Lovin Dublin Wrapped: Our top 10 most read stories from 2023
Katy Thornton
Katy Thornton
Bidding 2023 a fond farewell.
We’re about to come to the end of another year at Lovin Dublin, but taking inspo from Spotify Wrapped, we’ve decided to have a look at our stats and pick out some of our most read stories, to see what was most tickling the fancy of our audience.
The list comprises of a clash of two takeaways, sad closures, sexy openings (and we mean that literally), and a whole bunch of other wonderful and weird news stories in between.
So without further delay, here are the top most read stories on Lovin Dublin for 2023.
10. A tale of two takeaways: I went to Lams and New Lams and here’s what I thought
Kicking things off with a story that is nothing short of iconic is the Tale of Two Takeaways, when beloved takeaway Lam’s in Ballyfermot suddenly found themselves with some neck to neck competition with new Chinese takeaway dropping in next door, called New Lam’s.
This is a story about family, betrayal – as close to Hamlet as we’re going to get in the Dublin hospitality sphere, and if you’ve never read about it before, well, you know where to go.
9. ‘The system has failed me’ Ireland’s first walk-in vegan bakery announces closure
Anyone who knows their stuff when it comes to Dublin hospitality will know that there’s been a sharp exodus of vegan focused cafés and restaurants in the last couple of years, and one that hit us particularly hard was the closure of Bear Lemon, who shut down for good in April.
They were the first vegan walk-in bakery in Ireland, which made the announcement of their closure even harder to bear. We’re not surprised this story caught our readers’ eyes; it also made it onto our list of this year’s saddest hospitality closures too.
8. 6 early houses that still open their doors to Dublin’s morning air
An article we only put together in November has landed itself as the 8th most read story in 2023, and it’s where you can go for an early morning tipple. There are only six pubs by our count, with some opening as early as 7am.
Find out which early houses still operate in Dublin here.
7. Gordon Ramsay said the service was ‘exceptional’ at Dublin Michelin two-star restaurant
We love to hear Dublin’s praises sung, and celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay made us all feel gooey inside when he shared some love about two-star Michelin restaurant Liath, based in Blackrock.
Speaking to Lovin, Liath’s general manager Louise Creane said Ramsay was “polite, amazing and gave us loads of compliments”, and spoke particularly highly of the restaurant’s “outstanding” service and “exceptional” pigeon dish.
6. GoFundMe set up to buy Brazilian Deliveroo driver Caio Benicio a pint
We were all rendered speechless by the terrible riots that occurred in Dublin on November 2023, mere hours after a violent attack took place outside a school on Parnell Square. Brave Deliveroo driver Caio Benicio, a name scarcely anyone in Ireland wouldn’t know at this point, helped disarm the assailant, as well as Alan Loren-Guille and Warren Donohoe.
People were so moved by Benicio’s actions that a GoFundMe was set up to buy him a pint. When we wrote the story, €15k had been raised, but the final figure amounted to €369,630.
5. Tourist asks ‘am I seeing things?’ after being handed bill at Temple Bar pub
Ah yes, the age old story about how much everything costs in and around Temple Bar. It’s one that consistently crops up in the media, and one we always get a bit of a laugh out of. In the most read rendition of expensive Temple Bar moments, a tourist posted the following receipt after visiting The Temple Bar, where an order of four jagermeister and one red bull set them back €42.55.
4. Man spends €700 on a burger after a night out – and can’t get a refund
If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of a hang-xious moment with the sudden urge to check how much you spent the night before, well, you probably won’t have ever found yourself in as dire of a situation as this lad.
Toby Wilson picked up a veggie burger at a food truck named Efe’s Kebab Kitchen after a night out in the UK, and after the price was typed wrong into the card machine he ended up paying £650 rather than the £6.50 the meal was worth.
When he went back to get a refund, they told him he had to go through his bank, and at the time of writing, Wilson had yet to get his refund.
3. A new sexy bakery has just opened on Capel Street
Huge news dropped for Dublin in June 2023 as we got our first sexy bakery on Capel Street. Foodiera is a sex positive bakery that opened just in time for Pride, serving, quite plainly, pastries in the shape of dicks and vaginas.
2. PICS: This is what the cheapest house for sale in Dublin looks like
Naturally if you live in Dublin you might be interested in which houses are cheapest, and what exactly they look like.
Our second most read story was put together in January of this year, a deep dive into the cheapest house on the market at the time, which in this case was a one-bed house in Balbriggan, with an asking price of just €169,000.
Said house is definitely off the market now, but you can give it a look here.
1. Dublin steak restaurant named as one of the best steakhouses worldwide
F.X. Buckley were named in the top 10 amongst steakhouses in Buenos Aires, New York, Sydney, and Madrid. It should be noted that the Hawksmoor in London came in at number two on the list, which only makes a visit to their Dublin location more imperative for steak lovers.
