Food, Beer, and Pubs

I'm living on my own here in Ireland and have actually had to sort of fend for myself foodwise. Without a terrible dining hall I've been enjoying cooking my own food. But when I'm going out with my friends, we might grab a bite to eat while traveling or even discover the Irish night life.

So far, I've tried out these delicious recipes: Raspberry Glazed Rosemary Chicken and Salmon and Fruit Salsa. I can't wait to find more recipes to try out.

I've also gone out a few times and discovered some pub grub and other food of the like. I can say that I am not quite a fan of fish n' chips or tartlets (quiches), but bangers and mash and guinness stew is tasty.

Puccino's is great little Cafe on Paul Street where they serve a pretty great Irish breakfast. Which by the way is an egg, white pudding, black pudding, sausage, potatoes, toast, and a tomato.

As far as the nightlife goes, well this is actually my first run at it. I've been heading to several pubs and discovering how each is different. There are pubs great for microbrews, conversation, or dancing and I really like doing a pub crawl with everyone.

As for the beer-- I've tried most of the beer on tap: Smithwicks, Carlsberg, Guinness, and Murphys. And I can say that I'm not a beer drinker. I'd rather stick with wine, whiskey, or hard cider.

And how can I talk about restaurants without including Fishy Fishy? See after Gerred proposed to me in Kinsale we headed to dinner in the best place in Kinsale (which happens to be the gourmet capital of Ireland.) When we arrived on that Thursday night everything was completely booked. However, the Maitre D let us sit in the bar. Gerred then told the man that tonight was "special" and immediately the man brought us champagne, then found us the best spot. Our meals were fantastic and the service was phenomenal. Favorite restaurant ever.

Shannon