For breakfast, I'm a juice and coffee person, so I'm wondering how strong is the coffee, generally speaking, and are there places to get a decent cup in Dublin? My husband, however, likes breakfast and wants to know what the "full Irish breakfast" quoted in the hotel price consists of. Any thoughts?

A full Irish breakfast is the same as a full English or Scottish breakfast: juice, cereals, bacon, fried egg, sausage, tomato, etc, with toast and jam or marmalade. The coffee will vary a lot, but bed & breakfast houses were traditionally better at tea than coffee; many have changed to suit their foreign guests and learnt how to do proper coffee, but you may still find places where weak instant coffee is served.

For reference: My preferred type of coffee is French Roast, and I generally find Starbucks espresso too strong, though I like espresso, just not at Starbucks.

Now that I've told you my coffee preferences, I'll tell you what I remember about coffee during my trip to Dublin. The coffee at our hotel (Jury's) was not that great, a little weak for my taste.

I did enjoy the coffee at Bewley's. While it wasn't as strong as the coffee I make at home, it was full-flavored and tasty. The Chocolate Cafe (?) on Grafton St brewed a nice strong cup, too.

Hello,

I must agree with the description of the full Irish breakfast, but would also add black or white pudding to the menu. It looks like a combination of sausage/salami/liverwurst - a long tube and cut into hardy slices and placed near to your sausage and bacon - the black version is dark brown and the white version is white. I thought it was excellent and very Irish. There was always toast, jam and marmalade on the table and my hosts were always lovely to bring more toast if I asked.

I am a tea person, who drinks a few sips of coffee each morning, but I grew up in Seattle and like the coffee strong. The coffee was weak, but certainly satisfactory to start the day. I agree with Bewley's for tea - there is a Bewley's in most major towns and cities and it is a good place for tea and a pastry, and also for a light lunch. I loved the wonderful ending to meals that the Irish tea adds - very civilized and calming.

Best Regards,
Julia Elzie
http://www.cruisingco.com
E-mail: [email protected]

I did not like their sausage. And the black pudding referred to in the previous posting is blood sausage. Did not eat that either.

I'm a self admitted coffeegeek and unrepentant espresso fiend just back from Ireland....

Part 1)
Irish breakfast: most B&B's we stayed in offered the black pudding (blood pudding) only on request. Many seem to undercook the sausages based on my liking but overall the breakfasts are good - ask for the sausage to be browned all over and it's much tastier. In addition to what's been mentioned already, all will include traditional brown bread, prep method for eggs can be specified and some also offer porridge or oatmeal.

The "coffee service" available in the rooms is all Nescafe instant. The coffee we had at B&B's for breakfastwas all served in French press pots (with one exception) and was uniformly mediocre. Some of the press pots were labeled bewley's but I don't know if it was actually Bewley's coffee. After the second day I switched to tea with lemon and sugar.

With the exception of a small Internet cafe on the main drag in Kilkenny, the espresso based drinks we tried were awful. It helps to order them with an extra shot or two extra shots. In all cases but one the extra shots helped but still didn't salvage the drinks. We only tried one place in Dublin (Caffe Aroma) and were unable to try the places I'll list on the next post.

The best coffee I had on the entire trip was in the convenience stores and grocery stores. Most of them have an automatic machine, usually the Kenco brand. You'll buy a small cartridge at the counter that has a vacuum sealed pac with enough coffee to make one cup. After purchase, insert in machine and it autopmatically brews one cup. It was surprisingly good but I found the medium roast to be much superior to the dark roast (this is despite the fact that French Roast is also my favorite roast style of coffee).

Part 2)
When researching I got some good coffee recommendations from Pat, the host at www.irelandexpert.com and also some in private email from Leslie Williams of Dublin. She's a writer for the Bridgestone guides and saw my enquiry on www.coffeegeek.com

In addition to their recommendations, which are pasted in below, Leslie wrote a nice article on Dublin's "Seattle Style" coffee culture - it's posted at
http://www.bestofbridgestone.com/mb/mr2/cf.html

Next time I bring my own Zass Turskish hand grinder, some fresh roasted beans and a one cup Mellita drip cone.....

Oops... forgot to paste in the list!

In Dublin, you will find many coffee bars such as:

Espresso Bar Cafe (behind the Clarion Hotel at the IFSC - Inernational Financial Services Centre);

Insomnia, Unit 2, Lr. Mayor St., Custom House Quay -- it's a specialty coffee company with several other outlets in the city doing business as Bendini & Shaw

Panem, 21 Lr. Ormond Quay (imports its own 100% arabica coffee from Sicily)
Butlers Chocolate Cafe (4 different locations including 9 Chatham St and 18 Nassau St), is not just for chocolate but also for good coffees such as lattes, cappuccinos and mochas.

