We got so many restaurant and café recommendations when we mentioned to friends that we were visiting Dublin for a few days, so I was really excited to let my stomach make a few decisions while we were over there. Sadly we didn’t eat an Irish breakfast, colcannon or stew, but there’s always a next time when it comes to Dublin! Here’s nearly everything we ate on our whistle-stop tour around the Irish capital.

Sano Pizza, Temple Bar

Huge Neapolitan pizzas cooked in a stone oven. I love a chewy crust on a pizza and these were perfect. We stopped off at the Temple Bar location (there are two more I believe) and it had a lovely chatty and homely vibe. The tomato sugo is so tasty and sweet, I swear I could’ve chugged a pint of the stuff. I ate the Rucola (parma ham, rocket and parmesan) and S had the Diavola (salami, basil and mozzarella) with a pint of the Five Lamps IPA. I reckon we’d have gone back every night if we didn’t plan the week out.

€35.45 for two pizzas, a soft drink and a lager. (£30.89 Nov 23)

Bunsen, Wexford Street

We sort of stumbled on this one on the way elsewhere and I’m really glad we did find it. It’s got a simple modern American diner feel to it. So much so, they can fit their whole menu on one side of a business card. The ‘frills’ are of a specific nature – an Amish dinner roll bun made in a Tallaght bakery, only the best Jewish deli pickles, patties minced fresh every morning and cooked to how you want it. We both got the cheeseburgers (he with onion and lettuce, me with onions, pickles and lettuce) with plenty of mustard. He ordered shoestring fries and I got hand cut. Naturally we swapped and shared.

€42.03 for two single patty cheeseburgers, two fries, a soft drink and a lager. (£36.73 Nov 23)

The Rolling Donut, King Street

Our neighbours recommended this doughnut and coffee place and even gave us their loyalty card so we could add a few more stamps to it! There are three shops in the city I think, but we chose to nip into the one round the corner from Grafton Street and head over to St Stephen’s Green to watch the world go by for a bit. We’d been walking around a lot that day, so it was nice to take some time with a hot coffee and something sweet. I could’ve done this every day to be honest. I chose a blueberry cheesecake doughnut, and S opted for a chocolate orange one. I wasn’t allowed to share this time…ha!

€12.60 for two doughnuts, a regular cappuccino and latte. (£11 Nov 23)

Bread 41, Pearse Street

My lovely colleague gave us a list of places to go, and Bread 41 was firmly on the recommendation! There’s a café downstairs and a restaurant upstairs. It was heaving when we got there, but once we’d ordered at the counter a few tables popped up. I was pretty set on getting a a savoury cheese croissant, but then at the last minute saw the paîn au chocolats and panicked! Chocolate and a cappuccino it was. S got a croissant and latte. The pastry was beautifully flaky and crispy and was a tasty start to a jam-packed day. The place itself had a nice upbeat vibe to it, with dance music and lots of chatter.

€16.10 for a croissant, a pain au chocolat, regular cappuccino and latte. (£14.03 Nov 23)

The Cheeky Piglet, Fumbally Square

I had been hankering for brunch on our last day in the city, so a quick Google search gave us plenty of options close to our hotel (it was raining pretty hard and we didn’t fancy paying for a taxi into town). We picked The Cheeky Piglet after a few minutes scouring reviews and weren’t disappointed! It’s quite a small space, but they do have a covered section outside the main building for when the inside is full. It was when we got there, so we were sat under a heater in the ‘outside’ bit. S ordered their famous breakfast bap with Irish streaky bacon, and I really fancied the avocado and egg toast (with a cappuccino, of course). The coffee arrived piping hot, which was a welcome change to the usual lukewarm ones elsewhere! S devoured his bap is 0.3 seconds and I won’t lie, I was a little envious of his choice. The avo-egg toast was delicious and the buttery eggs scrambled to perfection.

€32.20 for a two breakfasts, a regular cappuccino and latte. (£28.10 Nov 23)