All about... The Happy Pear

Dublin has some vegetarian restaurants, most of them with good vegan options, but it's not a big list, so every time I go to a place here I feel like I will be writing in the blog about something or places that people already know, but I still think it's worth it to spread the word and to give different points of views of the same place.

This time I'm not writing about a restaurant in Dublin, but in Greystones, a lovely coastal town located on Ireland’s east coast. I went there before (the last time in March with a couple of friends) but had never been in the vegetarian restaurant The Happy Pear. I had read a good post about it at the blog of my friend Aoife (Adventures in Veg) and I couldn't wait to try the food there. So, a couple of weeks ago I went there with Matteo and my mother-in-law in a lovely and sunny Saturday (with our luck, we just got off the train and the weather changed, but it was still fine).

The Happy Pear is run by two twin brothers and it is, in fact, a natural food market with a café and a restaurant. The place is always crowded, with tables outside and at the first floor. They have a good selection of salads, main courses that change every day, soups and desserts. Me and Matteo had a paella + potato salad + hummus and my mother-in-law had a squash lasagna (vegetarian) + fruit salad. My meal was delicious. And I also had a slice of chocolate with nuts, really, really good.

After you eat, go to the food market and I'm sure you won't leave there with nothing in your hands. They have a lot of amazing homemade products and organic fruits and vegetables. I bought a strawberry jam, peaches and bananas. And their prices are good too, cheaper than Dublin.



If you come to Ireland and decide to take a short train trip, go to Greystones, walk on the beach and have a nice time at the Happy Pear :)

All about ... Cornucopia

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.

Juice and the second chance

I'm starting to think that I am a person who gives second chances in general. With people and with places. I don't know if it is good or bad, but I can tell you that I had a great experience with the Juice vegetarian restaurant here in Dublin because of this characteristic. The first time that we went there was in the end of last year (if I'm not wrong) to celebrate something (that I don't remember now what was). We liked the food but we thought that they had just a few vegan options and that it was really pricey. We stayed without going there the whole year of 2009.

In the beginning of this year, when my sister-in-law, Elena, was here we went there again. It was a cold Sunday night and there isn't so many options of places to eat vegan food in Dublin that are opened everyday. We decided to skip the starters this time (the first time we went there we asked one starter and it wasn't worth it) and go to the main options. Matteo and Elena asked the "Juiceburger & Chips" and I asked the "Mushroom Wellington". Everything was delicious! And we had Tofutti ice cream - which was the only good memory I had from the first time. The only negative point of the night was the staff treatment. The girl wasn't very nice and she wasn't sure about the vegan options and the ingredients of the food. But it was a lovely night!

Juiceburger & Chips

Mushroom Wellington

Tofutti ice cream

And because of this nice second impression, we were back in Juice last Sunday. This time, it was in the evening. We thought about going there for the "Early Bird" but it was too soon and they were still on the brunch menu. I'm more used to a "all you can eat" service in a brunch, but Juice has a special menu with separated prices for each dish and there were (again) just a few vegan options. We started with the "Homemade Dips" with hummus and tapenade (black olives, fresh garlic and herb pâté with chopped nuts). Very tasty, really amazing. Then we had the "Scrambled Tofu", that comes with fresh herbs, toast, tossed salad and home fries. We loved it too! I thought I would want more food, but it was enough. I just fought with my stomach to find an empty hole for the ice cream (You know how much I love ice cream, don't you?). The juices are gorgeous too! I had orange with grapefruit. And the treatment was way better too!

Homemade Dips

Scrambled Tofu

I can tell you that we'll continue going to Juice! I still think it's expensive but Dublin hasn't too many places for us and I hope I can try to persuade them to offer more vegan options.