The crisp and toastie pairing that Irish dreams are made of, the seasonal special highlighting some of our best food producers, and the prettiest Turkish/Georgian set menu mash up. Here's the five things we want to eat in Dublin this week...
1) Ham, Coolea cheese and leek pizza, Coke Lane
Coke Lane Pizza owner Dave Holmes made a new year's resolution to use their monthly pizza specials to highlight Ireland's best food producers, and January's went live yesterday. They've taken free-range ham hocks from Whole Hoggs, given them the roasted honey and mustard treatment, and paired it with Coolea cheese, roasted celeriac and organic baby leeks from McNally's Family Farm. Find it on menus now at Lucky's and The Circular, both in Dublin 8. Up with this sort of thing.
2) The Tayto toastie, Hawksmoor
British giants Hawksmoor have given the ultimate nod to Ireland by teaming up with the people's prince of Ireland, aka Mr. Tayto. Until the end of March, the ham hock and four cheese toastie in their bar will come with a side of Tayto Cheese & Onion, topped with scallion mayo and more ham hock. The collaboration has already gone viral so show our country some pride and make it your civic duty to hop on over to the bar at Hawksmoor for one of these bad boys. De Valera would be proud....
3) Shortrib flatbread with French onion dip, Row Wines
Right, we're well into January and the urge to be good is wearing thin. This short rib French onion dip from Row Wines is your sign that it's time to resume regular programming. A 24-hour braised short rib is loaded onto a torched flatbread, with a creamy celeriac remoulade, and topped off with a lil cornichon pickle. Paired with a French onion dip on the side, this looks like one of those dishes that could get seriously messy, but in the worth it kind of way.
4) Smoked Gubbeen croquettes, Slice
Let's face it, Dublin loves a croquette, and we're at peak croquette with these smoked Gubbeen beauties from Slice in Stoneybatter. Who doesn't love fried cheese, let's get real. Served on a bed of roasted veggies and McNally greens, it's the perfect deep-fried yet colourfully healthy dish for this dreary month.
5) Scallops with walnut and coriander zagismari, Margadh RHA
These scallops served on a walnut and coriander zagismari sauce, dotted with basil and chilli oil are part of Margadh RHA's Black Sea inspired January tasting menu. Georgian cuisine is only starting to become a thing in Ireland, and trust us, you need to get on board. Don't even get us started on the wine.....
