5 things we want to eat in Dublin this week

We've got seafood on the brain this week, just in time for a rise in the mercury; there's a new bánh mì on the block that we want to get to know better; and the pizza/Indian collab we've got to get our hands on before the end of April...

1) Bánh Mì, Babble Deli

Babble Deli in Lucan appeared in its aesthetically pleasing form in Lucan at the end of last year, and they've been slowly building quite the grid of beautiful looking sandwiches, sausage rolls and açaí bowls. The Bánh Mì is the current special (available until the end of today!) with grilled lemongrass pork, pickled Asian veg, cucumber, red chillies, fresh coriander and Maggi-seasoned mayo in an OakSmoke ciabatta. If you miss it, consider the meatball marinara an excellent back up.

2) Seafood paella, Hera

Usually when diving into an early bird/pre-theatre/set menu you're dealing with smaller portions and/or cheaper ingredients, but not so at Hera in Drumcondra. Just look at the seafood paella, which is part of their Monday - Wednesday supper club with two courses for €33 or three for €39. It's positively packed with prawn, squid, mussels, white fish, saffron aioli and a bisque foam, and with the words "seafood" and "value" rarely found in the same sentence, this is one to take advantage of.

3) Fish finger sandwich, The Woollen Mills

One of life’s great joys is an A-grade fish finger sandwich - soft white bread, perfectly crisp (but never greasy) batter or breadcrumbs, the flakiest white fish, and homemade tartare sauce. For us that’s where it stops, but the kitchen at The Woollen Mills have gone one step further and added minty mushy peas. It looks like they've nailed everything else, so we are nothing if not intrigued.

4) Butter chicken pizza, Rascal's Brewing x Kari

We're loving the sound of this Italian/Indian collab, which came about after two of Rascals Brewing's pizza chefs spent time with the owners of neighbouring Inchicore restaurant Kari, learning the basics of Indian cooking. Their love child was this butter chicken pizza, the “Kari Gold”, featuring a multi-spiced base with red onion, butter, garlic, ginger, garam masala, cumin, turmeric and chilli, finished with cream. They top it with marinated chicken, mozzarella and fresh coriander, and you can find it in Inchicore until the end of April.

5) Pecan, date and Earl Grey bun, Volumes

Volumes doesn’t need to do much innovating to keep their daily queue intact, but that hasn’t stopped them adding a new thirst trap of a pastry to the menu. At first glance it looks like a cinnamon bun, but look a little closer – it’s actually date, pecan and Earl Grey. And we thought the bagels were fancy.