Dublin

After spending almost a week in Limerick, we took a two hour train to Dublin. A lot of friends recommended the "hop on hop off" bus to take in all the historic sites, which turned out to be a pretty good (but windy) deal. We also got some great recommendations for traditional Irish music CDs to buy at Celtic Note.

The best part was probably riding the train back to Limerick with a bunch of football fans after Ireland had luckily won a game against Whales by one point. We must have missed a lot of partying in Dublin that night!

Cornucopia • Vegetarian • 19 Wicklow Street • Map
Incredible vegetarian food in a busy shopping district of Dublin. So good, it inspired a blog entry! Everything on the menu at Cornucopia has a symbol next to it letting you know whether it's vegan, wheat-free or organic. It was great because most of the vegetarian stuff I'd found at other restaurants had no Irish connection whatsoever. Here I had a delicious mushroom, spinach and leek gratin with a pulse salad - putting the yummy, Irish, earthy veggies in the spotlight. The people who work at this restaurant were friendly and extremely helpful, and asked if we'd had a chance to check out two other veggie places - Govinda's and Fresh. We didn't make it to the other places, but I don't think we missed out on anything. There were so many choices at Cornucopia we could have eaten there all week.

The Shack Restaurant • Omnivorous • 24 East Essex Street • Map
We chose to eat at The Shack Restaurant while we were in the Temple Bar district because it was one of the few restaurants that seemed to have something other than quesadillas or Thai curry as the two vegetarian options. We were rewarded with a warm, upscale atmosphere and some really good food. Options included a vegetarian burrito, cooked tofu and a vegetable pilaf.

I think what I liked best about this place is that it is on one of the craziest streets in Dublin (especially for a Friday night) but it felt like a laid back, sober place. It was loud, but the tables are close together, so the noise kind of helped make it feel private.

Silk Road Café • Omnivorous • Chester Beatty Library • Map
So you just finished touring Trinity College and you're ready to see an ecclectic collection of artifacts, and maybe a castle along the way. Make sure you have a map to negotiate the winding twists and turns near the Dublin Castle, and you will be able to find the Silk Road Café inside the Chester Beatty Library. This place smells wonderful and has some great options at reasonable prices.

It's a Mediterranean restaurant and the owners made a conscious effort to offer items for vegetarians, as well as wheat- and gluten-free dishes. Drew had vegetarian moussaka with wonderful Irish root vegetables and I had the hummus plate with a choice of two salads.

I chose a plain-looking pasta salad, but it was amazing. You know how Mediterranean food usually has lemon? Well this salad had actual chopped lemon wedges that were cooked with the pasta so that every once in a while you would get a beautiful zing of lemon rind with your pasta. It wasn't bitter at all. It's hard to explain, and I am ignorant about the process, but I loved it. My dish also came with roasted seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, and sesame).