It's cold and miserable at the moment and you're in need of comfort.
And what better way to comfort yourself with the most decadent treats this city has to offer? Check out our ever-so-bold list below and see if anything tickles your fancy...
10. Aunty Nellie’s
The world could do with a few more Willy Wonky-esque sweet shops (it’s hard not to burst out into verse of “the candy man caaaaaan” when standing among these wooden shelves). Here’s where you’ll get all those hard candies, pick’n’mix, cables you need for a serious sugar fix – plus remember Wham bars?!
9. Brother Hubbard
There are lots of reasons you should visit Brother Hubbard this weekend, their amazing brunch menu is just one. Another is their hot chocolate: a cup of thick dark chocolate ganache, and a jug of hot chocolate to combine with it. Holy moly. Check out these other spots to have a killer hot chocolate in Dublin.
8. Butlers Chocolate Café
Every sweet thing binge in Dublin needs to include Butlers. Almost as ubiquitous as Starbucks across the city, you’re never far from their gold and glass counters of truffles, caramels and chocolates. Their hot chocolate range is fabulous (they do the absolute best chilli hot chocolate), with the little happy-making bonus of a free chocolate.
7. Aungier Danger
If Butlers is the old favourite, Aungier Danger is the new favourite. This place just opened on Aungier Street, and serves doughnuts. Freshly baked and sticky; the kind of doughnuts that has queues down the length of the street. They bake them in the morning, and basically go until their sold out. If you’re lucky on a busy day they might do an extra batch, but best advice is to get down there early.
6. Krüst
Krüst deserve our respect for being responsible for bringing sticky, flaky cronuts to Dublin. You can still rely on them to hit your sugar cravings with their cronuts slathered with chocolate, icing and caramel, or their filled doughnuts or mini patisserie options for something a bit lighter.
5. Murphy’s Ice Cream
Incredibly tasty ice-cream, freshly made using Irish ingredients, but the best thing about Murphy’s is their amazing flavours. It might not be the extreme ridiculous sugary chocolatiness of the gelato place on Grafton St., but their caramelised brown bread or blissful butterscotch gets our vote every time.
Queen of Tarts is indisputable patisserie royalty. Its cakes are also royalty-sized, though they also have fantastic small brownies, slices and cupcakes. Come for the brunch, stay for the dessert, at any time of day.
3. Lolly and Cooks
There’s now no less than three Lolly and Cooks around town, so there’s no excuse for not checking this place out. Their savoury food is amazing but what you really need to do this weekend is go down there and get yourself a whole box of their cupcakes (just €12 for 6) with incredible flavours that will guarantee to get your sweet tooth tingling: toffee apple and cinnamon, chocolate and creme de menthe, gingerbread and lime… drool.
2. Cocoa Atelier
Obviously, you need to visit this chocolatier if you’re on a sugar binge. Well, actually, their chocolates are not the sweetest, but they are like little beautiful works of art. Their macaroons though, they are sweet.
1. Sweet Republic
Waffles, ice-cream, milkshakes…actually frankly it doesn’t matter what you buy in Sweet Republic, it’s more or less the same, a mass of chocolate, cream, sugar, sweets, cakes, cookies, sugar, caramel, nuts, sugar, and a last dollop of chocolate. They're also ushering in Dublin's latest food trend: doughnut-topped hot chocolate and milkshakes. Ridiculous.
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Don’t @ us. We’re well aware some may think it is still too early for the mention of the C word, but when it comes to booking the group or couples dinners that populate Christmas week, you need to be organised well in advance. If you’ve got your eye on certain restaurants, waiting any longer […]
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