandwich costs €5.40 (+ €1.00 for the extra filling) and it was worth it. It's really huge and I could stop eating after my first half of it. The portions - called "light bites" are a little bit expensive for my point of view (between €3.90 and €7.50), but not different for the usual prices in Dublin. They also have a take-away service. The opening hours are good too, being a great option to some nights out in the city.
Rotana Cafe
31 South Richmond Street
Portobello
Monday closed
Tuesday 4pm - 11h30pm
Wednesday - Sunday 11h30am - midnight
If you're stopping here for the first time, you don't know that, but ice cream is my favorite food. Like, top 1 (and I have a milkshake tattoo in my left leg!). I could eat ice cream every day. Having said that, this post is about a new (well, not too new anymore) place here in Dublin that sells milkshakes: Shakes Milkshake Bar.
I have been there three times: the first one was a bad experience 'cause me and Matteo stayed in the line twenty minutes just to heard that they didn't have the dairy free option that evening. But I didn't give up and went there before going to Brazil with the lovely Aoife. I had the chocolate option and it was delicious. They use the vegan ice cream Swedish Glace, which is really good and tasty.
Today I took some time to go there again with Matteo and my-sister-in-law that was spending some summer days here with us and I decided to try the peanut butter dairy free option! OMG! Can't believe how good it was! Matteo had the chocolate one and he was happy with that too.
I hope I can have more time in this busy (and a little bit messy) summer to come back there more times. And, you know, I will be there during the autumn and the winter too.
Shakes Milkshake Bar
15 College Green
Dublin 2
It's a beautiful and sunny morning in the first day of March and I really love this weather: cold and sunny. Most of the people that live in Europe love the summer and are always waiting for some hot days. But I come from a hot (really hot) city and I don't miss those melting days at all. I love the spring and I'm sure I will have another great one here in Dublin.
Last Saturday I went to town alone because Matteo was playing. I'm not used to making things alone but it was pretty good. I bought some stuff and decided to have lunch at Cornucopia. I really can't explain exactly why we haven't been there yet after more than 1 year living in Dublin... But it always time to start doing things that we never did before!
Cornucopia is a vegetarian restaurant located in the heart of Dublin city center. And it's always full. Now I can understand the reason: the food is great, the staff is kind and the place is nice. I didn't know about the options I had, so I asked a lot of food and dessert. I was excited because they have a lot of vegan options and I knew I should try their vegan cheese cake (my dear French friend Aurelia had told me about that when we were together in London and she couldn't believe that we had never gone there!). I had a noodle spaghetti with vegetables, couscous and bean salad. And a big slice of a blueberry cheese cake. All with an organic cola. Yes, I spent a lot too, but it was worth it.
It is really good to know all the options we have to eat around and I just added Cornucopia to my small vegan list.
The view from the apartment - Dublin 1
This is not a post about food, but it's something that I'd like to share. Since December of 2008 we are living in the area called "Dublin 1" here in Dublin. It was good because it's like 10 minutes from the city center and we didn't know a lot about the city to choose a good area to live. But since we moved to this apartment, in October of 2009, our lives are being a hell. We can't live with the neighbors. Loud music every day and every night, parties every weekend. Matteo works at home, so it's being crazy for him. So we decide to break the 1 year contract and move. We're going to live in a house in an area called Kimmage (the house is in Dublin 12). I'm super excited because I just lived in a house when I was a kid, in a very small town in Brazil. It's not that usual to Brazilian people to live in houses.
We're moving today and I don't know when I'll have internet again, but I hope it will be soon. Also, I just started my Master in Journalism and Media Communication and couldn't be more excited!
See you soon ;)
One of the best risottos I've cooked in Dublin 1
