More of the best Christmas food and drink in Dublin right now

We’d barely published our first festive food and drink rundown before we were bursting at the seams with enough for a second – even outside of the insane sandwich scene (don’t miss our ever-updating verdicts), Dublin is really gone crackers for Christmas this year. From seasonal salads to Christmas cocktails, here’s another helping of yuletide treats to eat and drink your way through the city with...

Quince pies, Elliots

We went into mince pie overdrive last time with all the great bakeries around town putting out calls for pre-orders, but also getting us giddy is quince pies. The seasonal fruit is one of our favourite things to eat this time of year, and Elliot’s festive take is the very best way to sample it – and to save on all that hassle of a lengthy boiling time at home. You can buy them by the box too – best believe we will be.

Christmas pizza, Deano’s

Walkinstown pizza truck Deano’s slings out smart seasonal specials on the regular, but nothing is half as popular as their festive pie. Their proper woodfired Neapolitan base is topped with slow-roast smoked pulled ham, Cooleeney brie, fior di latte, and their house festive sage stuffing, topped off with spiced cranberry jelly and a smoked pancetta crumb. That’s six slices of comfort and joy.

Hazelnut praline hot chocolate, Bread Naturally

If you’re headed to Raheny to pick up some mince pies or a pudding from Bread Naturally, they’ve got a helluva good reason to hang around too. Hazelnut praline and Belgian chocolate ganache is the base of this brimming hot chocolate, topped with a chocolate and hazelnut-dipped marshmallow that’s (ofc) been made in-house. If you’re gonna do it, do it right.

Christmas mini desserts, Old Street

We love a mini-anything this time of year – it lets us lie to ourselves we won’t go overboard. Old Street in Malahide regularly rotate a selection of petite seasonal sweets, and we can’t get a taste of this Christmas collection quickly enough. Cranberry cheesecake and gingerbread trifle sound like our kind of Christmassy twists on classics, and vegans will be thrilled by a chocolate and chestnut pot.

Sprout and pancetta pizza, La Strada

Whatever about pineapple on pizza, it doesn’t seem like the Italians are taking any exception to sprouts. Newcomer La Strada, from the team that previously ran Manifesto, are celebrating their first Christmas in business with this seasonal special, and as die-hard believers that charred-black Brussels sprouts are the only way to eat them, we can’t believe we never thought of trying this before.

Santa’s Custard Sazerac, Hawksmoor

We were quick to clock the custard-washed sazerac as The Sackville Lounge’s best serve when we first visited earlier this year, and it sounds like the folks at Hawksmoor are in full agreement. They’ve teamed with the new cocktail bar from the 1661 team to put this delicious reinvention onto the menu – if it slapped for us in spring, its sweet, chocolatey, boozy notes will land all the better with the lower temperatures outside.

Mellow star hojicha, OMMA

Ukrainian-owned OMMA in Brown Thomas got in early on the Japanese tea craze, and their matcha and hojicha drinks regularly catch our eyes on the socials. We can confirm that it’s more than smart fad branding though, so we’re looking forward to trying their latest seasonal takes, none more so than the cinnamon-dusted and star-shaped marshmallow topped hojicha.

Christmas Caesar salad, Bibi’s

With the obscene amount of sandwiches we’re scoffing in search of the city’s best, we’re in dire need of something lighter to tide us over between tests. Praise be for Portobello’s Bibi’s, who’ve taken the great greens from McNally’s Farm to cook up this seasonal sprout and kale salad, loaded with a bacon crumb and crispy croutons, and drizzled with their own house dressing. Light – but not too light.

Fried turkey and rice cake, Sister 7

Like just about everywhere else, Smithfield’s Sister 7 sees prices go up for set menus in December, but unlike a lot of places they’re not just serving the same old thing for that added tenner. Clove smoked pork ribs and a yuzu sake trifle are among the new sharing plates giving the menu a creative Christmas twist, but we’re all about this fried turkey and rice cake dish – as close to a seasonal spice bag as you’ll get.

Christmas pizza, Coke Lane

We appreciate the honesty of the good folks at Coke Lane in saying their prior seasonal special didn’t quite hit the mark – turkey and ham on pizza isn’t easy TBF. Porchetta, mozzarella and candied chillies might not be the most festive of combos, but sage stracciatella sounds like just the seasonal thing to tie them all together in a Christmas-ish bow.

Christmas jambons, Deli 147 @ Chubby's

Did she just say "chrambon"!? We badly missed Deli 147's Christmas sandwich during the Parnell Street institution's hiatus last year - now resurrected as an offshoot of Barry Stephens' Chubby's in Clontarf under the stewardship of Aoife Barker, it's going all-out with a characteristically inventive Christmas menu. We'll be all over the deep fried brie focaccia and peking duck banh mi, but there's a special place in heaven for a brie bechamel-bathed Christmas jambon.

Christmas Gourmet Tray, Street Frites

We've been keeping a careful eye on newcomer chip shop Street Frites' selection of impressive specials but nothing's dropped our jaws quite as quickly as this. Any one of turkey-truffle croquettes, veal gravy and pickled sprouts would have us full up of festive anticipation. All three of them heaped over twice-cooked fries? Need it now.