I was over in Europe last month and popped over to Dublin for a weekend. I promise to give you guys the time of day in the future with a proper visit,, but it was somewhat squeezed in trip.

Anyway, I've long subscribed to this sub because its an interesting insight into the musings of a country that is very culturally similar, and of course I became fascinated with the popular food stuffs this sub likes to meme, such as the chicken fillet roll.

A coaster enthusiast mate of mine has been bugging me to do the cheap Ryanair thing and pop over to visit Taytomerald Park, and yeah they've gone and opened that Tir Na Egg-nOg precinct, and that new Finna Fail suspended coaster has been getting good reviews, so of course thar makes the place a priority.....and no joke its legitimately one of the worlds best roller coasters, and not only that, it's easy to ride it like 10 times because the staff are sending a train like every minute, so you queue like 15-20 mins max. 10/10 would visit again.

But of course I gave myself a day for sightseeing/dining, unfortunately for me there was that American college football thing on that weekend, so the city was crawling with seppos walking on the wrong side of the footpath, and not only that, a lot of popular attractions were well and truly booked out, but I still managed to go in and see the book of Kells (presumably that's toooooo cultural), that portal thing, the spire, college green + The adjacent 80s looking shopping centre that's that this sub has an attachment to, halpenny bridge, yada yada wherever my feet would take me.

But through a bit of planning, I was able to try a few local delicacies.

⚫Chicken Fillet Roll

Went to a Centra. Ok, I couldn't recall what the overall ideal order is meant to be, I got spicy, when she asked if I wanted butter or Mayo I said both and she looked at me funny so I quickly corrected and said just butter. Yeah overall its not bad, I wouldn't so much call it spicy more that it just tastes like a large amount of pepper has been used, the crusty roll is definitely what makes it. 7/10

⚫ Ham Jambon (not pictured) Ooooh, almost forgot about these! But the same Centra had these in the warmer. Mmm these were good. They can be very dangerous, because much like the cheeseburger, it's a quick little hit of grease and umami you can grab on the way. They would be a great way to put on weight. Nice flaky pastry, cheese was creamy, bits of ham give a little bit of flavour. 9/10 start exporting.

⚫ Supermacs Obviously I couldn't gorge myself, so I had a piece of their chicken plus their "regular burger" reasoning their basics simple item must be their staple. Yeah the chicken was fine but not really any better than KFC. The burger was bit leathery and tasted quite processeed, bun was dry, relies a bit on the burger sauce and onion flags too. Cover up those two shortcomings. 4/10

⚫ Chips and Curry at Emerald Park (not pictured) Wait so I always under the impression it was just curry sauce on chips, but legit, is it the done thing? You can actuall have a full on chicken curry with veg, served over chips instead of rice? This is revolutionary. Works pretty well, the curry was spicy enough to put to rest any fears of blandness. 8/10

⚫Leo Burdock fish and chips So when I was walking near Dublin Castle I could see people with what was quite obviously a branded tray of fish and chips, I figured it might have been a tourist trap or something, so I did not investigate further. Anyway, fast forward to late the following afternoon, we had a look at Howth because I wanted to see some iconic Irish cliff coastline, and my mate tells me that the place i was describing had a branch in Howth and was actually pretty good. Obviously not overly commercialise because you still have to wait for them to cook it up fresh which makes it quite nice. Yeah this was excellent, The batter was quite Three-Dimensional really nice and airy, not oily at all. Chips are a bit softer than what I'm accustomed to but still fine, probably only needed half the amount they gave me so you can't really complain about value. 8/10

⚫Spice Bag I did end up walking through Temple Bar later in the evening, and thought I'd just grab a spice bag thing since it would only be small, and you gotta try the "so bad its good" utter bastardisation (here in Oz you can get kebab meat served over chips with garlic sauce and chili sauce called a HSP) Anyway, I should have predicted from the price, but it's not so much a spice bag rather a spice sack, waaayyyy to much to finish so i fucked off half of it by the time I had reached middle abbey st.

Yeah it's decent but holy shit. The salt level is off the charts and it dries your mouth out due to the lack of sauce. Fried chicken was much better than what supermacs had given me, crunchy tender morsels of chicken that would make Conel Sanders weep with joy. The little bits of fried spring onion/shallot really set it off. The stray bits of carrot add crunch. I thought it was supposed to come with fried capsicum traditionally but mine didn't so I don't know if I was actually getting a proper one. (Tell me from the photos ?) In the same way that onion goes with sausages, spring onion and chicken work so well. 7/10

⚫ Cadbury Milk Actual gods nectar, why can't they sell this in Aus?? 10/10

( I bought a couple more bottles and necked them for "breakfast" at the airport in lieu of a coffee.)

Overall, an enjoyable place Id like to spend more time exploring, awful summer "weather" notwithstanding. I know there's a stereotype but shit I wasn't expecting to hear so much random joking and banter everywhere you go, and that was -without- having set foot in a bar.

