January, the time of remorse and rejuvenation... Whatever you want to call it, the beautiful free bar of booze that was Christmas has ended and thus, we’re back at it. We’ve now reached that stage where bread and alcohol have calories again, you should know what time/day/year it is, and turning off your OOO felt like tearing down the Christmas tree too early. It’s okay, you’re not alone, we don’t want to look at our bank account either, but we still want to eat, so here are ten dishes that we can convince ourselves are undoing all of the festive over-eating without the need for an overdraft.
1. Sprout’s Salads - €8.50 - €9.95
Most of the menu here is under a tenner and a breath of fresh air away from your sad homemade lunch al desko. They also offer loyalty cards on salad bowls, making each January salad purchase that little bit easier.
2. Porridge at Póg - €3
The OG breakfast of champions that is porridge is only €3 from Póg, with additional extras costing 50c each. That’s breakfast for the price of a coffee. Sold.
3. Bircher Bowl at Brother Hubbard - €7.50
The bircher bowl is a staple at both BH locations and changes frequently, depending on the season. Choose between the northside winter bircher bowl (also vegan), consisting of overnight oats with carrot, orange, toasted seeds and candied walnuts, topped with fresh blueberries and spiced ginger syrup, or the southside sister’s spiced orange oats with apple and roasted squash puree, topped with sweet nut dukkah.
4. The Fumbally’s Avocado Toast €7.90
The Fumbally’s avocado toast can cure a host of ails. It's served with housemade pickled cabbage and popped amaranth. Bonus health points if you grab one of their fermented drinks.
5. One Society’s Pan Fried Kale on Toast - €8.20
Ah kale, the hip-and-with-it food that drives the Insta huns wild. One Society pan fries kale and serves it with almond basil pesto, cranberries, toasted seeds and nuts, poached eggs, chilli and sesame salt, and it gives kale a very good name.
6. Airfield Estate’s Salad Plate - €10 After being stuck indoors for so long, particularly for those of you who stayed in Dublin for Christmas, it might be nice to drag the family to Airfield Estate to treat yourself to some fresh air and Luke Matthews’ cooking. The salad plate in Overends Kitchen is a thing of dreams, with much of the ingredients sourced from the farm. If you can stretch to it, the pannacotta made with milk from the estate's Jersey cows is the way to finish (it's healthy, honest).
7. Aobaba’s Pho - €8.50
The Capel Street Vietnamese spot is one of those places that’s often talked about for the right reasons. All of their regular pho are €8.50, and it's a bargain. Read our review of Aobaba here.
8. Legit Coffee Co's Super Green Omelette - €10
We’ve recently hailed Legit as the best brunch we've had so far on the Northside, and this omelette seems to go hand in hand with the rejuvenating properties of January. It comes with sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, spinach, feta, lime, avo and some sourdough toast.
9. Shouk’s Falafel Pitta €6 Okay, maybe falafel isn’t the healthiest option on this list but think of the bigger mezze picture here. It’s a great spot if you’re on a Veganuary buzz or are just trying to reduce your meat intake.
10. Tang’s Salad Plate - €7.50
Tang’s colourful salad plate comes with either hummus or tzatziki and you can add on protein for an additional €2 (for optimum gainz).
Any other tips on healthy food for under a tenner? Let us know by emailing info@allthefood.ie.