Cafe en Seine, 40 Dawson St , with a coffee dock

Java, Java on Suffolk St. and various other locations.

And many, many other coffee bars and cafes, literally on every street....

Temple Bar is one area to definitely check out In addition, don't miss Bewley's. It sells quality coffee by the pound and also operates a coffee museum.

As you ramble in the countryside, you will find similar coffee houses especially in the larger cities like Galway (Mocha Beans), Cork, Waterford etc.

7 Wonders on Exchange Place, IFSC
(run by Billy Walsh and his Peruvian wife Ursula. Billy represented Ireland in the recent SCAA competitionBoston and runs a fairly tight ship).

Dunne and Crescenzi on South Frederick Street (off Nassau Street beside Trinity college) Irish/Italian family runs coffee shop/restaurant with good food and usually good espresso

I like coffee, as does my hubby, but while in the UK on numebrous trips we drank tea because the tea served is delicious and the coffee was usually average to subpar. I'm going to Ireland in Sept. and I intend to have whatever the locals are having myself.

Yes, 'black pudding' is made of animal's blood (I think it's pig, but I may stand corrected on that) For that reason, I have never (if only as a child maybe once!) felt like eating it, its rather offputting. Its not often served now (I have never been served it at friends for brekky), I think its regarded as old fashioned, rather like having kippers for breakfast! euwww.

Hello,

The fact that black pudding is blood pudding is the reason that I never asked what it was. Things seem to go down easier if I don't know what they are. But, one of the reasons that I travel is for the adventure and experience of it all. Black pudding was worth the try for the sake of adventure.

Best Regards,
Julia Elzie
E-mail: [email protected]

This is great! My husband is always up for what I call "disgusting" stuff (I think he'd do quite well on some of the reality shows currently plaguing U.S. t.v.), so he'll go for the black pudding.

Coffee geek, thanks for the great info on coffee. Your comments really had me laughing. I remember when I lived in England how coffee was just coming into vogue, and Nescafe instant was THE coffee of choice, while Americans were just starting to insist on grinding their own beans.

I'm like black and strong, so I do appreciate the info, especially since we'll be staying at a hotel on Dawson St. for 2 nights and on Camden St. another 2 nights.

Not for breakfast, but if you get a chance to try Beef and Kidney Pie, it is wonderful!!! They also have Chicken and Mushroom, it is delicious!! We first had it in England and then again in Ireland....so much better then the U.S. pot pies.

cd and surfergirl, 'beef and kidney' pie is normally called 'steak and kidney' - and I love it! I also love to try the 'steak and ale' type pies for pub grub.

I've seen no mention of the brown bread served many places with the full Irish (aka 'fry') breakfast. I love it! I also like the black pudding but not the white pudding - it's suet (belongs in bird cages). I also like the black pudding (morcilla) from Spain & Portugal.

In hotels, they often have a Coffee maker - the kind that makes a pot at at a time. They'll even have decaf! But at B&B's I always ask how their coffee is made before I decide on whether to have coffee or tea. At two I stayed recently they use only Instant coffee; but they also used tea bags for their tea. So there was a choice between weak instant coffee or weak tea.

I think a lot of folks tend to steer people wrong when they say "don't try that, it's 'blood pudding'." I happen to love both black and white pudding, and I even knew what they were before I ate them. What's it worth being there if you don't try the local food?

FWIW, I was scared off the first time I was in Scotland by people who said haggis was horrible. I forced myself to try it on my recent trip there, and loved it. So don't knock it until you try it. There's no accounting for taste (literally and figuratively!)

Amyb, for the record I did not state that folks 'should not try it' but just gave my personal opinion that I, myself, found it offputting. As you say, you can try these things once, if you don't like it, you dont order again! However!....I wanted to try waffles and maple syrup for brekky in Memphis, USA, but was too embarrassed to use the waffle maker (being british and feeling a wee bit self conscious) - I thought it would end up all over the floor - so I stuck to doughnuts! I put on a hell of a lot of weight!

I'm willing to try the blood pudding (agree that's why we all travel, etc.), but now have fear of not enough caffeine in bloodstream to face rainy day. Thanks for the warnings and tips, Owen!

Because of this post (great questions, Surfergirl!) and Owen's tips/alerts, I started researching coffee in Ireland. Found this website:
http://www.smellthecoffee.com/cgi-bi...ow?cat_id=2163. It lists coffee houses in Ireland. Of course, what would be more helpful would be an American taste test of all establishments listed!

I guess I'm in the minority. I don't drink coffee but love tea so Ireland was a fantasy come true for me cause I could get real brewed tea not a dinky teabag in a cup of boiled water. And Bewley's was wonderful.