It was a good month for food especially.

  Life feels firmly back like the old normal, which means weekends and even weekday evenings have been filling up with plans, most of which include food. I had a very good month of eating, as well as a couple of trips to the Bord Gáis, and a few evenings full of drinks with friends. Without further ado, this is the food, drink, and culture I soaked up in Dublin in April.

Rita's

Location: Ranelagh I had forgotten how good Rita's pizza truly is. Having not returned since lockdown, I absolutely inhaled their new Hot Chick pizza. This pizza typically comes on a white base, which is just not my journey, so I was delighted to be able to swap to a classic red base to fully enjoy it. The Hot Chick comes with roast chicken, pine nuts, sun-dried tomato pesto, red onions, and some lovely basil for garnish.

The Taphouse

Location: Ranelagh Pre-covid, The Taphouse was a great spot to go for a pre-meal drink, and now that things are (nearly) back to normal, it's quickly becoming my go-to again. They do some lovely cocktails as well, but this fine evening I stuck to wine, and it went down a treat.

Soren and Son

Location: Dean Street  This cute little café is just around the corner from our offices, which is fantastic news for me. The coffee is divine, and this double baked almond croissant also filled a hole in my heart.

Hen's Teeth

Location: Blackpitts  I frequent Hen's Teeth once a week as it's a 30 second walk from our office. It never fails to deliver a lovely oat flat white, plus I enjoy a good browse of their merch.

Umi

Location: Dame Street I got to go to Umi twice this month, making it a very special month indeed. I can't say that I ever brand out too much when it comes to Umi; what can I say, I just love the breaded halloumi sandwich way too much to opt for anything else. Plus, they do some of the best sweet potato fries in Dublin; not all sweet potato fries are created equal, I can tell you that much for free. I did try their batata hara wedges on my second April outing, and they are also very good.

Urban Health

Location: Ranelagh I spent the morning of Good Friday in Urban Health, enjoying a breakfast wrap stuffed with tomatoes, eggs, and avocado. It was difficult to tear my eyes away from their baked goods, as well as their pancake options, so I will definitely be back to sample those sometime soon.

Saw The Secrets of Dumbledore

Location: Movies @ Dundrum As a Harry Potter fan, I feel it's my duty to see the prequels, even though they have been somewhat lack lustre. The first Fantastic Beasts was pretty good, the second one was okay, but I'm afraid the third was my least favourite to date. While Mads Mikkelsen did a very good job stepping into the role of Grindelwald, now the third actor to do so, the film was simply too slow and boring for me, and easily forgettable. It felt like a filler movie because it was a filler movie, and I fear the franchise could be in trouble now with its poor ratings. When I do my future Harry Potter marathons, I doubt the Fantastic Beasts movies will ever get a rewatch.

Chicago at The Bord Gáis

Location: Grand Canal Dock Is my one and only dream to be apart of a live performance of the Cell Block Tango, despite my lack of singing or dancing ability? Yes, yes it is. But it's not going to happen, so watching it performed in the Bord Gáis was the next best thing. Chicago is one of those musicals where every song is an absolute belter, and the applause was thunderous at the end. I'd highly recommend going if it returns in the future. https://www.instagram.com/p/CcKz23sMOSk/

The Morning

Location: Pleasants Street  I knew this spot back when it was Meet Me In The Morning, and I loved their brunch back then. Now it's on my way to work, and I love stopping in for an oat flat white. Plus they have some sensational looking pastries in the window.

Marlay Park

Location: Rathfarnham The grand aul stretch is made so much better when you're taking a stroll to enjoy it. While I hit up Marlay Park more times than I can count to get my stupid steps in for my stupid mental health over the lockdowns, I haven't gotten to go as often recently. I'm always amazed at how beautiful it is even though I've been coming here since I was a child.

Café Bar H

Location: Grand Canal Dock Enjoyed a lovely little pornstar martini in Café Bar H, after a very disappointing espresso martini at another location (which will not be named). Can't really go wrong with a Pornstar and she truly hit the spot.

FRIENDS The Musical Parody at the Bord Gáis

Location: Grand Canal Dock I will preface this by saying I love FRIENDS. I've seen every episode at least five times (and some probably up to ten or twenty) and I'd be lying if I said part of my personality wasn't an amalgamation of Chandler Bing and Rachel Green. Enter FRIENDS The Musical Parody. Without slating it too much, I left halfway through (something I have NEVER done, not even when I went to see Zoolander 2, and I really wanted to leave then) as it just wasn't doing it for me. Much like Chandler at the one woman play "Why don't you like me: a bitter woman's journey through life", I felt trapped and screamed at, with my fight or flight instinct leaning heavily towards flight. As a lover of musicals I can say some movies and shows don't need to become one; there really never needed to be a song made out of the Pivot gag (which I am a huge fan of in the show). The actors really did the best with the script they were given; they had the original cast's mannerisms down to a tee. But the actual parody itself was just far too heavy handed for me. I suppose I can't speak too much about it given I didn't make it to the second act but if it was anything like the first, I'm not sorry I left.

We Are Naked Cookie Dough

I was kindly sent out some We Are Naked cookie dough to try. This vegan recipe is quick and easy; simply cut the dough into slices (thick or thin depending on how many cookies you want) and roll them into balls. Spread them out, follow the oven instructions (I stupidly left them in a little too long, they were still unreal but trust that the packet instructions know better) and voila. You would never be able to tell that these bad boys are vegan.

Bushy Park Market

Location: Terenure With the beautiful weather (that comes and goes intermittently) comes the return of outdoor catch ups. A friend and I hit up Bushy Park Market, a food and drink market with tons of choices. Now, we did go to try the acai bowls from Roots, who were unfortunately absent, but we did get an iced coffee as well as some parfait from ProBox, which was delish. Ideal for a pre-summer's day.

DASH Burger

Location: Kevin Street I was introduced to the glorious smash burger by the champions of it, DASH burger. As someone often disappointed by burgers (mostly if they lack juiciness) I was thoroughly impressed by the double smash cheese burger from DASH. Myself and a colleague split some fries (they're huge so I was glad of this) and enjoyed one secret sauce (it was amazing but couldn't tell you what was in it). And one garlic dip, because it's an essential. I will be making it a priority to return to DASH very soon.

Lucky Tortoise

Location: Temple Bar I was lucky enough to go to the launch of Lucky Tortoise's new restaurant in Temple Bar; you can read my full review of the experience HERE. Well that's it. That was how I spent the month of April in Dublin, with some unreal food, lovely drink, one good show (and sadly one bad show) at the Bord Gáis. Here's hoping that May brings some more of the same. READ ON: When one Griolladh door closes, another Griolladh door opens