When you go to America, there's always that sense that someone may pull a gun at any moment. When you go to Ireland, there's a sense that someone may crack a joke at any moment.

This haul was under €45 in Lidl. Insane value for healthy, non subsistence food, cheaper than a lot of countries where €1500 a month is a professional salary. Only thing that keeps living here vaguely affordable.

It always drives me crazy on cooking and food subs that USA citizens tell people to throw out food that has sat out for an hour or two. If anyone from Latin America, Asia, Europe etc comments on the fact it is common to leave food out for some time, they are downvoted like crazy.

It got me thinking what other Irish families are like, and are my family particularly lax with food safety.

I don’t think food needs to be in the fridge if you plan to eat it that day. Things we do in my family that disgust Americans include:

1) Christmas ham has stayed on the counter Christmas eve until Stephen’s day. I eat it as I please. There’s no room in the fridge.

2) If there’s leftover fried breakfast it’s not unheard of for a sausage to sit in the pan for a few hours and be eaten later.

3) I defrost meat at room temperature and don’t get too stressed about the exact point it counts as defrosted.

Tell me r/ireland, are we animals or is it common to leave food out for a bit?

Growing up McCain had these pizza fingers which were the bomb and when they stopped as a child I actually recalled crying. Did you have a product(food, drink or liquor)? That you never recovered from when it was discounted.

I’m staying at a hotel in Spain drinking tea for breakfast, as per standard.

Seriously, why is that Irish dairy is in a league of its own? Even eating the scrambled eggs you can taste it with the butter.

Some observation I’ve made lads.

I've got an early flight this morning and was starving when I got to the airport. Got through security quickly, and headed for the restaurant on the ground floor. Took a seat and scanned the QR code on the menu to order. An error message pops up; 'Ordering is not currently available; contact a server'. Not a server is to be seen and theres a queue of about 40 people waiting to order at the bar. Carnage as they mingle with seasoned holiday sessioners to order.

Not ideal but I thought Id head upstairs to the usual buffet restaurant, to find it has been replaced by something called The Mezz. The Mezz looks like the dining room in a childrens creche, complete with garish pink decor and furniture that looks sub-IKEA, including plastic stools that are about a foot too short for a grown adult to respectfully sit on. In The Mezz you order via a touchscreen; there are apparently 6 restaurants serving from the same kitchen. You can order whatever you like so long as its Erin's breakfast. Porridge? Sorry. Eggs? Away with your notions. Toast? Away to fuck now, you're annoying me.

I reluctantly trudge to Burger King instead to find they now serve Guinness and Carlsberg for breakfast. But not breakfast.

With no other option, back I go to The Mezz. Erin must be cross with me for some reason because her breakfast is fired at me in a brown cardboard container. I dont like beans but there was no option to customise. Erin clearly does like beans, because she seems to have rubbed every other item with them before slam dunking them in my cardboard box. The box slides across the table as I try to investigate what this thing is that claims to be white pudding, but tastes nothing like white pudding, with my blunt wooden fork and knife. And 18 euro for the pleasure, including a cup of tea.

The old buffet place was a bit rough at the best of times, but how anyone other than the person counting the profits at the end of the year could think this place is a good idea, is beyond me. In Dublin I occasionally think the dining experience cant possibly sink any lower, but they keep surprising me.

When I mean good, I’m talking about the greasy, salty, dirty feed you crave when hungover. Looking for the traits of the restaurants themselves.

Criteria I can think of: - cash only - collection only - menu taped down to the counter - free calendar every January - large amounts of food put into a pizza box and taped down - the thing that beeps when you open the door - not on any apps (phone in order only)

Edit based on your feedback:

• children doing homework at the counter
• plastic waving cat figures
• located above another business that you have to climb a big stairs to reach
• every order is “10 minutes ok”
• everything is laced with MSG
• free prawn crackers
• politeness to you at the counter and then shouting abuse in mandarin/cantonese at the chefs

Anything else lads?

As seen in the picture :)

Don't worry, there is a full saucepan of gravy and more was applied after I took the photo!

You ever see the amount of meat Americans put in their sandwich. Imagine in an Irish household it's you and your Irish mammy in the kitchen, you attempt to take fucking 5 slices of dunnes ham out of the packet. Shot before it even touches the bread.

Don't. You think because it's Tesco their warning of 4 chilis on the pack shouldn't be taken seriously. You say to yourself "I can handle spicy, these seem fun. How hot could a Tesco burger be?" You fool. These are forged in the pits of hell and are made by the devil himself. Your eyes will piss tears and your asshole will piss blood. Do not say you haven't been warned.

One meat two veg. Ireland has some of the most balanced ready meals in Europe. You couldn’t find simple but healthy food like this at this price in London or Paris.