You may already be aware that I like to begin a trip in a new city with a foodie tour. This was my third visit to Dublin and I decided to give Irish cuisine another try, since it had not really won me over. I decided to take a FabFoodTrails Dublin food tour and was prepared to be amazed.

FabFoodTrails

FabFoodTrails offers Irish food tours since 2006. They also offer tours in Cork. Local products and Irish cuisine are the focus. The small, independent businesses are also a big plus.

Irish Food

The potato is what comes to mind when you think of Irish food. The potato is the basis of all Irish food, including stews, pies and fish and chips. The history of the potato is rich: the fact that the Irish were forced to grow potatoes for the English over centuries, the climate on the island, which was favorable to the potato, as well as the fact that the Irish could feed a family with a small plot. Irish food is simple and hearty. The famous Irish breakfast serves as a perfect example. In Ireland’s cold, windy mornings, farmers would need to eat a large meal in order to get ready for the workday. A full meal with many items from the farm was needed to prepare the men for the day.

A food tour is the best way to find out where the locals enjoy the best food in Dublin.

Review of FabFoodTrails Dublin tour in step-by-step detail

Meeting Point

The meeting place and itinerary can be adapted to the work hours. It’s a central and easy-to reach place. The meeting point will be sent to you via email a couple of days before your tour. It was just outside the Mansion House and very near St. Stephen’s Green.

Our FabFoodTours Guide

Ellen was an Irish girl who had spent time in Europe. She returned home with a newfound love for all things Irish. This includes Irish food.

Ellen is a freelancer and she did a great job of explaining the local food, Irish traditions, and history.

Dublin Food Tour Itinerary

It’s impossible to replicate the experience without a guide. I’ll also discuss the food, which is a subject that interests me a lot.

First stop: coffee

A morning tour is incomplete without a cup of coffee. We stopped at Dolce Sicily, a Sicilian restaurant. They combine the best of Irish dairy and Sicilian tradition, which I think is fantastic. To start the day, I had an excellent cappuccino. The foam was silky, sweet and creamy.

But I returned to the same place for some pastries another day. They filled my cannolo with pistachio creme, which is one of my favorites. Yummy!

A cheese tasting

Ireland has some amazing ingredients: beef, dairy, fish and seafood. The constant rain and soil feeds the grass and makes the cattle very happy. Dairy was limited to milk and butter up until relatively recently. Several decades ago, Dutch immigrants who noticed the quality of milk in their country encouraged people to start making different kinds of cheeses.Patrick presenting Sheridan’s Cheeses

Sheridans Cheesemongers is one of the best places in Dublin to taste Irish cheese. We sampled 3 different types of cheeses: a goat cheese with a smooth texture, a cow cheese and a blue sheep cheese. The company also makes their own jams and chutneys, which go well with the cheeses. Their products are available in other stores, but if cheese is your thing, you should stop here.

The Pepper Pot Cafe & Bakery

Named after the tower of Powerscourt House and Gardens. The Powerscourt Townhouse in Dublin became a shopping mall, and the Pepper Pot Cafe is located there. The bakery is their most popular product.

Here we had both a savory tasting and a dessert one. We started with baking soda bread, cheese cream, and smoked salmon. Smoked Salmon is another Irish star. The second taste was a scone topped with cream and jam, a perfect snack to go along with a cup of coffee or tea.Pepper Pot Cafe: freshly baked scone

It’s also a beautiful setting, as the Georgian-style Powerscourt Townhouse has been transformed into a cozy gallery that hosts mostly independent businesses. It is only 10 minutes away from Temple Bar, so it should be included in your Dublin itinerary. Pepper Pot Cafe is a great place to stop for lunch or to just relax and enjoy the view.

The Seafood Cafe offers oysters

The Seafood Cafe, in Temple Bar, is the next stop. Enjoy oysters with a glass white wine. This is a small, modern restaurant where you can eat outside or at the counter. The staff was very knowledgeable about oysters. They knew where they came from, what varieties there were, and everything else. There were also vegetarian options. They had flavored butter and fresh bread as well as olives.

In the vibrant, busy Temple Bar district, I would not have noticed the seafood cafe. This is a hidden treasure that I will return to for some delicious seafood.

Specialty Food Store – Fallon & Byrne

This time, a specialty store. You can buy both fresh fruits and vegetables as well as specialties from around the world. You can buy olives and Jamon, as well as Carnaroli Rice for risotto, from Italy. Madeleines are also available from France. The store also has a wine cellar that contains wines from around the world.

We tried cheese with chutney, crackers, or, for meat eaters, a special chicken liver pate, olives and rosemary cheese. I noticed a great selection of things ready to eat that you could take home as a lunch or dinner. The sandwiches looked delicious too.Ellen presenting our next tasting

Irish Whiskey

A food tour would not be complete without trying the local beverage. Guinness and whiskey are the only drinks that you can get in Dublin. Since you will probably be trying the Guinness on your own at the Guinness Storehouse, or in one of the pubs around town, it may help to have a brief introduction for the whiskey.

The Swan, a family bar located in Dublin’s center, is owned by a local family. The bar has a very historic look. Come in and have a Powers whiskey with the owner. Attention to details: the cool counter, the snug area, all of the wooden details and the rugby memorabilia.

Icecream is the perfect ending to our Irish Food Tour.

You probably didn’t realize how good Irish ice-cream is. This is because of the milk. The Three Twenty uses Jersey cow’s milk to make extra creamy ice-cream. We tried the salted-caramel ice cream and will be back to try more.What a treat – salted caramel icecream!

Dublin Food Tour: Final Thoughts

The FabFoodTrails Dublin Tour is a must-do. Ellen was passionate about Irish cuisine and Dublin. It was easy to communicate with her and the others because we were a small group of only six people. All seven stops had some things in common, including good food, drinks, locally sourced ingredients, and independent small businesses. You want to visit these places, but it is hard to locate them on your own.

She also took us to a few good spots along the way. It takes about 2.5-3 hours and involves some walking. Wear something comfortable. They can accommodate vegetarian diets and I was very happy to see that there were no fish and chip options on the menu.

The only thing I regret is not taking this tour when I first visited Dublin.

Booking Options

Check out the tours offered by FabFoodTrails before booking.

Book your Dublin food tour on GetYourGuide if you want to manage all of your bookings in one place.